Little Gulls - Portland Bill, 31st January 2009 © Martin Cade
With the easterly wind still blasting pretty well all the news was from the sea: 18 Red-throated Divers, 15 Mediterranean Gulls, 8 Little Gulls, 5 Common Scoter and 2 Brent Geese off the Bill and 8 Brent Geese (including a Pale-bellied Brent), 4 Little Gulls, 2 Red-throated Divers, 2 Mediterranean Gulls, a Slavonian Grebe, a Pintail and a Knot off Chesil. Seven Lapwings, a Golden Plover and a Dartford Warbler were on the land at the Bill, 35 Mediterranean Gulls, 12 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 2 Little Gulls and a Kingfisher were at Ferrybridge and 4 Slavonian Grebes and 2 Great Northern Divers were in Portland Harbour.
Balearic Shearwater, Atlantic Cormorant and Continental Cormorant - Portland Bill, 30th January 2009 © Martin Cade
...we don't usually waste much time on Cormorants but after photographing what we took to be singles of both carbo and sinensis a fortnight ago we had another go today and again got what looks to be one of each (enlargements of the heads showing the gular angles below). We certainly wouldn't have imagined getting a 50:50 ratio of carbo vs sinensis out of fly-by birds at the Bill so we'll be returning to this subject again during the next few weeks.
After a wet start the weather perked up through the morning but a stiff easterly wind remained a constant feature. The Black Brant was again at Ferrybridge but otherwise all the reports were from the Bill: 2 Lapwings on the land and 15 Mediterranean Gulls, 4 Red-throated Divers, 2 Little Gulls and a Balearic Shearwater on the sea.
A marked change in the weather saw the return to the scene of a brisk and very chilly easterly wind. In terms of overall numbers the sea is now much quieter than it was just a few days ago but today produced a small arrival of new gulls off the Bill, where 25 each of Black-headed and Mediterranean Gull were lingering and 2 Little Gulls and a Yellow-legged Gull passed by; 17 Red-throated Divers, 4 Common Scoter, 2 Balearic Shearwaters and 2 Mallards also passed through there. Two Short-eared Owls remained at the Bill, singles of Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes were in Portland Harbour and Ferrybridge produced 19 Mediterranean Gulls, 5 Pale-bellied Brent Geese and a Black Brant.
Winter Moth and Satellite - Portland Bill, 28th January 2009 © Martin Cade
Foggy and damp all day. At the Bill 2 Short-eared Owls were on the wing in the afternoon, and after dark a Barn Owl was seen settled beside the Bill Road. The only other news was from Portland Harbour where there were 450 Herring Gulls, 90 Mediterranean Gulls, 6 Black-necked Grebes and 5 Slavonian Grebes.
In quite mild conditions overnight we gave the moth-traps a try but weren't rewarded with anything beyond singles of Winter Moth and Satellite.
Little Egret - Ferrybridge, 27th January 2009 © Ken Dolbear
A lovely mild, still morning brought out the first butterfly of the year - a Peacock in the Obs garden - but the birds were much as in recent days. Red-throated Divers have been conspicuous all month and another 48 passed through off the Bill today (taking the month total past the 400 mark); at least 12 Mediterranean Gulls and a Balearic Shearwater were lingering offshore and a single Great Northern Diver passed by. The only other reports from the Bill were of 10 Meadow Pipits heading north up the West Cliffs (probably just a local movement but perhaps from further afield given the weather conditions), 2 Short-eared Owls and the usual single Common Buzzard. Elsewhere there was a single Common Scoter at Chesil Cove, 19 Mediterranean Gulls, 12 Pale-bellied Brent Geese and 2 Bar-tailed Godwits and 5 Great Northern Divers and a Black-throated Diver in Portland Harbour.
There weren't quite so many common seabirds offshore at the Bill this morning but interest was provided by 29 Red-throated Divers, 7 Common Scoter, 4 Balearic Shearwaters, 4 Mediterranean Gulls and 3 Eider passing by/lingering; additionally, a party of 7 Black-headed Gulls heading east and a couple of Cormorants that arrived high in from the south certainly had the look of being early spring migrants as opposed to winter wanderers.
After yet another stormy night there were signs of a bit of an influx of Balearic Shearwaters having taken place: 3 were often in view at the same time off the Bill, with the feeling being that at least 6 individuals passed through/lingered during the morning; 31 Common Scoter, 10 Red-throated Divers, a Black-throated Diver and a Great Northern Diver also passed through there and 2 Short-eared Owls were still around on the land. There wasn't too much change elsewhere, with 4 Great Northern Divers, 3 Slavonian Grebes, a Red-necked Grebe and a Kingfisher at Portland Harbour and 200 Dark-bellied Brents, 120 Dunlin, 12 Pale-bellied Brents, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, one of the Black Brants and several Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge.
Bar-tailed Godwit - Ferrybridge, 24th January 2009 © Paul Baker
There were again plenty enough birds off the Bill to keep the seawatchers happy throughout the morning, and amongst the myriad auks and other routine fare they logged an early morning Iceland Gull heading north up the West Cliffs, 64 Red-throated Divers, 21 Common Scoter, 3 Eider, 3 Mediterranean Gulls and 2 Balearic Shearwaters. A regulation winter list from the land at the Bill included 5 Purple Sandpipers, 3 Turnstones, a Common Buzzard, a Water Rail, a Short-eared Owl and a Reed Bunting, whilst reports from elsewhere included 3 Eider and a Common Scoter at Chesil Cove, 2 Black-necked Grebes, 2 Great Northern Divers, a Red-necked Grebe and a Slavonian Grebe in Portland Harbour and 5 Mediterranean Gulls and 2 Bar-tailed Godwits at Ferrybridge.
With the weather remaining very unsettled pretty well all attention was given to the sea. Common seabirds were still very numerous off the Bill (auks, for example, were passing at 200/minute early in the morning) where at least 1, probably 2, Balearic Shearwaters, 5 Red-throated Divers and a Common Scoter passed by/lingered. The only other news was of a lone Slavonian Grebe off Chesil Cove and 240 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 9 Pale-bellied Brents, 6 Mediterranean Gulls and 3 Bar-tailed Godwits at Ferrybridge.
Just a handful of reports from the Bill today: 13 Common Scoter, 7 Red-throated Divers and 3 Black-headed Gulls through on the sea, 3 Short-eared Owls over the fields and the wintering Water Rail still at Culverwell.
Shag - Ferrybridge, 21st January 2009 © Paul Baker
In fair conditions through the morning - before the next dose of wind and rain started to roll in during the afternoon - there was another quite decent list of sightings logged. A Balearic Shearwater passed through off the Bill, where the seawatch tally also included 26 Red-throated Divers, 19 Common Scoter and 2 Brent Geese. Other reports from the water included 6 Black-necked Grebes, 2 Slavonian Grebes, a Red-necked Grebe and a Kingfisher in Portland Harbour and singles of Mute Swan and Pale-bellied Brent Goose at Ferrybridge, whilst on the land there were 4 Purple Sandpipers, 3 Short-eared Owls, a Redwing and a Reed Bunting at the Bill and a Black Redstart at Chesil Cove
oiled Herring Gulls and Kittiwakes - Portland Bill, 20th January 2009 © Martin Cade
...an unfortunately all-too-familiar sight at this time of year. Small numbers of oiled gulls appeared offshore towards the end of last week but numbers have gradually built up and today there were several dozen oiled Herring Gulls and Kittiwakes around the Bill.
More typical mid-winter fare today: 20 Brent Geese, 17 Red-throated Divers and 11 Common Scoter passing through off the Bill, 3 Short-eared Owls and a Reed Bunting at the Bill and 4 Great Northern Divers, 4 Slavonian Grebes, 3 Black-necked Grebes and a Red-necked Grebe in Portland Harbour.
Late news for yesterday: 25 Common Scoter and a Velvet Scoter were still off Chesil Cove.
some Mediterranean Gulls from the weekend and a mixed group of Pale-bellied and Dark-bellied Brents from today - Ferrybridge, 17th and 19th January 2009 © Jon Mercer (Meds) and Pete Saunders (Brents)
The pick of today's sightings was a record count of 42 Pale-bellied Brent Geese at Ferrybridge. Otherwise just a few snippets from the Bill: 3 Short-eared Owls and a Redwing on the land and 3 Common Scoter and 2 Red-throated Divers passing through on the sea..
After some very stormy conditions overnight the day itself wasn't too bad, albeit still pretty blustery. An Iceland Gull (evidently a biscuit-coloured first-winter and so different to the bird(s) seen a couple of times off the Bill in recent weeks) was off Chesil Cove early in the morning; 25 Common Scoter, the Velvet Scoter and a couple of Mediterranean Gulls were also off the Cove. Seawatching at the Bill produced 7 Common Scoter, 4 Red-throated Divers, 3 Mediterranean Gulls and a Black-throated Diver, whilst 3 Purple Sandpipers and a Short-eared Owl were still on the land at the Bill. The only other news was from Portland Harbour where there were 5 Slavonian Grebes, 4 Black-necked Grebes, 3 Great Northern Divers and 3 Red-necked Grebes.
Poor reward today considering it was a relatively fair Saturday with lots of visiting birders doing the rounds. The only reports received were of 3 Black-necked Grebes, a Great Northern Diver and a Slavonian Grebe in Portland Harbour, 3 Red-throated Divers and a Black-headed Gull off the Bill and singles of Water Rail, Short-eared Owl, Redwing and Rook at the Bill.
Black Redstart, Balearic Shearwater and mixed Guillemot/Razorbill group - Portland Bill, 16th January 2009 © Duncan Walbridge (Black Red) and Martin Cade (seabirds)
A very dreary morning had given way to unexpectedly pleasant blue skies and sunshine by early afternoon. A passing Balearic Shearwater was the pick of the morning's seawatch at the Bill that otherwise produced 11 Common Scoter, 7 Red-throated Divers and 5 Mediterranean Gulls. Elsewhere there was a Black Redstart at Portland Castle, singles of Great Northern Diver and Slavonian Grebe in Portland Harbour and 6 Common Scoter that flew through the Harbour.
Purple Sandpiper - Portland Bill, 15th January 2009 © Martin Cade
Overcast, mild and windy today. Another 12 Red-throated Divers, along with 6 Common Scoter, 2 Mediterranean Gulls and a Black-throated Diver, passed through off the Bill and 7 Purple Sandpipers and a Short-eared Owl were at the Bill.
Late news for yesterday: additions to the list included a Snipe and a Dartford Warbler at the Bill, a Slavonian Grebe off Chesil Cove and 6 Black-necked Grebes and a Red-necked Grebe in Portland Harbour.
Red-throated Divers - Portland Bill, 14th January 2009 © Martin Cade
...in case you were wondering why we're reporting lots of divers but never coming up with any photographs of them it's because they're always this far away: they look fine through a scope but are a dead loss from the photography point of view. Those teeny little specks below right of the Trinity House obelisk in the top photograph aren't dirt spots on the camera sensor but are a flock of 10 Red-throats that must have been a good mile and a half away as they passed the Bill; even a heavily cropped shot like the one below of another group doesn't reveal much more detail.
For the most part another lovely mild and sunny day, with plenty of bird song in the air together with harbingers of spring such as a flock of Long-tailed Tits reaching the Obs garden and a Skylark arriving in off the sea at the Bill. Red-throated Divers continued to feature at the Bill, where another 36 passed by during the morning, and at least 20 Mediterranean Gulls were feeding offshore. On the land there were 7 Purple Sandpipers and 4 Short-eared Owls at the Bill, 10 Long-tailed Tits visited the Obs garden and a lone Skylark arrived from the south. Elsewhere a Black Redstart was still at Chesil Cove and the Common Scoter flock and the single Velvet Scoter were still off Chesil Cove, but yesterday's birder's paradise was somewhat less than Utopian today: 6 Great Northern Divers, 3 Black-necked Grebes and 2 Slavonian Grebes were in Portland Harbour and 50 Mediterranean Gulls were at Ferrybridge.
This morning 16 Winter Moths were festooned on and around the outside of the Obs kitchen window where a light had been left on all night.
After an early shower had cleared through the day became more and more spring-like by the hour. The main event at the Bill was a decent movement of 58 Red-throated Divers that were heading from points eastward towards one of their favoured wintering areas in Lyme Bay; a single Great Northern Diver also passed by and at least 7 Mediterranean Gulls were lingering offshore, whilst odds and ends on the land included 2 Short-eared Owls and a Reed Bunting. The rest of day's reports were from the Ferrybridge/Portland Harbour area (which was described by one of our more lyrical contributors as a birder's paradise today!); the former chipped in with 115 Mediterranean Gulls, 18 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 8 Little Egrets, 5 Sanderling, one of the Black Brants and a Shoveler, whilst the latter held 18 Great Crested Grebes, 5 Great Northern Divers, 5 Slavonian Grebes, 3 Black-necked Grebes, 3 Little Grebes, 2 Black-throated Divers and a Red-necked Grebe.
Scandinavian Herring Gull - Portland Bill, 12th January 2009 © Martin Cade
...during a quick check of the gulls on the Bill Common at the end of the afternoon we were surprised to come across this argentatus Herring Gull. Donkey's years ago argentatus was a tolerably frequent winter visitor to the Weymouth/Portland area, but latterly it has declined to the point of being a quite high value bird (the last Portland record was as long ago as December 1996). The wing pattern of this individual seems to point to it being a 'proper' northern/arctic type argentatus. It was only on the Common quite briefly before it was flushed by a dog-walker but we did get one more photograph of it foraging around in a recently cut crop opposite the Obs a few minutes later; this gives a better impression of what it looked like amongst argenteus Herring Gulls (...and apologies for these abysmal photographs - it was semi-dark, drizzling hard and even the highest ISO setting didn't help with freezing a motionless bird, let along anything in flight!):
Back to the mild, wet and windy weather that we're used to at this time of year. The only news was from the Bill, where 28 Common Scoter and a Velvet Scoter passed through on the sea, 7 Purple Sandpipers were on the shore, a Scandinavian Herring Gull was settled on the Bill Common and the wintering Firecrest popped up again in the Obs garden.
yesterday's Blackcap - Easton, 10th January 2009 © Ken Dolbear
The promised change in the weather saw the temperature gradually creep up following the arrival of a brisk south-westerly and ever increasing amounts of cloud. Most of the interest was offshore where a fly-by Iceland Gull was the highlight amongst very good numbers of common seabirds (20000-ish auks, together with many hundreds of Kittiwakes and large gulls) off the Bill; 22 Red-throated Divers and 7 Mediterranean Gulls also passed by there and 24 Common Scoter, the Velvet Scoter and 5 Red-throated Divers were off Chesil Cove. On the land there were 6 Lapwings and 4 Purple Sandpipers at the Bill, a Snipe at Osprey Quay and 80 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge.
Late news for yesterday: a Blackcap visited a garden in Easton. There were also a variety of late reports from Dorset Bird Race teams visiting the island included singles of Red-throated Diver and Balearic Shearwater off the Bill, 8 Purple Sandpipers and 2 Short-eared Owls at the Bill, another 2 Short-eared Owls at Barleycrates Lane and 5 Black-necked Grebes and a Black-throated Diver in Portland Harbour.
A good few birders out and about today but perhaps not quite as much news to report as might have been expected. On the land there were at least 67 Lapwings and 7 Golden Plovers at the Bill, along with singles of Common Buzzard, Snipe, Short-eared Owl, Redwing and Firecrest, whilst elsewhere there were just another 9 Lapwings at Reap Lane. The sea came up with 17 Common Scoter, 9 Red-throated Divers and a Great Northern Diver passing the Bill and 4 Black-necked Grebes, 2 Slavonian Grebes and a Great Northern Diver in Portland Harbour.
Not too much change today: 18 Lapwings, 12 Song Thrushes, 2 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Turnstones, a Snipe, a Woodcock and a Reed Bunting at the Bill, 5 Lapwings at Suckthumb Quarry and a Golden Plover, a Black Redstart and a Redwing at Reap Lane, whilst the sea produced 12 Common Scoter off Chesil Cove and 10-15000 auks, 14 Red-throated Divers, a Great Skua and a Mediterranean Gull off the Bill.
Late news for yesterday: the remains of a dead Woodcock were found at the Bill.
Dartford Warbler and Reed Bunting - Portland Bill, 8th January 2009 © Martin Cade
Dull and dreary but much milder through the morning and feeling positively balmy by the afternoon once some pleasant sunshine had broken through. All the reports were from the Bill where there were 20 Song Thrushes, 3 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Reed Buntings, a Snipe, a Dartford Warbler and a Firecrest on the land, 16 Common Scoter settled offshore and a lone Red-throated Diver passed by on the sea.
Having grown accustomed in recent years to very mild winters there's no doubt that chilly spells like the one we're seeing at the moment produce much more interesting and varied bird lists. Quite a bit of legwork at the Bill today produced 68 Lapwings, 19 Redwings, 17 Song Thrushes, 10 Purple Sandpipers, 6 Snipe, 4 Golden Plovers, 3 Short-eared Owls and a Jack Snipe on the ground or overhead and 33 Common Scoter, 7 Red-throated Divers, 3 Black-headed Gulls and a Balearic Shearwater passing through or lingering offshore where commoner seabirds (particularly auks that were passing at rates of 100-300/minute for periods during the morning) were very conspicuous. The only news from elsewhere was of 5 Redwings, 3 Lapwings and a Fieldfare at Suckthumb Quarry.
Firecrest - Portland Bill, 6th January 2009 © Martin Cade
In pleasant sunshine there was decent coverage of the Bill area that produced 41 Lapwings, 8 Golden Plovers, 5 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Common Buzzards (one of which that was spotted way out off the West Cliffs was presumably not a local bird), a Snipe, a Short-eared Owl, a Dartford Warbler, a Firecrest and a Reed Bunting on the ground or overhead and 13 Red-throated Divers, 12 Common Scoter and 2 Black-headed Gulls through on the sea. Elsewhere there were another 3 Golden Plovers at Barleycrates Lane, 2 Redwings and a Fieldfare at Reap Lane and 21 Pale-bellied Brents, the 2 Black Brants, 74 Dunlin, 53 Ringed Plover and 16 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge.
Late news for recent days: a Blackcap has been at Fortuneswell in recent days, whilst additions to last Sunday's (4th) list included 4 Slavonian Grebes and a Black-throated Diver in Portland Harbour and another Slavonian Grebe off Chesil Cove.
Little Egret - Portland Bill, 5th January 2009 © Martin Cade
...we were driving down the Bill Road this afternoon when we noticed an egret leap up from amongst some horses beside Culverwell...surely a dead cert to be a Cattle Egret; after an emergency stop there was just enough time to grab a couple of record shots as the bird disappeared over the ridge into Top Fields. As you can see from the results above we were pretty disappointed!!
More of the same today: 7 Lapwings, 4 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Golden Plovers, 2 Turnstones, a Little Egret and a Firecrest were on the ground/overhead at the Bill and 18 Common Scoter, 2 Red-throated Divers and a Great Northern Diver passed through on the sea there. The only report from elsewhere was of a Black Redstart still at Reap Lane.
Late news for yesterday: 3 Gadwall were in Portland Harbour, a Dartford Warbler was in Top Fields, a Black Redstart was still at Chesil Cove and one of the Short-eared Owls at the Bill left out to sea heading south.
Lapwing and Golden Plover - Portland Bill, 4th January 2009 © Martin Cade
Under a veil of heavy cloud and with the wind having dropped right away it didn't feel nearly as cold as in recent days. The sea produced most of the day's sightings, with the Velvet Scoter still present with 22 Common Scoter off Chesil Cove, 3 Black-necked Grebes and 2 Great Northern Divers still in Portland Harbour and 22 Mediterranean Gulls, 11 Common Scoter, 7 Mallard, 6 Teal, 4 Red-throated Divers and 3 Eider passed through off the Bill. On the land there were 6 Lapwings, 2 Golden Plover, 2 Redwings, a Short-eared Owl and a Reed Bunting at the Bill, another Golden Plover at Reap Lane, 70 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge and 10 Lapwings headed north over Chesil Cove.
Another fair list today including a few more year ticks. Most of the reports came from the Bill where 15 Song Thrushes, 6 Lapwings, 3 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Redwings, a Common Buzzard, a Water Rail and a Short-eared Owl were logged on the land and 27 Mediterranean Gulls, 17 Wigeon, 7 Red-throated Divers, 6 Common Scoter and 4 Pintail passed through on the sea. Elsewhere a Velvet Scoter joined the party of 30 Common Scoter off Chesil Cove, 2 Redwings were at Cheyne and a Black Redstart was again at Reap Lane.
Short-eared Owl - Portland Bill, 2nd January 2009 © Martin Cade
A much nicer day with plenty of sunshine throughout the morning. Good coverage of the Bill area produced 16 Song Thrushes, 6 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Lapwings, a Turnstone, a Short-eared Owl, a Firecrest, a Linnet and a Reed Bunting on the land and 4 Red-throated Divers and a Black-headed Gull through on the sea. Elsewhere there were 110 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge, 3 Black-necked and a Red-necked Grebe in Portland Harbour and a Golden Plover and a Black Redstart at Reap Lane.
A very dull and chilly start to the new year. There was just a hint of some cold weather movement at the Bill where singles of Lapwing, Golden Plover and Fieldfare showed up; otherwise there were just singles of Short-eared Owl and Raven logged on the land there and 13 Mediterranean Gulls, 4 Red-throated Divers, a Common Scoter, a Great Skua and a Black-headed Gull passed through/lingered offshore. The only other reports were of a Black Redstart at Reap Lane (a different individual to the one seen at the same spot a couple of days ago) and more than 100 Mediterranean Gulls at Ferrybridge.