5th March

All rather uneventful today with a Short-eared Owl over New Ground easily the highlight. Meaningful birding was curtailed by thick fog that rolled in towards midday but there'd been ample time beforehand to establish that the day's arrivals on the ground at the Bill consisted of little more than the thinnest spread of Chiffchaffs; a handful of Meadow Pipits and alba wagtails also arrived in/off there but the only other reports were of a few of the regulation winterers. Elsewhere, a Black Redstart at High Angle Battery may or may not have been new in. Sea passage off the Bill didn't amount to more than 17 Common Scoter and 3 Red-throated Divers.

The first Hummingbird Hawkmoth of the year was on the wing at the Grove.

4th March

The only possible gripe about the ongoing glorious conditions is that they're not the best for dropping early arrivals. In the light of that, today's early starters were slightly surprised to happen upon a couple of Wheatears and a spread of Chiffchaffs dotted about the Bill; in truth, migrants rewards didn't exactly come thick and fast after that, but an overhead Brambling was a first for the year and the Chiffchaff tally reached well into double figures for the first time. Despite the promise offered by a waft of southeasterly the sea was quiet, with 5 Red-throated Divers as good as it got off the Bill. Elsewhere, the 2 Long-tailed Ducks remained in Portland Harbour.

More extensive coverage might well have come up with a pretty decent tally of Chiffchaffs for this early in the season - along with the fair spread at the Bill, half a dozen passed through just one private garden at Southwell © Martin Cade:

Portland & Harbour - Highlights from the Isle; Long Tailed Duck 2 & BN Grebe 3 (Harbour), Wheatear (Culverwell), Black Redstart & Purple Sandpiper 5 (8) (The Bill), 🦉🌎🦜@dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

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— Dorset Bird Tours (@dorsetbirdtours.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 3:33 PM

3rd March

The continuing settled weather was a massive boon from the enjoyable fieldwork point of view and by dint of plenty of effort there were eventually a few rewards to show. A Bullfinch through at the Obs and a Marsh Harrier seemingly in/off over the Bill before progressing onward up the island were both firsts for the year, whilst a light inbound passage of Meadow Pipits and alba wagtails together with a more unexpected 15 Siskins also through overhead provided further welcome signs of passage gathering a little bit of momentum; 2 Chiffchaffs, a Little Egret, a Reed Bunting and the wintering Firecrest also made the log at the Bill, the 2 Long-tailed Ducks remained in Portland Harbour and a selection of routine winterers were scattered everywhere. Over the sea, 2 Velvet Scoters were amongst the 14 Common Scoter, 8 Red-throated Divers and single Great Northern Diver though off the Bill.

The first Small Tortoiseshell of the year was on the wing at Fortuneswell.

The Marsh Harrier over the Bill © Martin Cade:


2x long tailed ducks way way out as were 2x black necked grebes

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— andylportland.bsky.social (@andylportland.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 3:49 PM

chiffchaff, pale bellied brent and someone with a nice meal

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— andylportland.bsky.social (@andylportland.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 4:00 PM

not sure i saw a small tort on portland last year, this one in the kids play area at victoria gardens so decided not to venture in!

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— andylportland.bsky.social (@andylportland.bsky.social) March 3, 2025 at 3:53 PM

26th February - 2nd March

Lovely weather but all rather eventful for a few days. An Avocet that dropped in at Portland Harbour on 27th February was easily the highlight and was the only addition to the year tally; 2 Long-tailed Ducks were also new arrivals in the harbour (1st-2nd March), whilst around and about the odd few new alba wagtails, Meadow Pipits, Stonechats, Chiffchaffs and Linnets showed up but, overall, migration was the slowest of burners.

25th February

It seems from national reports that there's some pretty early migrant activity afoot at the moment and Portland got in on the act today with its first Wheatear of the spring that showed up on East Cliffs at the Bill  It really is still a bit too early in the season to have expected much more than that but a 'pollened' Chiffchaff, an overflying Siskin, a Carrion Crow in/off and the first Greenfinch of the year provided further morsels of interest at the Bill; additionally, another 208 Redwings calls were logged overnight by the nocmic recorder at the Obs. A few of the wintering regulars putting in appearances at the Bill included the Firecrest and Black Redstart, whilst both the Firecrest and the Great Spotted Woodpecker remained at Pennsylvania Castle. The only reports from the sea there were of 11 more passing Red-throated Divers.

The first Painted Lady of the year was on the wing at Wakeham.

We don't need an excuse to gross out on the year's first Wheatear, particularly when it was as early as this one - Portland's only earlier record is of one at the Bill on 22nd February 1998 © David Betteridge (top two) and Phil Cheeseman (bottom):




Skylark song was a constant accompaniment under today's sunny sky and closer inspection of their activities revealed plenty of territorial argy-bargy © Roy Norris:



There might be newcomers arriving but there are still plenty of winterers about that yesterday included 2 Kingfishers still on the harbour shore © Pete Saunders:


Barn Owls continue to be reported throughout the island and last week saw the unfortunate discovery of the remains of one at the Bill that looked as though it had fallen victim to an avian predator. The bird was ringed and today we discovered, rather astonishingly, that it had been ringed as a nestling near Andover, north Hampshire, in June 2023. Having now had recoveries at Portland of birds that had travelled more than 40 kms from Devon and 100 kms from Hampshire to get here (both mapped below) we're certainly having to reassess our belief that British Barn Owls are largely sedentary and that the birds we see around the island are all 'just' locals.

22nd February

The arrival of almost all-day sunshine and pleasant mildness prompted a welcome surge in fieldwork that was well-timed for it coincided with a small flurry of new arrivals. As they often are at this juncture, Stonechats were easily the most conspicuous of these newcomers, with 45 logged at the Bill and 2 also new along the harbour shore; Redwings would have been more numerous had many of the 108 logged by the nocmig recorder at the Obs dropped in, but in the event just 6 were found after daybreak. Also on the move were 3 Pied Wagtails and 2 Skylarks watched arrived in off the sea at the Bill. Other than that the land was relatively quiet: a selection of Chiffchaffs here and there included some that were presumed not to be winterers and a lingering Lapwing remained at the Bill but most of the other reports concerned routine long-stayers; belated news was also received of some more wintering Blackcaps: 2 visiting a garden at Verne Common have apparently been present all year and another visited a garden at Reforne earlier this month. Offshore, a Long-tailed Duck was new at Portland Harbour and 12 Red-throated Divers and 9 Black-headed Gulls passed through off the Bill.

A Red Admiral was on the wing at the Obs.

Stonechats were today's feature birds - this was one of the two on the harbour shore © Pete Saunders:


Purple Sandpiper and Turnstone on the shore at the Bill © Geoff Orton:


12th-21st February

Still very quiet during this period before a long-awaited change in the weather brought with it a small arrival of early migrants on 19th - details below:

Gratifyingly quick response at the Bill from a few early migrants to today's first mildness: 5 Snipe, 2 Lapwings and an increase in Stonechats on the ground, a party of arriving Meadow Pipits overhead and a steady up-Channel passage of Kittiwakes offshore

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 10:57 AM

A Chiffchaff new in the Obs garden this afternoon - joined the long-staying overwinterer; since we're wildly optimistic and currently bathed in lovely warm sunshine we'll have this one as a new migrant!

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) February 19, 2025 at 3:27 PM

4th-11th February

Another largely uninspiring few days to report, with the year total advancing almost as slowly as the weather looked like getting out of its rut of quiet, cool conditions accompanied by the dreariest of skies. The additions consisted of just 2 Teal at Ferrybridge and a Canada Goose through off the Bill on 7th and a Blackcap at Southwell on 8th, whilst apparent new arrivals included an uptick in Linnets at the Bill to 120 on 9th (hitherto, 30-40 there throughout the winter) and 2 new Chiffchaffs at Weston on 12th. Red-throated Divers continued to pass the Bill in fair numbers with a peak of 22 on 9th, whilst all the usual wintering divers, grebes, Purple Sandpipers, Black Redstarts and the like have been about whenever anyone's looked for them.

Barn Owls continue to be a regular feature all across the island, with reports during the last week from the Bill, Weston, Penn's Weare, the Grove, the Verne Moat and the Beach Road. As we mentioned back in January, the Bill birds were for a while very reliable in broad daylight - this little video clip was from an evening when three birds were in view simultaneously from the Obs patio - but just lately their emergence time seems to have got a fair bit later © Martin Cade: 

26th January - 3rd February

A handful of firsts for the year in recent days included singles of Manx Shearwater (29th January) and Velvet Scoter (1st February) through off the Bill and a Lapwing (31st January) settled at the Bill. A mini surge in Red-throated Divers saw their highest numbers of the winter to date logged off the Bill, reaching a peak of 40 through on 29th January. Other than that there's been almost no change, with most of the regulation winterers about throughout.

The year's first butterfly - a Red Admiral - was on the wing at the Obs on 31st January; the only migrant moth during the period was a Rusty-dot Pearl settled on a lighted window at the Obs on the evening of 2nd February.

