Thus far, it's the sea that's come up with this year's surprises and that remained the case today as the return of wind and rain saw the discovery of a lingering Grey Phalarope at Chesil Cove. Although the sea - particularly off the Bill - was very busy with routine fare the only other storm-driven strays were a couple of Kittiwakes in Portland Harbour; 3 more passing Red-throated Divers were the pick off the Bill, with 2 Great Northern Divers and 1 Red-necked Grebe still in Portland Harbour. Not surprisingly, the continuing Cetti's Warbler at the Bill constituted the only report from the land.
A lone Rusty-dot Pearl at the Grove was the first trap-caught migrant moth of the year.
Our attempts at record-shots of the Grey Phalarope with a variety of kiddie cameras were of course toying with defying the laws of physics but you sort of get the idea of what a tiny pelagic wader bobbing about like a cork in the surf hundreds of metres away in gale-blown drizzle and under a leaden sky might have looked like © Martin Cade:
One of the Great Northern Divers was showing nicely at much closer range in Portland Harbour © Pete Saunders:
