30th January

With the wind having dropped right out overnight there was frost on the ground at dawn that was very quickly cleared by pleasant sunshine. A Blackcap was a new arrival at the Obs where a Firecrest was again about and a wintering Goldcrest resurfaced for the first time this year; 12 Purple Sandpipers were also showing at the Bill and 12 Red-throated Divers, 2 Common Scoter, a Great Northern Diver and a Teal passed through on the sea. The day's other reports included another Blackcap at Wakeham, the Black Redstart at Chesil Cove, 2 Collared Doves south over Portland Harbour and 47 Oystercatchers, 4 Great Northern Divers and a Black-throated Diver in and around the harbour.

This winter's turned out to be a good one for Blackcaps, with today's new female at the Obs seemingly the eighth different individual reported since mid-December - and we wouldn't mind betting that there'll be a few more tucked away in private gardens here and there © Martin Cade: 


And carrying on with yesterday's distant seabird theme, this is how we usually see Red-throated Divers off the Bill on calm, sunny days - this group of six this morning were way up in the sky heading west a mile or so off the Bill: