male and female black tailed skimmer, broad bodied chaser, emperor, also saw a demoiselle that was flying away from me at the back, probably beautiful i guess. blanked on red veined darter after oli's single yesterday and martin's two the day before.

most butterflies wings shut today in the breeze like this adonis blue. a fair few lulworth skipper out on the E side where they always seem to show up first, probably been on the wing a while i would imagine. first yellow belle and mother of shipton for me on the moff front.

bee orchid (couldnt find any common twayblade), plenty of newts in crown estate pond, 12x common scoter about as good as it got for birds!

a few painted lady moving through and this hummingbird hawkmoth in the obs garden

@marcheath.bsky.social let me know if i have screwed any of these ID up please ;) large red damselfly, azure damselfly, scarce blue tailed damselfly, broad bodied chaser from crown estate fields

never got the views of those who arrived early but a good spot by dave from new grounds looking to the back of area 51 just as we were about to give up!

a very pale barwit on its own at radipole, swan with one on for a free ride radipole, GWE in between plumage & heron lodmoor. only saw 2 butterflies and a single norfolk hawker along the ditch west scrape side lodmoor.

always nice to see spoonbills

i miss the old days of tw1t when birders shared timely news. now all i see is yesterdays photos as news is retained within cliques. what will it mean to the future of our hobby? i already see many of those that concentrate on promoting photos of less common birds bemoaning the lack of patch birders!

three grey seals hauled out at blacknor. looked like a female in the middle, pretty certain there was a white young one next to the female behind her but had disappeared by the time i took photos.

the raven's continuing their predation of guillemot eggs by the looks

couple of spot fly in the obs garden another at reap lane, a couple of late male wheatear movi8ng through, nice to see so many kittiwakes and gull feeding frenzies, not sure what they were finding.

blacknor gully, adonis blue, common blue, holly blue, small blue, small copper, large white, small white, clouded yellow, painted lady, wall brown, small heath, dingy skipper, no lulworths yet, like large skipper always late in the gully.

in some ways this looked like a decent rubicola candidate, any thoughts? maybe someone can make more of the ring too.

struggling for enthusiasm currently, today services NIL for dorset, my old county kent a single white stork! seems to have been a very lean spring, was busy early spring but very quiet since on sightings.

a few species of butterfly at radipole including this orange tip. first beautiful demoiselle and 3x hairy dragonfly, grey mullet and lots of carp spawning added some interest on a quiet day.

presumably a cape shelduk type hybrid escape at radipole today, apart from that quiet a few beardies and 3x marsh harrier, no sign of a hobby.

think i got to 12 species for certain, almost sure i had a very brief glimpse of a lulworth too and probably common blue in flight.

mainly butterflies today but a late wheatear through tout, barn owl and little owl at verne moat and a couple of lesser whitethroat belting it out, this one along the moat perimeter fence

the first pic before a reshuffle and the others of what looks to be the same bird relocated. a few birders asked me about the size difference to bhg so included 3rd shot. not much else, male beardie, just my 3rd dragon of the year large red damselfly. lodmoor.

4 or 5 small blue at the church ope cove end of bottomcombe today , a dingy skipper there was also nfy for me today and more bizarrely red admiral. several wall brown at yeolands quarry pool but no dragons of any sort.

always think of ivy broomrape as the portland plant, this one at church ope cove today

about 15-20 spikes of green winged orchid suddenly appeared in the new normal spot at verne common. looking at next weeks weather, whilst it may be good for birding it may also burn these off quick.

eventually gave in to temptation

female redstart near southwell barns, males at reap lane and barleycrates. at least 4, probably 5x whinchat at reap lane.

small copper at bottomcombe, still no small blue after the conservation lash up, but another clouded yellow fly through and a hummingbird hawkmoth of note

anyone know what this is? spent a couple of days indoors before caught and released, app says bloxworth snout, but date doesnt seem right?

a bit better on portland today, no rarities but a nice mix

the first holly blue sighting i've had this year and more are on the way!

the newts were a bit more visible in the crown estate field pond after the clear out.

early purple orchids behind the pulpit inn.

dark edged bee fly and a wall lizard at church ope cove

didnt manage a small blue at bottomcombe but a flyby clouded yellow was a nice surprise

good to see the barn owls back for another breeding season

a number of sarnie terns (c.12) at ferrybridge and that small dot on the left in last pic is a little tern, a short walk up the fleet after 2x RBM and a late brent goose at ferrybridge saw 2 more RBM, wheatear and lots of greenfinch.

green veined white on sea thrift, portland causeway

the dotted bee fly colony at the rn cem was getting going today

very quiet walk today looking for a missing hoopoe. this used to be the fave little owl perch now being used to raise kestrel chicks. 3x speckled wood today a peacock, a large white. swallow at the verne, wheatear at area 51 and plenty of willow warbler

first time using the small camera this year, anyone know what this cat is?

4x purple sands at the bill, razorbills being photobombed by a guille, very quiet came across just a single chiff, large white, small white and a peacock as it warmed toward the end of my walk

lodmoor this morning, shorter video than X due to file size limitations

got to rn cem a bit late after bumping into a dog walker i hadnt seen for a while and chatting for too long, so no bee flies but good to see the first of the cowslips fully out

no sign of any ring ouzel in the verne moat late pm but was pleased to see a pair of little owl seemingly settled in

whilst looking for large torts at church ope cove yesterday all i seemed to get were peacocks, maybe c.16

a wall lizard from yesterday but what the hell has it got there? slug? looks like a piece of fish!

wheatear on the slopes today and a male black redstart off hut fields pretty much in line with the obs. probably came across about 10x chiffs and mipits on the move but early days.

grey seal hauled out at blacknor

Nice male black redstart on rocks off hut fields, almost opposite the obs

enjoyed the sun feeling almost back to 100% now. saw a handful or brimstone and peacock and nice to see these violets (some form of dog violet?)

must have been a bare minimum of 30x siskin and maybe close to double figure long tailed tit flock feeding on the alders on the E side of the buddleia loop