10th-15th January

In rather samey weather there's just been a rather samey selection of mainly routine winterers to report from the last few days. Out and about on the land, a Siskin briefly on the bird feeders at the Obs on 11th was the first this winter, the Purple Sandpipers at the Bill tip have peaked at 6 and other winterers in the vicinity have included up to 40 Linnets, 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Reed Buntings, a Snipe, a Black Redstart and a Firecrest; elsewhere, another half a dozen or so Black Redstarts have included the first for a long time at Blacknor. Portland Harbour totals have included up to 9 Great Northern Divers, 8 Common Scoter, 5 Black-necked Grebes and 2 Black-throated Divers, whilst nearby at Ferrybridge the customary January peak of Mediterranean Gulls has reached 1600 on 15th. Offshore interest has included an isolated winter peak to date of c25000 auks off the Bill on 10th (but far fewer since then) and lower numbers of Red-throated Divers than usual, with a peak of 18 on 10th.

Black Redstart and Kingfisher at Portland Harbour © Duncan Walbridge:

Purple Sandpiper, Peregrine and Little Owl at the Bill © Matt Cooper:

Reed Bunting at the Bill © Martin Cade:

6th-9th January

Still very quiet around the island so far this week - many of the regular winterers remain on station and the likes of Red-throated Divers continue to tickle by off the Bill. The only new arrival of particular note was a Common Sandpiper at Ferrybridge on 7th; a Great Spotted Woodpecker at Pennsylvania Castle on 9th was also the first reported for several weeks although it's more than likely been about and just escaped attention with so few people out looking.

Barn Owls have been quite showy at the Bill this winter, with - uncharacteristically for Portland - quite regular broad daylight sightings in the vicinity of the Obs © Martin Cade...

Our stalwart owl-catchers, Mark Cutts and Verity Hill, made the most of a still evening last weekend and trapped two new Barn Owls in the Crown Estate Field © Verity Hill:

With nothing much going on around the island we took the opportunity today to make the most of some decent weather and pop over to Lodmoor for a look at the Green-winged Teal that's been there for a couple of days - after a very long period of inactivity it actually ended up showing pretty well © Martin Cade:

2nd-5th January

All sorts of weather and not that many sorts of bird in the last few days as the conditions swung from flat calm and icy cold to wildly windy, wet and extremely mild. The only even slightly out of the ordinary sightings were of a Mallard off the Bill on 2nd and a Goldeneye in Portland Harbour on 4th. Red-throated Divers were daily off the Bill (max 14 on 4th), with a lone passing Shelduck (on 3rd) also of note on the sea; the daily regulars around Portland Harbour have included 5 Common Scoter, 4 Great Northern Divers, 3 Black-necked Grebes and 2 Black-throated Divers, with several more Great Northern Divers and a Pale-bellied Brent Goose at Ferrybridge. Black Redstarts have been scattered at their regular spots and winterers at the Bill have included 4 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Chiffchaffs and a Reed Bunting.

One of the spread of Great Northern Divers at Ferrybridge and Portland Harbour © Pete Saunders:

1st January

Not the easiest of starts to the year, what with a severe gale that had blown in overnight spoiling the best part of the morning before the onset of heavy rain washed out the rest of the day. The day's only rewards were 6 Kittiwakes, 4 Great Northern Divers, 4 Shelducks, a Pale-bellied Brent Goose and a Little Gull at Ferrybridge and a Firecrest at the Obs.

A lone Rusty-dot Pearl made it into a moth-trap at the Obs before the gale set in to get the year's migrant moth tally off the mark.

Little Gull, Kittiwake and Pale-bellied Brent Goose getting the Ferrybridge year off to a decent start this morning © Pete Saunders