21st March


http://www.at-infocus.co.uk/ 

A reminder that there's an In Focus field event at the Obs between 10am and 4pm this Saturday, 24th March.

A lovely sunny and - at least in comparison with earlier in the week - mild day, although probably too nice to have expected much of an arrival of migrants. Numbers certainly weren't a feature at the Bill where a good deal of legwork failed to muster even a single Chiffchaff, with 10 Wheatears, 4 each of Redwing, Firecrest and Reed Bunting, 2 Black Redstarts and singles of Teal, Golden Plover, Ringed Plover, Snipe, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Redpoll and Bullfinch about the best on offer; elsewhere another 2 Black Redstarts were at Blacknor. Red-throated Divers totalled 27 off the Bill, with 8 Black-necked Grebes, 3 Common Scoter and a Slavonian Grebe in Portland Harbour the only other reports from the water.

After many months of absence there are again Little Owls residing in the Obs Quarry. The disappearance of the pair present there last year has been widely attributed to the constant harassment they received from the 'non-birder' photography community; the owls can be watched/photographed perfectly satisfactorily - without causing them any disturbance - from the rim of the quarry so please don't try to get closer to them by, for example, walking down onto the floor of the quarry under their breeding crevice © Phyl England: