13th July

In a shake up from yesterday, the morning was gloriously warm and breeze-free and slowly descended into a wet and windy evening. Some more signs of  wader passage included the first autumn Little-ringed Plover, three Black-tailed Godwits and a single Curlew at Ferrybridge. Passerine migration continues at a slow trickle with low double figures of Sand Martins, the second dispersing Grey Wagtail of the autumn, and a smattering of the lingering Phylloscs. The sea produced a couple of points of interest including four Little Egrets in off, singles of Arctic and Great Skua, a lone Balearic Shearwater, the usual selection of Common Scoters and Mediterranean Gulls in small numbers and 2 Yellow-legged Gulls consorting with the now much diminished gull flocks; a third Yellow-legged Gull also dropped in at Ferrybridge.

It was certainly a day of two halves: the Black-tailed Godwits at Ferrybridge were bathed in the lovely soft sunlight of a millpond-calm dawn but by evening the Yellow-legged Gull there was being buffeted by the stiff breeze that preceded an impending downpour © Pete Saunders (the godwits) and Martin Cade (the gull): 

Moth interest has dwindled away since the heady days of the Silver Barred and Bright Wave so some minor signs of dispersal kicking in again were more than welcome: Pine Hawkmoth and Gorse Knot-horn Pempelia genistella were both less than annual captures at the Obs overnight © Martin Cade:

12th July

A pleasantly warm morning heated up through the day leaving a afternoon fit for little more than trying to keep out of the sun. The first signs of wader movements finally reached the isle, culminating the highlight of the day of a Wood Sandpiper at Ferrybridge, accompanied by three Common Sandpipers. The Bill was (as ever in terms of waders) the poor relation with just four Dunlin and singles of Whimbrel and Lapwing to add to the day's tally. Passerine migration was limited to 22 Sand Martins and a Willow Warbler at the Bill and another Willow Warbler at Sweethill. The sea was exceptionally quiet compared to recent days with just four Balearic Shearwaters, two Manx Shearwaters and a steady trickle of Common Scoter and Mediterranean Gulls. 

Wood Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:

11th July

A lovely, calm and (at times) scorchingly hot day left much to desire on both the sea and the land. A disappointing down turn in the numbers of shearwaters off the Bill saw Balearics dip to below double figures in the feeding flock, whilst Manxies passed through in low double figures with no sign of the putative Yelkouan. Land-based migration is slowly warming up with a trickle of Sand Martins heading south overhead, along with small family parties of Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers.

The Lepidopterans remain of interest with regular sightings of Large Tortoiseshells across the island, as well as a noticeable influx of Small Whites in over the cliffs on the mornings sea-watch. Its sad to see Chalkhill Blues having such an underwhelming start to their year, but with the recent spells of baking hot summers killing off the vetch much too early, it is highly unsurprising.

Apologies to everyone who's sent us through photos of various shearwaters off the Bill in recent days. We will get back to this subject but through spending so much time seawatching and blogging about it  - along with gearing up for welcoming guests back to some of our accommodation for the first time since March - we've ended up with a huge backlog of boring admin to catch up with!

10th July

A complete change in the weather with clear, blue skies and bright sunshine replacing the murk of the last couple of days proved to be very challenging for shearwaters-watchers who struggled to discern the Yelkouan/Menorcan Shearwater amongst the dwindling numbers of Balearics present off the Bill (the day's highest count of Balearics was 40 although only 8 were left by the evening); the bird was reported from time to time until mid-morning but not thereafter. It was otherwise a quieter day on all fronts, with 3 Willow Warblers, 2 Sand Martins and a Whimbrel the best of the migrants on the land and a small increase in Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls offshore.

Large Tortoiseshells were spotted at several locations, with regular sightings at Pennsylvania Castle in particular throughout the day.

We will get back to shearwaters tomorrow but whilst everyone else has been seawatching one gallant soul has been trawling through the local gull flocks. Keith's highlights from the last week have included a Caspian Gull from Chesil Cove last weekend...

