18th March

First off, a Happy Birthday to ourselves - we're almost up to OAP vintage: today's the 64th anniversary of the official opening of PBO at its current base at the Old Lower Lighthouse...

...fortunately, not a great deal ever changes here and the Peter Scott painting is still in situ today more or less right where it was when the great man packed his brushes away:

Back to the present and the Meadow Pipit avalanche continued unabated: today's bright sunshine and very stiff easterly were perfect conditions for passage along West Cliffs, where sample counts included an early/mid-morning total of 400 in an hour at Reap Lane and a later morning total of 785 in two hours at Wallsend; with plenty of birds on the move at other times the day total must have been well in excess of 2000. The year's first Swallow also passed through at Reap Lane, whilst other movers included a trickle of Wood Pigeons, alba wagtails (including a few certain Whites), Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Linnets. Nocturnal migrants either passed straight through without stopping or weren't moving in the first place, since the likes of Wheatears and Chiffchaffs were still only really thinly spread on the ground; a few of the diurnal movers that dropped in included 2 White Wagtails at Reap Lane. The sea was still very quiet, with no more than 22 Common Scoter and a lone Red-throated Diver through off the Bill.

One of the grounded White Wagtails at Reap Lane © Pete Saunders:

There are a lot worse ways of whiling away a couple of hours than vismigging in the sunshine high up on West Cliffs with Meadow Pipits streaming past just metres away at eye level or below © Martin Cade:

17th March

It was heartening to be woken by a Rain Alarm alert today and to look out and find that heavy cloud cover had rolled in overnight. Whilst the damp didn't really materialise the cloud was more than enough to drop to visible height the first substantial Meadow Pipit movement of the spring: a steady flow was evident throughout the Bill area, with a 90 minute sample count of 590 heading along West Cliffs suggesting that the day's full total would have been way into four figures; a few alba wagtails and Goldfinches were tagging along but to all intents and purposes the passage was a bit of a monoculture. The cloud had almost no effect on the ongoing parlous state of affairs on the ground, with 1 Chiffchaff the sum total of arrivals at the Bill where, rather unexpectedly, one of last week's Bullfinches also came out of the woodwork after going missing for several days. The increased cloud cover arrived in tandem with a freshening of the northeasterly that in turn saw the sea come up with 3 Velvet Scoters and a Greylag Goose, along with another dozen passing Red-throated Divers.

Through the scope the presumably migrant Greylag Goose powering up-Channel into the teeth of a stiff and cold northeasterly looked pretty impressive but you need a substantial dollop of imagination to pick up on that from our two mile range record snap of it battling through the Race © Martin Cade:

Our last two Bullfinches of last week's mini arrival were a brace of nice males - one an adult and the other one of last year's youngsters (the latter was the bird that popped up out of the blue again today). We often find spring Bullfinches pretty tricky to age on a field view - unlike, for example, Goldfinches or Greenfinches in which the adults are usually much more vividly coloured than youngsters and lack any trace of discontinuity in the greater coverts, both age classes of Bullfinch usually look pretty much the same in terms of the intensity of their plumage colouration. Fortunately, in the hand they're almost always a doddle to age because pretty well all youngsters retain the juvenile carpal covert (the rather forlorn-looking little feather tagged on the outside end of the greater coverts - arrowed in our photos below - that's hardly ever visible on a field view of a Bullfinch) - on an adult this feather has a nice crisply marked greyish-white edge/tip, whereas on a youngster it has a diffuse rusty-toned rim. Our youngster does have three retained juvenile outer greater coverts that are less glossy and with smaller, more diffuse pale tips than the corresponding feathers on the adult, but to our eyes there's enough of a blue gloss on these feathers that once they're bunched up on the closed wing as they would be on a field view the difference isn't at all obvious ©  Martin Cade:

16th March

By way of 'proper' migrants, the fact that a lone Snipe at the Bill was the day's show-stealer just about said it all today; single Black Redstarts at Southwell and Blacknor also made the list but amongst commoner fare Chiffchaff and Wheatear chipped in with totals of one and zero respectively! For those that follow the fortunes of releases and the like there was excitement in the form of singles of White-tailed Eagle and Red Kite over the middle of the island at various times during the morning.

And if you're minded to have a go at releases...

We're going to get complaints from the guests about the din from our Little Owls before long: one of them has taken to using the Obs garage roof as its main calling perch and it just doesn't stop - it's currently been calling for nearly an hour and is still going strong!

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) March 16, 2025 at 12:04 AM

15th March

Same weather, same migrants, slightly different numbers. Being a nice bright weekend day there was an increase in coverage but, sadly, more eyes didn't mean more birds, with a good perusal of the centre and south of the island coming up with a common migrant tally of just 11 Wheatears and 8 Chiffchaffs; beyond the usual half dozen Purple Sandpipers and both the recent Firecrests still about, singles of White Wagtail and Mistle Thrush provided the only other interest on the land there. Sea passage didn't pick up at all, with just 10 Common Scoter and a Red-throated Diver through off the Bill.

14th March

A lovely albeit still chilly day but one with few noteworthy migrant happenings. A Short-eared Owl was new at the Bill where 7 Wheatears, 4 Chiffchaffs, a Blackcap, a Bullfinch and a trickle of arriving Meadow Pipit were also logged; a few more Wheatears and Chiffchaffs were also thinly spread elsewhere, along with 5 Redwings at the Verne Moat. Five more Red-throated Divers passed by off the Bill.

13th March

IN FOCUS SOUTH WEST Optics day this Sunday 16th March @PortlandBirdObs 10 till 4 @DorsetWildlife 07307 698798 @DorsetBirdClub @opticronuk @SwarovskiOptik @ZEISSBirding @hawkeoptics and more pic.twitter.com/TmlEnk7yvs

— IN FOCUS SOUTH WEST (@MortimerKe93304) March 13, 2025

A clear, cold night didn't look likely to have been much help in dropping new arrivals and 5 Wheatears, 3 Chiffchaffs, 3 more Bullfinches and the spring's first Blackcap were all that could be mustered from the Bill area; yesterday's new Firecrest was still about there as was the wintering Black Redstart, whilst a couple more Wheatears and another Blackcap were found further up-island. Rewards from overhead and from the sea were so few as to not be worth a mention.

The cloudless dawn sky enticed some more Bullfinches into getting moving © Martin Cade:

Great Northern Diver over Ferrybridge this morning © Pete Saunders:

Another first for the spring: Blackcap trapped at the Obs. Also 3 new Bullfinches there this morning.

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) March 13, 2025 at 8:54 AM

12th March

Much quieter conditions were a lot more favourable for tapping into migrants today, with a fair little selection around the Bill that included Chiffchaffs just about getting into double figures, the first 2 Fieldfares of the year, 2 Redwings, 2 Bullfinches, a Lapwing, a Firecrest (with the winterer also still present), a new Great Tit and the first 4 Long-tailed Tits making it out as far as the Obs so far this year; visible passage there including 30 Meadow Pipits, 11 Carrion Crows, 7 alba wagtails, 3 Ravens and 2 Jackdaws arriving in/off. Wheatears were again conspicuous absentees at the Bill, with only one found elsewhere up-island; also elsewhere, a Black Redstart was at Reap Lane and 1 Pale-bellied Brent Goose was again at Ferrybridge. Offshore, 76 Kittiwakes, 68 Common Scoter, 27 Red-throated Divers and 7 Mediterranean Gulls through at the Bill provided some passage interest. 

On the back of the first double figure ringing totals of the year we thought we ought to get the ringing totals spreadsheet back up and running - as usual, there'll be a link to it on the main sightings page on the blog

ringing spreadsheet 2025

A lurky Redwing trying its best to look scarce and interesting at the Obs...

...where the best of the properly scarce and interestings were 2 Bullfinches and a new Firecrest © Martin Cade:

Barn Owls continue to entertain in the evenings - two were at Southwell today © Pete Saunders...

...and, despite two being found dead there in recent weeks, there are still birds showing from time to time at the Bill © Martin Cade:

11th March

Lean times still on the migrant front although a small arrival of Wheatears did see the logging of their first double figure total of the season, with 8 scattered around Barleycrates/Reap, together with further singles at the Bill and Ferrybridge; a few extra Stonechats, a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls arriving in/off and the odd few Chiffchaffs here and there were not only the best of the rest but all of the rest. Three Red-throated Divers passed by off the Bill, whilst winter fare still on offer included 37 Dark-bellied and 2 Pale-bellied Brent Geese at Ferrybridge.

This morning's Pale-bellied Brents at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:

10th March

We blame Spain - or at least the current weather over Spain. There didn't seem to be any other logical reason than blocking weather conditions further south for today's really promising mildness and veil of cloud not dropping a decent arrival of migrants - 4 Chiffchaffs in the whole Bill area is barely worth mentioning, let alone qualifying as a decent arrival. Not only was there precious little by day but the evidence from the nocmig recorder was that there nothing moving at night either: singles of Lapwing and Moorhen calling over the Obs were nice oddities but not a single logging of a thrush or Robin represented a dreadful return given the cloud cover and odd spit of damp in the air. A very minor trickle of visible arrivals did get going after daybreak, when 37 Meadow Pipits, 4 alba wagtails and a Starling arrived in/off at the Bill and grounded Stonechats had noticeably increased by the afternoon. The sea was almost as grim as the land, with 138 Gannets, 10 Red-throated Divers and a handful of migrant gulls easily the best of it off the Bill.

Hummingbird Hawkmoth on the patio Rosemary this morning

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— Debra Saunders (@debbyseamist.bsky.social) March 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM

9th March

Despite conditions remaining more or less the same sea interest dwindled right away today, with little more than a measly 5 Red-throated Divers through off the Bill. Numbers weren't a lot better on the land although quality was higher, with a Red Kite overhead at the Bill, single White Wagtails new in at Barleycrates Lane and Blacknor, a Redwing also at Barleycrates and a new Black Redstart at Southwell; Chiffchaffs were only very thinly spread and overhead Meadow Pipits arrived in/off at no more than a tiny trickle.

The Red Kite at the Bill © Martin Cade:

8th March

Despite the breeze freshening and backing further to the northeast than would usually be appreciated, the sea continued to entertain with some half-decent early season totals to show at both the Bill and Chesil. Six Avocets through off Chesil were the highlight, with back-up tallies that included 460 auks, 56 Common Scoter, 48 Kittiwakes, 38 Shoveler, 32 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 16 Teal, 14 Mediterranean Gulls, 10 Pintail, 8 Red-throated Divers and 2 Black-headed Gulls from the Bill and 28 Black-headed Gulls, 8 Shoveler, 8 Common Scoter, 7 Dunlin and 2 Wigeon from Chesil. A trickle of overhead arrivals provided most of the numbers from the land, including 44 Meadow Pipits, 8 Linnets, 4 Ravens, 2 alba wagtails, 2 Siskins and singles of Common Buzzard and Jackdaw through at the Bill. Grounded arrivals remained few and far between, with little more than a handful of Chiffchaffs and 2 Wheatears around the south of the island.

This morning's Avocets passing Chesil - a gripping and very infrequent sight on a Portland seawatch © Paul Harris:

Our attempt at a proper seawatch from the Bill tip was ineptly timed from the waterfowl point of view but we did have the very unexpected sight of a Common Buzzard lumbering in off the sea beyond Pulpit Rock. Common Buzzards do seem to be genuinely averse to long over-water movements and visible immigration or emigration has hardly ever featured in our log - we can still well remember the famous 'Honey Buzzard' day on 30th September 2000 when, amongst the wealth of other raptors that passed over the Bill and left out to sea, at least 25 Common Buzzards appeared overhead (up to that time there'd been fewer than 100 Common Buzzards ever recorded at the Bill) but none was actually witnessed leaving to the south © Martin Cade:

Hummingbird Hawkmoth on the wing today at Pennsylvania Way © Mark Williams:

Just one migrant moth overnight at the Obs but it was a first for the year - a Pearly Underwing

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) March 8, 2025 at 8:03 AM

7th March

Another disappointing day on the land - just 4 Chiffchaffs constituted the migrant tally at the Bill - was compensated for by noticeably more action at sea today. Totals of 16 Pintail and 11 Shoveler (...Dungeness it wasn't!) provided some seasonable quality, whilst far more conspicuous was the strong passage of c1800 auks; other numbers included 104 Kittiwakes, 54 Common Gulls, 33 Mediterranean Gulls, 28 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 26 Common Scoter, 13 Red-throated Divers, a Black-headed Gull and the year's first Puffin. At Ferrybridge, an exodus of Brent Geese saw just 4 remain, with 2 Shelducks also there.

Strong up-Channel passages of non-local auks aren't too unusual at this time of year and birds in non-breeding plumage pretty well always predominate. Our local breeding auks are in full 'summer' plumage as soon as they return and start prospecting at the colony in October/November - presumably they've already squeezed a complete post-breeding moult into 'winter' plumage and then a partial pre-breeding moult into 'summer' plumage into the three and a bit months between leaving the colony in July and returning in October (since most of this happens way out to sea and so out of scrutiny you do wonder whether some of them even bother with the winter plumage stage and just skip straight from breeding plumage into the next breeding plumage). With birds in winter/non-breeding plumage usually making up the bulk of the spring auk movements - today's ratio was somewhere in the region of 70:30 to 80:20 in their favour - can we assume that they're immatures that aren't going to get into breeding plumage this summer or is there also a component of adults that are just really late getting going with their pre-breeding moult? © Martin Cade:

Lesser Black-backed Gulls often pose plenty of questions, what with all their different races, migration strategies and plumages, but today's birds weren't particularly troublesome since pretty well all of them were nice adult graellsii in crisp breeding plumage © Martin Cade:

There's plenty of variation amongst the last few Brent Geese remaining at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:

Three single migrant moths overnight at the Obs: Silver Y new for the year + Rusty-dot Pearl & DSGrass. On the bird front it's not Dungeness or Selsey but a few ducks moving for the first time this spring: 11 Shoveler, 2 Pintail and few more too distant to do

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— Portland Bird Observatory (@portlandbirdobs.bsky.social) March 7, 2025 at 9:42 AM

6th March

Well, what a load of rubbish: there might have been some expectation for the arrival of milder air doing us a favour but all it did was prompt yesterday's fog to linger throughout the hours of darkness and render Portland invisible to any overflying migrants. A paltry tally of singles of Wheatear and Chiffchaff was all that could be mustered at the Bill, with a Black Redstart at Kingbarrow the only other possible new arrival. The fog lingered on well after dawn and likely scuppered what hopes there were for the sea, with 9 Common Scoter, 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a lone Red-throated Diver the sum from the Bill.

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

Portland Bill Bird Observatory @PortlandBirdObs Dorset @DorsetBirdClub is the venue for the IN FOCUS optics day this Sunday 16th February @DorsetBirdClub 01225 891352 for more info @opticronuk @SwarovskiOptik @ZEISSBirding @hawkeoptics Vortex - hoping for a few Divers pic.twitter.com/KOBMqpzqd8

— IN FOCUS SOUTH WEST (@MortimerKe93304) February 12, 2025

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