28th February

Not that the day's events really necessitate it but on the cusp of spring perhaps it's timely to finally return to narrative updates after a winter of less time-consuming daily lists. An increase in overnight cloud cover gave some hope on the migrant front but the only loggings of note concerned a Moorhen over the Obs during the hours of darkness, 2 Siskins overhead there during the morning and a lone Meadow Pipit watched arriving in off the sea at the Bill. Routine fare passing off the Bill included 4 Common Scoter and 2 Red-throated Divers.

The highlight - in fact it was the only bird logged! - from the year's first nocmig attempt at the Obs was this Moorhen overhead at 03:41:

20th - 27th February

20th February Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 1w, Common Scoter 4w, Black-headed Gull 1w.

21st February Portland Bill Redwing 1, Black Redstart 2.

22nd February Portland Bill Brent Goose 1e; Reap Lane Blackcap 1, Chiffchaff 2; Portland Harbour Great Northern Diver 1.

23rd February Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 1e, Common Scoter 2w; Pennsylvania Castle Great Spotted Woodpecker 1; Church Ope Cove Black Redstart 1; Ferrybridge Black Brant 1.

24th February Portland Bill Purple Sandpiper 8, Chiffchaff 1, Brambling 1.

25th February Portland Bill Great Northern Diver 1w, Common Scoter 1e 1w, Water Rail 1, Purple Sandpiper 4; Weston Meadow Pipit 12n, Pied Wagtail 1n; Hamm Beach Sandwich Tern 2e.

26th February Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 1w, Great Northern Diver 1w, Merlin 1, Kittiwake 250e, Redwing 1, Black Redstart 1; Weston Raven 14, Brambling 2.

27th February Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 1e 4w, Great Northern Diver 2w, Common Scoter 6e, Black-headed Gull 1e, Black Redstart 1; Reap Lane Blackcap 2; Weston Brambling 1; Blacknor Black Redstart 1.

17th February

 

A reminder that there's an InFocus field day at the Obs between 10am and 4pm this Sunday, 20th February.

Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 1e, Chiffchaff 1.

Church Ope Cove Black Redstart 1.

Please note that we're going to be off the air for the next few days - normal service should resume at the end of the month.

16th February

Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 3e.

Blacknor Rook 2.

15th February

Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 1e 1w, Common Scoter 1e.

Southwell Blackcap 1, Chiffchaff 1.

Verne Common housing estate Blackcap 1, Siberian Chiffchaff 1 (evidently both have been present for a while).

14th February

Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 2w, Common Scoter 1w, Purple Sandpiper 11, Chiffchaff 1, Rook 1.

Although there are probably more exciting harbingers of spring, for us the first Rook making it all the way out to the Bill from the mainland - so often a noisy individual like today's that ends up pitching in on the wires between the Obs and the Obs Quarry - usually substantially precedes the likes of the more iconic first Wheatear or Swallow and helps to make winter seem just that little bit shorter © Martin Cade:

13th February

Nothing to report on a very, very wet day.

12th February

Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 2w.

11th February

Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 1w, Great Northern Diver 1w, Common Scoter 6e, Chiffchaff 2; + Common Dolphin 6etc.

10th February

Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 2w, Great Northern Diver 1etc, Black-headed Gull 2etc, Redwing 1, Chiffchaff 1.

9th February

Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 1e 1w, Common Scoter 3w, Chiffchaff 1.

Pennsylvania Castle Firecrest 1.

Church Ope Cove Black Redstart 1.

Blacknor Black Redstart 1.

The Barn Owl remains a regular performer at Southwell...

...and, even though it hasn't attracted anything of particular note, the winter wader selection at Ferrybridge still demands scrutiny © Pete Saunders:

8th February

Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 1w, Manx Shearwater 1w, Common Scoter 1w, Purple Sandpiper 11, Black-headed Gull 1e, Chiffchaff 1.

Blacknor Siberian Chiffchaff 1.

You had to have had the benefit of staring at the pretty uneventful sea for a couple of months to have picked up on today's almost subliminal suggestion of spring movement getting underway: the steady westbound procession of small parties of Kittiwakes, Common Gulls and auks just looked that bit more purposeful than all the random activity we've been watching in recent weeks...

...whilst further hints at the imminent changing of the seasons came in the form of two firsts for the year on the wing at the Bill, Peacock and Common Quaker © Martin Cade:

7th February

Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 1w, Black-headed Gull 1e, Chiffchaff 1.

Church Ope Cove Black Redstart 1.

Mediterranean Gulls and Brent Goose at Ferrybridge this morning © Roy Norris:

6th February

Portland Bill Common Scoter 6w, Chiffchaff 1.

Weston Siberian Chiffchaff 1.

Ferrybridge Pale-bellied Brent 1, Bar-tailed Godwit 6.

Today's instalment of feather sample results concerns Portland's first genetically confirmed Scandinavian Chiffchaff P. c. abietinus - an individual trapped at the Obs on 26th October last year © Martin Cade:

In bygone times Scandinavian Chiffchaffs were considered routine and at times even quite numerous passage migrants at Portland but the folk in white coats have turned that conventional wisdom on its head, with their genetic studies showing that they're pretty scarce if not quite downright rare visitors to this part of the world (20 have been confirmed from c400 Chiffchaffs sampled in the UK, whilst a Dutch study identified 22 amongst a sample of 515 Chiffchaffs). These studies have also revealed that external features and voice offer no help when it comes to picking out a Scandinavian Chiffchaff - to all intents and purposes they're outwardly indistinguishable from nominate collybita Chiffchaff. For what it's worth, 'our' Scandinavian bird presumably conveyed an at least slightly subtly different look or feel for us to have taken the trouble to photograph it and retain a dislodged feather, but quite what our precise thought process was isn't immediately apparent from these photographs that appear to depict a bird that falls well within the cornucopia of Chiffchaff variation we're all too well accustomed to. As usual, many thanks indeed to Professor Martin Collinson and his team at the University of Aberdeen for their help.

5th February

Portland Bill Chiffchaff 1.

Blacknor Black Redstart 1.

We've also received some interesting feedback on various feather samples sent for analysis to Professor Martin Collinson and his team at the University of Aberdeen, most notably that the 'eastern' Lesser Whitethroat trapped at the Obs on 8th November 2020 was a Central Asian LWT C.c. halimodendri; although this subspecies has been suspected once or twice in the past this is the first genetically confirmed halimodendri for Portland and Dorset © Joe Stockwell (in hand top and in field) and Erin Taylor (in hand bottom):

4th February

Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 1w, Common Scoter 1w, Purple Sandpiper 3.

Blacknor Black Redstart 1.

3rd February

The winter nadir?: not a single sighting on the day-sheet!

2nd February

Portland Bill Purple Sandpiper 5, Chiffchaff 1.

Southwell Blackcap 2, Chiffchaff 1.

Ferrybridge Bar-tailed Godwit 6.

Portland Harbour Black-necked Grebe 2, Common Scoter 1.

The Southwell Barn Owl remains a regular performer towards dusk...

...the Tree Mallows there continue to keep one of the wintering Chiffchaffs well provisioned...

...whilst it's looking like the six Bar-tailed Godwits will successfully see out the winter at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:

1st February

Portland Bill Red-throated Diver 5w, Common Scoter 2w, Purple Sandpiper 12, Chiffchaff 1.

Southwell Siberian Chiffchaff 1.

Immigrant moths Silver Y 1 settled on a house at Southwell.