In tandem with the soaring temperature once the sun came out the day's list increased in leaps and bounds, albeit not including much that wasn't already well established for the winter. The Black Guillemot off Portland Castle and the Hooded Crow at the Grove were again the best of the bunch, but also making the tally were 8 Red-throated Divers, 2 Common Scoter and a Brent Goose through off the Bill, 5 Purple Sandpipers and 2 Blackcaps still on the land there, a Chiffchaff at Weston, a Black Redstart at Portland Castle and 15 Black-necked Grebes, 4 Eider, a Black-throated Diver and a Red-necked Grebe in Portland Harbour; small increases in Stonechats at Reap Lane and Ferrybridge - 4 at each - were perhaps a hint of things beginning to move about a bit in the decent conditions.
colour-ringed Black-headed Gull - Ferrybridge, 25th January 2015 © Will Bown
...since a good proportion of UK wintering Black-headed Gulls originate from breeding sites in countries bordering the Baltic Sea there's nothing at all odd about the ringing location of this bird - it was marked as an adult in May 2013 at a colony on the coast of north-east Germany - but as it's colour-ringed we've featured it in case anyone else spots it this winter; thanks to Will Bown for taking the trouble to obtain the ringing details.
