A right old mish-mash of sightings today, with cloud and rain crossing the Channel that just impinged on Portland at times not dropping nearly as much as might have been expected on the land and restricting sea passage to a trickle in the morning before there was a little surge in the evening. The land really was pretty hopeless, with the pick of the lightest of scatters of grounded migrants being a tardy Black Redstart at the Bill; conventional visible passage hovered around non-existent but oddballs overhead did include 3 Redpolls, a Siskin and a Yellowhammer over the Bill and another Redpoll over Suckthumb. Final sea totals included 235 commic terns, 4 Little Terns, 3 Arctic Skuas, 2 each of Great Northern Diver, Great Skua and Pomarine Skua, and a Great Crested Grebe off the Bill and 2 Arctic Skuas and singles of Great Skua, Pomarine Skua, Little Gull, Black Tern and Roseate Tern off Chesil.
Signs of the beginnings of an influx of immigrant butterflies included several Red Admirals at the Bill and singles of Painted Lady at the Bill and Ferrybridge.
Pomarine Skuas, Roseate Tern (with Common Tern and Little Gull) and Painted Ladys - Portland Bill, Chesil Beach and Ferrybridge, 7th May 2016 © Ian Lewington (Pom Skua upper off the Bill), Martin Cade (Pom Skua lower over Chesil and Roseate Tern), Simon Craft (Painted Lady upper at the Bill) and Matt Phipps (Painted Lady lower at Ferrybridge)