NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

Time, its passing and the effects that it has upon us is something that readily colours my birding. Apart from being a handy hook to hang a rare bird or spectacular movement on, a date can also bring to memory a place, people, a conversation, a feeling. A bit of a Proust's madeleine cake moment. I was idly daydreaming about birding places recently and my mental rolodex randomly settled upon Portland Bill. September 1977 sprang immediately to mind. Why then and not the date that I saw a Yellow-billed Cuckoo (September 1979) or Ivory Gull (February 1980) on that fair island? I then recalled that September 1977 visit - not blessed with loads of birds, certainly no rarity - but blessed with a calming, restful, place defining moment. Us young birders (for we were young back then) were crammed into a smallish car, parked on the road that heads downhill towards the car park and obelisk. The observatory was full, so no bed was to be had there. Our student pockets would not stretch to a hot...

I have just spent a quite marvellous hour listening to a podcast created by Charlie Moores at 'The Sound Approach' in which he chats to Portland Bill Bird Observatory's affable warden, Martin Cade. It is a delight. The chat - this is no formal interview - is full of anecdote and insight into the good work of PBO down the years, their current plans and what it is that makes this particular warden tick. You can hear the podcast for yourself by clicking here. Portland Bill BO is one of those places that I have always enjoyed visiting but have not visited often enough. My first visit was in September 1977, when a Balearic Shearwater sailed onto my British list (there was also a sick Leach's Petrel in a cardboard box). This was followed by encounters with a Yellow-billed Cuckoo (1979) and an Ivory Gull (1980). I didn't actually stay at the observatory until 1982, a late-April sojourn that was characterised by snow and a raging hangover. Since then it has been a place...