Warm Days

Sunny, 28°, light E.

A slightly cooler day than of late but still pretty warm but still not productive for any serious birding locally.

Rooks still raiding the bird feeders whilst the Mallards sit underneath waiting for seeds to drop.

A male Beautiful Demoiselle and a Scarlet Tiger Moth in the garden and a male Stag Beetle nearby.

Courtesy Loren.

Insects

Sunny, 26°, light S.

A walk out to Lollingdon but very little noted bird wise.

A Corn Bunting on the hill and singing and several Yellowhammer nearby.

20+ Red Kite around,  as several fields were being harvested for silage so plenty for the Kites to scavenge on like Skylark chicks or eggs!

Dragonflies: Banded Demoiselle.

Butterflies: Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Common Blue and Speckled Wood.

Several other insects noted. 

Tanyptera atrata, courtesy Stephen Haigh.

Pale Tussock Moth

Banded Demoiselle

Unknown

Garden bits

Mainly sunny, 22°, light SSW.

A few bits from the garden: several House Martin on the roof today appearing to collect moss, presumably to line their nests. Plus a few other residents.

Disappointing

Sunny intervals, 18°, moderate WSW.

A disappointing time out along the Bunk line today:

A Hobby was the bird of the day that flew through towards the gravel pit.

Several Swift, House Martin, Sand Martin and Swallow feeding overhead.

Nothing more to note at the gravel pit and unable to see in now the nettles have grown high.

The usual Warblers seen and heard on route but little else.

Butterflies: a Large White, 2 Small White, an Orange Tip and Common Blue and 2 Small Heath.

House Sparrows courtesy Bill Nicholls

L’s.

Cloudy, 12°, breezy WSW.

Lollingdon, Lees & Long Ditch.

A breezy day, 60+ Swift and c30 House Martin, south-west over Lollingdon Hill. A singing Corn Bunting present but little else.

Elsewhere: 2 Lesser Whitethroat, several Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Chiffchaff and several Sedge and Reed Warbler at the Long Ditch area.

10+ Swift and a handful of Swallow, a Grey Heron, 3-4 Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and Yellow Wagtail.

In the meadow, a Grey Wagtail and a Pied Wagtail, both collecting food, a Coal Tit singing and 2 Mistle Thrush mobbing a Carrion Crow.

Mammals: Brown Hare and Roe Deer.

Dragonflies: A Banded Demoiselle in garden.

Butterflies: singles of Small White, Speckled Wood and Small Heath.

 

Club-tailed Dragonfly

 Courtesy Richard James. One of four found yesterday.

Club-tailed Dragonfly, female.

Back to it

Overcast, 11°, light to breezy NNE.

Back birding in Cholsey after a stay at Portland, Dorset.

The colder weather today has concentrated Hirundines over favoured areas where insects are abundant, with 150+ over CSW and c30 over the gravel pit.

House Martin in the majority with many Swallow and several Sand Martin.

Pretty quiet on the gravel pit with 2 Shelduck still present and a Little Ringed Plover (heard) but a lot of growth now restricting viewing over the pits.

Several Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat and Blackcap and a Grey Wagtail elsewhere.

2 Lapwing present near Green Lane.  

A dead Polecat found by Stewart Watts out Lollingdon way. An area where they have been seen in previous years.

Polecat, courtesy Stewart Watts

Cinnabar Moth, courtesy Bill Nicholls

Great-spotted Woodpecker, courtesy Loren

Time to go home

Mainly cloudy, 12°, breezy NE.

A weather block out in the Channell appears to have prevented any northward bound migrants reaching Portland shores today.

In the small time we had left not much was noted as we departed northwards ourselves at around 12:30.

As well as a steady flow of Gannet, Manx Shearwater and Auks and a single Great Northern Diver flew west and a Fulmar noted.

The only land birds noted were Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, and Common and Lesser Whitethroat.

Another quiet one

Sunny periods, 14°, light NE.

A slow day with a limited flurry of migrants early then all quiet.

A call from the ringing crew at Culverwell for a Golden Oriole saw most of us trek up there but to no avail as the bird appeared to pass through and was not seen again.

So back to the Obs for whatever was around:

An Arctic Skua, a Red-throated Diver, 3 Great Northern Diver, 1 Whimbrel and 50+ Manx Shearwater plus the usual fare over the sea.

Land: a Grey Heron, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Wheatear, White Wagtail, a Swift and 50+ Swallow through the day.

Dragonflies: Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies: Much as the day before and Painted Ladies arriving in off the sea.

The morning rush

Mainly sunny, 14°, light SW.

A light influx of migrants’ early morning, they quickly filtered through the Bill area and by midday most had departed leaving the rest of the day fairly quiet.

5 Common Scoter, 2 Whimbrel, 2 Fulmar, a Cuckoo, a Hobby, a White Wagtail, 3 Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat and 3 Wheatear.

50+ Swallow trickling through the day provided the only real consistency after the morning rush.

Dragonflies: Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies: Large White, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady (many), Speckled Wood and Wall Brown.

A better day

Mainly cloudy, 14°, light SW.

The highlight of the day was a Turtle Dove that arrived off the sea and spent some time moving around the bill area before departing.

An intermittent sea-watch produced: 2 Pomarine Skua, 2 Arctic Skua, 3 Red-throated Diver, 6 Common Scoter, 10 Mediterranean Gull, 6 Common Gull and 3 Manx Shearwater etc.

The land was more varied in species if not numbers: 5 Chiffchaff, 3 Willow Warbler, a Garden Warbler, Blackcap, 8 Common Whitethroat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, a Reed Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Common Redstart, a Whinchat, Stonechat, 4 Wheatear, 3 Yellow Wagtail, a White Wagtail and c30 Swallow.

Dragonflies: Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Speckled Wood and Wall Brown.

Rain stopped play

A cloudy day with rain at 13:00 onwards, 14°, mod E.

A very slow day with rain stopping play early afternoon.

Approx. 50 Common Scoter, 10 Oystercatcher and 2 Whimbrel over the sea and the odd Manx Shearwater was about it, other than the regulars.

The land didn’t do much better with 12 Swallow, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Common Whitethroat, a Wheatear and a Stonechat.

Butterflies: Large White, Orange Tip and Red Admiral.

Weather

A cloudy start, then fog, then rain, then sun, 14°, light to mod SW.

A strange day weather wise, the fog put the dampers on a sea-watch around 11:00, then a brief period of rain, then the sun came out, birding again.

The RNBWS folk arrived today so we had a lighthouse full of ex RN bods all into birding. So felt right at home.

Anyway, to the birds: the sea produced, 2 Pomarine Skua, 3 Arctic Skua, 150+ Kittiwake, a handful of Sandwich Tern, 5 Shelduck, 23 Common Scoter, a Great Northern Diver, 2 Red-throated Diver and 50+ Manx Shearwater etc.

Land: 2 Whimbrel, a Redpoll, 2 Willow Warbler, 4 Chiffchaff, a Reed Warbler, a Garden Warbler, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 9 Common Whitethroat, a Blackcap, a Whinchat, 3 Yellow Wagtail and 30+ Swallow.

Butterflies: Large White, Orange Tip, a Blue of some description, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Wall Brown and Meadow Brown.

April b"l"ows out

Sunny, 14°, strong E.

Another blustery day on the Isle of Portland with not a lot seen on land or sea. 22 Whimbrel and 65 Bar-tailed Godwit, sometimes in mixed flock and 16 Common Scoter.

A single Swift, 5 Swallow, Little Owl, 3 Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, 3 Wheatear, Stonechat, 2 Chiffchaff, 3 Common Whitethroat and 1 Lesser Whitethroat.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood.

Another windy one

Sunny, 14°, strong NE.

Probably the worst wind for vizmig at Portland.

However, a reasonable scattering of birds. On the sea, 2 Pomarine Skua, 2 Arctic Skua, a Red-throated Diver, 10 Black Tern, a few Sandwich Tern and 50+ Manx Shearwater, a Fulmar plus the Auks, Gannet etc.,

Over land, a Whimbrel, Hobby, 6 Swift, 60+ Swallow, 2 House Martin, a Sand Martin, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Common Whitethroat, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Spotted Flycatcher, 7 Wheatear, a Stonechat, 2 Yellow Wagtail, a White Wagtail and several Meadow Pipit. Missed a few good ones but there is always tomorrow.

Dragonflies: Broad-bodied Chaser.

Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood.