7th April

With not a sniff of a change in the weather there was a real feel of diminished returns about today's proceedings, with a much thinner spread of migrants on the ground as well as less on the move both overhead and on the sea. An Osprey heading north over Southwell was an a nice afternoon highlight and saved the day after the earlier returns had been so relatively impoverished, with 3 Black Redstarts, 2 Sanderling, 2 Redstarts, 2 Fieldfares and a Bullfinch the best on offer at the Bill and the year's first Common Sandpiper at Ferrybridge the pick of the bunch elsewhere. Sea passage off the Bill included 23 more passing Red-throated Divers.

This afternoon's Osprey over Southwell...


                          ...and this morning's Common Sandpiper at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:


Whitethroat at Southwell this evening © Debby Saunders:


We received details today of another interesting Chiffchaff ringing recovery: a bird originally ringed here at the Bill in October 2018 was controlled three days ago by the guys at Hilbre Bird Observatory; the oldest Chiffchaff from UK ringing is apparently a bird of seven years and seven months, so at six years and six months this individual's already lived to a grand old age and is still going strong:


Although the moth-traps are still really quiet there have been the occasional oddities cropping up, with last night's Great Prominent at the Obs only the fourth record there of this oak woodland species © Martin Cade

6th April

Today had a little bit of everything going for it, with a bountiful selection of grounded common migrants including a couple of firsts for the spring, some strong overhead passage including a classic spring overshoot and a least a small uptick in sea passage to boot. Chiffchaffs were once again the most numerous of the grounded arrivals everywhere, with the 400 or so logged at the Bill including many that were really actively moving straight through; the wide selection of lower totals around the island included the likes of 100 Wheatears, 25 Redstarts, 10 Black Redstart and singles of Ring Ouzel, Pied Flycatcher and Bullfinch, with a Garden Warbler at Southwell and a Whitethroat at Verne Common both firsts for the year. Overhead passage was strong through the morning before tailing off sharply towards midday; a Red-rumped Swallow through over the Crown Estate Field was by far the highlight, whilst 400 Meadow Pipits and 280 Linnets from a two and a half hour sample count at Wallsend gave an indication of the numbers involved. Sea passage picked up a little, with 105 Common Scoters, 8 Red-throated Divers and a Gargeney amongst others through off the Bill.

A first dragonfly on the wing this year - a Broad-bodied Chaser - emerged from one of the Obs garden ponds.

A couple of snatched records of the Red-rumped Swallow © Joe Stockwell:




A few of the days migrant selection - Redstart © Debby Saunders, Wheatear and Redshank © Pete Saunders and Yellow Wagtail © Joe Stockwell:





5th April

Perhaps we've reached the point in spring where birds are on the move regardless, as today's hardly ideal conditions of blasting wind and crystal-clear sky heralded yet another decent arrival both on land and overhead. A good fair-weather arrival on the ground saw a constant throughput of migrants across the Bill that by its nature wasn't at all easy to quantify but included likely very conservative guesstimates of 200 Chiffchaffs, 50 Wheatears, 50 Willow Warblers and 15 Redstarts, with Blackcaps well represented and 3 Redwings and a White Wagtail amongst the padders. Elsewhere, the spring's first Whinchat was at Reap Lane, with 8 Redstarts, 5 Yellow Wagtails and a Black Redstart also scattered around the middle and 2 Little Ringed Plovers and the season's first 4 Little Terns at Ferrybridge. A Chough in/off over Chesil - only the sixth record for Portland - was a fine highlight from the day's overhead passage that saw another steady arrival of hirundines, Meadow Pipits and finches during the first few hours of the morning before things tailed off prematurely after midday; the passage was poorly covered but odd sample counts including 200 Sand Martins in two hours on West Cliffs gave an idea of the volume. Whether the year's first Corn Bunting that passed over a garden at Weston during the afternoon was an overflying migrant or a previously overlooked temporary resident will hopefully be clarified in the next few days. The day's seawatching never really got going, with a lone Arctic Skua the only bird of particular note at the Bill.  

This evening's Little Ringed Plovers at Ferrybridge © Martin Cade:

4th April

Like the weather, the birding was very much a tale of two halves, with a cold and damp start seeing another decent arrival of grounded migrants and some steady sea passage before the cloud lifted and any diurnal passage that had been blocked by the morning's rain could finally get going in the afternoon's unbroken sunshine. At the Bill, a total of 60 grounded Chiffchaffs contrasted with just single figure tallies of both Willow Warbler and Blackcap, but 4 Goldcrests, 2 Fieldfare, 2 Black Redstarts, a Water Rail, a White Wagtail and at least 2 of the long-staying Firecrests provided some variety there, whilst a single Common Redstart was a further addition at Southwell. Hirundine passage was conspicuously busier than of late, with the 44 Swallows, 11 House Martins and 3 Sand Martins logged in a 30 minute sample on the West Cliffs giving an idea of relative proportions involved in a movement that looked likely to have reached a four-figure total for the island as a whole. A varied selection from the sea at the Bill included 354 Common Scoter, 350 Gannets, 49 Sandwich Terns, 41 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 18 Teal, 11 Red-throated Divers, 5 Eider and singles of Arctic Skua and Puffin. 

The season's first ringing control concerned a Chiffchaff first ringed at Carey, near Wareham, last September that was trapped at the Obs this morning; assuming it left the country over east Dorset soon after it was ringed last autumn then it didn't make a bad job of navigating its way back in this spring along pretty much the same track:


Always a pleasure to see at this time of year - today's Common Redstart at Southwell © Phil Cheeseman:


3rd April

The northeasterly airflow's showing no sign of abating, but today's increasingly overcast conditions - that heralded the novelty for recent weeks of a spell of late afternoon rain - brought some much needed change to proceedings and dropped more than a sprinkle of new arrivals on the land. A total of 75 Chiffchaffs made up the bulk of the grounded migrants at the Bill, where Wheatears, Blackcaps and Willow Warblers were all represented in far lower numbers and 5 Fieldfare, 3 Redwings and a Redstart provided some variety. It was far busier overhead, although action there was on such a broad front that it was tricky to fully tap into what with there being next to no visiting birders about to lend a hand in that department; a two hour stint at Wallsend that came up with 513 Meadow Pipits, 240 Linnets, 63 Goldfinches, 57 Swallows, 57 Sand Martins and 22 House Martins patently only scratched the surface and the day's true diurnal totals would have been considerably higher. In contrast, the day's sea passage was a little more subdued than of late, with 137 Common Scoter, 80 Sandwich Terns, 5 commic terns, 4 Red-throated Divers, a Great Northern Diver and a Teal through off the Bill.

2nd April

Although we're stuck in samey conditions - blazingly bright and sunny with a naggingly strong northeasterly a constant feature - and the birding is in a more of the same vein we have the consolation that the repeats make decent enough viewing, with strong showings over the sea and overhead again today; the land remains the poor relation, with a lone Firecrest easily the best of the thinnest of groundings at the Bill and a slight increase to 70 Dunlin the only evidence of wader arrivals at Ferrybridge. The sea was well-watched with almost identical totals at Chesil and Bill that included 555 Common Scoter, 12 Shoveler, 7 Grey Plovers, 3 Eider, 2 Red-throated Divers and singles of Velvet Scoter, Whimbrel and Arctic Tern. Overhead passage was tricky to tap into today, with a lot of the movement occurring well out beyond both West Cliffs and Chesil, but Meadow Pipits and Linnets both reached the many hundreds level, with hirundines getting into the several dozens.


1st April

Today's blasting easterly may have made for challenging conditions in the field but there were plenty of rewards to be had from the various watchpoints around the island. At sea, Common Scoters were once again on the move in big numbers, with 603 through off the Bill, alongside 50 Sandwich Terns, 6 Shelduck, 2 Garganey, 2 Arctic Skua, 2 Greylag Geese, 2 Common Terns and an Arctic Tern. The Greylags and Garganey had also earlier been seen passing Chesil, where additional sightings through the day included 44 Black-headed Gulls, 22 Shoveler, 2 Whimbrel and singles of Curlew, Sanderling, Grey Plover and Dunlin. Another strong diurnal passage saw small flocks of pipits and finches arriving at a fairly constant rate well into the early afternoon, with a total of 990 Meadow Pipits, 368 Linnets and 51 Goldfinches logged during a three hour sample count on West Cliffs; other variety on the move included the first 2 Tree Pipits of the spring, 2 Fieldfare and 2 Song Thrush; hirundines, however, were noticeably quieter than yesterday with neither Swallow nor Sand Martin making it to 50 at the Bill. On the shore, a noticeable uptick in waders included 60 Dunlin and a Sanderling at Ferrybridge.

