A warm and clear start to the day slowly deteriorated with the wind picking up by lunch time and bringing in the rain from the Western Approaches. The species list remained pretty consistent with previous days save for a small upturn in Balearic Shearwaters with three individuals drifting back and forth at the Bill; another sighting of a Red-throated Diver - presumably the same individual that also passed by a couple of days ago - was also notewothy. On the land, migrants remained elusive but the breeding birds are out in force with the Starling and Linnet flocks topping 300 and 150 respectively.
Small Tortoiseshell at the Bill today: an increasingly rare sight on Portland, in fact Large Tortoiseshells have been far more frequently seen in the past few years © Erin Taylor:
