24th April

Samey conditions - even those that were initially propitious, migrant-wise - eventually see numbers fizzle out as birds get the hang of what's going on and today's pleasantly quiet, semi-overcast conditions were a good deal less rewarding than they'd been in the last few days. Diurnal migrants featured strongly (no doubt their nocturnal counterparts had also been on the move in quantity but had the sense not to stop) with Swallows way up into four figures and House Martins surging through in by far their best numbers to date; Sand Martins and Swifts were well-represented and a lone Hobby also passed through. It was a different story on the ground where rewards were pretty scant: singles of Pied and Spotted Flycatchers at Wakeham, a Short-eared Owl and a Garden Warbler at Southwell and a Grasshopper Warbler at the Bill were about as good as it got amongst the low totals of regulars. The continuing offshore breeze did the seawatchers no favours, with 145 Kittiwakes, 36 Sandwich Terns, 33 Whimbrel, 18 Black-headed Gulls, 10 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Great Northern Divers and a lone Great Skua the best of the morning loggings at the Bill. Elsewhere, 24 Bar-tailed Godwits and a Whimbrel were at Ferrybridge.

Some of this morning's Bar-tailed Godwits at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:


They're so often seen on seawatches at this time of year that anyone would be forgiven for thinking that Bar-tailed Godwits are only diurnal migrants but big chunks of their prodigious migratory flights take place at night and we often get nocmig loggings of them in spring - here's a flock over the Obs before dawn a couple of nights ago:


Another wader getting into nice plumage now is Purple Sandpiper - the few left at the Bill are well advanced with their pre-breeding moult © Paul Chandler Cholsey Wildlife :


It was a pleasant surprise when the first Pied Flycatcher trapped in the Obs garden this spring (last Saturday, 21st) was found to be already wearing a ring...


...and we've since heard back that it was ringed as a nestling last summer at Lake Vyrnwy in north Wales...


We're not sure why we'd blithely imagine that most of the Pied Flycatchers passing through Portland are coming and going from breeding sites in Wales but that's actually far from the truth since, although many do, there are also exchanges with Dartmoor, Exmoor, southwest Scotland, northern England and even Norway. The map below shows all of PBO's ringing exchanges for Pied Flycatcher (it's an interactive map so clicking on the points reveals the ringing details)...

    


23rd April

Another decent enough day with overcast skies at dawn dropping a succession of mainly routine migrants at the Bill and a clearance through the middle of the day seeing Swallows get going again in very good quantity. The fall-out of nocturnal migrants was very much concentrated around the south of the island, particularly around the Obs, and involved a good 200 Willow Warblers (they accounted for all but 20 of the day's ringing tally of 94 birds at the Obs). Variety on the deck wasn't on a par with recent days but did include 2 each of Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat, and singles of Cuckoo, Pied Flycatcher and Brambling at the Bill. Swallows dominated overhead with sample counts, notably of 130 through at Blacknor in just 15 minutes, suggesting that the day-total was well into four figures; other overhead movers included 2 each of Yellow Wagtail and Tree Pipit, and singles of Hen Harrier and Hobby. The waft of a northerly breeze might have been advantageous on the land but was pretty hopeless for the sea: another 206 Kittiwakes through off the Bill was a surprise, but for this date 45 Whimbrel, 10 Bar-tailed Godwits, 3 Red-throated Divers, 2 Great Northern Divers, 2 Arctic Terns and an Arctic Skua was a lean back-up tally there. Ferrybridge didn't fare much better, with 57 Bar-tailed Godwits ( 20 grounded and another 37 heading east) the best on offer.

Another raptor that nearly snuck by unseen: despite being not far off directly overhead as it passed high over the Obs if it hadn't been for a few alarm calls from the local gulls this Hen Harrier would almost certainly have been missed © Martin Cade:


One that was hard to miss was this late Brambling - only the second of the year on the island and the first at the Bill: it was so noisy once it pitched into the trees outside the ringing hut that only a profoundly deaf person could have overlooked it © Martin Cade:




And talking of things that were hard to miss - by sound even if not by sight - this Garden Warbler was giving it some stick in the Obs garden this morning:

22nd April

For a day that was half rained off and by most conventional metrics had been written off by an hour after dawn (...and that after dawn itself had looked to offer so much promise) today actually ended up mediumly rewarding, with the season now so advanced that even the apparent duds have plenty of variety about them. What fall there was out of the heavily overcast, quiet conditions of dawn consisted largely of Blackcaps and Willow Warblers - 30 and 60 respectively at the Bill, but there was a fair little mix of fellow travellers that included the season's first Reed Warbler, 5 Sedge Warblers, 3 Whinchats, 2 each of Grasshopper Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat and singles of Cuckoo, Redwing and Garden Warbler at the Bill, where 2 new Blackbirds were also unexpected for this date. Hirundines got moving in strength a while into the morning and continued to do so even after the onset of the rain - better coverage and/or less reluctance to get wet for our needy cause looked as though it would have returned by far their highest totals to date. For the second day in succession Barwit day looked to be in the offing, with 205 through in quick time off the Bill and a few more grounded and overhead at Ferrybridge but, just like yesterday, passage wasn't sustained. The sea was otherwise a little busier than of late, with 199 Kittiwakes, 35 Sandwich Terns, 34 Whimbrel, 7 Red-throated Divers, 6 Knot, 5 Arctic Skuas, 3 Great Northern Divers and 2 Eider amongst others through off the Bill.

Whimbrel and Bar-tailed Godwits on the move over Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:




21st April

The magical northeasterlies persisted and whilst they didn't precipitate anything approaching a huge fall there was plenty to see throughout the island, with easily the best variety on offer so far this spring. Willow Warblers were hugely dominant, with 300 at the Bill alone, but Wheatears also put in a respectable showing with 100 at the Bill and seemingly a higher total than that from points northward. Erratic coverage and possible duplication aside, scarcer migrants around and about included 15 Redstarts, 15 Whinchats, 6 Ring Ouzels, 4 Grasshopper Warblers, 4 Pied Flycatchers and 3 Cuckoos. Although the ground got most of the day's attention there was plenty of action overhead, with several Swifts and a Hobby amongst the steady passage of hirundines on the move under a cloudless sky. For a while after dawn it looked like Barwit day was on the cards, with 160 Bar-tailed Godwits through off the Bill along with 7 Red-throated Divers, 3 Arctic Skuas and singles of Black-throated and Great Northern Divers but the passage faded as quickly as it had begun (...or perhaps just moved further out beyond our vision?). Ferrybridge bumped up the day's variety with, amongst others, 18 Whimbrel, 7 Canada Geese, 3 Shelducks and 2 Mute Swans. 

A few odds and ends from around the island: Ring Ouzel © Duncan Walbridge...


...Whinchat © Martin Cade


...Sedge Warbler and Little Terns © Debby Saunders...



...and something we overlooked yesterday - in fact in a local context quite a gripping photo! - the five Gadwall at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:


In between wading through a mini avalanche of Willow Warblers our interest from the Obs mist-nets today concerned female Redstarts. Every once in a while we catch really bright birds like this one that have a ghosting of a black throat - if you part the throat feathers there really is a lot of black underlying the paler tips...



...contrast that individual with the 'normal' female below. We've always struggled to convince ourselves that birds like this are unequivocally females and not exceedingly poorly marked young males (in fact we usually record them in the ringing log as unsexed) but they do conform to, for example, Svensson's statement that, "Very exceptionally females looking like males occur. These have breast rather rich orange-buff, and forehead with a little white concealed, but it is extremely rare that they have all chin- and throat-feathers based blackish (Usually only a part of throat has dark grey bases to feathers.)" © Martin Cade:



And finally something that took our fancy from last night's Obs nocmig recording: a flock of Whimbrel very close overhead an hour or so before dawn - we record plenty of nocturnal Whimbrel at this time of year but the majority sound like they're passing along East Cliffs or out over the sea and they're rarely as close as this flock obviously were:

20th April

Spring northeasterlies have attained almost magical status here in recent times so their forecast arrival - for pretty well the first time this season - had been hotly anticipated. Whilst the reality was a fair bit removed from the hype it was actually a half-decent day with, at least by way of passerines and visible migrants, easily the best variety of the spring to date; the sea was a different kettle of fish with, aside from Great Northern Divers, passage remaining exceptionally lame for this time. Amongst the few dozen or so of routine Blackcaps and Willow Warblers, migrant totals from around the island included 75 Wheatears, 8 Redstarts, 7 Whinchats, 5 Lesser Whitethroats, 2 Yellow Wagtails and singles of Redwing, Fieldfare, Black Redstart, Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Pied Flycatcher. Overhead, Hobby and Swift (2) were both firsts for the spring, a Short-eared Owl bombed about and 2 Yellow Wagtails and a Tree Pipit were logged amongst the heaviest hirundine passage of the season to date. A varied selection at Ferrybridge included 18 Dunlin, 11 Shelducks, 5 Gadwall (another first for the year) and 3 Mute Swans, whilst across the causeway in Portland Harbour an oddly wintery selection included 5 Great Northern Divers, 2 Razorbills and a Guillemot. The recent dismal run of seawatching continued, with 6 Great Northern Divers, 3 Red-throated Divers and 3 Canada Geese as good as it got off the Bill.

