14th April

Contrary to the weather forecast the fog that had rolled in yesterday evening proved to be considerably less all-enveloping than anticipated through the hours of darkness and, although in came and went throughout the day, it was not to the detriment of birding activities. Migrant numbers perked up quite well, with the season's first Grasshopper Warbler and Reed Warbler discovered amongst an arrival that included at the Bill 100 each of Blackcap and Willow Warbler; variety was otherwise still on the low side, with Wheatears conspicuously few and far between, Whitethroats still hardly troubling the scorers and a couple of single Redstarts barely worth a mention when they should be much more numerous. A flock of 22 Brent Geese Portland Harbour seem likely to have been Pale-bellied Brents but that fact wasn't established for certain, whilst the Red-necked Grebe was also still in the harbour. The visibility was rarely reduced enough to affect seawatching but it seemed as though murkiness elsewhere in Channel might have been putting the block on passage since little of note beyond 5 Arctic Skuas and singles of Red-throated Diver and Great Skua were logged off the Bill.