Plenty of positives again today, with the southerly airflow seeing migrants arrive in decent numbers throughout the south of the island. The constituent parts were much as they should in mid-March, with Wheatear, Stonechat and Chiffchaff accumulating totals of c50, 38 and c20 respectively between the Bill and Weston; Goldcrest and Blackcap were both firsts for the season, with at least 4 of the former and a single of the latter dotted about, whilst the 3 Firecrests logged included 2 new arrivals at Southwell. It was a bit too murky for visible passage to really get going but alba wagtails in particular looked/sounded to be trickling through all day. The sea was again disappointing, with little more than 7 Red-throated Divers, 5 Curlew, 2 Brent Geese and a Grey Plover through off the Bill along with a very light passage of routine gulls.
Tiny but perfectly formed - it's always good to see Goldcrests on the move © Martin Cade:
A good proportion of the Red-throated Divers were in nice summer plumage but the only one that came within camera range for us still wasn't fully coloured-up...
...the Curlews obliged by passing right underneath us at the Bill © Martin Cade:
Afternoon walk round @PortlandBirdObs and Portland Bill With @libbyamac plenty to see, including a Peregrine fly over, lots of returning Wheatears, Black Redstart and the Little Owls in the Obs quarry. pic.twitter.com/D2tWiUuCTG
— Nicolas (@NicEcology) March 16, 2023
Turns out this is a bird from Lundy, Graham - many thanks for posting the photo and thanks also to Tony Taylor for his quick reply with the ringing details: pic.twitter.com/lEw7QsDgA3
— Portland Bird Observatory (@PortlandBirdObs) March 16, 2023