One of the 40 Red-throated Divers through off the Bill on 29th January © Martin Cade:


Black Redstart at Portland Castle © John Hansford:


After a few year's absence it's been good to discover that Badgers have been back in the Obs garden just lately - they're clearly still a bit suspicious of Jodie's trailcam but hopefully they'll soon get used to it as they have done in the past:


The photos are not going to win any prizes, but managed to get a few pics of a Bottlenose Dolphin off Portland Castle this morning. Otherwise 4 GNDiver and ~25 Shag to report from here. @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social

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— Paul Harris (@paulupwey.bsky.social) January 28, 2025 at 1:23 PM

16th-25th January

The length of time between updates gets longer as the quality of this winter's birding stagnates! There were almost no changes to report during this ten day period, with most of the regulation winterers still on station and precious little by way of an upheaval in the weather on the horizon to suggest anything's likely to change in a hurry. The only additions to the year list were a Pintail through off the Bill on 16th and a Golden Plover settled at Southwell on 19th; also from the sea, 3 Brent Geese through on 17th and the occasional passing Great Northern Diver were the only worthwhile additions to the daily few Red-throated Divers. Two Black-throated Divers remain in Portland Harbour along with up to 11 Black-necked Grebes, 9 Great Northern Divers and 7 Common Scoter. On the land, Black Redstarts have been scattered everywhere and included an additional bird at the Bill on 25th; up to 8 Purple Sandpipers have been daily at the Bill, single Firecrests remain at the Obs and Pennsylvania Castle, 2 Reed Buntings are still at the Bill, with the odd single Snipe, Redwing, Chiffchaff and Goldcrest reported here and there. All in all, very routine.

One of the dozen or more Black Redstarts scattered about the island this winter © David Nunn:


And a Goldcrest at the Grove - despite the good passage showing late last autumn this has been the only one we've been able to find all winter © Martin Cade:

10th-15th January

In rather samey weather there's just been a rather samey selection of mainly routine winterers to report from the last few days. Out and about on the land, a Siskin briefly on the bird feeders at the Obs on 11th was the first this winter, the Purple Sandpipers at the Bill tip have peaked at 6 and other winterers in the vicinity have included up to 40 Linnets, 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Reed Buntings, a Snipe, a Black Redstart and a Firecrest; elsewhere, another half a dozen or so Black Redstarts have included the first for a long time at Blacknor. Portland Harbour totals have included up to 9 Great Northern Divers, 8 Common Scoter, 5 Black-necked Grebes and 2 Black-throated Divers, whilst nearby at Ferrybridge the customary January peak of Mediterranean Gulls has reached 1600 on 15th. Offshore interest has included an isolated winter peak to date of c25000 auks off the Bill on 10th (but far fewer since then) and lower numbers of Red-throated Divers than usual, with a peak of 18 on 10th.

Black Redstart and Kingfisher at Portland Harbour © Duncan Walbridge:


Purple Sandpiper, Peregrine and Little Owl at the Bill © Matt Cooper:




Reed Bunting at the Bill © Martin Cade:

6th-9th January

Still very quiet around the island so far this week - many of the regular winterers remain on station and the likes of Red-throated Divers continue to tickle by off the Bill. The only new arrival of particular note was a Common Sandpiper at Ferrybridge on 7th; a Great Spotted Woodpecker at Pennsylvania Castle on 9th was also the first reported for several weeks although it's more than likely been about and just escaped attention with so few people out looking.

Barn Owls have been quite showy at the Bill this winter, with - uncharacteristically for Portland - quite regular broad daylight sightings in the vicinity of the Obs © Martin Cade...


Our stalwart owl-catchers, Mark Cutts and Verity Hill, made the most of a still evening last weekend and trapped two new Barn Owls in the Crown Estate Field © Verity Hill:


With nothing much going on around the island we took the opportunity today to make the most of some decent weather and pop over to Lodmoor for a look at the Green-winged Teal that's been there for a couple of days - after a very long period of inactivity it actually ended up showing pretty well © Martin Cade:

2nd-5th January

All sorts of weather and not that many sorts of bird in the last few days as the conditions swung from flat calm and icy cold to wildly windy, wet and extremely mild. The only even slightly out of the ordinary sightings were of a Mallard off the Bill on 2nd and a Goldeneye in Portland Harbour on 4th. Red-throated Divers were daily off the Bill (max 14 on 4th), with a lone passing Shelduck (on 3rd) also of note on the sea; the daily regulars around Portland Harbour have included 5 Common Scoter, 4 Great Northern Divers, 3 Black-necked Grebes and 2 Black-throated Divers, with several more Great Northern Divers and a Pale-bellied Brent Goose at Ferrybridge. Black Redstarts have been scattered at their regular spots and winterers at the Bill have included 4 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Chiffchaffs and a Reed Bunting.

One of the spread of Great Northern Divers at Ferrybridge and Portland Harbour © Pete Saunders:


1st January

Not the easiest of starts to the year, what with a severe gale that had blown in overnight spoiling the best part of the morning before the onset of heavy rain washed out the rest of the day. The day's only rewards were 6 Kittiwakes, 4 Great Northern Divers, 4 Shelducks, a Pale-bellied Brent Goose and a Little Gull at Ferrybridge and a Firecrest at the Obs.

A lone Rusty-dot Pearl made it into a moth-trap at the Obs before the gale set in to get the year's migrant moth tally off the mark.

Little Gull, Kittiwake and Pale-bellied Brent Goose getting the Ferrybridge year off to a decent start this morning © Pete Saunders




31st December

A low-key end to the year over the last few days, with a Ring-necked Parakeet at Easton (28th) the only sighting of particular interest; other local/seasonal oddities included a Shoveler in Portland Harbour (29th) and the first Merlin of the winter at the Bill (31st). More routine winter fare included up to 4 Snipe, 2 Chiffchaffs and singles of Golden Plover, Purple Sandpiper and Reed Bunting at the Bill, a Firecrest at Pennsylvania Castle, singles of Redwing and Goldcrest at Easton, a Mute Swan at Ferrybridge and up to 42 Turnstones, 11 Black-necked Grebes, 5 Great Northern Divers, 5 Common Scoter and 2 Black-throated Divers at Portland Harbour. Sea movement included daily Red-throated Divers off the Bill (max 9 on 28th) and a single Red-breasted Merganser through off there on 29th.

Although no strangers to exhibitions of gluttony, you'd think this Cormorant's catch was right at the limit of what it could cope with; per Pete Saunders, a c30cm fish would be expected to weigh in at c800gms - BWP records that a Cormorant's average daily consumption is 425-700gms © Pete Saunders: 



First Dark Sword Grass since mid-November a new arrival in the Obs moth-traps overnight; single Rusty-dot Pearl the only other migrant

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) December 31, 2024 at 10:53 AM

27th December

In conditions that looked to be entirely unpromising for such things - there's been barely a breath of breeze for three days, let alone anything amounting to cold weather - there were again a few minor oddities discovered today that included a Golden Plover at the Bill, a Shoveler through on the sea there and a Fieldfare overhead at Ferrybridge. A total of 11 Red-throated Divers logged from next to no serious serious seawatching at the Bill suggested they were on the move in quantity for the first time this winter, whilst the only other reports were of 121 Dunlin and 57 Ringed Plovers at Ferrybridge.

Still the odd few migrant moths showing up: a Scarce Bordered Straw and 2 Rusty-dot Pearls trapped overnight at the Obs

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) December 27, 2024 at 9:07 AM

26th December

Another day rendered largely opaque by continuing fog. A Mistle Thrush over Osprey Quay was an oddity and a Golden Plover over Ferrybridge was another sighting more usually associated with cold weather at this time of year. The Ferrybridge Mute Swans increased to 3 and routine fare there are around Portland Harbour included at least 5 Great Northern Divers (12 were counted there yesterday, along with 7 Black-necked Grebes, 3 Common Scoter and the Long-tailed Duck).

The Mistle Thrush and one of the Great Northern Divers © Pete Saunders:



24th December

The nicest day for quite a while allowed for more comprehensive coverage today. A Long-tailed Duck joining the 5 Common Scoter in Portland Harbour was the day's highlight, with 6 Great Northern Divers and 3 Black-necked Grebes also scattered about the harbour; wintering singles of Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail were in the vicinity of Portland Castle and a Knot was at Ferrybridge. A late migrant Redwing dropped in briefly at the Bill where a presumably wintering Reed Bunting also came out of the woodwork and 2 Chiffchaffs were still knocking about. Two Red-throated Divers passed by off the Bill along with an altogether more unexpected flock of 20 Knot.

A little immigrant moth activity included 2 Rusty-dot Pearl attracted to the traps at the Obs, with another found settled below the porch light there.

22nd December

With a run of unhelpful weather conditions and the onset of seasonal apathy, reports have been in short supply in recent days; these singles of Great Northern Diver and Pale-bellied Brent Goose were among the regulars on offer at Ferrybridge this morning © Pete Saunders:


20th December

Portland Bill: Red-throated Diver 1, Turnstone 3, Greenfinch 1.

Ferrybridge: Greenfinch 30. 

The Greenfinch flock continues to grow at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders 



19th December

Portland Bill: Red-throated Diver 2, Common Scoter 2, Chiffchaff 1.

Harbour: Red-breasted Merganser 15+, Great Northern Diver 5, Common Scoter 5, Great Crested Grebe 2, Black-throated Diver 1, Black-necked Grebe 1.  

17th December

Portland Bill: Red-throated Diver 1, Common Scoter 4, Chiffchaff 1. 

Ferrybridge: Great Northern Diver 2, Dunlin 200, Ringed Plover 80, Mediterranean Gull 3,000+ (including the adjacent Fleet) 

16th December

Portland Bill: Red-throated Diver 16, Common Scoter 3, Chiffchaff 1, Water Rail 1.

Ferrybridge: Mediterranean Gull 1400.

Church Ope: Black Redstart 1, Chiffchaff 1.

Cove House Inn: Black Redstart 1.

Harbour: Black-necked Grebe 3, Great Northern Diver 1. 

Presumed Nabis capsiformis to light last night at the obs. A single Diamondback was the only migrant lepidoptera.

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) December 16, 2024 at 12:15 PM

15th December

Portland Bill: Red-throated Diver 8, Common Scoter 3, Water Rail 1.

Ferrybridge: Great Northern Diver 3, Brent Geese 152, Greenfinch 26.

Church Ope: Black Redstart 1. 

14th December

Portland Bill: Common Scoter 4, Red-throated Diver 2, Turnstone 4, Purple Sandpiper 1.

Ferrybridge: Great Northern Diver 3, Turnstone 30, Pale-bellied Brent Goose 1. 

Church Ope: Black Redstart 1. 

13th December

Portland Bill: Redwing 2, Chiffchaff 2, Black Redstart 1, Purple Sandpiper 3, Turnstone 4, Dunlin 1, Red-throated Diver 2.

Harbour: Common Scoter 6, Great Northern Diver 3 (+1 Ferrybridge, +1 Portland Castle), Black-necked Grebe 2. 

12th December

Another day of moderate North-easterly winds, saw a small arrival of thrushes, with a minimum of 10 Song Thrushes and 3 Redwings pitched in around the Bill. A total of 3 over-wintering Chiffchaffs were recorded around the obs area, with an additional 2 at Southwell whilst the Purple Sandpiper count was back down to 6 around the obelisk. A busy morning's seawatch was dominated by Auk movement, with approximately 550 heading east in a 10 minute timed count. A further 13 Red-throated Divers, 6 Common Scoters, 3 Velvet Scoters and a Little Egret were recorded past the bill. A total of 3 Great Northern Divers were present at Ferrybridge, with an additional 5 Common Scoter, 2 Great Northern Divers and a Black-necked Grebe in the harbour.  

11th December

Portland Bill: Red-throated Diver 3, Common Scoter 2, Great White Egret 1, Blackcap 1.

Ferrybridge: Dunlin 136, Ringed Plover 54.

10th December

Today's bitter North-easterly wind seemed to do the trick, with a nice variety of birds present for so late into the month. The highlight of the day was a Snow Bunting at Ferrybridge; this was only the second record this year after the subliminal fly-over bird back in October. Additional new arrivals from around the Bill included singles of Chiffchaff, Redwing and Redpoll whilst a total of 8 Purple Sandpipers was the most seen this winter. At sea, a total of 16 Red-throated Divers, 5 Common Scoters, 2 Brent Geese and 2 Velvet Scoters were recorded.

Today's Snow Bunting proved much more obliging, as it pitched in for around an hour along the shingle beach across from Ferrybridge before being lost further along the shore © Pete Saunders 

The Redpoll was busy feeding away on the bountiful seedheads around Culverwell © Jodie Henderson


9th December

Portland Bill: Red-throated Diver 9w, Common Scoter 6e, Great Northern Diver 1e, Chiffchaff 2.

Ferrybridge: Common Gull 4, Great Crested Grebe 4, Goosander 2, Great Northern Diver 2w, Lapwing 1. 

Today's Common Gulls and Great Northern Diver from Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders 


    

8th December

With a second day under the effects of Storm Darragh, it seemed that most of the birds had the good sense to remain well under cover, with a total of 2 Chiffchaffs, a Goldcrest and a Water Rail heard but not seen from around the Bill. Overhead, a Grey Heron was carried out to the tip of the Bill, before battling its way back Northwards. Elsewhere at Ferrybridge, 2 Great Northern Divers, a Pale-bellied Brent Goose and a Sanderling were present.

Today's Sanderling and Pale-bellied Brent Goose from Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders 


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