Even the most committed local seawatchers seem to have grown weary of the incessant wind and today's turn out for a well into gale force westerly was underwhelming to say the least. A late
Storm Petrel and a/the
Grey Phalarope lingering in Chesil Cove wasn't too bad a return for those that did try even if the back-up cast of a lone
Little Gull and a few
Red-throated Divers left a fair bit to be desired. Other reports from the day included a
Merlin at Chesil Cove, a
Pintail at Ferrybridge, 2
Great Northern Divers in Portland Harbour and 4
Sandwich Terns in the Harbour/Ferrybridge area.
Pintail has increased in frequency as a visitor to Portland in recent years; this is today's bird over Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:
Having four Sandwich Terns about the area in mid-winter is unusual - the odd singles do pop up from time to time during the winter months but typically they're nowhere near as frequent at this season as they are in, for example, Poole Harbour © Debby Saunders:
