The quiet conditions of the last few days continued and, for the first time this month, delivered a nicely varied drop of new arrivals around the centre and south of the island. A Bee-eater that pitched up for a few minutes at the Obs was the highlight, but amongst the commoner migrants a strong showing of 30 Garden Warblers was nice and only topped in the day's tally by the 40 Willow Warblers; other totals included 18 Sedge Warblers, 13 Spotted Flycatchers, 10 Whinchats, 12 Wheatears, 5 Reed Warblers and 2 Little Egrets. The sea had its moments, with 102 commic terns, 4 Red-throated Divers, 2 ..read more

Another day that looked to have bags of potential but failed to deliver any numbers of grounded or visible migrants; fortunately a couple of scarcities and an at least fair seawatch went some way toward saving the day. Yesterday's Hawfinch remained at the Obs for a while during the morning and later at least 1 perhaps 2 Wood Warblers showed up there. A couple of Garden Warblers and singles of Hobby,  Whinchat and Spotted Flycatcher were about as good as it got amongst the thinnest of spreads of commoner grounded arrivals and almost non-existent overhead passage. The sea made a valiant att ..read more

The return of summer-like conditions was very welcome but did precious little for the land where, barring the wholly unexpected appearance of a Hawfinch at the Obs, migrants were few and far between and apart from an incoming Short-eared Owl at the Bill didn't include anything else that was in the least unexpected. In a propitious easterly breeze the sea was very disappointing for this date: 124 Common Scoter through off the Bill represented quite a resurgence in their passage that's been painfully slow just lately, but 2 Pomarine and an Arctic Skua off Chesil and 4 Pomarine and 2 Arctic Skuas ..read more

Migrant-wise, a general settling down of the weather prompted a small flurry of activity if not the fall that would have been more appropriate at this juncture. There were no surprises amongst the light scatter of new grounded arrivals, with unseasonable singles of Goldcrest at the Bill and Black Redstart at Ferrybridge as interesting as it got amongst the more routine fare. Overhead, a Hen Harrier that looked to have arrived in off the sea at the Bill shortly after dawn was unexpected, as was a Great White Egret flying up the Fleet from Ferrybridge, whilst later a steady if unspectacular pass ..read more

Today really was a struggle: another night of continuous and at time heavy rain looked to have prevented all but the most determined passerine migrants getting airborne, whilst diurnal passage was reduced to no more than a trickle; there didn't look to be any reason why seabirds shouldn't have been on the move but they obviously felt otherwise. Waders accounted for the bulk of the new arrivals and included 65 Dunlin, 5 Whimbrel, 4 Grey Plovers and a Sanderling at Ferrybridge and a Common Sandpiper at the Bill; passerine numbers and variety were hopeless, with singles of Lesser Whitethroat and ..read more

Thank goodness for the sea at the moment. Passerine migration - at least with the honourable exception of diurnal hirundines - seems to have ground to a halt this week: despite far damper conditions than expected or forecast Swallows and Sand Martins, together with a single Hobby, continued to trickle through in fair numbers but if there were nocturnal migrants on the move - which we seriously doubt given the night had been even more constantly damp and drizzly - they didn't deign to drop in, with 5 Yellow Wagtails, 3 Whinchats, 2 Sedge Warblers and singles of Redstart, Black Redstart and ..read more

Popular opinion today had it a band of rain lingering right across the Channel to the west of Portland would likely act as a block and the day's seabirds would be the few already to its east. It certainly seemed as though that scenario played out so the watchers who were out in force were fortunate that several skuas were amongst what little was on the move offshore, with 15 Arctics and 3 Pomarines through off the Bill and Chesil; Manx Shearwaters, Gannets and Kittiwakes were reasonably represented but sea passage was otherwise pretty limited, with 4 Sanderling, 3 Red-throated Divers and a Yel ..read more

Quite pleasantly warm for the first time in days but ultimately rather disappointing on all fronts today. The sea had promised most but more or less all-day coverage at the Bill was rewarded with not all that much more than a few skuas - 6 Greats, 5 Arctics and a Pomarine that we've been told about but perhaps some more to add from observers we haven't heard from. Manx Shearwaters were a constant presence offshore and reached at least the 300 mark, whilst 225 Kittiwakes, 57 Sandwich Terns and 4 Red-throated Divers were among the totals from the first few hours of the day; of local interes ..read more

Whilst not entirely eviscerated of migrants the island seemed very barren today in comparison with the riches on offer just lately (the day's ringing total of just 7 birds looked paltry indeed when compared with the daily average of 125 over the last week). None of this should have come as any surprise after a night that had seen rain set in before dusk and drag on until a fair while after dawn; migrants obviously weren't moving in any quantity and much of what was about, including 3 Ring Ouzels at the Verne Moat and singles of Common Sandpiper, Short-eared Owl, Redstart, Whinchat, Grasshopper ..read more

Wow, what a ripping day - not that that was altogether surprising given the combination of clear, cold air that followed the passing of an overnight rain band but certainly a 'Portland at its best' spring arrival to remember. Compiling some meaningful day-totals for the island as a whole wasn't the easiest task since there was a conspicuous and rapid throughput of birds from the Bill to points northward so duplication was an issue; however, likely conservative summations include 350 Wheatears (nearly all northwestern birds), 250 Willow Warblers, 180 Whitethroats, 160 Blackcaps, 30 Chiffchaffs ..read more