18th April

Well, we needed some rain. On most fronts today was a write-off, with respectability just about provided by some pedestrian sea passage in between the periods of rain. In a stiff easterly Chesil provided the better returns that included 87 Little Terns, 86 Bar-tailed Godwits, 82 Common/commic terns, 75 Sandwich Terns, 18 Whimbrel, 3 Arctic Skuas, 2 Red-throated Divers and a Great Skua; mainly lower numbers of a similar selection at the Bill came with the addition of 50 Pale-bellied Brent Geese.

17th April

It was far too fine a day to expect much in the way of new arrivals and apart from the literally flying visit of a Hoopoe at Weston things were quiet everywhere, with just a small increase in Blackcaps - including 30 at the Bill - a Pied Flycatcher at Sweethill and the season's first Reed Warbler at Thumb Lane the most noteworthy events amongst the thin spread of grounded migrants. Hirundines continued to trickle through overhead although in far lower numbers than might have been hoped given the conditions. It was pretty much the same story on the sea, with 140 Kittiwakes, 115 Sandwich Terns, 20 Common Scoter, 2 Arctic Skuas and singles of Manx Shearwater and Sanderling the best of it at the Bill.

For the third consecutive year - following successful breeding in both 2023 and 2024 - a male Wheatear is attempting to establish a territory at the Bill Quarry; in full song flight it makes for a rather incongruous sight above the holidaymaker-filled quarry © Nick Hopper:


Pied Flycatchers have been relatively well represented in what's otherwise been a lean week for grounded migrants - this one was at Sweethill this evening © Debby Saunders:


green winged orchid now out at verne common.

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— andylportland.bsky.social (@andylportland.bsky.social) April 17, 2025 at 6:48 PM

16th April

With last night's blasting southwesterlies - the official peak windspeed was evidently up towards 60mph - taking most of the morning to subside, it took a fair amount of trudging around in less than ideal conditions before the day's highlight of a Cattle Egret was uncovered along the East Cliffs. With other grounded migrants either tucked well away or more likely absent altogether, the day's only other migrant happenings concerned a steady trickle of Swallows that carried on well into the evening and a lone Sanderling joining the few waders at Ferrybridge. The onshore wind failed to liven up the seawatching, with just 9 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Whimbrels and singles of Arctic Skua and Bonxie logged past the Bill and 60 Sandwich Terns and 20 Bar-tailed Godwits through off Chesil.

Still a decent quality bird at Portland even if it's now a routine sight in so many parts of southern England, this afternoon's Cattle Egret at the Bill was exhibiting all manner of breeding season finery © Martin Cade:


The early few Sanderlings in the last fortnight have still been in pretty well full winter plumage © Pete Saunders:


Sandwich Terns have been featuring in good numbers for the last week of more, with a constant presence off the Bill and strong passage off Chesil including at least 60 in quick time this evening © Pete Saunders:

15th April

Another day with plenty of potential that sadly fell short of the mark, with any improvement in the grounded migrant situation being right at the low end of incremental. A series of drizzly showers advancing from the south delivered around 50 Willow Warblers at the Bill and there was a steady trickle of arriving Swallows overhead, but 2 Hobbys in-off, 2 Whinchats at Barleycrates, a Great Spotted Woodpecker at Southwell and a Pied Flycatcher at the Obs were the only reports of particular note from around the island. Likely blocked by more substantial rain just to the west, the seawatching was a bit of a non-event, with 30 lingering Sandwich Terns, 5 Red-throated Divers, 5 Arctic Skuas and a Whimbrel logged at the Bill. 


Iconic spring birds from the Obs today - Swallow and Pied Flycatcher © Martin Cade:



Little Terns have been featuring really well in recent days, with suspicions that a lot of today's birds at Ferrybridge were migrants that departed as quickly as they'd arrived © Pete Saunders:


Sparrowhawks are being seen around the south of the island with much greater regularity than is usually the case at this time of year and there have been signs of possible breeding activity in one spot that would be a wholly new site for them © Pete Saunders:

14th April

A day of painful inadequacies on all front: a fresh southerly in mid-April might have been construed to offer the possibilities of a fall of migrants, overshoots galore and an epic seawatch but in the event an Obs garden ringing tally that didn't even manage double figures, the only scarcity a Turtle Dove that eluded widespread attention and a seawatch that was only really memorable for an exceptional tally of Little Terns was not the stuff of dreams. The grounded migrant situation was dismal, with no more than single figure totals of the usually commonest fare, and 3 Whinchats at the Bill the only one of the less regulars to feature. It was a little busier overhead: the Turtle Dove through at the Obs was the highlight, but incoming Swallows featured at a slightly steadier rate than in recent days, whilst odds and ends including 2 Merlins and 2 Yellow Wagtails provided further interest. Numerically, the day's chief rewards came from the sea: 126 Little Terns through off Chesil was a spectacularly high count of passage birds (there have been totals in the past of up to 250 at Ferrybridge/Portland Harbour but we're not sure there's been a seawatch total of as many as 126 before today); 33 Pale-bellied Brent Geese also over Chesil was another good total, whilst Chesil/the Bill combined also came up with the likes of 91 Common Scoter, 17 Whimbrel, 8 Red-throated Divers, 5 Arctic Skuas, an Eider and a Great Skua.

Always a surprisingly missable bird at this time of year - Pale-bellied Brents are pretty well always heading west in the spring and for that reason are often not spotted until they're going away from watchers at both Chesil and the Bill © Joe Stockwell:


We've said it before and will say it again: Eiders aren't half fast when they're in full blown migration mode! © Martin Cade:


Mute Swans and Common Sandpiper at Ferrybridge this morning © Pete Saunders:



First bike ride of the year to Portland Bill was productive on the sea if not the land - Puffin (not pictured), Red-throated Diver, Kittiwake and my first Dorset Bonxie since 2022 all added to the yearlist. Common Scoter also pictured @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social

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— Peter Moore (@moorebirdsbybike.bsky.social) April 14, 2025 at 10:51 PM

13th April

We're fans of changes in the weather but today's switch of the wind into the west after weeks of almost constant easterlies did no favours at all, with migrant numbers and variety hugely reduced. Two Hoopoes escaped the attention of almost everyone - one made a fleeting visit to Barleycrates Lane, whilst photos were again posted on Facebook of a second individual that continues to frequent a private garden at Southwell - and the only commoner migrants reported were a thin scatter of Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers on the ground, the first Lesser Whitethroat back on territory at Bumpers Lane and a few Swallows overhead. A steady passage of Kittiwakes offshore was accompanied by another 9 Red-throated Divers but the only other interest on the sea concerned a small evening movement of Manx Shearwaters.

12th April

Another day with things just about ticking over, albeit with the general feeling among the fieldworkers that despite the increasing cloud cover there was slightly less on offer than in recent days. A local Facebook posting reported the presence of a back garden Hoopoe at ?Southwell but this escaped the attention of birders who had to make do with the likes of the first 2 Grasshopper Warblers of the spring at the Bill, a Jay over Sweethill, a Corn Bunting at Reap Lane and the odd one or two Yellow Wagtails, Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers amongst the more numerous spread of Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers. Overhead passage remained rather pedestrian, with inbound Meadow Pipits, Linnets and Goldfinches far more numerous than hirundines. A positive from the day was a noticeable uptick in sea passage, with 250 Common Scoter, 29 Whimbrel, 18 Red-throated Divers, 7 Bar-tailed Godwits, 5 Arctic Skuas and 4 Little Gulls through off the Bill; 37 Manx Shearwaters and 19 Whimbrel were amongst the sea selection logged at Chesil.

Wader passage has been slow to get going this spring so it was good to see a slight increase in passing Whimbrel today, including these birds over Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:

11th April

We're sure migration has plenty of momentum in the ongoing extremely fair weather but the fact remains that we're not actually tapping into too much of that momentum as a lot of the birds presumably overfly us at night. Today had its moments, not least when the second Red-rumped Swallow of the spring shot through at High Angle Battery, a Hooded Crow pitched in on top of the Bill lighthouse after arriving in off the sea and a Hoopoe made a subliminal pass over the Southwell Business Park, but a very samey selection and quantity of grounded arrivals to every other day this week didn't really inspire. A scatter of 4 Ring Ouzels and a new Firecrest were nice and the other usual suspects included a Whinchat and a few Common and Black Redstarts, but it was left to Wheatear, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler to make up the overwhelming bulk of what numbers there were on the ground. Diurnal passage remained strangely subdued, with the sudden appearance of a flock of 100 Sand Martins on West Cliffs one of the few noteworthy events overhead. The sea tried its hardest to overcome the shortfall in numbers but was also left wanting, with just 29 Sandwich Terns, 28 Red-throated Divers, 19 Whimbrel and singles of Balearic Shearwater (a very early first of the 'summer'), Greylag Goose, Red-breasted Merganser and Arctic Skua through off the Bill and 17 more Whimbrel over Chesil.

When viewed from afar on the Obs patio the Hooded Crow was testing to the limit the resolving capabilities of our kiddie camera kit © Martin Cade:


A questionable coiffure choice? - the forehead of this morning's Firecrest was very extravagantly plastered with encrusted pollen © Martin Cade:


2 of the stunning Wheatears on the footpath at Barleycrates this morning

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— Debra Saunders (@debbyseamist.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 8:39 PM

10th April

Bar another flurry of Hoopoe sightings today didn't have tremendously much going for it; the unbroken sunshine was again nice but an unwelcome dip in the temperature had attracted plenty of less than complimentary comment at dawn. One Hoopoe was certainly a new arrival since it was watched flying in off the sea at the Bill, but how many of the day's other sightings - that came from Bill (possibly a second individual), Southwell and Weston - involved the later onward movements of this bird, the reappearance of recent individuals or additional wholly new arrivals wasn't at all clear. The grounded migrant tally included a thin but wide scatter of Wheatears, Common and Black Redstarts, Blackcaps, both phylloscs, a Pied Flycatcher and the like, but overhead passage was dismal: a Short-eared Owl passed through at the Bill but pipits, hirundines and finches slowed to no more than the lightest of trickles everywhere. The sea wasn't a lot better, with 21 Whimbrel, 12 Red-throated Divers, 2 Shoveler and 2 Arctic Skuas the best of a bad job off the Bill; the long-staying but erratic Long-tailed Duck also showed up again in Portland Harbour.

Anyone who likes a Hoopoe - is there anyone who doesn't? - is having a field day this spring. Very excitingly, today's bird at the Bill was actually watched flying in from far out to sea and later settled quite well for a while in one of the lanes leading down to East Cliffs...



...there's a lot of enjoyment in quietly watching a Hoopoe that doesn't come with an attendant phalanx of photographers sticking £10,000 lenses up it's backside in an attempt to get it to raise its crest for them © Martin Cade:


There also can't be many folk who don't like a Pied Flycatcher, so today's male trapped at the Obs was a popular bird...


...ageing-wise, amongst other things the chocolate brown flight feathers and old, juvenile outermost greater covert made things quite straightforward - this one's a second-year male. Of entirely esoteric interest, check out the moult visible in the secondaries where the innermost three feathers are clearly new - blacker and with a differently-shaped boundary between the the black and white than on the old outer three feathers; this actually isn't any use for definitive ageing since quite a few Pied Flycatchers apparently moult some secondaries during their pre-breeding moult; however, second-year birds - like this one - evidently usually moult a little more extensively in this feather tract than adults do which perhaps explains why our bird has half of its secondaries new © Martin Cade:

9th April

Another day that ticked along under a blazing sun and in a still cool northeasterly. For Hoopoe-aficionados it was a day of frustration and then delight, as first off one showed all too briefly for just its finder at Wakeham; however, a second individual later showed fabulously well for all-comers inside the Verne Citadel. Common migrants weren't at all plentiful, with Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler barely making 30 apiece at the Bill, but a nice selection of the less routine around the island included double figures of both Common and Black Redstarts, 3 Ring Ouzels, 3 Pied Flycatchers and at least singles of Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, Tree Pipit, Whinchat and Redpoll. The sea was never busy but did come with 27 Red-throated Divers, 3 Arctic Skuas and a Great Skua through off the Bill.

After a series of either brief or long range Hoopoes so far this spring it was nice to see one that performed impeccably © Martin Cade: 


Our usual after tea routine at this time of year is to have a look at Ferrybridge before trying a Chesil seawatch but today the tide was high and 20 minutes peering into Lyme Bay revealed not a single bird worth a mention, so to salvage the evening we popped over to Weymouth for a look at the Subalpine Warbler very well found at the weekend by James Lowther in the slightly unlikely setting of some anonymous hedges/fields behind Weymouth Police Station. With the blackthorn hedges already in shade it probably wasn't the best time of day to look for something as furtive as this but just occasionally it did actually show moderately well, albeit always very briefly. We didn't hear any calls and aren't aware any have been heard/recorded, and there was no clear view of the tail pattern, but from what we could see there was no good reason to suppose it isn't a Western Subalpine which would be overwhelmingly the most likely possibility this early in the spring © Martin Cade:

ring ouzel verne moat

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— andylportland.bsky.social (@andylportland.bsky.social) April 9, 2025 at 5:37 PM

8th April

Once the chill of dawn had passed, an appreciable drop in the strength of the wind made for a pleasant day's birding, even if what was on offer was in a very similar vein to recent days. Bits and pieces of interest around the Bill included 7 Redstarts, 5 Black Redstarts, 2 Ring Ouzels and singles of Yellow Wagtail, Pied Flycatcher and a Bullfinch, with a Marsh Harrier over Reap Lane the only oddity reported amongst the similar selection further up island. It was another fine day for hirundines to be on the move, with 100 Sand Martins and 56 Swallows logged in a sample hour on West Cliffs where a constant trickle of Meadow Pipits, Linnets and Goldfinches, along with a single Redpoll, accompanied them. Sea passage off the Bill included 139 Common Scoters, 62 Sandwich Terns, 24 Red-throated Divers, 3 Shelduck, a Whimbrel and a Manx Shearwater.

It was a good redstart day, with both Common and Black getting well into double figures around the centre and south of the island © Debby Saunders:

7th April

With not a sniff of a change in the weather there was a real feel of diminished returns about today's proceedings, with a much thinner spread of migrants on the ground as well as less on the move both overhead and on the sea. An Osprey heading north over Southwell was an a nice afternoon highlight and saved the day after the earlier returns had been so relatively impoverished, with 3 Black Redstarts, 2 Sanderling, 2 Redstarts, 2 Fieldfares and a Bullfinch the best on offer at the Bill and the year's first Common Sandpiper at Ferrybridge the pick of the bunch elsewhere. Sea passage off the Bill included 23 more passing Red-throated Divers.

This afternoon's Osprey over Southwell...


                          ...and this morning's Common Sandpiper at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:


Whitethroat at Southwell this evening © Debby Saunders:


We received details today of another interesting Chiffchaff ringing recovery: a bird originally ringed here at the Bill in October 2018 was controlled three days ago by the guys at Hilbre Bird Observatory; the oldest Chiffchaff from UK ringing is apparently a bird of seven years and seven months, so at six years and six months this individual's already lived to a grand old age and is still going strong:


Although the moth-traps are still really quiet there have been the occasional oddities cropping up, with last night's Great Prominent at the Obs only the fourth record there of this oak woodland species © Martin Cade

6th April

Today had a little bit of everything going for it, with a bountiful selection of grounded common migrants including a couple of firsts for the spring, some strong overhead passage including a classic spring overshoot and a least a small uptick in sea passage to boot. Chiffchaffs were once again the most numerous of the grounded arrivals everywhere, with the 400 or so logged at the Bill including many that were really actively moving straight through; the wide selection of lower totals around the island included the likes of 100 Wheatears, 25 Redstarts, 10 Black Redstart and singles of Ring Ouzel, Pied Flycatcher and Bullfinch, with a Garden Warbler at Southwell and a Whitethroat at Verne Common both firsts for the year. Overhead passage was strong through the morning before tailing off sharply towards midday; a Red-rumped Swallow through over the Crown Estate Field was by far the highlight, whilst 400 Meadow Pipits and 280 Linnets from a two and a half hour sample count at Wallsend gave an indication of the numbers involved. Sea passage picked up a little, with 105 Common Scoters, 8 Red-throated Divers and a Gargeney amongst others through off the Bill.

A first dragonfly on the wing this year - a Broad-bodied Chaser - emerged from one of the Obs garden ponds.

A couple of snatched records of the Red-rumped Swallow © Joe Stockwell:




A few of the days migrant selection - Redstart © Debby Saunders, Wheatear and Redshank © Pete Saunders and Yellow Wagtail © Joe Stockwell:





5th April

Perhaps we've reached the point in spring where birds are on the move regardless, as today's hardly ideal conditions of blasting wind and crystal-clear sky heralded yet another decent arrival both on land and overhead. A good fair-weather arrival on the ground saw a constant throughput of migrants across the Bill that by its nature wasn't at all easy to quantify but included likely very conservative guesstimates of 200 Chiffchaffs, 50 Wheatears, 50 Willow Warblers and 15 Redstarts, with Blackcaps well represented and 3 Redwings and a White Wagtail amongst the padders. Elsewhere, the spring's first Whinchat was at Reap Lane, with 8 Redstarts, 5 Yellow Wagtails and a Black Redstart also scattered around the middle and 2 Little Ringed Plovers and the season's first 4 Little Terns at Ferrybridge. A Chough in/off over Chesil - only the sixth record for Portland - was a fine highlight from the day's overhead passage that saw another steady arrival of hirundines, Meadow Pipits and finches during the first few hours of the morning before things tailed off prematurely after midday; the passage was poorly covered but odd sample counts including 200 Sand Martins in two hours on West Cliffs gave an idea of the volume. Whether the year's first Corn Bunting that passed over a garden at Weston during the afternoon was an overflying migrant or a previously overlooked temporary resident will hopefully be clarified in the next few days. The day's seawatching never really got going, with a lone Arctic Skua the only bird of particular note at the Bill.  

This evening's Little Ringed Plovers at Ferrybridge © Martin Cade:

4th April

Like the weather, the birding was very much a tale of two halves, with a cold and damp start seeing another decent arrival of grounded migrants and some steady sea passage before the cloud lifted and any diurnal passage that had been blocked by the morning's rain could finally get going in the afternoon's unbroken sunshine. At the Bill, a total of 60 grounded Chiffchaffs contrasted with just single figure tallies of both Willow Warbler and Blackcap, but 4 Goldcrests, 2 Fieldfare, 2 Black Redstarts, a Water Rail, a White Wagtail and at least 2 of the long-staying Firecrests provided some variety there, whilst a single Common Redstart was a further addition at Southwell. Hirundine passage was conspicuously busier than of late, with the 44 Swallows, 11 House Martins and 3 Sand Martins logged in a 30 minute sample on the West Cliffs giving an idea of relative proportions involved in a movement that looked likely to have reached a four-figure total for the island as a whole. A varied selection from the sea at the Bill included 354 Common Scoter, 350 Gannets, 49 Sandwich Terns, 41 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 18 Teal, 11 Red-throated Divers, 5 Eider and singles of Arctic Skua and Puffin. 

The season's first ringing control concerned a Chiffchaff first ringed at Carey, near Wareham, last September that was trapped at the Obs this morning; assuming it left the country over east Dorset soon after it was ringed last autumn then it didn't make a bad job of navigating its way back in this spring along pretty much the same track:


Always a pleasure to see at this time of year - today's Common Redstart at Southwell © Phil Cheeseman:


An arrival of Blossom Underwings last night: 4 from the one actinic trap running in the Obs garden

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) April 4, 2025 at 1:35 PM

3rd April

The northeasterly airflow's showing no sign of abating, but today's increasingly overcast conditions - that heralded the novelty for recent weeks of a spell of late afternoon rain - brought some much needed change to proceedings and dropped more than a sprinkle of new arrivals on the land. A total of 75 Chiffchaffs made up the bulk of the grounded migrants at the Bill, where Wheatears, Blackcaps and Willow Warblers were all represented in far lower numbers and 5 Fieldfare, 3 Redwings and a Redstart provided some variety. It was far busier overhead, although action there was on such a broad front that it was tricky to fully tap into what with there being next to no visiting birders about to lend a hand in that department; a two hour stint at Wallsend that came up with 513 Meadow Pipits, 240 Linnets, 63 Goldfinches, 57 Swallows, 57 Sand Martins and 22 House Martins patently only scratched the surface and the day's true diurnal totals would have been considerably higher. In contrast, the day's sea passage was a little more subdued than of late, with 137 Common Scoter, 80 Sandwich Terns, 5 commic terns, 4 Red-throated Divers, a Great Northern Diver and a Teal through off the Bill.

2nd April

Although we're stuck in samey conditions - blazingly bright and sunny with a naggingly strong northeasterly a constant feature - and the birding is in a more of the same vein we have the consolation that the repeats make decent enough viewing, with strong showings over the sea and overhead again today; the land remains the poor relation, with a lone Firecrest easily the best of the thinnest of groundings at the Bill and a slight increase to 70 Dunlin the only evidence of wader arrivals at Ferrybridge. The sea was well-watched with almost identical totals at Chesil and Bill that included 555 Common Scoter, 12 Shoveler, 7 Grey Plovers, 3 Eider, 2 Red-throated Divers and singles of Velvet Scoter, Whimbrel and Arctic Tern. Overhead passage was tricky to tap into today, with a lot of the movement occurring well out beyond both West Cliffs and Chesil, but Meadow Pipits and Linnets both reached the many hundreds level, with hirundines getting into the several dozens.


1st April

Today's blasting easterly may have made for challenging conditions in the field but there were plenty of rewards to be had from the various watchpoints around the island. At sea, Common Scoters were once again on the move in big numbers, with 603 through off the Bill, alongside 50 Sandwich Terns, 6 Shelduck, 2 Garganey, 2 Arctic Skua, 2 Greylag Geese, 2 Common Terns and an Arctic Tern. The Greylags and Garganey had also earlier been seen passing Chesil, where additional sightings through the day included 44 Black-headed Gulls, 22 Shoveler, 2 Whimbrel and singles of Curlew, Sanderling, Grey Plover and Dunlin. Another strong diurnal passage saw small flocks of pipits and finches arriving at a fairly constant rate well into the early afternoon, with a total of 990 Meadow Pipits, 368 Linnets and 51 Goldfinches logged during a three hour sample count on West Cliffs; other variety on the move included the first 2 Tree Pipits of the spring, 2 Fieldfare and 2 Song Thrush; hirundines, however, were noticeably quieter than yesterday with neither Swallow nor Sand Martin making it to 50 at the Bill. On the shore, a noticeable uptick in waders included 60 Dunlin and a Sanderling at Ferrybridge.

It was another Common Scoter day over the sea, although there were other snippets of interest to be tapped into including Greylag Geese and Arctic Skuas © Martin Cade (scoters and Arctic Skua) and Keith Pritchard (Greylag Geese):





Sadly, by evening the light was shocking so it was fortunate that Shovelers are pretty distinctive even when completely silhouetted against the setting sun © Martin Cade:

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