15th February

In conditions that couldn't have been more different to those endured yesterday - the sun shone from pretty well dawn 'til dusk - single potentially new Chiffchaffs popped up at both Bumpers Lane and Portland Castle, both being locations with no other sightings for many weeks; a Sandwich Tern was also an unexpected sighting off the Bill, although since it was fishing and gradually heading to the west it had less of the look of an early migrant. Other reports from the day included 6 Purple Sandpipers and 2 Short-eared Owls at the Bill, 4 Black-headed Gulls, 3 Common Scoter and a Red-throated Diver through off the Bill, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Firecrest at Pennsylvania Castle/Church Ope Cove, the long-staying Blackcap at Wakeham, 10 Black-necked Grebes and 2 Great Northern Divers in Portland Harbour and 80 Dark-bellied Brent Geese and a Pale-bellied Brent at Ferrybridge.