Portland Bill – First Spring Migrants

Leader: Simon Ashley

An Early start, but it should be worth it. We’ll head straight down to the southerly promontory – We will be sea watching looking out for early migrants.

Portland Bill is a prime location for birdwatching due to its strategic position on migration routes. The topography of the area concentrates offshore seabird passage. The west side of the Bill consists primarily of sea cliffs which provide excellent vantage points for seawatching, especially during spring and autumn migration periods. The Portland Bird Observatory regularly records migrant species, with numbers varying according to weather conditions and season. Spring migrants typically begin arriving from March onwards,

Birds we hope to see:

Seabirds

• Fulmar
• Kittiwake
• Mediterranean Gull
• Common Gull
• Gannet
• Manx Shearwater
• Guillemot
• Razorbill
• Shag
• Cormorant

Waders

• Purple Sandpiper
• Dunlin
• Whimbrel
• Grey Plover
• Sanderling
• Oystercatcher
• Ringed Plover
• Turnstone
• Curlew
• Redshank
• Common Sandpiper

Early Migrants

• Chiffchaff
• Willow Warbler
• Blackcap
• Wheatear
• Swallow
• House Martin
• Sand Martin
• Yellow Wagtail
• White Wagtail

Resident and Other Birds

• Little Owl
• Eurasian Skylark
• Eurasian Kestrel
• European Stonechat
• Goldcrest
• Song Thrush
• Blackbird
• Robin
• Dunnock
• Wren
• Rock Pipit
• Meadow Pipit
• Linnet
• Goldfinch

Offshore Passage Birds

• Common Scoter
• Red-throated Diver
• Great Northern Diver
• Arctic Skua
• Great Skua
• Sandwich Tern
• Common Tern
• Arctic Tern

We’ll also visit the estuary scrapes at Ferry Bridge and finish off with a visit to Lodmoor or Radipole Lake.

We plan to return by about 6:00 pm.