26th March

Another pleasant day's birding although ultimately prematurely curtailed when a blanket of fog - all too often the blight of anticyclonic early spring days at Portland - settled over the island during the last few hours of the afternoon. Among the new arrivals a Hoopoe at Weston was the highlight, with Firecrests still featuring well - another 6 new birds were trapped at the Obs where the 15 ringed so far this month contrasts very favourably with the measly 3 trapped during the whole of last spring - and single Redstarts new at Barleycrates and Southwell; the Blue-headed Wagtail remained at Reap Lane and there was a spread of White Wagtails and Black Redstarts around the south of the island. Other grounded migrants included totals of 90 Chiffchaffs, 25 Willow Warblers, 2 Redwings, 2 Blackcaps and singles of Goldcrest, Greenfinch and Brambling at the Bill, where some rather pedestrian diurnal passage along West Cliffs included 150 Meadow Pipits, 42 Goldfinches, 30 Sand Martins and 17 Fieldfares. Red-throated Divers continued to dominate the sea tally at the Bill with 46 through; 20 Brent Geese, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 3 Sandwich Terns and 2 Eider were the best of the rest there.

A Large Tortoiseshell was seen settled on West Cliffs at Southwell during the afternoon. 

Portland today well pleased to get this Hoopoe even though distant in poor light , thanks to Duncan the finder

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— Phil Cheeseman@bsky.social (@philcheeseman.bsky.social) March 26, 2025 at 6:24 PM

Although far from the brash brightness of a spring male, on close inspection there's still plenty going for a spring female Brambling © Martin Cade:

A mobile phone snap of the Large Tortoiseshell at Southwell - the first record for the island since the last sightings of the temporarily established breeding population in March 2022 © John Lucas: