22nd March

A nice little pulse of diver passage offshore today but precious few indications of passerines getting going at all. The steady movement of Red-throated Divers off the Bill ended up totalling 39, with 11 Common Scoter and 3 Mediterranean Gulls also passing through. Ordinarily, the land would have been described as deadly quiet but beggars can't be choosers and with passage looking to have been set right back by the two cold snaps this month observers were grateful for what there was, with 8 Wheatears, 5 Chiffchaffs, 2 each of Purple Sandpiper, Redwing and Goldcrest, and singles of Teal, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Bullfinch mustered from the Bill area. Elsewhere, the Lesser Whitethroat was still at Southwell and 7 Black-necked Grebes were in Portland Harbour.