10th May

As Portland falls go today was quite an oddity, with a hatful of birds around the middle and north of the island but precious little at the Bill. With hindsight it seemed as though the lack of a brisk headwind (...it was more or less millpond calm at dawn) saw to it incoming migrants were too high to be dropped straight away as they arrived over the Bill but many then took the option of touching down briefly around the top of the island. Spotted Flycatchers made up the bulk of the numbers, with more than 100 scattered between Southwell and Portland Castle, but there were plenty of Willow Warblers, Sylvias and Acrocephalus amongst them and 2 ater Coal Tits at Portland Castle were a nice bonus. The Bill fared relatively poorly for numbers but did steal a little bit of the limelight late in the afternoon when a Honey Buzzard trundled through overhead. Despite what at times looked to be promising seawatch conditions - a waft of a southerly sprung up as the day went on - 2 passing Great Northern Divers were the only migrants worth a mention off the Bill.

The icing on the cake today was the Honey Buzzard that we're guessing we'll find when we check is one of the earliest records for the island © Martin Cade:



But as a spectacle the sheer number of migrants passing through the north of the island soon after dawn took some beating; the ater Coal Tit at Portland Castle was the only oddity uncovered...


...but Spotted Flycatchers featured in good quanity...


...and there were plenty of other typical late arrivals like Whitethroats © Joe Stockwell: