Although new rarity interest was lacking, there was a fair bit about in the bird line, with 70 Goldfinches south at the Bill, 3 Purple Sandpipers and singles of Black Redstart, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest and Firecrest on the ground there and another Red-throated Diver through on the sea, 3 Chiffchaffs, a Grey Heron and a Short-eared Owl at Southwell, Black Redstarts at Blacknor, Balaclava Bay (3) and Portland Castle, the Siberian Chiffchaff still at Portland Castle and 5 Great Northern Divers in Portland Harbour.
African Sober, Short-eared Owl, Kingfisher and Grey Heron - The Grove, Southwell and Portland Castle, 20th December 2015 © Martin Cade (African Sober), Pete Saunders (SEOwl and Kingfisher) and Nick Stantiford (Grey Heron)
Just a matter of days ago African Sober had been recorded fewer than ten times in Britain, so the subsequent influx - right across southern England - of several dozen has been a remarkable event for so tiny an insect; we couldn't resist staging today's specimen next to the better-known immigrant micro, Rusty-dot Pearl, to put its size in perspective:
...and at the same time we took the opportunity to get an 'out of the tube' photo of yesterday's Eastern Bordered Straw: