October 2025. Ring Ouzel at Portland Bill. Up there. Now.

October was okay. A few decent trips. Our local park has a few parakeets, on occasion getting into double figures, so a flock of over 40 steaming south on 2nd was a surprise. 

The 13th of October was a stand-out day on Portland. I walked round with Mrs D and the dog so saw a sprinkling of what was on offer, mainly the Red-Backed Shrike. As we took a break I accosted a young man with bins and camera who was walking up Sweet Hill and asked him what he had seen. He'd seen lots, "and a Ring Ouzel". 

Now Ring Ouzel is a bit of a bogey bird for me. I've seen a fair few, but I've missed more. Just a difficult and by no means annual bird for me. So I calmly asked where he'd seen the Ring Ouzel. He replied "Up there. Now." And up there was a thrush-shaped speck, which as we watched its path towards us became a full male with yellow bill and white crescent. It flew around a bit, then calling briefly dived into a privet hedge to be never seen again.

That's some birding chops to be able to call an Ouzel on that basis. By virtue of the attribution on the photo on this page the birder was local birder Joe Stockwell, who finds lots of stuff in the Portland area. Thanks Joe.

September 2025. Arctic Warbler at Abberton Church

September was excellent. Some very successful trips to see great birds. But one bird stands out.

My rare warbler list is a bit, ahem, thin. Late autumn ones are fine but the classic drift migrant ones are largely absent from my list. So news of an Arctic Warbler adjacent to Abberton Church meant I felt compelled to go.

A rare bird can really ruin your day, and I departed for Abberton on morning of Saturday 6th with a great deal of apprehension. As I found a distant parking spot and walked up to the church to see lots of men of a certain age milling aimlessly around I felt all my worst predictions of a couple of hours of frustration before leaving empty handed were coming true. But then local birder Laurence started waving from the middle of a field and gesticulating towards a large hedge, and after a sprint that would have impressed Usain Bolt I was watching the rare warbler working its way trough the vegetation. For five minutes it gave great views, all I could wish for, then disappeared briefly so I headed back. Fantastic.