The return of high summer - it is only mid-May but it certainly didn't feel like it under the blazing sun - did nothing for us on the passerine front but the day was saved by some nice sea action that included by far the largest tern passage of the spring to date.
Commic terns made up the bulk of the numbers off the Bill, where 710 passed through in quick time soon after dawn; 2
Black Terns amongst them were a bonus first for the year, whilst 330
Manx Shearwaters, 51
Common Scoter, 30
Black-headed Gulls, 25
Mediterranean Gulls, 10
Sandwich Terns, 3
Arctic Skuas, 2
Great Northern Divers, a
Sanderling and a
Pomarine Skua made for a varied back-up cast. The land was pretty terrible: a
Cattle Egret undertook a quick tour of the south of the island during the afternoon but 4
Reed Warblers at the Bill and a
White Wagtail at Ferrybridge were the best of a very meagre spread of common migrants on the ground; it was hardly busier overhead where the dribble of
hirundines was many orders of magnitude less than ought to have been taking advantage of the conditions.
Insect migration continued with a small catch of the usual suspects in the moth-traps, Painted Ladys and Large Whites watched arriving in off the sea at the Bill and a Red-veined Darter discovered on the Slopes.
Back to normal at PBO! @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social with 10 birds ringed at two sites in 20 hours total! Clear skies all days hence 2 Reed W, 1 WW, 1 CC, 1 Swallow, 1 Goldfinch, 2 House Sp. and the first 2 juv. Robins of the year. Like last week we will persevere!!
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— Peter J Morgan (@pbo61.bsky.social) May 13, 2025 at 9:25 PM
quite a sight and sound, one of several groups of herring gulls in a feeding frenzy, these around southwell business park
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— andylportland.bsky.social (@andylportland.bsky.social) May 13, 2025 at 8:10 PM
