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2nd May

Informed wisdom suggested that by mid-morning today there wouldn't ever have been a 2nd May with so few sightings on the day sheet - and it didn't get any better after that. Our needy cause wasn't exactly helped by thick fog having rolled in overnight that demonstrably prevented overflying migrants even knowing of the island's existence and precluded any chances of seawatching saving the day; by the time the clearance came and the heat of the current scorching spell kicked in the day had largely been written off by most prospective participants. A Little Stint new in at Ferrybridge was the day's high point, with singles of Pied and Spotted Flycatchers at the Obs the best of the what few passerine migrants were about.

The Obs moth-traps didn't delivery us as many migrant moths as we might have hoped - just a handful of Diamond-backs, Rusty-dot Pearls and Dark Sword Grasses - but by day Red Admirals were quite numerous and several more Painted Ladys were logged; during the evening there were many hundreds of Diamond-back Moths at Ferrybridge.

We're frequently amused to learn that some readers of the blog are concerned for our mental wellbeing - such is the adject misery we have fun projecting. Nothing could be further from the truth: we can't odds how few migrants are about - that's just a result of the prevailing unhelpful weather and a century of more of the human race trashing the planet; we just tell it how it is and if folk as well informed as birders think that it's OK to drive 100 or more mile round trips for year ticks or a good photo then there really isn't any hope. We can assure our readers that there are far more tiresome things you could be doing than, for example, spending a rather idyllic evening hour within a few square metres at Ferrybridge where we could watch a Little Stint to one side, a Yellow Wagtail on the other and chivvy up literally dozens of Diamond-back Moths every time we moved our feet - very simple pleasures but ever so enjoyable nonetheless © Martin Cade:

Striped Hawk-moth (Hyles livornica), to light on Portland, Dorset on 1/5. A. Harmer. #teammoth @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social

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— Migrant Lepidoptera (GB & Ireland) (@migrantmothuk.bsky.social) May 2, 2025 at 11:45 AM

1st May

A Night Heron has more than enough pedigree to save any lacklustre day and when the circumstances of its occurrence are as peculiar as those of the bird that showed up at the Bill today then we were even more fortunate: first seen mid-morning arriving in off the sea at the Bill tip, it proceeded to linger in full view on the rocky shore along East Cliffs until early evening when it eventually upped and departed high to the east. By most other measures the day was indeed a disappointment, with no more than the smallest arrival of grounded migrants, just a light passage of diurnal arrivals and, by yesterday's standards, the slowest of seawatches. A Pied Flycatcher and a Black Redstart were the pick of the newcomers at the Bill, where a handful of Yellow Wagtails, Whinchats, Wheatears and Willow Warblers made up the bulk of the numbers, whilst a Grey Plover and a Yellow-legged Gull were the best of the arrivals at Ferrybridge. Overhead, an Osprey through at Easton and 2 Hobbys through at the Bill compensated for the again slow pace of Swift and hirundine passage. A last gasp 3 Pomarine Skuas saved the day for the Bill seawatchers who had earlier endured long hours for little more than 3 Little Gulls, a Great Crested Grebe and a Great Skua; a few waders and more small gulls were also still moving there and off Chesil.

Butterfly immigration was again evident during the evening when several Red Admirals were watched arriving in off the sea at Chesil and a number of presumably earlier arrivals - along with a single Painted Lady - were basking in the last of the sun on the walls of the Chesil Centre.

The Night Heron put on an unexpectedly good show - on one occasion just after it made first landfall it even landed right on top of Pulpit Rock! With four records in the 14 years between 1987 and 2001 this species had looked like it might become a tolerably regular scarcity here but it's subsequently taken 24 years for another to appear; the previous records fell between extreme dates of 4th April and 24th June with two of them, like today's occurrence, involving birds actually watched coming in off the sea © Martin Cade:


Wheatears have been one of the most conspicuous migrants in recent days; there are still a few presumed British breeders passing through but big, richly-coloured Greenland/Iceland breeders are very much to the fore © Mark Williams (in field) and Martin Cade (in hand):



And from the sublime to the ridiculous: the female Mandarin surfaced again this evening when it dropped in on a garden pond at Sweethill © Nick Stantiford:


30th April

After a couple of duff springs for them we were due a bit of a Pom-fest and just that came to pass today, with the gentle northeasterly and cloudless skies being perfect for Pomarine Skuas to trundle up-Channel in quantity with the sun on their backs; Portland's tally of 20 - including flocks of 9 and 7 - might not stand comparison with points eastward but was well above average for us and provided plenty of entertainment. Sea passage was otherwise fitful at best, although 5 Arctic Skuas, a Great White Egret, a Great Northern Diver, an uptick in Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls, and a good variety of waders spread between the Bill and Chesil were all worthwhile bonuses. The grounded migrant situation showed a slight improvement in numbers if not really in variety: Yellow Wagtail, Wheatear, Whinchat and Willow Warbler all got into double figures at the Bill, whilst gulls and waders scattered between the Bill and Ferrybridge included 50 Mediterranean Gulls, 21 Ringed Plovers, 21 Bar-tailed Godwits, 10 Turnstones and 5 Sanderling. Overhead it was still oddly quiet, with far fewer hirundines and Swifts than might have been expected.

A flurry of migrant/dispersing butterflies included a Large Tortoiseshell at St Andrews Churchyard, a Brimstone at Blacknor and a Painted Lady at Chesil.

For reasons we don't really understand, the majority of birders present at the Bill today chose to watch the spectacle of the passing Poms from the distance of the Obs patio rather than get close to the action at the Bill tip, so rather than lovely photographs of Pom flocks here's a bit of video from our 'out of hours' Chesil watching on the last couple of evenings (featuring Shovelers, Knots, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwits, Black-headed Gulls and Arctic Skuas) © Martin Cade:


Accompanying us on top of the beach was this Painted Lady that we're guessing had recently arrived in off the sea © Martin Cade:


29th April

Since all but two of the observers out and about around the island today failed to spot an enormous white and black bird flying majestically and blindingly obviously through island airspace this morning we're not sure we should take as a given that they'd have uncovered whatever songbird vagrant might have been lurking less obtrusively; the White Stork that so deftly escaped wider scrutiny progressed north from Southwell before leaving across Portland Harbour and provided the day's highpoint. Vision impairments aside, it certainly looked to remain quiet for routine migration which came as no surprise bearing in mind the unchanged conditions, with Wheatear again taking top spot amongst the grounded arrivals that included another Short-eared Owl but little else that wouldn't have been expected. Diurnal passage was also again noticeably lighter than anticipated, with a single Hobby the best of it at the Bill. In a fresher northeasterly sea passage picked up a little, with 105 Common Scoter, 4 Arctic Skuas and singles of Pomarine Skua and Red-throated and Great Northern Diver through off the Bill and 15 Turnstones, 10 Knot, 8 Shoveler and 3 Arctic Skuas through from Chesil.

It's amazing how quickly you can get benefits from the provision of decent habitat. Today saw our fields that are managed under a Countryside Stewardship deal ploughed in preparation for this year's crops to be planted and in no time at all multiples of, amongst others, Whinchat, Yellow Wagtail and White Wagtail had appeared feeding voraciously over the freshly broken ground - since none were known to be anywhere in the vicinity when the work started we can only guess that they were overflying migrants lured down opportunistically © Martin Cade:

28th April

We currently have a decent selection of secondhand optics and associated paraphernalia for sale; these are as follows:
A local Obs member is selling the camera - if you contact us at the Obs we'll put you in touch with the seller. The other items are all being held at the Obs and can be examined on request - all are in excellent condition (...the little Ultravid binoculars are lovely!); these items are all being sold by another Obs member, with part of the proceeds going to Obs funds.

The needle was firmly stuck in the groove on both the weather and bird fronts today, with it remaining gloriously sunny and warm but as a consequence also still rather uninspiring for migrants. A lone Short-eared Owl and another flurry of 50 Wheatears were new in at the Bill but there and elsewhere other arrivals were few and far between; despite the seemingly perfect conditions overhead passage everywhere was very lacklustre and included no surprises. The sea ticked along with occasional passing Manx Shearwaters, Common Scoters, Bar-tailed Godwits, Whimbrel and the like but just 3 Arctic Skuas through off the Bill was a poor skua return in a light easterly at this time of year; 3 Dark-bellied Brent Geese settled off Chesil were on the late side.

1x adonis blue, 2x cmn blue, c.12 small blue, 1x dingy skipper, 1x orange tip, wall browns, small whites, cmn whites possible distant f brimstone. at blacknor gully today

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— andylportland.bsky.social (@andylportland.bsky.social) April 28, 2025 at 3:54 PM

27th April

Not that there was much going on anyway, but the premature arrival of high summer saw to it that there was even less today. Although the day's coverage showed that several migrants had arrived overnight on breeding territories that had been unoccupied just yesterday, anything heading further afield made the most of the conditions and carried on over without stopping. At the Bill it was only a small arrival of Wheatears that saved the cumulative total of grounded newcomers from failing to get beyond single figures, with nothing of note there beyond a likely lingering Grasshopper Warbler. Overhead passage was stronger, with another steady throughput of Swallows; 2 Little Egrets also arrived separately in from the south. Were it not for 2 each of Great Northern Diver and Arctic Skua the seawatch scorers at the Bill would hardly have been troubled.

The increasing warmth saw a flurry of butterfly first records for the year, with Small Copper, Small Blue and Dingy Skipper all on the wing at the Bill.

26th April

When it takes more than half an hour to register the first entry on the day-sheet and two hours before the first migrant's ringed at the Obs you know the portents for the day aren't great - and, with a few exceptions, so it proved. The most notable exception was a very strong passage of hirundines with the first decent pulse of Swifts tagging along - seemingly funneled in quantity along the leading edge of an almost stationary Channel-wide band of rain only a few miles to the the west of the island - whilst in view of the lack of quantity on the ground a scatter of 6 Ring Ouzels and 60 Wheatears was a surprise. Also on the ground, the year's first Spotted Flycatcher was an on-cue arrival at the Grove, with 3 Common Sandpipers, the first 2 Purple Sandpipers for several weeks and a Hobby also logged. The block of rain to the west wasn't looked on favourably by the seawatchers so their return of 30 Bar-tailed Godwits, 22 Whimbrel, 12 Dunlin, 9 Shelducks, 2 Red-throated Divers and a Pomarine Skua through off the Bill perhaps slightly exceeded expectations.

Ring Ouzel and Hobby in the Strips at the Bill this morning © Martin Cade:



Passage of the small waders hasn't really got going yet but these three Sanderling were new arrivals along the Hamm Beach shore this morning © Pete Saunders:


It's looking like a good many of the Ferrybridge Little Terns are back in the vicinity even if they're not yet firmly settled in the breeding colony...


...this Common Seal's also been about in the vicinity of the colony © John Dadds:


25th April

Call yourself a Bird Observatory? - just at the moment we're verging on incurring the scrutiny of Trading Standards for purporting to be some sort of ornithological hotspot when by just about every metric it's blindingly obvious we're falling way short of the mark. In truth - although only by dint of a lot of legwork and gawping at the sea - today did come up with fair-ish day-list even if numbers were pretty dreadful. Swallows, and to a lesser extent House Martins, were again arriving in decent supply but on the ground none of the routine migrants managed even a double figure total at the Bill where there were no surprises amongst what little could be found; elsewhere, a Black Redstart at Ferrybridge was about as good as it got. In a freshening southeasterly the sea should have provide salvation but it too was far quieter than expected, with combined Bill/Chesil totals that included 130 Bar-tailed Godwits, 100 Arctic/commic Terns, 84 Common Scoter, 80 Whimbrel, 7 Red-throated Divers, 4 Arctic Skuas, 2 Great Northern Divers and singles of Black-throated Diver, Red-breasted Merganser and Great Skua.

Six and a half minutes on the penultimate leg of the long, long flight from Mauritania to the Netherlands. Such is the longevity of waders, we're guessing that quite a few of the birds in this mixed flock of Bar-tailed Godwits and Whimbrel will have taken the short-cut over Chesil and Portland Harbour in multiple previous springs so they'd know it isn't an insurmountable barrier; however, they rarely seem to take it lightly and need a fair bit of psyching themselves up - and an awful lot of gaining height - to get the job done. Still a marvel every time we see this © Martin Cade:


It hardly seems possible but two months have passed since our first Wheatear of the spring arrived and still there are a fair few of them coming through now. We're pretty sure this male at Ferrybridge isn't actually a new arrival since there always seems to be a similar-looking bird hanging around on the edge of the grass when we're going back and forth from our evening seawatches; in fact yesterday evening he even gave a couple of bursts of song so he's maybe intending on sticking around © Martin Cade: 

24th April

After yesterday's migration debacle today saw a considerable improvement, with the waft of an easterly and clear skies no impediment to potential movers; a great many nocturnal migrants no doubt carried straight on over without stopping but there was still a decent variety of laggards that'd grounded to take a break, whilst diurnal passage - particularly of Swallows - was very strong. More than materialised might have been expected from the sea although there were hints towards nightfall of wader passage picking up. The grounded selection included most of the late April regulars even if numbers were hardly impressive; a Corn Bunting at the Bill and a Serin at Wakeham were the best of the new arrivals, with the likes of 5 Lesser Whitethroats, 4 Yellow Wagtails, 3 Reed Warblers and a Pied Flycatcher scattered amongst the commoner fare around the south of the island. A sample count of 352 Swallows, 32 House Martins, 5 Sand Martins, a Yellow Wagtail and a Tree Pipit through in an hour at Blacknor looked to be wholly representative of some strong day-long diurnal passage that was still ongoing along Chesil as dusk approached. Four Red-throated Divers, 2 Great Northern Divers, a Balearic Shearwater and an Arctic Skua were the relatively poor rewards from morning seawatching at the Bill but there was a suggestion of passage picking up during the evening, when 80 Bar-tailed Godwits and 30 Whimbrel headed over Chesil in quick time.

In a lot of ecological/land management circles the Sycamore is a maligned tree - damned for being a nasty alien - but we won't have a word against it: quite apart from being one of the few tree species that positively thrives on Portland, it provides a vital resource for all manner of migrant birds. Its autumn worth is well known, particularly late in the season when its last leaves are so often alive with Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests; less appreciated is how good it can be in spring, when its flower sprays are full of bugs that in turn attract many hungry warblers like this Willow Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat © Pete Saunders:




Some fitfully delivered song from a newly arrived Garden Warbler at the Bill © Joe Stockwell:

23rd April

Sometimes overnight rain works for us - just a couple of days ago it worked a treat - but on just as many days it kills migration dead which is just what happened today, with an overnight downpour and associated strong winds doing nothing for the land or sea. Grounded arrivals were woefully represented, with only Wheatear just managing a double figure totals at the Bill, where 3 Common Sandpipers and a Black Redstart were the only newcomers of interest; Ferrybridge fared hardly better, with 12 Whimbrel and 2 Sanderlings the only waders of note. The weather had blown through by dawn to the extent that hirundines got moving under the clearing sky but even their numbers were nothing to shout about. The sea was well watched but 2 Sanderling, 2 Arctic Skuas and a single Great Skua were the only worthwhile returns off the Bill.

22nd April

After yesterday's bumper day, today saw a return to the more pedestrian rate of migration that we've grown accustomed to of late with, Swallows excepted, both quantity and variety in short supply. Lone individuals made up the majority of new arrivals at the Bill, including singles of Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Tree Pipit and Yellow Wagtail. Sample counts suggested the day's Swallow tally got well into four figures on West Cliffs. Other reports included 7 Whimbrel and 4 Red-throated Divers from the sea at the Bill, 2 Common Sandpipers on the shore there, another 5 Whimbrel at Ferrybridge and the first Wall butterfly of the year in the Obs garden.

21st April

Finally - after what's seemed like an interminable wait - all the variables aligned as fair conditions over the near continent coupled with a light northwesterly and some early bands of drizzly rain over Portland to facilitate what was easily the largest and most varied fall of migrants so far this spring. Whilst the day's star bird was a Wood Warbler in the Obs garden, it was Willow Warblers that unsurprisingly made up the bulk of the numbers on the ground with 200 through at the Bill; overhead hirundines were arriving steadily everywhere. A strong back-up cast at the Bill including 40 Chiffchaffs, 30 Blackcaps, 25 Whitethroats, 20 Yellow Wagtails and 20 Wheatears, along with single figure totals of Swift, Tree Pipit, Whinchat, Redstart, Grasshopper Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat and Pied Flycatcher made for some thoroughly entertaining bank holiday birding. Fortunately, all the goings-on on the land provided plenty of distraction from what was a pretty woeful seawatch, with just singles of Arctic and Great Skuas of note off the Bill.

Ever the Rain Bird at the Obs; true to form it only took a hint of damp in the air to drop a Wood Warbler that showed remarkably well for a while until the sun broke through and prompted it to vanish as suddenly as it had appeared © Martin Cade:

 

20th April

April continues to tick along in a largely underwhelming manner, with most species turned up more or less on cue but for the most part in far lower numbers than might be hoped. Today did see a slightly stronger arrival of Willow Warblers, including 75 at the Bill, whilst variety included a handful each of the likes of Whinchat, Lesser Whitethroat and Garden Warbler together with the lingering Pied Flycatcher at Sweethill and a Black Redstart at the Verne; overhead, a steady arrival of Swallows had 6 Yellow Wagtails, a Hobby and a Swift tagging along (we also received belated news from yesterday of the first 2 Swifts of the year through over Southwell). The day's particularly miscellaneous selection of oddities included a Mandarin at Rufus Castle, a Green Sandpiper over the Bill and singles of Great White Egret and Canada Goose through on the sea there; more conventional sea passage was disappointing, with a single Arctic Skua the best of a bad job off Chesil and the Bill.

This morning's Mandarin was flushed by a dog from the swimming pool of a house at Rufus Castle; although there haven't been any reports of it in the intervening months, it's hard to believe it isn't the same bird that visited garden ponds and an ornamental wildfowl pond at Southwell last August © Gerry Hinde:


One of today's first little flurry of Garden Warblers - this one was at Sweethill © Debby Saunders (settled) and Pete Saunders (in flight):




Last night's Obs migrant moths: singles Diamond-back, Rush Veneer (first for the year) and Pearly Underwing

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) April 20, 2025 at 10:55 AM

19th April

With yesterday's rain only finally clearing through just as dawn broke and with a stiff and cold easterly still well established hopes weren't high for the land but the seawatchers were certainly expectant and, perhaps more by dint of dogged persistence than heavy passage, it was they that came up with the day's chief rewards. Chesil and the Bill were well watched and returned combined totals that included 410 Bar-tailed Godwits, 357 Little Terns, 230 Common/commic Terns, 110 Manx Shearwaters, 50 Sandwich Terns, 60 Whimbrel, 17 Arctic Skuas, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 2 Teal, 2 Shovelers, 2 Little Gulls and a Pomarine Skua; an associated increase in waders at Ferrybridge included 20 Bar-tailed Godwits, 6 Sanderling, 3 Whimbrel and a Grey Plover. Things were appreciably quieter on the land although it wasn't a complete write-off, with 7 Whinchats, a Common Sandpiper and a Hobby amongst others at the Bill and a Pied Flycatcher at Sweethill.

Just so typical of a Pomarine Skua: well after the mainstream morning seawatch had wound down and the light had got shockingly dazzling so the first Pom of the spring lumbered through off the Bill - fortunately there was still one die-hard on station with camera to hand © Garry Hayman:


Hopefully today won't be this spring's only Barwit day: the few that showed nicely like these at Ferrybridge were lovely but those over the sea were having to battle hard in the brisk easterly and were mostly low to the water and in small, tight parties - we didn't see anything of the big 'smoky' flocks high in the sky that are so characteristic of passage in quieter conditions © Pete Saunders:




It must be a happy time for the local Peregrines with all manner of appropriately-sized migrants about to provide some tasty pre-fattened variation from their usual staples © Debby Saunders:


Another Sweethill Pied Flycatcher © Debby Saunders:

We arrived at Ferrybridge just after dawn in the rain, the early birds there were the Grey Plover, the Redshanks and the Whimbrel, here's some low light photos

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— Debra Saunders (@debbyseamist.bsky.social) April 19, 2025 at 9:51 PM

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.

Despite distinctly sub-optimal conditions a small arrival of migrant moths at the Obs last night: another Blossom Underwing along with 5 Diamond-backs and a Silver Y

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) April 18, 2025 at 1:11 PM

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