The Portland PortalThe visitor guide to the beautiful Isle of Portland, Dorset

16th – Barely a sniff of an improvement in the weather today – if anything it got progressively windier as the day went on. For the most part seawatching was disappointingly unproductive, but persistence eventually produced a tally that included 5 Pomarine Skuas, 5 Arctic Skuas and 2 Storm Petrels through or lingering at Chesil Cove and 300 Manx Shearwaters, 3 Arctic Skuas, 2 Balearic Shearwaters and a Great Skua through off the Bill.

Pomarine Skua

17th – Despite the wind dropping right away it was again the sea that came up with all the day’s interest, with 40 Manx Shearwaters, 28 Common Scoter, 9 Balearic Shearwaters, 3 Pomarine Skuas and an Arctic Skua through off the Bill.

18th – Back to a typical late June miscellany today, with all the news coming from the Bill: 3 Grey Herons overhead, singles of Redstart, Willow Warbler and Yellowhammer on the ground and a handful of Manx Shearwaters, 7 Common Scoter, 5 Sandwich Terns, 3 Balearic Shearwaters and an Arctic Skua through offshore. A single Clouded Yellow made a brief visit to the Obs garden.

19th – The apparently only brief return of summer continued and the only reports were of a Hobby and a Curlew at the Bill and 19 Common Scoter and 6 Manx Shearwaters through offshore there. The Muntjac surfaced again this evening when it was seen at the QintetiQ compound at the Bill. Another single Clouded Yellow was seen at the Bill. A lone Rush Veneer was the only immigrant caught overnight in the Obs garden moth-traps.

Storm Petrel

20th – It was too much to have expected the decent weather to last and, sure enough, by the end of the afternoon a freshening easterly wind had set in and a veil of cloud overhead heralded the arrival of yet another depression. In quieter conditions overnight another single Storm Petrel was tape-lured and ringed at the Bill, but the daylight hours saw little more of interest there than 60 Common Scoter, 26 Manx Shearwaters and a Balearic Shearwater through on the sea and 2 Grey Herons arriving from south. Still no sign of any moth movement, with a single Silver Y the only immigrant in the Obs garden moth-traps.

21st – Cool and miserable today, with pulses of rain throughout the afternoon. A new Chiffchaff appeared at the Obs but the only other reports were of seawatching at the Bill that produced 600 Gannets/hour in the evening, 36 Common Scoter, 13 Manx Shearwaters, 6 commic terns, 3 Arctic Skuas, a Balearic Shearwater, a Curlew and a Black-headed Gull. Four Silver Y constituted the only immigrant interest in the Obs garden moth-traps.

22nd – With the westerly wind gusting up around gale force all day most attention was given to the sea, with 100 Manx Shearwaters, 4 Balearic Shearwaters and a Sooty Shearwater logged at the Bill and 2 Arctic Skuas through off Chesil Cove. A Common Spotted Orchid found today at Fancy’s Farm is thought to be a first record for Portland.