Still breezy but otherwise an altogether more pleasant day that came up with a slight surprise in the form of an early first
Willow Warbler of the autumn at the Bill. A dispersing
Great Spotted Woodpecker was also new in there, whilst a
Black Redstart was a good mid-summer sighting at Chiswell - surely an area that's full of suitable breeding sites; however, as in recent days, it was the sea that came up with all the numbers.
Manx Shearwaters exceeded 200 but the
Balearic total was only c25, with the seawatchers missing out on higher numbers of the latter that were presumably associating with feeding gulls to the west of the island and eventually trailed away still further west, passing Chesil on the way. Six
Common Scoter, 2
Great Skuas, a
Whimbrel and an
Arctic Skua also passed through off the Bill and a
Yellow-legged Gull joined the offshore gull flock as the day went on.
Large Tortoiseshells were logged at St Andrew's Church, Wakeham, The Grove and Old Hill, the first
Chalkhill Blue of the year was on the wing at Tout Quarry where a
Red-veined Darter also showed up.
This morning's dispersing Great Spotted Woodpecker was looking decidedly bemused at discovering that south Portland's really not like the sylvan paradise that it grew up in © Martin Cade:
Today's random reports of Large Tortoiseshells included this one that was found trapped inside a garden shed at Wakeham © Roger Gall:
