There was lots of enjoyment to be had from today's migration happenings, with the continuing settled weather seeing plenty of birds arriving on all fronts across the island. On the ground, Wheatears were conspicuously abundant, with a likely very conservative minimum of 100 recorded around the Bill where multiple waves of birds raced through throughout the morning. Other grounded arrivals were more thinly spread: a Willow Warbler was an on-cue first of the year, with 25 Chiffchaffs, 3 Blackcaps and singles of Firecrest and Greenfinch also logged. Overhead, Meadow Pipits and Linnets continued to move through, with 193 and 45 logged respectively in a sample hour on West Cliffs, whilst other visible migrants included 30 Sand Martins, a Short-eared Owl, the year's first Ring Ouzel, 2 Siskin and a Reed Bunting. At sea, a Long-tailed Duck - a genuine Bill rarity these days - was the pick of a passage that also included the year's best Gannet total to date of 415, along with 141 Common Scoter, 9 Red-throated Diver and 7 Shelduck.
Back to the Mecca that is PBO @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social for a Trustees' meeting three days after it's 65th anniversary. Real bonus of 22 birds of 10 species ringed today with a Mega, 5m Greenfinch,(only 1 ringed in 2025) 1st Willow warbler of year, 7 Cc, 3 Blackcap, 2 Goldcrest and a Firecrest.
— Peter J Morgan (@pbo61.bsky.social) March 20, 2026 at 4:55 PM
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We don't really catch all that many Chaffinches so it was a surprise this morning that it should be one of them that accounted for our first ringing 'control' of the year. These days, the BTO is wonderfully efficient with reporting back with the ringing details of captures like this and by the end of the afternoon we'd already learnt that the bird had been ringed by our old friend Ian Dodd just across on the mainland at Littlesea, Weymouth. Ian had originally ringed the bird on 16th November last year - a timing that suggests it was perhaps a migrant arriving to spend the winter in Britain and we'll hazard a guess that it's been in the Weymouth/Portland area ever since and is just now departing back to its natal area on the continent © Martin Cade:
