Portland

Cloudy, 12°, light ENE.

Arrived at Portland bird obs around mid-afternoon and by the time we unpacked and got some shopping in there was not much time for birding.

After an evening meal went out for a walk in the crown field and obs quarry area.

Plenty of House Sparrow and Linnet but no migrants other than 3 Swallow and a Whimbrel.

Later, a pod of what we believe were Common Dolphin seen “bow riding” a ship moving out of Weymouth bay.

A few Manx Shearwater moving early evening and after dark several Little Owl heard calling and a Barn Owl call.

Lets see what tomorrow brings.

 

 

Not a lot

Sunny spells, 19°, fresh SSW.

VisMig was non-existent today with virtually nothing smaller than a Starling moving due to the constant wind.

On land very few birds found: 4 Willow Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff, 3 Common Whitethroat, 1 Spotted Flycatcher and a single Swallow over late evening.

Sea-watch: 4 Arctic Skua, 15 Balearic Shearwater, 4 Manx Shearwater, 12+ Kittiwake, 4 Sandwich Tern, 3 Fulmar, 4 Cormorant and many Gannet.

Dragonflies: Common Darter.

Butterflies: Small White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown.

Moths: several Hummingbird Hawkmoth around the Obs garden.

Day 7: cold and Windy

Mainly cloudy with some light rain, 10°, breezy NNE.

A cold and windy day that produced very few birds on both land and sea and little motivation.

Sea-watch: 7 Whimbrel, 4 Common Scoter, 5 Manx Shearwater and that was about it other than the regulars.

Land: Willow Warbler, 178 ringed in the obs garden today! Several Chiffchaff, 2 Common Whitethroat, 2 Cuckoo and 1 Tree Pipit.

A trip out to Ferrybridge: 5 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2+ Ringed Plover, c10 Dunlin and several Little Tern and Sandwich Tern.

Find the Gannet

A cropped shot

Blackbird with prey

HMS St Alban's off Portland

Day 2: Slow start

Sunny, 13°, light to breezy NE.

A bitty sea watch and a good day’s birding. Red-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, a couple of Manx Shearwater, 2 Canada Geese, a Fulmar plus usual Auk species, Shag and Gannet.

On land: 2 Common Redstart, a Black Redstart, 3 Wheatear, a Whinchat, a Stonechat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, several Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, 20+ Swallow, 2 Little Owl, 3+ Raven and a Whimbrel.

Butterflies: Small White, Holly Blue and Red Admiral.

Lesser Whitethroat

Stonechat

2 Little Owl

2 of a flock of 18 Carrion Crow

Angle Shades

Sea Birds

Overcast and rain showers, 18°. Fresh SW.

A very windy and sometimes very wet day to be returning home. Yet before setting off there was time for a 2.5-hour sea-watch and that proved very fruitful.

A numbers of watchers went to various spots around Portland Bill but a few (including myself) stayed and viewed from the Observatory.

A heavy sea and at times poor visibility made viewing a challenge at times but persistence paid off.

1 Great Shearwater, 2 Cory’s Shearwater, 1 Sooty Shearwater, 1 Manx Shearwater, 100+ Balearic Shearwater, 2 Arctic Skua, 1 Great Skua, 20+ Kittiwake, 1 Fulmar, 1 Auk sp and plenty of Gannet. No photos!

The sea rules the day

Overcast, 18°, fresh SW.

The high winds put paid to any birding on the land today so a sea-watch was order of the day.

The 4 hours between 07:00 and 11:00 were the most productive with, 34 Balearic Shearwater, 2 Cory’s Shearwater, 1 Manx Shearwater, 9 Arctic Skua, 1 Great Skua, 1 Long-tailed Skua, 21+ Kittiwake and numerous Gannet. A continued watch after 11:00 turned up very little.

All I heard in the garden was 1 Chiffchaff and 1 Blackcap plus a couple of Meadow Pipit, Raven and Little Owl nearby and saw a few Swallow milling around overhead considering whether to fly south. Fortunately, they turned back inland.

Butterflies: Red Admiral & Speckled Wood.

The view from the Observatory patio today where sea-watching takes place.

Portland & Abbotsbury

Cloudy at first then sunny, 18°, fresh WSW.

A sea-watch at Portland then a visit to Abbotsbury and a stop off at Ferrybridge on the return.

A breezy night with an electric storm at around 04:00, some rain then cloudy to start.

A 2 hour sea-watch produced a good number of Shearwaters and Skuas even though I missed the pick of the bunch of a Long-tailed Skua and Sooty Shearwater but I managed a few.

1 Great Skua, 8 Arctic Skua, c35 Balearic Shearwater, 1 Manx Shearwater, 20+ Kittiwake and 3 Common Scoter.

Overhead migration was minimal and only a few Chiffchaff and Blackcap were around the Obs garden.

Abbotsbury, apart from the feral birds the following noted: Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Little Egret, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Teal, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Shelduck, Lapwing, Kingfisher, Swallow, Wheatear, Chiffchaff and Cetti’s Warbler.

As for others, a Whooper Swan, 2+ Wigeon, Bar-headed Goose, several Cinnamon Teal etc.

Ferrybridge: good numbers of Ringed Plover and Dunlin, a Bar-tailed Godwit, Little Stint, Knot and 2 Ruff.

Butterflies: Red Admiral & Speckled Wood.

Little Egret (above & below)

Kingfisher

Bar-tailed Godwit

Little Grebe

Lapwing

Fox Moth caterpillar (courtesy Loren)

Whooper Swan

Whooper Swan courtesy Loren

Whiplash Rove Beetle courtesy Loren

Portland & Cholsey

Overcast, misty 10°, breezy SW.

By the time we arrived most of the land migrants had passed through so a brief sea watch produced an Arctic Skua, a couple of Common Scoter and Manx Shearwater.

The best bird of the day was a Grasshopper Warbler heard this morning along the brook that runs alongside Whitehead Meadow before we left for Portland.

Some news from the Eastender today: a Swift with several House Martin this evening over the garden and several Common Whitethroat along the Bunk line.

Also a few Orange Tip Butterfly.

Portland Bird Observatory, Dorset, day 1.

Rain, 11º, fresh to strong variable.

Drove down to Portland, Dorset in rather poor, wet conditions with a lot of surface water on the roads and arrived this afternoon to heavy rain and high winds, over 40mm of rain here today. There were very few if any migrants on the land. Only one brave soul had ventured out in the inclement weather and did not see much.

A few Willow Warblers in the Obs garden, a Whitethroat, a fly-by Hobby and a local Raven.

Sea watching also rather quiet, Gannets were the most numerous, all mainly flying east, Common Shags, Northern Fulmars, 3 Whimbrel flew west, several Manx Shearwaters, a few Kittiwake, a number of Guillemots and Razorbills, a lone Puffin, a Great Northern Diver, west but generally a rather light passage this afternoon.

Let’s hope tomorrow improves!

                                             The observatory

                                   View of the garden