27th October

Quite often on Portland we watch the rain alarm threatening us with heavy showers and we watch smugly as the rain passes by us, straight onto Weymouth. Today was quite the opposite as the radar showed little to no rain whilst we were pelted with wind driven sheets that soaked through even the toughest of waterproofs. This left the day list for the obs area looking a little on the sad side, in fact three Fieldfares, two Redwings and singles of Merlin and Chiffchaff were about as much as we could muster. The sea only fared fractionally better with singles of Bonxie and Pintail of note. Away from the obs (in the relative shelter from the wind), large flocks of Long-tailed Tits were joined by a single Firecrest at Church Ope Cove, where the lingering Black Redstart also remained. In terms of long-stayers though, the Rosy Starling at Easton reached its 43rd day. 

Perhaps the strangest sighting of the day came in the form of a Golden Pheasant in a garden in Southwell, one of a plethora of escapees on Portland currently with a rogue flock of Grey Partridges also on the loose © Pete Saunders: