29th December

Still nowhere near enough going on to justify daily updates but today's brighter if still breezy conditions did see slightly more fieldwork undertaken. A Purple Sandpiper at Portland Harbour was a minor oddity as were the 4 Pintail - along with 5 Red-throated Divers and 2 Brent Geese - that passed by off the Bill. More mundane fare included 4 Purple Sandpipers and a Short-eared Owl at the Bill and several Gannets, 8 Great Northern Divers, 2 Black-necked Grebes and singles of Black-throated Diver and Slavonian Grebe scattered about at Portland Harbour.

One of the eight Great Northern Divers in Portland Harbour © John Dadds: