Barring a short blip during the morning when the island caught the edge of a passing rain band today's mainly sunny skies were a treat and not tempered too much by a chilly breeze. A fair few of yesterday's Red-throated Divers decided they didn't like the look of Lyme Bay, with 20 trailing back east off the Bill through the morning; it was also noticeably busy offshore, with a substantial increase in the size of the feeding flock of Gannets, gulls and auks; ashore, a Little Gull was a surprise find in the saturated fields at Reap Lane. The only other reports came from Portland Harbour: the news services carried a report of the Velvet Scoter still present and 4 - presumably overflying? - Spoonbills, whilst routine fare from other observers included 5 Black-necked Grebes, 3 each of Great Northern Diver and Eider, 2 Common Scoter and singles of Black-throated Diver and Curlew.
We've been rather spoilt for Little Gulls so far this year but today's ultra-confiding bird that spent the afternoon in the unlikely setting of the the muddy fields at Reap Lane was well worth grossing out on; at first we thought it might not be well because it sometimes looked a little unsteady on its feet but subsequently it was flying about perfectly strongly and repeatedly dropped down to pick up and consume worms © Martin Cade (video and settled still) and Debby Saunders (flying stills):
