The Obs quarry birds

08 Thursday Oct 2026

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birding, birding on the Isle of Portland, birdwatching, British birds, Kestrel, Little owl, Little owl preening, Obs quarry Little owl

I can never visit Portland Bill without checking the old quarry in the field adjacent to the bird observatory to see if the resident Little owl is at home. When I stopped off during a circuit of the east cliffs, the Bill, and the fields up the hill from the Obs on Thursday 24 September, the owl was nowhere to be seen but, as I stood searching with my binoculars every nook and cranny between the large blocks of stone, a Kestrel flew in. It perched on a rock at the top of the quarry, started calling and peering down at the rocks, as if it too was looking for the Little owl. In my imagination it was calling ‘Hey, little mate. Are you here? Come out and play!’ There was no response and the Kestrel flew off.

The next day, the 25th, I was back on Portland, walking a different route, but I detoured once again past the Obs quarry. And this time the Little owl was at home, sitting in its usual spot, preening. You can’t get very close to the bird – and I certainly wouldn’t want to disturb it – so my photos of it aren’t great.

However, during this visit I also took a very short video clip of it preening, which I thought you might enjoy.

Starlings at Portland Bill

07 Wednesday Oct 2026

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birding, birding on Portland, birding on the Isle of Portland, birdwatching, British birds, flock of Starlings, starling

Even above the loud chattering of tourists and the crashing of the mighty ocean waves, you can hear the Starlings that make their home at Portland Bill**, though it did take me a few moments to realise where their musical chirps and squeaks were coming from. (My first photo is taken from the rock in the former quarry at the Bill where I was sitting while eating my lunch. The lighthouse looks short from this angle but is actually 41 metres / 134.5 feet tall.)

Look more closely at the lighthouse and you can see Starlings clinging to every available object jutting out from the building – the railings that criss-cross the light are popular, and perched along the outer ledge just beneath the level of the light. And these are just a small number of the substantial local population. Others sit on the roof of a local café, waiting to snatch any crumbs left by the customers. Still more fly in small flocks, swooping on to the grass to feed, swirling skyward in a mini murmuration at the slightest disturbance.

As I walked from the Bill towards the Obs, I passed a noisy flock of Starlings inhabiting a large area of bramble scrub near the local houses, and that’s where I took the photo below. These birds are very used to the locals passing close by and weren’t at all bothered by my presence, as I stood enjoying their jazz-time melodies and admiring the metallic hues and arrow-like markings of their plumage. They really are stunning birds.

** If you want to see the area I’m talking about, the Visit Dorset website has a great drone image, taken from slightly out to sea from the iconic red-and-white lighthouse, looking back at the island. Portland Bird Observatory – the Obs – is located in the small, former lighthouse you can see at the back of the photo, on the right side.

A Portland Bill Kestrel

02 Thursday Apr 2026

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birding, birding on the Isle of Portland, birdwatching, British birds, Kestrel, Kestrel at Portland Bill, Portland birding

When I saw this Kestrel sitting on a pole near the Bill on the Isle of Portland last week, I couldn’t help but wonder how long they live. Why? If you look at my Birding at Portland blog from October 2017, about a trip to Portland with my local bird club, you’ll see there’s a very similar photo of a Kestrel sitting on the exact same pole. A quick google tells me the average lifespan for a wild Kestrel is four to five years so I’m guessing the bird I saw last week is a descendant of the 2017 Kestrel and the pole is simply the perfect place for a Kestrel to perch while surveying for prey.

Little owl

31 Tuesday Mar 2026

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Athene noctua, birding, birding on the Isle of Portland, birdwatching, British birds, Little owl, Obs quarry Little owl, Portland Bird Observatory, Portland birding, Portland Little owl

Here’s another bird I never see in my local area in south Wales, a Little Owl (Athene noctua).

Fortunately for me, there’s a resident Little owl in a small abandoned quarry in the field next to Portland Bird Observatory, near Portland Bill, so I walked that way to see if it was at home that day.

I was in luck! I first saw a Little owl in this same quarry on a bird club trip back in October 2017 but, as these birds have a lifespan of just three years on average, the Little owl I saw last week is not that bird but probably one of its descendants.

The day of the Wheatears

28 Saturday Mar 2026

Posted by sconzani in birds, spring

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birding, birding on the Isle of Portland, birdwatching, British birds, Portland birding, spring migration, Wheatear, Wheatear migration

I spotted my first Wheatear of the year last Tuesday, 17 March, sitting at a distance on the edge of the rocky slope of Chesil Beach at Ferrybridge but it was Friday, the 20th, that turned out to be ‘the day of the Wheatears’!

My long day of wandering around parts of the Isle of Portland began in that same location at Ferrybridge, where I found three stunning male Wheatears dotting about, feeding up on tiny insects after their long migration flight.

From there I walked along the coast path to Portland Castle, where there were three more Wheatears. These birds had been scared off the beach rocks by passing pedestrians and cyclists, and were moving around the grassy areas at the heliport opposite the beach.

Next, I caught the bus to Reap Lane, for a wander along Portland’s west cliffs coast path, around the adjacent horse fields and the Bill area surrounding the iconic lighthouse. Just one of those horse fields held five more Wheatears, males and the first female I’d seen.

And, a little later, as I sat on a rock at the Bill, eating my flapjack and apple, I was wonderfully entertained by another Wheatear hopping about the area right in front of me.

What a superb day it was! I thought my 12 Wheatear sightings were impressive – and that was my highest ever daily total but the daily blog for 20 March by Martin Cade at Portland Bird Observatory reported:

There was lots of enjoyment to be had from today’s migration happenings, with the continuing settled weather seeing plenty of birds arriving on all fronts across the island. On the ground, Wheatears were conspicuously abundant, with a likely very conservative minimum of 100 recorded around the Bill where multiple waves of birds raced through throughout the morning.