The benignest conditions for what seemed like weeks - albeit with it feeling surprisingly cool at times without any cloud cover - were somewhat less birdy than might have been hoped, with little on show beyond the long-stayers. The
Cirl Bunting drew quite a crowd at Reap Lane where it evidently still spent long periods being less than obliging, whilst Portland Harbour was also popular with the year-tickers who discovered an additional
Red-necked Grebe - 2 instead of the usual 1 - together with 6
Black-necked Grebes, 4
Eider and 3
Great Northern Divers; nearby, a lone
Little Grebe was amongst the oyster racks at Ferrybridge where there was also a good mid-winter total of 300
Dunlin. Among the other regulars, 30
Common Scoter, 5
Purple Sandpipers, the
Cetti's Warbler and a
Chiffchaff were at/off the Bill, another
Chiffchaff was at Reap Lane and several single
Black Redstarts were dotted about. By way of new arrivals, a
Redwing was at the Bill, a passing
Leach's Petrel offshore there was a surprise given the conditions and 10
Red-throated Divers also passed by on the sea.
Singles of
Red Admiral at Weston and
Painted Lady at Ferrybridge were on the wing today.
At least a dozen Common Dolphins were off the Bill early in the morning.
Today's Painted Lady at Ferrybridge © Steve Mansfield:
