Portland Bird Observatory

May 16th	Late afternoon update. An unfortunately just fleeting Golden Oriole at Weston was the best on offer around the island today. Otherwise it was a case of more of the same with common migrants fairly well represented in the Bill area, where counts included 60 Spotted Flycatchers, 25 Willow Warblers, 20 Reed Warblers, 10 Sedge Warblers, 10 Garden Warblers, 6 Turtle Doves, 6 Yellow Wagtails, 5 Whinchats, 2 Tree Pipits, 2 Tree Sparrows, a Hobby, a Whimbrel, a Wood Warbler and a Bullfinch; elsewhere the Little Stint remained at Ferrybridge where a Knot was a new arrival. The only reports from the sea were of single Great and Pomarine Skuas passing through off the Bill.
Little Stint and White Spot - Ferrybridge and Portland Bill, 15th May 2008 © Martin Cade
May 15th	The arrival of some heavy, thundery rain overnight heralded a change to dreary, damp conditions that persisted throughout the day; the change did no harm from the birding point of view and produced the best arrival of common migrants of the month. Spotted Flycatchers were conspicuous everywhere, with 100 grounded around the centre of the island, another 50 there that headed straight through overhead and a good 75 or so grounded or on the move at the Bill. A couple of Tree Sparrows and a Wood Warbler provided some scarcity interest at the Bill, where further commoner migrant numbers included 60 Willow Warblers, 30 Whitethroats, 15 Wheatears, 15 Garden Warblers, 14 Turnstones, 10 Redstarts, 10 Chiffchaffs, 8 Blackcaps, 7 Whinchats, 5 Reed Warblers, 5 Sedge Warblers, 2 Purple Sandpipers, 2 Cuckoos, 2 Yellow Wagtails, a Water Rail, a Dunlin and a Turtle Dove on the ground and a steady passage of Swifts, Swallows and House Martins overhead. The pick of the new arrivals elsewhere were a Cuckoo at Wakeham and a Little Stint at Ferrybridge. Two White Spot were the best of the overnight catch in the Obs garden moth-traps; 2 Rusty-dot Pearl, a Pearly Underwing and a Silver Y were the only other immigrants in the traps.
Spotted Flycatcher and *Incurvaria masculella* - Portland Bill and Southwell, 14th and 12th May 2008 © Martin Cade ...Incurvaria masculella isn't at all uncommon at Portland but it's certainly one of the most characterful micros on the wing at this time of year.
May 14th	Still warm and for the most part sunny but the presence of a brisk north-easterly headwind, together with a bit more cloud bubbling up from time to time, certainly dropped quite a few more common migrants than we've grown used to in recent days. The south of the island was well covered and returned totals that included 60 Spotted Flycatchers, 50 Willow Warblers, 15 Wheatears, 8 Whinchats, 4 Hobbys, 3 Turtle Doves, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Redstarts, 2 Black Redstarts, 2 Garden Warblers, 2 Wood Warblers, 2 Tree Sparrows, a Sedge Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Redpoll and a Brambling, together with decent numbers of Swifts and hirundines passing through overhead; elsewhere, waders at Ferrybridge included 4 Redshank, 3 Grey Plover and 3 Sanderling. More than 100 Manx Shearwaters were still lingering off the Bill but late passage there was restricted to 75 commic terns, a Great Northern Diver and an Arctic Skua still on the move.