...and a small influx of non-juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls through the week (there have been a few juveniles from time to time but not nearly as many as have arrived by this time in most recent years); these two birds were at the Bill yesterday © Keith Pritchard: 

9th July

Another blustery, grey start saw the onslaught of twitchers continue as the Yelkouan/Menorcan Shearwater lingered another day within the swirling flocks of gulls and Balearic Shearwaters. The feeding frenzy off the Bill was also harbouring up to 17 Manx Shearwaters and three Yellow-legged Gulls; whilst two Great Skuas and a lone Arctic Skua passed through. A good addition to the day list - seemingly overlooked by the watchers of the flock - was a passing group of seven Ruddy Shelducks heading west around the Bill tip.

The seven Ruddy Shelduck made a brief appearance whilst everyone else was too distracted by the shearwater © Mike Trew:

We gather that confusion reigned again today at the Bill tip, with reports of two or even three Yelkouan/Menorcan Shearwaters offshore. Our angle on all this is that we ourselves have only ever managed to see one individual - seemingly always the same one both yesterday morning and evening, and again this evening - and we haven't yet seen a photograph/video from either day that conclusively depicts anything other than this one bird. The bird photographed two days ago by Pete Saunders that begun this whole process does indeed appear to show plumage features at variance to what's been seen since but the state of moult of the 'two' birds looks to be very similar and, being notoriously conservative, we remain to be wholly convinced that there isn't some trick of the light at play. We might have got this all wrong but that remains our take on matters. Unfortunately, the waters in this affair are being constantly muddied by the pronouncements of less than well informed 'Wolverhampton seawatchers'; take for example the matter of moult in Manx Shearwaters: we were astonished to yesterday see images from the Bill of what looked to be a typical Manx in extensive wing moult; this has been followed up by social media claims that quite a few of the Manx present are in moult which is patently not the case. We ourselves have never seen a Manx in wing moult in summer and on checking the facts with Richard and Giselle on Skokholm who know an awful lot more about Manx than nearly anyone else in Britain discovered that neither had they - for there to be one moulting Manx off the Bill in July is a vanishingly rare event, there certainly aren't quite a few of them in moult and if you think you're seeing that then you're mistaken. ID-wise, we're not overly bothered what it is: as far as we can see all the features are compatible with Yelkouan/'Menorcan' Shearwater but since we're not aware of any way that these two forms can be conclusively separated on the sort of views we're getting here then we can't really see how things can be progressed - maybe someone else knows differently? For anyone who hasn't seen it and wants to know how to spot it these photos and video from this evening might help. Overall, it's far more like a Manx than a Balearic and looks very clean-cut/contrasty (oddly like a mini-Great Shearwater when it's bobbing about on the water) compared to the scruffy Balearics - beware, though, several of the Balearics are really pale and particularly in flight can really catch you out!...

....Here's a Manx from this evening for comparison all photos/video © Martin Cade:

8th July

Yesterday's putative Yelkouan/Menorcan Shearwater reappeared off the Bill once the gull flock aggregated and lingered there all day, attracting a steady stream of observers throughout. Balearic Shearwaters numbered a good 70 at times with half a dozen or more Manx Shearwaters also present, whilst 118 Common Scoter, 8 Shelducks and 2 Yellow-legged Gulls passed through. The land got little serious coverage but a Whimbrel was still kicking about at the Bill.

Quite apart from the question of the bird's identity it sounded like there was a lot of discussion about quite how many individuals are involved. Our take on this matter is that we've spent plenty of time looking at the shearwater/gull flock today and have never seen more than one individual at a time (and have witnessed on very many occasions visitors unequivocally watching the wrong bird - the main confusion looks to be with Manx Shearwaters although one or two of the Balearics are also really pretty pale); however, there is such a melee of birds offshore at times that we could perfectly well believe that more than one individual is present. Supporting the multiple bird theory are apparent differences in plumage visible in photographs - particularly the prominence or otherwise of the underwing bar. Again, we'd like to see a wider selection of photographs before forming an opinion on this: yesterday's photographs were taken in bright sunshine, whereas today's were mostly taken in far gloomier conditions - is that maybe having some sort of effect in accentuating or diminishing shadows on the underwing? photos/video © Debby Saunders (stills), Martin Cade (video and crowd bottom) and James Phillips (crowd top):

Other odds and ends from the gull flock today included a couple of juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls...

...and the year's first 'out at sea' juvenile Herring Gull © Martin Cade:

7th July

The lovely quiet conditions of dawn promised some movement after a few indifferent days and fieldworkers on the land weren't disappointed, with the first Grasshopper Warbler of the autumn the pick of the arrivals at the Bill that also included 19 Swifts, 13 Sand Martins, a Grey Wagtail and a Siskin overhead and a Whimbrel and a Reed Warbler (a singing bird so probably heading in the opposite direction to everything else) on the ground. The seawatchers had plenty of action to keep them occupied, with a minimum of 67 Balearic Shearwaters lingering off the Bill where 102 Common Scoter, 14 Mediterranean Gulls and a Great Skua passed by and a Yellow-legged Gull also lingered. Elsewhere, a Little Gull dropped in at Ferrybridge.

The first Grasshopper Warbler of the autumn © Martin Cade...

...and the first Little Gull since the spring were nice new arrivals today © Pete Saunders:

But most of the day's action took place out to sea where Balearic Shearwaters were showing really well as they joined the melee of feeding gulls off East Cliffs © Keith Pritchard (top) and Pete Saunders (bottom):

Whilst idly perusing the photos we were sent for tonight's blog we were more than startled when this one downloaded © Pete Saunders:

Any thoughts of the pale bird being a Manx were quickly dispelled by the presence of wing moult and feet protruding miles beyond the tail tip - it surely had to be a 'Mediterranean' Shearwater of some sort. Plumage-wise, it seems way too pale and clean to be any sort of conventional Balearic. The bird's position relative to the Balearic in the photo is weirdly tricky to interpret but however you look at it it seems to have a much slighter build even if something of a pot-bellied look is conveyed. We couldn't spot the bird in any other images Pete sent through but a later check of Debby's tweeted photographs taken during the same period revealed what was presumably it again - this time tagging on behind some Balearics and again looking extremely clean and even more slightly-built © Debby Saunders:

Just for comparison, here's a Manx that also joined the feeding melee this morning © Pete Saunders:

Over the years there have been quite a number of sightings of apparently similar-looking birds at Portland but this is the first time one's been photographed well. Popularly, they were always proposed as being Yelkouan Shearwaters - even if that ID was of no particular consequence in the past when that form was only a subspecies! In the modern era, the spanner in the works is the so called Menorcan Shearwater (have a read of the magnificent Petrels night and day for a bit of background) - we were really surprised that the adjudication of what was subsequently accepted as the first British record of a Yelkouan Shearwater more of less brushed under the carpet the possibility of Menorcan Shearwater when these enigmatic birds look to all intents and purposes identical to Yelkouans.

6th July

Still breezy but otherwise an altogether more pleasant day that came up with a slight surprise in the form of an early first Willow Warbler of the autumn at the Bill. A dispersing Great Spotted Woodpecker was also new in there, whilst a Black Redstart was a good mid-summer sighting at Chiswell - surely an area that's full of suitable breeding sites; however, as in recent days, it was the sea that came up with all the numbers. Manx Shearwaters exceeded 200 but the Balearic total was only c25, with the seawatchers missing out on higher numbers of the latter that were presumably associating with feeding gulls to the west of the island and eventually trailed away still further west, passing Chesil on the way. Six Common Scoter, 2 Great Skuas, a Whimbrel and an Arctic Skua also passed through off the Bill and a Yellow-legged Gull joined the offshore gull flock as the day went on.

Large Tortoiseshells were logged at St Andrew's Church, Wakeham, The Grove and Old Hill, the first Chalkhill Blue of the year was on the wing at Tout Quarry where a Red-veined Darter also showed up.

This morning's dispersing Great Spotted Woodpecker was looking decidedly bemused at discovering that south Portland's really not like the sylvan paradise that it grew up in © Martin Cade:

Today's random reports of Large Tortoiseshells included this one that was found trapped inside a garden shed at Wakeham © Roger Gall:

5th July

No respite from the wind again today, in fact by the evening it can't have been too far off gale force at the Bill; that said, the return of a blue sky saw to it that it was pleasantly warm wherever there was any shelter. A/the Serin did a quick fly-round at the Obs during the morning but the sea accounted for the rest of the interest, with 11 Balearic Shearwaters, a Great Skua and an unseasonable Great Northern Diver the best of it off the Bill; Gannets and Manx Shearwaters provided the numbers there: the former - particularly immatures - have been streaming by in recent days, with well into a four figure total again today, whilst the latter peaked in the evening when upwards of 200 per hour were heading east.

A Large Tortoiseshell was in private gardens at the Grove today.

Whilst hardly numerous, Large Tortoiseshells have become pretty routine during their appropriate seasons - this one was basking in evening sunshine at the Grove today. An interesting issue is how they seem to pop up randomly all over the island - are they just very mobile or is there more than the one breeding site? © Martin Cade:

4th July

A day of seriously grim conditions - constantly dreary skies, frequent reduced visibility and a stiff southwesterly - saw sea interest dwindle considerably, with morning totals of 80 Manx Shearwaters, 31 Common Scoter and 14 Balearic Shearwaters off the Bill and 12 Common Scoter, 4 Balearic Shearwaters and an Arctic Skua off Chesil. Single Yellow-legged Gulls were at Chesil Cove and the Bill Common, a Whimbrel dropped in at the Bill and 7 Dunlin and a Common Sandpiper were at Ferrybridge.

3rd July

A bright and breezy morning gave way to an increasingly wild afternoon that saw the wind gusting up toward gale force as a rain band arrived from the west. Balearic Shearwaters staged their first good movement of the year with 171 through off the Bill; unusually, most were tied in with a eastward pulse of Manx Shearwaters - the latter lagged behind in numbers for most of the day before a late surge saw them overtake the Balearics and end up just shy of 200. Perhaps the oddest offshore movement involved unseasonable skuas, with totals of 8 Pomarine, 5 Arctic and 2 Great through at the Bill; c600 Gannets, 65 Common Scoter and 2 Dunlin made up the rest of the day sea numbers there. Waders accounted for all of what little could be mustered from the land, with a Curlew at the Bill and 4 Dunlin and 2 Common Sandpipers at Ferrybridge.

One of this morning's Common Sandpipers at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:

Despite the strength of the wind it was nice and warm in sheltered spots and two Large Tortoiseshells were on the wing, one at New Ground and this one in a private garden above Church Ope Cove © Gerry Hinde:

2nd July

The lustre of rarity heritage that's burnished this week in the Portland annals has tarnished a little of late and today was far from able to bring back that shine. Singles of Whimbrel and Sand Martin provided the most minor of migrant interest on the land, whilst 45 Common Scoter, 7 Balearic Shearwaters and 4 Manx Shearwaters were as good as it got for the seawatchers.

1st July

PBO Trustees are pleased to announce that following the latest government guidelines for England the self-contained Cottage will re-open for guests from Monday 13th July. Those who have booked previously will be contacted with new guidelines which are also available here.

Unfortunately, Government guidelines concerning premises with shared facilities preclude the opening of accommodation in the main observatory building and annexe and these will remain closed until further notice.

Day visitors are reminded that although the observatory car park and viewing terrace are now open and toilet facilities are available in the annexe, the main building including lounge, kitchen, toilets and lighthouse tower remain strictly out of bounds; appropriate social distance should be maintained at all times on the viewing terrace. Our COVID-19 instructions are provided to ensure your wellbeing as well as that of our staff - please adhere to them during your visit.

An unexpectedly decent day for the first of July saw a couple of island (if not national) rarities. A Roseate Tern at Lodmoor was on the radar early on, and its escapade out to sea with the feeding, breeding Common Terns saw it venture within the Portland boundaries when it passed over Ferrybridge. Perhaps expectedly, the second good bird of the day was the return of the male Serin, first in a garden in Southwell, then returning for a couple of loops around the Obs before heading back to the Eight Kings Quarry. The third island rare came with a Great Egret that managed to sneak almost entirely under the radar as it flew up the East Cliffs before heading north, away from the awaiting birders. The sea also provided some further interest with the first summer record of Pomarine Skua, a Bonxie and five Balearic Shearwaters.

An update on the Ferrybridge Oystercatchers as two of the brood have reached a really healthy size © Debby Saunders: 

Balearic Shearwaters continued to feature on and off all day © Keith Pritchard:

30th June

The last day of the month was somewhat of a surprise weather-wise, with a solidly grey sky and continually renewing rain cloud lingering over the west side of the island, it felt more like September than the beginning of summer. Despite the main focus of the day being on the sea as it drifted in and out of view, the highlight came as a Serin was heard calling, doing loops above the Obs garden before heading north in a gap between showers. The sea was more eventful than in recent days with 19 Balearic Shearwaters, mostly close in offshore heading west. Common fare included nine Manx Shearwaters, singles of Sandwich Tern, commic Tern and Mediterranean Gull as well as the now usual gull flock. The rest of the day was spent tweaking the various DIY projects that have been keeping us busy throughout the lockdown.

Once they arrive in local waters, Balearic Shearwaters are regular visitors - usually a little bit peripherally - to the offshore gull flock © Martin Cade:

29th June

Whilst the east coast of the country experienced an extraordinary passage of Swifts, we were experiencing another incredibly blustery, grey day with little in the way of land-based migration apart for the likely lingering Yellow-legged Gull. The sea was a different matter with an evening spectacle of swirling gulls, Balearic and Manx Shearwaters (a good 10 of the former, 250+ of the latter). The gusting on-shore winds also saw the second day-time Storm Petrel of the year, as well as an Arctic Skua, what will presumably be one of the final Puffins of the year, and a single Sandwich Tern amongst the local Common Terns. At the north end of the island, a Sanderling at Ferrybridge was present for the second day along with a new Turnstone.

Balearic Shearwaters are never going to be winners in the beauty stakes and some of the moulting birds look truly grim at this time of year © Martin Cade:

It remains to be ascertained if all the recent sightings of a Yellow-legged Gull are of the same lingering individual - apparent plumage differences might just be the result of moult progress © Keith Pritchard:

The Chesil Little Terns seem to be making a brilliant recovery after some predatory set-backs earlier in the season © Pete Saunders: 

28th June

Howlingly windy conditions made for difficult birding today and, aside from a Bee-eater heard calling high over Barleycrates Lane, there were few rewards on offer for those that took the trouble. The sea was an obvious first port of call but a few Manx and 2 Balearic Shearwaters were all that could be mustered from plenty of looking. The only reports from the land were of 3 Shelduck, 2 Dunlin and a Sanderling at Ferrybridge.

As might be expected at this time of year, waders have provided most of what little interest there's been on the land: the likes of Common Sandpiper, Curlew, Whimbrel and Redshank have begun to feature on both the nocmig recordings and daytime sightings sheet, with this Sanderling a new arrival at Ferrybridge today © Pete Saunders:

The presence of a summer gull flock off the Bill is a relatively recent phenomenon and one that still retains some novelty value; at its closest the feeding frenzy is easy enough to work through but it's more usual for the flock to remain several hundred metres or more offshore which makes the detection of oddities a lot more challenging © Martin Cade:

27th June

A morning of thick cloud, heavy rain and the return of the dreaded westerly hindering any field work until after mid-morning. This resulted in the only record of a migrant passerine being a new singing Reed Warbler just outside the Obs garden. The sea, however, made up for this sad lack of avian life with a steady trickle both before and after the rain. The morning saw the passage of Manx Shearwaters reach 44, being joined by 9 Balearic Shearwaters, double figures of Common and Sandwich Terns, and one apiece of Bonxie and Arctic Skua.

The highlight of the day was, once again, not ornithological but of the moth variety with a Silver Barred trapped in the Obs garden - the first record for both Portland and Dorset.

Although the majority of immigrant records are from the coastal counties of south-east England, Silver Barred has occurred in both Hampshire and the Isle of Wight so a Dorset record was certainly on the cards...

...Bright Wave seems to be a little more infrequent as an immigrant but yesterday's specimen was actually our third © Martin Cade:  

The first full size Great Green Bush-cricket of the year was just shedding into its final, vivid form today © Erin Taylor: 

26th June

The overnight thunderstorms had disappeared by the morning, but as the dawn broke thick fog rolled in entirely blocking the sea from view. The only bird shining through the fog was the lingering male Serin, singing at the top of the sallows in Culverwell before disappearing north as the fog eased. More signs that spring is ending and autumn is on its way were evident with 3 Lapwings in the Top Fields and a single Whimbrel past the Bill, as well as a Spotted Flycatcher trapped in the nets mid-morning.

It was another good day for Lepidoptera, with a fresh Large Tortoiseshell in Perryfield Quarry (not too far from the larvae-stripped elm at Church Ope Cove) an on cue highlight. The moth-traps were very busy, with immigrant highlights that included a Bright Wave at the Grove and a Marbled Grass-veneer Catoptria verellus.

An immigrant moth selection from last night - Marbled Grass-veneer, Scarce Oak Knot horn Acrobasis tumidana and Latticed Heath © Martin Cade:

25th June

After belated reports of the Rosy Starlings feeding voraciously until nearly dusk yesterday it was no great surprise that they couldn't be found today; the Serin, however, lingered on even if it too gave indications of wanderlust in its quest for a mate - having spent most of the morning at the Obs it moved up to Culverwell before disappearing from there as well. The scorching conditions and brisk northeasterly saw another steady little passage of Swifts develop at the Bill where the first 30 Swallows and 8 Sand Martins of the autumn also passed through and there was a slightly less expected vismig event in the form of 3 Wood Pigeons arriving in off the sea (...3 more we could well do without bearing in mind the amount of damage being inflicted on our stewardship crops by the rather too prolific local pigeons!). On the ground a Reed Warbler in song at Avalanche Road and a Redshank at Ferrybridge was as good as it got. Offshore, a Yellow-legged Gull joined the gull flock and a handful of Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls passed by.

The last few very warm nights have been great for moth-trapping even if their promise of immigration or dispersal didn't materialise in any big way. That said, last night did come up with some encouraging signs, not the least of which was a remarkable arrival of the pretty little pyralid, Warted Knot-horn Acrobasis repandana: with just seven or so records before this year a pattern of occasional straying from its oak woodland haunts had been established but nothing to hint at last night's 15 trapped at the Obs and 13 scattered between the other garden moth-traps operated around the island; evidently this event was very widespread, with reports of influxes at many coastal sites between Dorset and Suffolk © Martin Cade:

24th June

A continuation of the clear blue skies and gentle breeze of yesterday but with some added heat gave the impression that summer is well and truly underway. This was supported by the general lack of migrants across a well covered lower half of the island. After the fleeting glimpses of yesterday's Serin, it was a relief today to get some views of a stunning male giving bursts of song as it roamed between the Bill and the Obs garden. The day's supporting cast included a strong passage of 72 Swifts over the Obs, 9 Crossbills and a Hobby over Easton, the lingering Rosy Starlings at Weston and a new Chiffchaff in Top Fields. A few birds of note on the sea included a Bonxie harassing the gull flock (the latter topped four figures so made for a spectacular sight whenever they were spooked by the Bonxie) and a Balearic Shearwater also associating with the gulls.

Although the Serin spent several hours in and around the Obs garden this photo gives the entirely erroneous impression that it was showing well which generally it wasn't since it spent the best part of the time hidden in dense cover or in flight...

...however, it was singing really well at times © Martin Cade:

Portland Bird Observatory · Serin, Portland Bill, 24062020