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A productive day on a local farm in West Dorset sampling marshy areas. Totals of 15 Jack Snipe, 21 Common Snipe and 2 Woodcock. Use of the thermal monocular meant very few of the birds were flushed. A big bonus of this technology, when surveying grassland birds Thermal 4 Birding - Simpson Brothers Outdoors

Stinking Hellebore growing in profusion on a roadside just outside of Bridport. A welcome surprise and a new locality for this native/naturalised species. Provenance unknown BSBI: Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland

Short trip to Brittany yielded 113 bird species, inc. 15 Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Short-toed Treecreeper, Cirl Bunting, Serin, Crested Tit, Ring-necked Duck, Snow Bunting, Hen Harrier, 15 Little Gull, 10 Black-necked & Slav. Grebe, Eider, 3 divers, 1000s waders, Brents & scoter

Excellent short trip to the Netherlands for Naturetrek with 124 species including Pygmy Cormorant, Bufflehead, Ferruginous Duck, Middle & Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, 1000s of geese, 23 Smew, Great Grey Shrike, 20 Hawfinch, Sea Eagle, Hen Harrier, Tundra & Whooper, Cresties

Attended an enjoyable, full on, VSAS seabird training course over the weekend, with a choppy day on the sea Sunday producing the usual seabirds plus Puffin, Sand Martin & at Portland Harbour Great Northern Diver, Purple Sandpiper & on Saturday 2 Long-tailed Ducks MARINElife

Suddenly seeing lots of Painted Lady's here in the Ebro Delta, Spain. 40 in 10 minutes. Also Striped Hawkmoth and Bordered Straw

Eggardon/Haydon Down 2/5: 20 Grizzled & 18 Dingy Skipper, 8 Wall Brown, Painted Lady, 3 Rrd Admiral, 12 Common Blue Kimmeridge 3/5: Adonis Blue, Common Blue, 15 Wall Brown, 20 Red Admiral, 3 Painted Lady, 8 Orange-tip

Grasshopper Warbler and Garden Warbler singing at Mapperton Wildlands on a guided walk for Natural England staff

A fun day with Bournemouth Uni students setting a baseline of habitat condition at Mapperton Wildlands

Insect migration evident yesterday at Kimmeridge, Dorset with Red-veined Darter (in cereal field), Hummingbird Hawkmoth & lots Red Admiral & Painted Lady. Residents butterflies on the wing included Lulworth Skipper, Adonis Blue, Meadow Brown & Marbled White. Bee Orchid flowering

Portland 2 singing Wheatear, Puffin settled, 6 scoter, 2 Manxie b4 fog, Little Owl, Bee Orchid, Silver-studded Blue, Dingy Skipper, Lulworth Skipper, Bee Orchid, Bastard Toadflax, Lesser Centaury, Maidenhair Fern. Ferrybridge 5 Ringed Plover, 3 Dunlin 3 Med Gull Portland Bird Observatory

Thankful to get several Large Blue on both days on the Naturetrek Somerset's Large Blues Day Trips. Numbers severely down this year, with habitat looking droughted and very little Thyme in flower

Overdue first time visits to two well known nature area - Otmoor and Salcey Forest. Wood White, Black Hairstreak & White Admiral seen easily at the former. Very little visible at Otmoor, though distant Lapwing flock presumed failed breeders, terns behind fencing & Curlew calling

Floral abundance far lower this year at a number of sites I work at. This being a good example - St Aldhelm's Head near Swanage. Same date 2024 full of flowers; versus 2025, looking droughted with very little flowering!

Pelagic from Portland Harbour yesterday, up to 8 miles south of the Bill. Two pods of Common Dolphin totalling ~100 individuals, Bottlenose Dolphin, Arctic Skua, Storm-petrel, Curlew, Common Sandpiper, Turnstone, Grey Seal, Moon & Compass jellyfish Naturetrek

Shoals of pelagic fish have arrived inshore in recent days at West Bay, bringing in flocks of gulls mainly Herring. Tonight 25 Mediterranean Gulls, 10 Black Headed, Kittiwake and a Gannet present. Yesterday a dark phase Arctic Skua went east