24th May: uneventful on the bird front with a handful of Chiffchaffs and Spot Flys along with singles of Wheatear and Yellow Wagtail making up the passerine migrant tally; waders at Ferrybridge included 30 Dunlin, 22 Ringed Plovers and 14 Sanderling; 600 Manx and a single Balearic off the Bill
Also on the migrant front, the Obs nocmig recorder picked up a passing Quail overhead in the early hours:
Rich reward again on the migrant moth front with the chief prizes at the Obs being a Many-lined - Portland's 10th record of this decent scarcity - and 7 Silver-spotted Veneer E ocellea. Among the commoner things a big arrival of 376 Diamond-backs was of note, with Small Mottled Willow also up to 204
Just a single Red-veined Darter seen above Yeolands Quarry, Portland this afternoon. Several Hairy Dragonflies and Norfolk Hawkers on the wing at Radipole.
23rd May: a few new grounded migrants incl 5 Spot Flys and singles of Reed W, LWT & Firecrest at the Bill, Spot Fly at Broadcroft and 27 Sanderling & a Wheatear at Ferrybridge; 350 Manx, 33 BhGulls, 20 Med Gulls, 10 commic terns, 4 Eider, 3 GNDivers, a RtDiver & a Pom Skua through off the Bill.
Yesterday's daytime arrival of Painted Ladies and Hummingbird Hawks proved to be the precursor to a decent overnight migrant moth catch at the Obs that included a Striped Hawkmoth & 139 Small Mottled Willows; 5 Green Oak Tortrix & Delicate of note amongst the back ups.
Our garden moth-trap at the Grove contained more of the same migrant-wise with the addition of the island's first Vestal of the year.
Also an additional Striped Hawk for the tally from John Lucas' garden trap at Southwell.
Wakeham
64 moths of 29 species, with my first ever Striped Hawk-moth (Hyles livornica). A lot of interesting firsts as well, plus I'm getting confused with Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi) and Vine's Rustic (Hoplodrina ambigua), if anyone can help.
homandway.blogspot.com/2026/05/my-f...
At least 2 Red-veined Darters on the Yeolands Quarry pool this afternoon - both fully coloured-up and no tenerals found so uncertain whether they're more likely fresh immigrants or the result of last year's breeding. Black-tailed Skimmers also the wing there - the first we've seen this year.
22nd May: after yesterday's excitements today was far quieter with 2 each of Reed Warbler & CC, and singles of Wheatear & Willow Warbler the only grounded arrivals at the Bill; Sanderlings were down to 21 at Ferrybridge. 42 Common Scoter, 21 commic terns, 2 Balearic Shearwaters & a GNDiver at sea
21st May: In increasingly summery conditions Woodchat Shrike at New Ground, Sooty Shearwater off the Bill, 4-5 Turtle Doves at the Bill and Curlew Sandpiper at Ferrybridge were the day's goodies. Big increase in Sanderlings - 94 at Ferrybridge and 10 at the Bill, with 2 Grey Plovers also at Fb...
...common migrants incl a few new Wheatears & Spot Flys, 2 CCs & singles of Hobby, Whinchat, Reed Warbler & WW. 42 Common Scoter & singles of RtDiver, Balearic Shearwater, Pom Skua & Arctic Skua the best from the sea. Baby season getting going with first juv Stonechat and Linnet ringed today
Pleased to see that the Scarce Blue-tailed Damselflies on the Crown Estate Field pond have persisted for another year - several on the wing there in the warm sunshine at the moment; also just now the first Emperor Dragonflies of the year emerging from one of the Obs garden ponds
20th May: Apart from the day's sea happenings it was quiet on the migration front; hirundines continued to trickle thru with a single Hobby also arriving in off; 2 Spot Flys the only new grounded arrivals at the Bill; waders up a little at Ferrybridge including 40 Dunlin, 30 Sanderling & 8 Turnstone
Still a bit of sea passage this mrng even if a lot of the views/photos were on the shoddy side in increasingly dreary/mizzly conditions; Bill totals: 9 Arctic Skuas, 2 GNDivers, singles of RtDiver, Balearic Shearwater & Pom Skua, Manx reduced to just a few dozens
We've been really pleased just lately to receive several interesting updates on breeding birds in the Chesil/Portland Harbour area. Guy Hayden and his team who ring gull chicks on the harbour breakwaters have made several preliminary visits in recent weeks to keep an eye on happenings at this site that for obvious reasons gets pretty well no coverage from the wider birding public. Guy reports that on 20th April there were five active Canada Goose nests with eggs on the breakwaters but by 10th May only two of these were still occupied - one with three goslings and an egg, and the other with three eggs. Visits on 10th and 15th May also saw the discovery of two Shelduck nests (with 11 and 15 eggs respectively) and three active Oystercatcher nests.
Canada Goose nest containing three goslings and an egg...
Meanwhile the Chesil Little Terns seem to be settling in well, with several three figure counts in the wider vicinity. Among the colour-ring sightings have been an individual - dark green 178 - that was ringed as an adult on 29th March this year at La Langue de Barbarie National Park, Senegal; we'd guess that by that date it would have been on the return leg of its journey back to Chesil from a wintering site further south in West Africa. Among the returnees at the colony this year are yellow PV0 that was first ringed as a nestling at Gronant, North Wales, in 2022, and dark green AP9 and AB9 that were both first ringed as nestlings at Kilcoole, Ireland, in 2021 - all three of these birds have been seen previously at Chesil in breeding seasons between 2023 and 2025. Many thanks to John Dadds for passing on the details of these sightings and for the photographs below of two of these individuals. As a further example of colony switching, Chantal Macleod-Nolan has passed us details of yellow Z02 that was ringed as a nesting at Chesil in 2017 and was seen again as an adult in the colony during the 2019 breeding season; however, in three subsequent seasons (2021, 2023 and again during April this year) it's been observed in a colony at Westkapelle, The Netherlands.
19th May: mostly about seawatchihg today, apart from the Fea's type Petrel, c1000 Manx, 33 Com Scoter, 10 Sanderling, 3 GNDiver, 2 RtDiver, 2 Arctic Skua, 2 Pom Skua, singles GCGrebe, YLGull & Bonxie; 8 Spot Fly & 2 CC new on the land - very weirdly CC still running at twice the nos of WW this month
A Fea's type Petrel east off the Bill at c09:00 - seen briefly but well going past mid-distance with a Manx but lost while then trying to photograph it. Being looked for constantly from the Bill and the Obs since then but still no further sign so presumed to have moved through rather than lingered.
Four and half hours more at the Bill tip and no further sign of the Fea's Petrel - the way it suddenly/inexplicably vanished suggested it might have landed but if it did it seems not to have lingered. Constant trickle of sev hundred Manx throughout the watch mainly heading away west into Lyme Bay
Evening seawatch - just in case: another c300 Manx Shearwaters with about equal movement in both directions but few actually lingering; passing Great Crested Grebe a bit of a Bill oddity.
18th May: waders slightly up incl 72 Dunlin, 42 Ringed Plovers, 42 Sanderling & 3 Barwits at Ferrybridge; passerine passage very subdued in indifferent damp and breezy conditions with 3 Spot Flys the best of it at the Bill; 2 GNDivers through off the Bill + c300 Manx milling around
17th May: light scatter of Spotted Flycatchers made up the bulk of passerine arrivals; sea quiet until the evening when 300 Manx, 80 Kittiwakes and a Pomarine Skua passed the Bill; 25 Sanderlings at Ferrybridge.
Some riots of colour at Portland this weekend (staying at the bird obs as always) with Black Mustard (Brassica nigra) in Crown Estate Field and Thrift (Armeria maritima) on the slopes today. Bit late for #wildflowerhour camera issues!
Some Portland specialities too (well I see more of them here than I do anywhere) - Pale Flax (Linum bienne) and Yellow Vetchling (Lathyrus aphaca) - both of which seem to be having a good year at the Bill. #wildflowerhour
Decent amounts of sunshine at Portland despite the often chilly breeze so some nice butterflies seen including Adonis Blue, Wall, Dingy Skipper. Painted Lady, Small Heath and others. #mybutterflyyear #ukbutterflies #ukwildlife
16th May: a fair bit of migration on all fronts; hirundines arriving all day along with singles of Marsh Harrier & Hobby also in off; grounded arrivals at the Bill included 6 Spot Flys & 5 Reed Ws, with 14 Sanderlings at Ferrybridge; 2 Arctic Skuas and singles GNDiver, BtDiver & Bonxie thru on sea.
Haven't seen any mention of them in flower elsewhere on Portland yet this year but this evening a Bee Orchid on one of the roped-off grassland restoration plots in front of the Bill lighthouse
After a complete moth migrant blank yesterday, last night a little better at the Obs with the year's first Delicate and the fourth White-speck in five nights of note amongst a handful of more routine things
15th May: In the context of the spring as a whole, today's migrant arrival was pretty impressive and included Bill totals of 40 Reed Ws, 20 Spot Flys and 15 Sedge Ws on the ground and 300 Swallows and 50 House Martins through overhead; 3 GNDivers and a RtDiver through on the sea.
After a long migration hiatus, decent rewards on the ringing front today with 73 mainly migrants ringed at the Bill; plenty of variety incl 25 Reed Ws (+ 2 controls, both first ringed last yr in Devon), 9 Wthroats, 8 Sedge W, 7 Spot Flys, 4 CCs, 4 Bcaps, 3 WWs, 2 Garden Ws and a Lesser Wthroat
blacknor gully, adonis blue, common blue, holly blue, small blue, small copper, large white, small white, clouded yellow, painted lady, wall brown, small heath, dingy skipper, no lulworths yet, like large skipper always late in the gully.
14th May: always chilly and by the afternoon quite showery to boot; migration-wise, arctic waders made up all the nos incl 79 Dunlin, 44 RPs & 24 Sanderling at Ferrybridge with sev of each also passing the Bill along with a GNDiver & a Mallard; grounded and vismig passerines pretty well absent.
13th May: brutal NW'ly made birding really hard work today; 3 Spot Flys the only grounded arrivals of note at the Bill, with Sanderlings increased to 50 at Ferrybridge; single Arctic Skua and c500 Manx through off the Bill.
And thanks to Alan Mayell for popping us through a couple of recent trail-cam photos from his garden at Southwell; Badgers are quite regular there so not a huge surprise but much better value was a Turtle Dove that dropped in last Sunday 10th (a day when human observers didn't see a Turtle Dove anywhere else but quite briefly in the Obs garden) - how long before we dip out on a really gripping rarity that get detected in these circumstances!:
12th May: apart from the Subalpine Warbler, quiet for grounded passerine arrivals today although waders increased at Ferrybridge incl 46 Sanderling; steady passage of arriving Swallows all day; 24 Sanderling and 1 RtDiver through on the sea; 14 migrants ringed with CCs still outnumbering WWs
First-summer female Subalpine Warbler trapped at the Obs and just released in the Obs Quarry - if we had to put money on it it's a Western but tail mostly v worn juvenile so no help!
Not surprisingly considering the dip in temperature, overnight mothing at the Obs rather uneventful but the summers's first Pine Knot-horn a nice stray/migrant.
Nice random find by day of the not often noticed but probably quite common day-flyer Fruitlet-mining Tortrix.
11th May: nothing more than odd ones and twos of the commonest migrants grounded at the Bill today; yesterday's Firecrest still about at the Obs; good eastbound movement of c500 Manx developed offshore during the evening; 15 Sanderling amongst the waders at Ferrybridge.
And folk wonder why we talk about ecological breakdowns: in the past on this sort of date, today's brisk, chilly headwind would have been a dead cert to produce a strong passage of Swifts and a good fall of migrants; today we logged 3 Swifts and 28 nets - many open for 10 hours - caught 5 migrants!
A much reduced moth catch at the Obs on a much chillier night so an early migrant White-speck was unexpected; 10 Diamond-backs,
2 Tunips and singles of Rusty-dot Pearl and Silver Y the only other migrants.
Were probably hoping for a better 'first ever in a mist-net at Portland' but we'll take this Hairy Dragonfly from the Crown Estate Field nets just now - still a good rare here although expected to increase
10th May. Turtle Dove still at the Obs today + an unseasonable new Firecrest. Inconclusive, long range views of might have been another Honey Buzzard. Roseate Tern and Balearic Shearwater off the Bill both firsts for the year. Grey Plover new amongst a small increase in waders at Ferrybridge.
On the back of another woefully inadequate tally of common migrants today actually managed to come good with a nice selection of local goodies: 3 Turtle Doves - singles at Sweethill, Tout Quarry and trapped at the Obs - was as large a day total of this increasingly rare migrant as has been recorded on the island for many years, a Honey Buzzard arriving in off at Freshwater Bay was the second earliest record ever for Portland and a Nightjar at dusk on Bill Hill was a nice sighting of a migrant that's only just about annual here; 2 Little Ringed Plovers arriving in off at the Bill also weren't to be sniffed at locally. Imaginative accounting might just about get Chiffchaff into double figures for the day at the Bill where the odd ones and twos of other usually routine arrivals included singles of Hobby, Yellow Wagtail and Reed Warbler; Ferrybridge chipped in with 16 Sanderlings amongst others. Despite continuing seemingly perfect conditions the sea remained hopeless, with 3 Arctic Skuas, 2 Great Northern Divers and a Red-throated Diver the best off the Bill; another Great Northern Diver remained in Portland Harbour.
Adult Female Turtle Dove rung at @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social this afternoon. An absolutely stunning bird and my first for several years #UKBirding #DorsetBirds
