Spring Migration kick-off at Portland

Nipped out on 10th March for a short stroll round Portland Bill with Mrs D and Derek the dog. Pretty quiet overall but 3 Wheatears on the cliffs between the bill and the huts were very welcome as always. Such an impressive bird to see. We are lucky to have them as relatively common harbingers of Spring.

Then up the path towards the slope and a small bird briefly fly-catched from a bramble. I scanned through expecting the soft olive tones of a spring Chiffchaff, and was surprised to see iridescent green and then a black-fringed white eye-stripe! The Firecrest proceeded to perch up in the open, looking to pick off insects. Fantastic.

Firecrests aren't news at Portland Bill. There always seem to be some around, but I never seem to bump into them. So this was a very welcome sighting. 

July 2025. Turtle Dove at Fingringhoe Wick

July was mainly a month of insects. Golden-Ringed Dragonfly at Powerstock Common, Scarlet Darter at Silverlake, Purple Emperor at Hatfield Forest. Enormous numbers of Silver-Washed Fritillary. Some birds did sneak in; Nightjars in Weeting Forest, then towards the end of the month Spotted Redshanks at Old Hall Marshes, Pectoral Sandpiper at Abberton, and even a Night Heron at Rye Meads. But pride of place goes to at least 3 Turtle Doves at Fingringhoe Wick. 

A number of explanations as to why the Turtle Dove population has collapsed have been advanced; Muntjac deer eating undergrowth. Agricultural changes removing areas of seed. But surely the obvious one is the mass shooting of Turtle Doves on spring migration. And now a moratorium of sorts is in operation, the numbers are slowly recovering.

A comment on X about how the Turtle Doves sing and display to each other put in my mind the notion that the dove is a colony breeder; not a tight colony, but a loose colony of spaced out pairs. Hence the decline has left a handful of scattered colonies. As numbers increase what seems to be happening is these colonies get more birds, rather than more colonies being established. So our local outpost at Fingringhoe Wick saw possibly up to five Turtle Doves singing this year. An impressive number, and for us on 14th July an impressive sound to be stood in the centre of purring Doves and to see one in a clearing on a branch singing away. Fingers crossed this recovery has legs and we see the population of this gorgeous bird spreading its wings. 

Waxham. A ghost from the past.

A hire car as my normal ride is awaiting a new part. Not much around locally. So why not do the 100 miles plus to Waxham and tick that nailed-on Glaucous Gull? Just me and Dave as Mike was unavailable.

I suspect I'm not the only birder who hasn't seen a Glaucous Gull for a while. As a young birder in Yorkshire they were a regular feature of coastal or reservoir visit but never so common as to be taken for granted*. These northern brutes, distinctive and intimidating, seemed to me to bring marauding Viking spirits with them when they came.

We eventually found a parking slot near Sea Palling and started the long walk down to groyne 24, and as we went it became clear why the gulls were there. I am possibly the last person to know this, but the beach is host to vast numbers of seals many of which were hauled up relaxing along the sand close to the concrete wall and walkway. What a sight! And what a smell!

What wasn't there was a white-winged gull. We spent an hour or so enjoying the sight of the seals and failing to see the target gull, then headed back happy with our seal spectacular but disappointed not to renew our acquaintance with Larus hyperboreus . Half way back to the beach car park I glanced up and there passing close overhead was the unmistakable ghostly white bulk of a second-year Glaucous Gull. I got the binoculars on it for a moment before it disappeared behind the dunes, and then a tense ten minutes scanning back towards the gull site trying to get a view for David before we found it on top of a large post. What a bird! The enormous beak, sheer bulk and fierce expression clear. I found in the days when I would see them more regularly that although there is an overlap of considerable difficulty, in general an Iceland Gull looks like it wants to be your friend and a Glaucous Gull looks like it wants to kill you.

That was more or less it. About 20 Common Scoter on an otherwise barren sea, and a couple of Cattle Egrets in a field. Then back. 

* 1975 Yorkshire Bird Report. 'An outstanding year for this species', 'In the Scarborough area many sightings of one, two, or three birds in the early months. At least nine individuals were involved' Also up to four individual Iceland Gulls in the Scarborough area.'