It was another Common Scoter day over the sea, although there were other snippets of interest to be tapped into including Greylag Geese and Arctic Skuas © Martin Cade (scoters and Arctic Skua) and Keith Pritchard (Greylag Geese):





Sadly, by evening the light was shocking so it was fortunate that Shovelers are pretty distinctive even when completely silhouetted against the setting sun © Martin Cade:

31st March

Whilst today saw a slight upturn in proceedings, it's fair to say that March fizzled out with a whimper rather than a bang. An Osprey arriving in/off was the highlight of the day's overhead passage, which also saw Sand Martin numbers building to an impressive 127 in an hour around midday; Linnets are also beginning to feature more strongly, with 70 from a sample two hour watch on West Cliffs and plenty more at other times. On the ground, a Ring Ouzel at Barleycrates was the pick of a thinnish scatter that also included at least 3 White Wagtails, 3 Black Redstarts and a lingering Firecrest. The surprises from the Bill seawatches - 10 Canada Geese and 2 Mute Swans - were not really the sort of things to excite, with 24 Sandwich Terns and 15 Red-throated Divers the best of the more routine passage.


30th March

Far too fine a night and day to expect much in the way of grounded migrants and a Bullfinch was about as good as it got at the Bill, where even the most routine fare was represented in no more than low single figure totals. It was a little busier overhead, with 279 Meadow Pipits making up the bulk of the morning vismig watch on West Cliffs, with a light trickle of hirundines also evident there and elsewhere. The light northwesterly did no favours for the seawatchers either, with even Red-throated Divers only just about making double figures off the Bill. Reports from elsewhere included one of the Long-tailed Ducks still in Portland Harbour and a Purple Sandpiper on one of the Harbour breakwaters.

29th March

Had it not been for the continuing Dotterel at Ferrybridge today would have been distinctly underwhelming on the migrant front, with the crystal clear night and bright, sunny morning seeing to it that precious little was grounded. The conditions did offer something for the vismiggers who enjoyed some limited passage along West Cliffs, whilst another potentially very noteworthy overhead sighting concerned a Goshawk reported by visitors over the north of the island; the more mundane diurnal passage included 156 Meadow Pipits, 72 Wood Pigeons, 13 Fieldfares, 11 Carrion Crows, 9 Stock Doves and 7 Redwings through past the watchpoint at Wallsend. On the ground, 5 Firecrests (only one of them a new arrival) and a Redstart were easily the best on offer at the Bill. The sea ticked over with divers, including 15 Red-throated, a Black-throated and a Great Northern through off the Bill, but little else was on the move.

On a day with little about on the ground there were still a handful of Wheatears to brighten things up © Geoff Orton:

Quite amazingly, having already had two off-island Barn Owls make it here in the last year, last week we received news of a third outsider found on the island - this one was found dead at Weston on 22nd March by a member of the public and its ring revealed it had been marked as a nestling at Bluntshay, near Bridport in west Dorset, in June of last year. Quite why so many Barn Owls are travelling such long distances to get here is beyond us and it seems, since two of the three have been found dead, that they're not thriving once they do get here - maybe on arrival they're finding that the choicest habitat is already spoken for by the local population so they get relegated to the margins. Many thanks to the Alan Reese and Luke Phillips for making us aware of this record:

28th March

On another day, this morning's short band of pre- and post-dawn rain might have precipitated a drop of migrants but today things didn't work out that way, with numbers falling away after a few decent days. A Hooded Crow was a new arrival at the Bill, where 2 more new Firecrests were amongst the modest totals of more routine fare; it was a little busier overhead, with 160 Wood Pigeons, 150 Meadow Pipits and a Merlin featuring amongst the vismig totals there. Surprise of the day on the land was the overnight relocation of the Dotterel from Wallsend to Ferrybridge, where it remained until early evening; elsewhere, a scatter of Black Redstarts included 3 at Blacknor. Another 60 Common Scoter and 21 Red-throated Divers passed by off the Bill, where the pick of the morning's watch were 4 Eider; also on the sea, the 2 Long-tailed Ducks remained in Portland Harbour.

March and April are the peak months for the occasional Hooded Crows that pitch up at Portland although their origins remain obscure: are they coming from the north from Scotland/Scandinavia or from eastern/southeastern continental Europe? Shortly after these photos were taken this bird upped and departed so far out to sea that it was lost to view - next stop France if it kept going. Since at least one of the recent island records involved a bird of Heinz 57 parentage it was good that today's individual looked to be as pure as they come © Martin Cade:




Our Dotterel has about as much migratory urge as a snail: having left Wallsend last night it managed all of a couple of miles before dropping in at Ferrybridge where it spent most of today - at this rate it won't make the Cairngorms before the first snows of autumn. It's interesting to see how much the colour tones of its plumage vary in even the most subtle of changes in the light - and to see how much the toggers jazz around with their images to the extent that by the time the photographs reach their social media streams you'd think they'd been operating on different planets rather than stood shoulder to shoulder using near identical kit © Debby Saunders (top) and Joe Stockwell (bottom):



27th March

With dawn breaking to the sight of yesterday's blanket of fog still hanging low over the island it could easily have been assumed that there would be little in the way of new arrivals to get out of bed for but such thoughts were quickly dispelled when the first few checks of the Obs garden mist-nets revealed a steady throughput of grounded migrants. For the first time this spring Willow Warblers were represented in greater numbers than Chiffchaffs with 50 and 30 respectively logged in the Bill area, where there were also 10 Blackcaps, 2 new Firecrests (with an additional 5 lingerers also still present) and a single Redwing. The latter half of the morning saw the fog lifting which heralded an impressive pulse of overhead passage that included the year's first Hawfinch among a varied selection of 784 Meadow Pipits, 152 Linnets, 49 Goldfinches, 21 Sand Martins, 11 Chaffinch, 8 Swallows, 3 Greenfinch and 2 Redwing heading north along West Cliffs. This flyway came to the fore again towards the end of the afternoon when the day's highlight, a Dotterel, was found settled in an unassuming horse paddock at Wallsend. Elsewhere, both the Hoopoe at Weston and the Blue-headed Wagtail at Reap Lane lingered on for their second and fourth consecutive days.

Formerly more frequent, settled Dotterels have in recent decades become real rarities at Portland and today's arrival was of further note for being the earliest ever recorded on the island - the previous earliest record was of one at the Bill on 6th April 1990. Quite apart from the fact that the bird is patently rather dowdy, we're presuming that the mix of old and new feathers in, for example, the wing coverts and scapulars conclusively age it as a first-summer bird; as regards its sex, it seems that only adults in full breeding plumage can be reliably sexed © Martin Cade (settled and video) and Pete Saunders (in flight):




The Hoopoe continued to show nicely © Pete Saunders (top settled and in flight) and Geoff Orton (bottom settled):




  Amongst all the exotica, Willow Warblers upped their game and assumed top spot in the grounded migrant tally for the first time this spring © Joe Stockwell:

26th March

Another pleasant day's birding although ultimately prematurely curtailed when a blanket of fog - all too often the blight of anticyclonic early spring days at Portland - settled over the island during the last few hours of the afternoon. Among the new arrivals a Hoopoe at Weston was the highlight, with Firecrests still featuring well - another 6 new birds were trapped at the Obs where the 15 ringed so far this month contrasts very favourably with the measly 3 trapped during the whole of last spring - and single Redstarts new at Barleycrates and Southwell; the Blue-headed Wagtail remained at Reap Lane and there was a spread of White Wagtails and Black Redstarts around the south of the island. Other grounded migrants included totals of 90 Chiffchaffs, 25 Willow Warblers, 2 Redwings, 2 Blackcaps and singles of Goldcrest, Greenfinch and Brambling at the Bill, where some rather pedestrian diurnal passage along West Cliffs included 150 Meadow Pipits, 42 Goldfinches, 30 Sand Martins and 17 Fieldfares. Red-throated Divers continued to dominate the sea tally at the Bill with 46 through; 20 Brent Geese, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 3 Sandwich Terns and 2 Eider were the best of the rest there.

A Large Tortoiseshell was seen settled on West Cliffs at Southwell during the afternoon. 

Although far from the brash brightness of a spring male, on close inspection there's still plenty going for a spring female Brambling © Martin Cade:

A mobile phone snap of the Large Tortoiseshell at Southwell - the first record for the island since the last sightings of the temporarily established breeding population in March 2022 © John Lucas:

25th March

A relatively low-key day although no less enjoyable for that, with fair conditions allowing for plenty of fieldwork. A small influx of Firecrests saw 5 new birds trapped at the Obs, whilst a spread of 10 or more Black Redstarts around the south of the island included several new individuals; among the other less-regulars, yesterday's Treecreeper relocated to Sweethill, social media reported the continuing presence of a/the Blue-headed Wagtail at Reap Lane and a handful of White Wagtails remained there and elsewhere. Among more routine fare, Chiffchaffs made up the bulk of the numbers on the ground, including 40 at the Bill, whilst overhead passage included an early morning pulse of 45 Redwings and 15 Fieldfares north along West Cliffs. Thirty Red-throated Divers and 18 Brent Geese were the pick from some otherwise uneventful seawatching at the Bill.

Enough of the ring number can be seen to confirm that this evening's Treecreeper at Sweethill was indeed the bird trapped yesterday morning in the Obs garden - it had remained at the Obs until at least yesterday evening but wasn't seen there this morning © Pete Saunders:

24th March

A cooler day than yesterday but the birding was distinctly hotter, at least in terms of quality if not quite quantity. Any day that starts with a shout for 'Hoopoe!' flying past the Obs patio is bound to be a memorable one regardless, but the combined spectacle of hoards of thrushes plummeting out of the sky made for some really exciting post dawn birding there that was topped off when a Treecreeper made its way into a mist-net (the first island record for four years and the first ringed since 2019). Whilst totals for Redwing and Fieldfare reached over 300 and 50 respectively, it seemed other species were, in general, less well represented, with vismig totals from the West Cliffs of 61 Meadow Pipits, 34 Goldfinch, 11 Linnet, 6 'Alba' Wagtails, a Redpoll and a Yellow Wagtail, and grounded totals at the Bill that included 50 Chiffchaffs, 5 Black Redstarts, 5 Willow Warblers, 4 Blackcaps, 2 Firecrests and a Goldcrest. Up-island, a further 3 Black Redstarts were present at Reap Lane alongside 2 Blue-headed Wagtails and 10 White Wagtails, a Ring Ouzel was at St. Georges and the season's first Redstart was at Easton.

Although the scarcities stole the show - Hoopoe and Treecreeper © Martin Cade and Blue-headed Wagtail © Pete Saunders...




...it was really the thrushes that provided today's spectacle, with a continual succession of Fieldfares and Redwings dropping from the heavily overcast sky, often settling briefly in treetops for a break before rising back up into the murk to continue their journey © Debby Saunders (Fieldfare) and © Martin Cade (Redwings):









Very much in keeping with the trend evident in recent days, today's first Redstart of the spring was extremely early - in this case not quite the earliest ever although there are only three previous years with records earlier than this; the earliest ever is one at the Bill on 15th March 2002:


23rd March

That's more like it: a taste of the Portland spring we're used to and not the wholly inadequate offerings visitors have had to put up with hitherto this month, with a combination of overnight rain and a northerly breeze facilitating the first decent fall of migrants so far this season. A heavy bank of cloud hovering a little to the north of the island dropped a steady trickle of northbound arrivals from dawn until well into the afternoon, with totals from the Bill that included 150 Chiffchaffs, 75 Redwings, 50 Chaffinches, 15 Blackcaps, 14 Wheatear, 10 Willow Warblers, 6 Black Redstarts, 4 Bullfinches and singles of Brambling and Redpoll. A wide scatter of more of the same further up island included singles of Merlin, Ring Ouzel and Bullfinch over Blacknor, 6 White Wagtails at Reap Lane and a Ring Ouzel and a Mistle Thrush at the Verne. In the offshore breeze sea passage was noticeably subdued compared to recent days, with 25 Brent Geese, 12 Red-throated Diver, 8 Common Scoter, 4 Manx Shearwater (a belated first for the year) and a Little Gull through off the Bill. The 2 long-staying Long-tailed Ducks that hadn't been reported for a while were again in Portland Harbour, along with 3 Black-necked Grebes and 2 Great Northern Divers.

22nd March

What a really strange period of migration this is: quite how we can be tapping into so many record-breakingly early arrivals during a period when the majority of grounded common migrants are so abysmally represented defies logic but it happened again today, as the island's earliest ever Sedge Warbler arrived in tandem with grounded totals at the Bill of, for example, no more than single figure totals of the likes of Wheatear and Chiffchaff. The unforecast clear-ish sky and brightness did see diurnal migrants get moving in fair supply, with totals of 881 Meadow Pipits, 22 Linnets, 10 'Alba' Wagtails, 9 Sand Martin, 5 Swallow, 3 House Martin and a Grey Wagtail through during the sample four and a half watch on West Cliffs, where a Ring Ouzel also briefly pitched in. Also on the ground, a new Firecrest joined a linger at the Obs and multiples of White Wagtail and Black Redstart, and a single Redwing were around the centre of the island. The highlight from the morning's Bill seawatch was a Black-throated Diver, with an additional 127 Common Scoter, 17 Red-throated Divers and 3 Sandwich Terns also heading up-Channel. A more varied selection from the Chesil included 22 Brent Geese, 4 Dunlin and a Sanderling.

Today's Sedge Warbler at the Bill was a full week earlier than the previous earliest arrival there on 29th March 1998 © Jodie Henderson:


21st March

Whilst this morning's cold and grey start didn't really proffer much hope on the migration front, a scattering of new arrivals just about kept momentum going even if numbers of common migrants continue to fall way below par. Of particular note were Portland's earliest ever Pied Flycatcher at Verne Common and second earliest ever Yellow Wagtails at Barleycrates Lane; interestingly, one of the two Yellow Wagtails was of continental origin - a Blue-headed or something similar. Elsewhere, a new Firecrest was present in the Obs garden alongside the first Goldcrest of the spring, 7 White Wagtails pitched in at Barleycrates and a total of 4 new Black Redstarts were dotted around the island. Several large blocks of rain further to our south and west seemed to restrict both overhead passage and sea movement, with 154 Meadow Pipits, 16 Linnet, 14 Goldfinch and 8 'Alba' Wagtails the sum from the morning's vismig watch on West Cliffs, whilst just 65 Common Scoter, 18 Red-throated Divers, 3 Little Gulls, 5 Sandwich Terns and singles of Arctic and Great Skua - both also firsts for the year - passed by off the Bill; 3 Garganey were pick of  a slightly more varied sea selection off Chesil.

The current migrant happenings are peculiar to say the least: our first Goldcrests of the spring usually show up in the first days of March so to get this individual as a first for the year on the 21st of the month represents the tardiest of appearances and falls very much in line with the pitiful numbers of, for example, Wheatears and Chiffchaffs logged so far this month; contrast that with two of today's other new arrivals - the Pied Flycatcher was the earliest ever by a clear 10 days, whilst the only earlier Yellow Wagtail than today's two birds was a freakishly-prompt bird on 15th March 1975 - before today, the next earliest arrival was on 27th March 2019 © Martin Cade:


The Garganey off Chesil were popular - seawatch Garganey here do settle on the water surprisingly often but they still rarely linger as long as these birds that were twitchable for listers from many miles away © Phil Cheeseman:


Crisply marked male - and female for that matter - White Wagtails such as these birds at Barleycrates are super-smart...




...but we do still struggle with the occasional first-summer birds - this very weakly-marked individual was with the males at Barleycrates and is presumably a first-summer ?female but, save for having a slightly pearlier-grey mantle and noticeably paler flanks, it looked remarkably like an equally weaked-marked immature Pied Wagtail in an adjacent field © Martin Cade:



None of the conventional migrant moths have come our way over the last couple of nights but it was good to find a Red Sword Grass in one of the Obs garden moth-traps this morning; this used to a fabulously rare visitor here but latterly has increased in frequency to become pretty well annual if still never at all numerous - a smart moth! © Martin Cade


mucked up photos but blue headed wagtail as far as i can see, was pretty brief and even more brief an unsnapped yellow wagtail with it for a few seconds.
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