15th January

A dip in the temperature close to freezing saw an obvious increase in birds visiting feeders but also prompted the merest of hints of an arrival from further afield, with single Redwings at the Bill and Wakeham, a Fieldfare at Southwell and 4 Teal through off the Bill. The day itself was again pleasantly bright and sunny enough to see a good selection of winterers make the list, with 6 Greenfinches (the highest count of settled birds for many months!), 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Firecrests and singles of Short-eared Owl, Black Redstart and Blackcap at the Bill, another Black Redstart at Reap Lane, another Firecrest at Pennsylvania Castle, 30 Chaffinches at Wakeham and 5 Black-necked Grebes and 3 Great Northern Divers in Portland Harbour.

We're very conscious that printed output from the Obs has been woefully lacking in recent years - or example, our last published annual report was for 2012 - so to make amends whilst annual reports and other publications remain in the pipeline we're going to be uploading some fuller summaries of our ongoing activities than are usually available here on the blog; to begin with click on the link below for a provisional ringing report for last year: