Not that rare a sight for a Portland seawatch, but today's only Curlew was unusual in its willingness to not only make landfall but also give itself up for a photograph © Martin Cade:
16th April
Thick cloud for part of the morning and a fortuitous shower resulted a much more speciose list than recent days. Perhaps the biggest spectacle of the day was the passage of 118 Whimbrel, 112 Bar-tailed Godwits and 158 Common Scoter through off the Bill; other sea-watching highlights there included 17 Little Gulls, 9 Arctic Skuas, 3 Great Skuas, 2 Velvet Scoter and the first Hobby of the spring arriving in off. Passage up the west cliffs was aided by the brief shower that saw the first Swift of the year, two Tree Pipits, three Yellow Wagtails, and a handful of Swallows and House Martins. Other land-based highlights included a fly-by Serin at the Obs (already the third for the island this year), a Short-eared Owl at Barleycrates Lane, a singing Grasshopper Warbler at Reap Lane and a Lesser Whitethroat in Penn's Weare. Fingers crossed that the forecast of rain lands some surprises at our door tomorrow.
