Winter records of Red Kite at Portland are extremely infrequent; this one looked as though it was attempting to leave towards France but after getting several miles offshore it about-turned and headed back north off East Cliffs © John Hansford:
17th November
A relatively meagre list of migrants to show for today's efforts but there were some snippets of quality in the form of singles of Red Kite and Lapland Bunting overhead at the Bill and 15 Pintail and 4 Velvet Scoter through on the sea there. Passerine-wise, the only arrivals on the ground looked to be 3 Redwings and a Chiffchaff; one or two other lingering Chiffchaffs, together with 2 Goldcrests, a Blackcap and a Brambling, were also still about there. Overhead, there was little on the move bar a few Chaffinches, whilst 4 Red-throated Divers, 2 Brent Geese and a Great Northern Diver were the only extras of note on the sea. Ferrybridge was busy: 8 Black-tailed and 6 Bar-tailed Godwits, the Common Scoter and singles of Pale-bellied Brent Goose, Knot and Sanderling were there during the morning and by the afternoon 2500 Mediterranean Gulls had gathered; nearby, 34 Turnstones were on the Harbour shore and 5 Black-necked Grebes in the Harbour itself.