We're not sure whether it's that we've given away most Lesser Whitethroats in recent years to other ringers or, more likely, our faculties are just dimming, but we'd forgotten just how different the tails of the different age classes of Lesser Whitethroats are at this time of year. The last few days have given us several opportunities for close looks at them and this morning provided nice examples in successive birds. This is the tail of a first-summer bird (one of last year's youngsters)...


...whereas this is an adult tail (it'd look even better if the bird hadn't c**pped all over one side of the tail in the bird-bag!):


The somewhat sullied and less crisply marked outer feathers of the youngster contrast with the much more cleanly white adult outer feathers, whilst the penultimate feathers of the youngster completely lack white tips; notice also the central tail feathers of the young bird that are completely shattered in contrast to the well-kept adult feathers (the feathers of young birds are poorer quality than those of adults so wear out that bit more quickly). Whilst we can unequivocally age a bird with a tail like our upper example as one of last year's youngsters we can't actually be certain that a bird with a tail like the lower example has to be an adult: some youngsters apparently moult some or all of their tail feathers in their post-juvenile moult and end up with a tail pattern like this, as would also be the case if the feathers were lost accidentally.


19th April

A resurgence in the northwest wind was unwelcome but that and a heavy cloud cover at dawn that came and went throughout the morning did the trick in knocking down a decent little flurry of grounded migrants today. There were few surprises, with 120 Willow Warblers, 75 Blackcaps, 35 Wheatears and 20 Chiffchaffs making up the bulk of the tally at the Bill, where 5 Redstarts, 2 Grasshopper Warblers, a Cuckoo and a Whinchat provided some nice variety; elsewhere, singles of Garden Warbler and Pied Flycatcher were an addition to the mix at Sweethill. Visible passage didn't really get going until the sky cleared towards midday but Swallows featured conspicuously thereafter and a lone Siskin was amongst the tag-alongs. There almost worthwhile reports from the sea and Ferrybridge couldn't chip in with much more than 2 Shelducks and 2 Whimbrel.

The Sweethill Pied Flycatcher © Debby Saunders:



18th April

With it way too clear overnight - and far less windy than during the last couple of days - migration no doubt picked up far overhead but there was no chance a big arrival of birds on the ground. The day's oddest events concerned Subalpine Warblers: the previously lingering bird at Wallsend was apparently reported once early in the morning but couldn't be found again despite plenty of searching; of potentially much more interest though, a second individual popped up briefly in front of one observer in the Obs garden before promptly vanishing into the ether. Among the thin spread of more routine arrivals uncovered at the Bill Willow Warblers were most numerous - managing a 30 tally - but more interest came in the form of 6 Lesser Whitethroats, the first Garden Warbler of the season and the lingering likely Icelandic Redwing; diurnal migrants featured in higher numbers and included a steady arrival of hirundines, 60 Wood Pigeons, 2 Jackdaws and a Merlin. What breeze there was remained offshore and consigned the sea to less than full coverage, with 3 Red-throated Divers and a lone Puffin the pick of the Bill sightings. The day's Ferrybridge totals included 11 Shelduck and 5 Whimbrel.

On an otherwise quiet day six Lesser Whitethroats was an excellent day-total at the Bill © Verity Hill:


With only one day-total in double figures, Whimbrel haven't really got going at all yet this spring © Debby Saunders



Now that there are multiple Cirl Buntings about the island - including two that are clearly paired-up -  we won't be reporting on them again until after the breeding season; however, Portland's a busy place at this time of year and word of their presence will no doubt spread as it clearly did today. Please give them a wide berth and don't linger near them - despite us posting a request to this effect this morning, we were dismayed to discover that by the afternoon a gaggle of photographers had already congregated beside a spot that a pair were regularly returning to. Cirl Bunting is afforded Schedule 1 protection and, should a breeding attempt materialise as seems highly likely, we'll have no hesitation in reporting miscreants to the authorities.

17th April

The smallest of upticks in passage was appreciated after a couple of lean days but the 50 Swallows, 25 Willow Warblers, 15 Chiffchaffs, 10 Wheatears, 10 Blackcaps, 2 Yellow Wagtails, a Redwing and a Redstart at the Bill hardly amounted to a bumper haul and it was certainly down to the lingering Western Subalpine Warbler to inject a bit of a spark into proceedings. The still very brisk wind remained way too offshore for the sea, with 4 Red-throated Divers, 2 Canada Geese, 2 Arctic Skuas and a Great Northern Diver the best on offer off the Bill. Two more Great Northern Divers and 5 Shelduck were the pick of the Ferrybridge offerings.

The Subalpine Warbler continued to show nicely...


...and some better wing and tail photos looked to confirm what we'd suspected earlier: Subalpine Warbler moult is very complicated as is clearly obvious in this photo that shows a wacky mix of old and new feathers - however, the presence of fresh outer primaries and alula is we think diagnostic of first-summer plumage as adults don't moult either in their pre-breeding moult...


...and more detail on the tail confirms the rather squared-off shape of the white on the penultimate feather which is just as it should be on a Western Subalpine © Mike Trew:


We popped up to see if we could record it this afternoon and whilst the windy conditions were far from ideal it did give a nice little burst of calling and several time broke into short bursts of subsong. The simple Lesser Whitethroat-like call does sound quite different to several recordings of Eastern Subalpines that we've listened to this evening:


16th April

Not a day of plenty on the land, sea or overhead, in fact for this date it was a bit of a shocker with only the continuing Western Subalpine Warbler at Wallsend allowing us to salvage some pride. Wheatear was the only one of the commoner migrants to manage double figures - in fact most posted no more than one or zero on the day-sheet; a Cuckoo at Pennsylvania Castle, a Short-eared Owl at the Bill, single Redstarts at the Bill and Southwell and 8 Knot and a Little Ringed Plover at Ferrybridge did provide a few crumbs of comfort in the otherwise futile quest for scarcity satiation.

Waders should begin to feature more prominently before long so we took the arrival of a group of Knot at Ferrybridge as an encouraging omen © Pete Saunders:

15th April

In keeping with the pattern so far this spring no sooner had it looked like migration was gaining momentum than shoddy weather rolls in to bring things to a halt. Today it was a fierce gale that had blown up overnight that scuppered our chances by seemingly grounding most Portland-bound migrants well before they got to us. The Western Subalpine Warbler lingered at Wallsend for a second day to keep the travelling listers and photographers happy but new arrivals on the common migrant front looked to be very thinly spread even if the conditions were hardly conducive for getting amongst them; the pick of what was uncovered were a Little Ringed Plover at Reap Lane, a likely Icelandic Redwing at Southwell, an early Spotted Flycatcher at Culverwell and a Yellow-legged Gull in the East Cliff fields. For a while after dawn the sea was rewarding, with 5 Arctic Skuas, 4 Red-throated Divers and 3 Great Skuas through off the Bill, whilst Ferrybridge again chipped in with some through movement including 2 Canada Geese and a Great Northern Divers.

Any port will do in a storm and this Little Ringed Plover found a nice little bolt-hole on the receding flood water at the end of Reap Lane - who's going to be the one that jams a 30 second Citrine Wagtail on this pool in the next few weeks? © Martin Cade:



It was that sort of day when even the gulls were back sitting out the storm on East Cliffs at the Bill - with a Yellow-legged Gull in their midst © Martin Cade:


And briefly back to yesterday for some photos we'd forgotten of some of the many Greenland/Iceland Wheatears jumping around the Wallsend area; whilst it was a pleasure to finally see a lot of Wheatears this spring it was interesting that the vast majority we took a closer look at were big, heavily saturated northwestern birds as opposed to anything that looked like it was headed towards northern Britain - for us at least, the latter seem to be severely depleted thus far this year © Martin Cade:


14th April

There was certainly a bit of quality on offer amongst today's mix, with a Hoopoe in off the sea at the Bill kicking things off in exciting fashion; it proved to be the most active of migrants and although intercepted at regular intervals as it moved north it never settled for long and was last seen heading away over Priory Corner in the direction of the mainland. Those that went off in pursuit of it at the Bill had a real stroke of good fortune when they stumbled upon a Western Subalpine Warbler at Wallsend, where it remained for the rest of the day. After yesterday's excesses, migrant numbers generally dropped away; Wheatear proved to be an honourable exception, with 200 or more through at the Bill and reports of a good spread of them elsewhere, but variety rather than quantity was otherwise the rule. A Woodlark and 3 Siskins passed through overhead at the Bill, where hirundines arrived in their best numbers so far this spring. The sea was relatively quiet, with 5 Red-throated Divers, 3 Great Northern Divers and 2 Canada Geese as good as it got off the Bill.

The Subalpine Warbler was a real show-off at times during the morning although it became more furtive as the wind freshened up during the afternoon. Although most intensely coloured on the throat, the whole underparts were well-saturated and we had no hesitation in taking it to be a Western Subalpine: 



It looked at times in the field to have very plentiful amounts of white in the outer tail feathers but our video-still shows that this does accord with what would be expected on a Western Subalpine - the white on the penultimate feather looks to be pretty squared-off with no suggestion of a wedge of white extending back up the feather...


Age-wise, our perception was always of it having noticeably bleached brown wings which would strongly suggest it's a first-summer © Martin Cade:




13th April

Consecutive days with plenty of birds - blimey, things really are looking up! The mould was set right as dawn broke when a Cirl Bunting appeared and was duly trapped in the Obs garden and there was no looking back after that, with the steady flow of common migrants having in their midst the season's first Yellow Wagtails (2), Garganey, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper and Sedge Warbler. The customary trio of Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff made up the bulk of the numbers, with Blackcap well to the fore on 150 or so around the south of the island; the two phylloscs shared out a similar total between them. Most of the other expected mid-April migrants were represented, with 7 Redstarts, 2 Whinchats, a Ring Ouzel and a Pied Flycatcher particularly popular around the south and singles of White Wagtail, Redwing and Grasshopper Warbler of note further north. The Garganey aside, sea interest included another 33 Pale-bellied Brent Geese through at Ferrybridge and 22 Red-throated Divers and a Velvet Scoter through off the Bill.

It'd be a fantastic event if we got Cirl Buntings back again this year for another breeding attempt and the recent series of arrivals certainly bodes well. The sexing of some of the birds seen lately in the middle of the island has apparently been problematic but there's no doubt that today's Bill bird was a female...



...We've got pretty minimal experience when it comes to ageing spring buntings but we did notice that the two outer tail feathers were noticeably fresher and more rounded than the other feathers - if you can be sure such a difference is down to design rather than accident this can helpful in giving you a bit of a steer on a bird's age, although in this case we'd have preferred to have seen this difference in the central feathers and also to have spotted some other helpful discontinuities in the wings for us to be sure it was a youngster rather than an adult © Martin Cade:


The third flock of migrating Pale-bellied Brents in two days © Pete Saunders:


Big differences in Great Northern Diver plumages are now evident - this adult passing the Bill was the first fully moulted one seen so far this spring © Matthew Barfield...


...whereas this one over Ferrybridge was still in full winter plumage - it looks as though you can just see the  'scaly' feathers characteristic of juvenile plumage on its shoulders so we're guessing this youngster probably won't get into full breeding plumage this summer © Pete Saunders:




12th April

These things are relative so today was hardly, for example, like last year's mega day when a tsunami of migrants swept through the island and with just a handful of mist-nets we broke all previous ringing records. Today was altogether more pedestrian with just 33 ringed from a full day with all the nets but such was the variety on offer everywhere that it seemed like spring really had finally got going. The firsts for the year came thick and fast with a pre-dawn Tree Pipit revealed by the Obs nocmig recorder soon followed in daylight by single Grasshopper Warblers at the Bill and Barleycrates, a couple of Whitethroats at the Bill and singles of Whinchat and Corn Bunting at Barleycrates; later, the first Lesser Whitethroat of the season was at Verne Common. To add to these, further interest came in the form of 8 Redstarts, 2 Pied Flycatchers, 2 Cirl Buntings, a Merlin, a late Redwing and a Serin dotted about the centre and south of the island, 108 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 17 Sandwich Terns, 15 Red-throated Divers, 4 Great Northern Divers and 3 Canada Geese through off the Bill and another 4 Great Northern Divers still in Portland Harbour; 42 more Sandwich Terns and 7 Common Terns were amongst the morning movement through Ferrybridge. A hearteningly good showing of Wheatears saw them nearly reach a three figure total around the centre and south, whilst Willow Warblers likely got close to that total in the same area. To add to all that, by the afternoon it was blazingly sunny and pleasantly warm - all in all a pretty decent day.

As is often the case since they shoot past going in the opposite direction to nearly everything else, both flocks of Pale-bellied Brents were nearly missed as they rounded the Bill and struck off across Lyme Bay © Verity Hill:



11th April

In a day long peasouper, for a few hours we were able to kid ourselves that there were migrants out but we just couldn't see them; however, by the afternoon, the reality had dawned that it really was still just as rubbish as it had been all the rest of the week. A lone Redstart did give a glimmer of hope at the Bill, but otherwise it was down to the thinnest spread of Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers on the ground and the odd flash of a Swallow disappearing into the fog to provide interest. The sea wasn't visible in any meaningful way for the whole day!


10th April

Another day that offered what looked to be some hope of a fall out of migrants on the land and a bit of a seawatching, both of which almost completely failed to materialise. It wasn't utterly dead but numbers were far, far below Portland's usual spring standard, with barely double figures of even the commonest passerines on the ground, no visible passage overhead and just 3 Red-throated Divers through off the Bill. Ferrybridge chipped in with 27 Sandwich Terns, 5 Great Northern Divers, 4 Shelduck and 3 Canada Geese over.

It wasn't just us getting wet in the recurring drizzy, mizzly or worse outbreaks - this male Wheatear in song at the Bill was looking far below its usually dapper best © Matt Ames:


Sandwich Tern and the Canada Geese overhead at Ferrybridge © Pete Saunders:


9th April

 A 60mph westerly gale really isn't what's needed in mid-April and for the most part Storm Pierrick was an ill wind bird-wise. A Hooded Crow at Reforne was a surprise new arrival but interest otherwise consisted of just a Merlin and a handful of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs on the ground at the Bill, an Arctic Skua through on the sea there and 170 Mediterranean Gulls, 81 Sandwich Terns, a Common Tern and a Little Tern through at Portland Harbour/Ferrybridge.

Amazingly, the Hooded Crow that pitched up in private gardens at Reforne is now the third scarcity this year that's only been witnessed by interested members of the public who've taken some mobile phone record-shots © Lisa Cousins (top two photos) and Jill Bramley (bottom photo):




Portland's first Little Tern of the spring © Pete Saunders:


The year's first Vestal - which is also the island's earliest-ever record - was secured in peculiar circumstances: with a raging gale blowing overnight next to nothing was trapped in the couple of moth-traps left on at the Obs; however, later in the day the Vestal was discovered floating (still alive) in a pond close to one of the traps - presumably it had ditched in the pond after being attracted to the light and then couldn't escape © Martin Cade:

8th April

Popular opinion ventured that there was a more than evens chance of a decent drop of birds today - but what do we know about it? In the event the happenings didn't get beyond the very mundane at the Bill: only Wheatear and Chiffchaff managed double figure totals on the ground, singles of Redstart and Bullfinch provided minor interest and almost nothing was on the move overhead; 34 Common Scoter, 28 Mediterranean Gulls, 10 Red-throated Divers and 5 Eider represented a less than impressive return from the sea. Elsewhere, Portland Castle hosted the year's first Brambling and second Pied Flycatcher.

7th April

A less than compelling day: batteringly strong winds overnight saw passerine migration remain on hold and did far less for the sea than might have been hoped. What numbers and variety there were were all on the sea, with 24 Sandwich Terns, 2 Great Skuas and an Arctic Skua from the Bill, 6 Red-throated Divers, an Arctic Skua and a Little Gull from Chesil and 61 Sandwich Terns, 5 Common Terns, 2 Great Northern Divers and a Little Gull through over Ferrybridge. A pitiful selection from the land included nothing of significance beyond a Merlin at the Bill.

This is a photo that slightly disproves something we'd always taken as read, which is that moulting Great Northern Divers are temporarily rendered flightless by simultaneously shedding all their flight feathers (that is the case - we've just looked it up to check!). Many years ago - when we birded Weymouth - we got quite into watching at this time of year an annual moult gathering of Great Northern Divers in Weymouth Bay; several times we saw birds flap their wings and reveal just 'stumps' without any flight feathers. Today's bird is clearly making a fair bit of moult progress, with its bill already colouring up and new plumage visible on the head, shoulders and wing bases but it's also patently completely fully-winged. Thus far, we've only been able to find one relevant notebook from the old days but this does record on 20th April of that year an individual off Lodmoor in 'mostly' summer plumage but with no flight feathers visible when it flapped, so we're guessing the flight feather shedding usually occurs after head and body moult has progressed a bit further than it has on today's individual, rather than as soon as moult begins? © Pete Saunders:



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