29th April

On this date exactly one year ago Portland saw the best fall of 2018 with 541 birds trapped throughout the day. It just goes to show that birds don't work like clockwork as today saw less than a tenth of this total ringed. However, the day was not without its highlights with a Buzzard being one of the 40 birds trapped. Outside the garden a Jay in off the sea provided us with the sixth Corvid species of the year (fingers crossed for the elusive Chough!) Other news included another male Serin in Southwell, four Swifts (only the fourth record of the year), three Whinchats, two Grasshopper Warblers, 2 Spotted Flycatchers, a Common Sandpiper and yesterdays Golden Plover. The sea was marginally more productive than yesterday with 114 Bar-tailed Godwits, 13 Whimbrel, 3 Great Northern Divers, a Black-throated Diver and a Great Skua through off the Bill and 75 Bar-tailed Godwits, 26 Whimbrel, 4 Pomarine Skuas and an Arctic Skua through at Chesil.

The Jay was an early arrival by Portland standards (most of our spring records are in May) and the first since 2017 © Martin Cade: