19th February

A pleasantly bright and mild day but largely uneventful on the bird front, with a trickle of Mediterranean Gulls off the Bill the only sign of passage. Routine winter fare also off the Bill included 3 more Red-throated Divers; 7 Purple Sandpipers and 2 Short-eared Owls were still about on the land there, Black Redstarts were again at Church Ope Cove (2) and Chesil Cove, and 5 Black-necked Grebes and a Great Northern Diver were in Portland Harbour.

One of the Black Redstarts at Church Ope Cove © Paul Tutton: