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 t ..read more

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 ..read more

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 Warb ..read more

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 ..read more

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 Wh ..read more

The variety of migration on offer today was perfectly in keeping for the first day of astronomical spring, with birds continuing to make the most of the current clear and bright conditions. Meadow Pipits were once again the main feature, with 2070 through on West Cliffs this morning, in addition to 39 Linnets,  20 'Alba' Wagtails, 17 Goldfinch, 3 each of Sand Martin and Swallow, and a Bullfinch. A gradual easing in the strength of the easterly wind seemed to hamper sea passage somewhat, although a total of 235 Common Scoter, 18 Brent Geese, 18 Red-throated Diver, 10 Shoveler, 4 Avocet, 4 ..read more

Today saw another exciting pulse of early spring migration, although this would have been hard to appreciate from a walk around the Bill where grounded migrants continued to be almost completely absent. The sea provided the best return for both variety and numbers, with totals from the Bill including 891 Common Scoter, 25 Red-throated Diver, 12 Oystercatcher, 11 Brent Geese, 10 Garganey, 5 Teal, 4 Shoveler, 4 Velvet Scoter and the first 6 Sandwich Terns of the year. Meadow Pipits once again made up the bulk of the overhead passage with 534 from the morning spot counts at Wallsend, where t ..read more

First off, Happy Birthday to ourselves - we're almost up to OAP vintage: today's the 64th anniversary of the official opening of PBO at its current base at the Old Lower Lighthouse... ...fortunately, not a great deal ever changes here and the Peter Scott painting is still in situ today more or less right where it was when the great man packed his brushes away: Back to the present and the Meadow Pipit avalanche continued unabated: today's bright sunshine and very stiff easterly were perfect conditions for passage along West Cliffs, where sample counts included an early/mid-morning total ..read more

It was heartening to be woken by a Rain Alarm alert today and to look out and find that heavy cloud cover had rolled in overnight. Whilst the damp didn't really materialise the cloud was more than enough to drop to visible height the first substantial Meadow Pipit movement of the spring: a steady flow was evident throughout the Bill area, with a 90 minute sample count of 590 heading along West Cliffs suggesting that the day's full total would have been way into four figures; a few alba wagtails and Goldfinches were tagging along but to all intents and purposes the passage was a bit of a m ..read more

By way of 'proper' migrants, the fact that a lone Snipe at the Bill was the day's show-stealer just about said it all today; single Black Redstarts at Southwell and Blacknor also made the list but amongst commoner fare Chiffchaff and Wheatear chipped in with totals of one and zero respectively! For those that follow the fortunes of releases and the like there was excitement in the form of singles of White-tailed Eagle and Red Kite over the middle of the island at various times during the morning. And if you're minded to have a go at releases... We're going to get complaints from the guests a ..read more