The fierce heat continued, being only slightly tempered by an easterly breeze that freshened a little through the day. Routine fare at sea included 150
Manx and 19
Balearic Shearwaters off the Bill, where 29
Common Scoter and 15
Sandwich Terns were the best of the movers. On the land, the
Serin lingered on in the vicinity of the Obs but migrant interest was mainly overhead, with 86
Sand Martins, 23
Swifts and singles of
Curlew and
Whimbrel through. The
Little Ringed Plover remained at Ferrybridge, with the first 2 returning
Turnstones, 2
Redshanks and a
Common Sandpiper among the few other waders present.
We could hardly believe our eyes when on investigating what colour-ring project this juvenile Ringed Plover photographed by Pete Saunders at Ferrybridge this morning came from it looked nailed-on that it hailed from the Netherlands. A juvenile Ringed Plover coming that far before the middle of July seemed so unlikely that we assumed we must be making a mistake. However, thanks to Sander Lilipaly's quick response to our enquiry, we soon discovered it really had already made that journey as it had been ringed as a fledgling on a beach near Ritthem, The Netherlands, on 2nd June; amazingly, one of its siblings from the same nest was still present today with its parents at the breeding site - what's the mechanism that prompts one youngster to up and leave on a pretty monumental journey (Sander doesn't think there have been any previous foreign recoveries of juvenile birds from his project in the first half of July) whilst its brother/sister is still sitting it out at the natal site? What a fantastic record and huge thanks to Pete for spotting the bird and getting a readable photo of the ring and to Sander for ringing it in the first place and for letting us know the ringing details! © Pete Saunders:
...and for added interest, here's the bird on the day it was ringed © Sander Lilipaly:
To put further context on how unexpected this record is, John Dadds has sent us through a photo he'd taken only yesterday morning of two recently fledged Ringed Plover chicks on Chesil - these have got ages to go before they're going to be in any fit state to undertake a movement like the Dutch bird has already made © John Dadds:
How loud is this Curlew passing more or less right overhead at the Obs this morning? - and if you listen carefully, in the background there's the bonus of the first calls of the day of the Serin:
More rammed-full moth-traps at the Obs last night: ongoing influx of Willow Ermines accounting for 536 of the night's total; migrants incl 118 Small Mottled Willow, 10 Small Marbled & first Beautiful Twitcher micalis of the yr; dispersers incl 2nds of Scarce Spindle Ermine & LS Pinion this week
[image or embed]
— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) July 10, 2026 at 3:06 PM
