22nd February

With the wind having strengthened a notch or two overnight it was certainly against expectations when what were surely the first few passerine arrivals of the spring showed up: an aggregation of 8 Stonechats at Wakeham were certainly on cue time-wise and were at a spot where no more than ones and twos have been present all winter. Other than that, increased weekend coverage revealed just a few of the regulars, with 19 Common Scoter settled off the Bill and 5 Black-necked Grebes, 4 Common Scoter and 2 Great Northern Divers in Portland Harbour.