25th April

After yesterday's little hiatus normal service was resumed today with cloud overhead at dawn and our favourite - although currently really cold! - northeast wind dropping a nicely varied selection of common migrants. Willow Warblers and Blackcaps on 300 and 150 apiece made up the bulk of the numbers but 30 Garden Warblers was a noteworthy total and most of the other late April expecteds were represented, with singles of Little Ringed Plover, Black Redstart, Pied Flycatcher and Siskin the best of the less frequents; the male Cirl Bunting male a dawn appearance at the Obs where it was shortly afterwards mist-netted with a female in tow. The sea was very disappointing, with a veering of the breeze into the southeast as the day went on doing almost nothing; a white-winged gull - thought by the observers to most likely be an Iceland Gull - passed the Bill but 15 Bar-tailed Godwits, 15 Whimbrel, a Great Northern Diver and an Arctic Skua were as good as it got there on the routine passage front.

The lingering singing male Cirl Bunting has been really furtive just lately - on several days it hasn't been seen/heard at all - so its appearance early this morning in the Obs garden with a female in tow may well be extremely significant! © Martin Cade:




A few routine migrants aside, the Obs garden moth-traps have been very quiet this spring so a Brindled Beauty was a welcome overnight catch; although a widespread enough moth on the mainland, if we remember rightly this is only the third record for Portland © Martin Cade:


Wheatear at Ferrybridge today © Roy Norris: