Unseasonable, gale force winds and intermittent showers kept birding to a minimum on the land. Expectations for the sea were high but delivered very little in the way of year ticks. A passage of 70+
Manx Shearwaters were not accompanied by any of their rarer relatives, and an additional three
Yellow-
legged Gulls and singles of
Bonxie,
Puffin,
Whimbrel and
Dunlin were the only real highlights from the selection. The land was difficult going with much of the mornig dominated by driving rain showers, a pair of hardy
Willow Warblers in the garden and a lone
Wheatear at Walls End were about the best we could muster in the gaps in the rain.
Belated news from yesterday of a Cattle Egret in amongst the scarce herd of cattle (there are only two herds on Portland to our knowledge). Build it and they will come... ©Dave Rashley: