Monday 17th April 2023

Portland Bird Observatory ringed a record 617 birds today during a massive fall. These were presumably birds crossing the English Channel, seeking to avoid the band of rain in the chart above, which were drifted in their direction by easterly/north-easterly winds. The impact was very localised though. South Milton Ley sits just 100km to the west, admittedly in a bay rather than on a headland, but you would never have guessed at the drama further to the east.

Those migrants that showed up at South Milton all passed through before 11am and in very limited numbers. Just 33 birds were trapped with the highlights being the first Willow Warblers and first Sedge Warbler of the year. Totals: 3 Blackbird, 5 Blackcap, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Cetti’s Warblers, 8 Chiffchaff, 1 Dunnock, 1 Great Tit, 1 Robin, 1 Sedge Warbler, 5 Willow Warbler and 2 Wren.

Tuesday 4th April 2023

Chiffchaffs with varying pollen horns.

I’ve always found it difficult to put anything creative onto the blog after what I consider to be a bog-standard day’s ringing. Today was a bit like that. Too early for spring migrants (apart from Chiffchaffs) and too late for winter visitors. In most years I might have expected to pick up one or two moulting Siberian Chiffchaffs but, even these have been few and far between this winter.

Returning Chiffchaffs were much in evidence, often with varying sizes of pollen horn on their foreheads, and the first spring Blackcap also found its way into a net. Two new female Cetti’s Warblers bodes well for the breeding season but, apart from these limited highlights, resident species made up the bulk of the remainder. 3 Blackbird, 1 Blackcap, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Bullfinch, 2 Cetti’s Warblers, 14 Chiffchaff, 2 Dunnock, 3 Great Tit, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Robin and 4 Wren.