Portland Castle Black Redstart 1.
Ferrybridge Great Skua 1.
Portland Harbour Great Northern Diver 1, Red-necked Grebe 1.
This afternoon's Bonxie heading through Ferrybridge...
...it even pitched in briefly on top of Chesil - much to the surprise of some passers-by © Pete Saunders:
We're always surprised that the news services feel it necessary to put out every Black Redstart that gets reported to them from a place like Portland - are they really that rare anywhere in coastal southern England? Even with minimal mid-winter coverage we have records for this month of what looks to be a minimum of 18 individuals dotted about the island and, given their penchant for urban/industrial settings that get little or no coverage, we wouldn't mind betting the true total isn't well past 25 which makes them way more numerous winterers here than the likes of Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest or Firecrest and more on a par with something like Stonechat. This is one of the regulars at Portland Castle © Pete Saunders:
