15th June

A day of two halves, with a miserably drizzly morning giving way to a bright but still breezy afternoon and evening. Odds and ends from the sea included 2 Arctic Skuas and a single Great Skua lingering off the Bill, whilst a Reed Warbler in song at Culverwell was the day's only new arrival on the land.

It was nice to find a couple of fledged Wheatears at the Bill Quarry this evening - the second year in succession that there's been a successful outcome here...


...the youngsters might have looked plump and tidy but the male's looking decidedly shoddy and scrawny after his efforts over the last few weeks:


It was also nice to finally confirm from the part-read ring number that the female of the pair is indeed one of last year's youngsters; sadly, the male's never been trapped so we can't prove he's the same individual in both breeding attempts but, this being Portland where incest's evidently a deeply ingrained facet of local culture, we wouldn't mind betting that's the case © Martin Cade: