1st March

A bit of an uninspiring start to the month with drizzly rain setting in quite quickly and lingering for most of the rest of the day. The Hume's Warbler made a brief appearance at Thumb Lane, yesterday's singles of Chiffchaff and Firecrest were still about at the Obs and at least 2 Short-eared Owls were ranging about at the Bill but there was little else to report from the less than thorough coverage of the land. Five Black-necked Grebes, 3 Great Northern Divers, 2 Eider and a Slavonian Grebe were in Portland Harbour and 2 Common Scoter passed through off the Bill.

In the absence of any immigrant activity we haven't had much to report on the moth front so far this year but the one trap that's on at the Obs most nights has been attracting a trickle of seasonable fare; amongst these Garden Lance-wing Epermenia chaerophyllella and Mottled Grey are two Portland regulars that are maybe not so frequently trapped in Dorset as a whole © Martin Cade: