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| Portland Obs & Lighthouse - Bath Birdwatcher |
On Monday 31st July Mary and Tony were due
to go with Hazel and David to their caravan in Weymouth but Mary had been
feeling unwell for a few days and did not feel she would be able to keep up
with the rest of us so agreed I should go and she would stay with her sister
while I was away. The caravan is sited on the edge of Weymouth a 10 Minute walk
from Ferrybridge and the Chesil Wildlife
Centre. The Fleet and Portland Harbour being visible from the caravan.
Traveling down on Monday 31st we decided after settling in to have
our first walk to Ferrybridge. Carrion Crow, Jackdaw,
Starling and Goldfinch soon being seen.
The choice of time was not conducive with birding as it was high tide so any
species of wader had flown off to find other feeding opportunities all except a
few hardy Oystercatchers. Walking by the fleet
and looking towards Chesil Beach we could see Little
Terns my 1st year tick of the week. Great
Black Back Gull, Herring Gull and Cormorant along
with Pied Wagtail, Linnet and House Sparrow were all noted. Walking back by Portland
Harbour we added Wood Pigeon, Little Egret. Black
Headed Gull and year ticks 2 and 3 in the form of Ringed Plover and Turnstone.
Day 2 Tuesday 1st August started with a visit to Portland with the Bill
area being visited first. Kestrel, Carrion Crow,
Stonechat, Raven and Starling were soon
seen. The 4th year tick soon followed with a Wheatear spotted. We decided to spend a short while sea watching
but only seeing Shag and Cormorant a Meadow Pipit and a few Gannets we gave up and made our way to the Obs adding Linnet, House Sparrow and Sparrowhawk.
After chatting to the guys at the Obs and finding out that nothing
special had been seen we decided to do a circular walk to the higher ground a Magpie was our first new sighting soon followed by Sand Martin, Goldfinch and Blackbird.
Even though it was a cloudy day it was still quite warm in fact warm
enough for butterflies to be on the wing and our next few sightings were Wall, Gatekeeper, Green Veined White, Meadow Brown and
Red Admiral all butterflies.
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mating Wall butterflies - Bath Birdwatcher
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Also found was a hoverfly called a Hornet Plumehorn which is the largest hoverfly found in the country. |
| Hornet Plumehorn - Bath Birdwatcher |
Nothing extra
could be found so we decided to return to base for a sandwich lunch. After
lunch we returned to Portland to visit
King Barrow Quarry that last year had proved to be good for Butterflies and so
it proved with Common Blue, Chalkhill Blue and
Brown Argus being extra to what we had
earlier seen. Also seen were Swift, Buzzard, Jackdaw,
Pied Wagtail, Whitethroat, Great Tit and Dunnock.
The day ended with a Collared Dove being
seen back on the site.
Day three Wednesday had been given a terrible weather
forecast with storm force winds and heavy rain, but when we awoke the weather
didn’t look that threatening so we headed off to Lodmoor hoping to walk all
around the reserve before that rain and wind arrived, Plenty of birds about and
as we walked we logged Pied Wagtail, House Sparrow,
Woodpigeon, Swallow, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Reed Bunting and Magpie. On reaching the open water which was higher
and covering a much larger area that I have ever seen before, we historically
have visited here at least once a year since at least the early 1980’s so the
extra water was very apparent. Sand Martins were
feeding low over the water. Mallard, Black Headed Gull,
Black Tailed Godwit, Shelduck, Grey Heron and Little
Egret were all seen. Small waders were few and far between but a couple
of Common Sandpipers were found. A few Swifts were flying around but rest assured they will
not be around much longer for this year as many have already migrated back to
Africa. David spotted a Greenshank on one of the
small islands year tick no 5, the only one we saw all week. A flock of 50+ Starling were restlessly landing before quickly
lifting off before landing again. Continuing Great
White Egret, Canada Goose, Teal, Green Sandpiper, Oystercatcher and Lapwing were ticked. A flock of Black Headed Gulls were sat on the water’s edge and
amongst them I found 2 Mediterranean Gulls year
tick no 6. By this time it had started to rain not hard but enough for us to
decide to get back to the car. Goldfinch, Sandwich
Tern, year tick no 7 Dunnock, Gadwall, a
flyover Snipe, Robin Moorhen and Blackbird were all week ticks but by the time we
reached the car we were truly soaked so back to base for a change of clothing
adding Great Black Back Gull and Mute Swan as
we drove past Radipole. The rain finally relented late afternoon so after tea
we walked to Ferrybridge not realizing just how windy it was. Any of you who
know the road from Weymouth to Portland will know the bridge that crosses where
the Fleet joins Portland Harbour. Well we had to walk holding on to the bridge
so not to being blown away but the tide was low enough to allow us the get a
few more birds including Sanderling year tick no
8 along with Turnstone, Little Tern, Dunlin and Ringed Plover. The walk back was even harder as we
were now walking into the wind.
Thursday the 3rd was our last full day so a
return to Portland was decided on. Swift and Starling were seen as we loaded the car. We parked in
the Obs car park as David is a member and had a quick chat with the guys but as
was expected the previous day was better with Shearwaters and Stormies being
seen. We did see Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch and
Swallow before we set off to walk to the Bill with
House Sparrow and Blackbird
seen, also Great Black Back Gull, Robin, Jackdaw
and Carrion Crow. At the Bill Wheatear, Gannet, Rock Pipit, year tick no 9, Pied Wagtail and Shag were
logged along with year tick no 10 a Fulmar. Walking
back to the Obs a family of Stonechats was seen,
and in the Obs Quarry year tick no 11 a Little Owl was
in full show. Willow Warbler showed well from
one of the bushes and I found a Yellow Shell moth
and Hazel found another at almost the same time.
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| Bath Birdwatcher |
Back to the van for lunch
followed by another walk on the north end of Portland too King Barrow Quarry
and here we saw Great Tit and Linnet plus lots and lots of butterflies Chalkhill Blue, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Marbled White,
Small Copper, Meadow Brown, and Gatekeeper.
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| Chalkhill Blue - Bath Birdwatcher |
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| Common Blue - Bath Birdwatcher |
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| Common Blue - Bath Birdwatcher |
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| Small Copper - Bath Birdwatcher |
Our
Butterfly hunt was interrupted by a family party of Chiffchaff
but a Peacock soon had us back after
the butterflies. Not only is the quarry good for butterflies but one area of
high banks and shrubs great for birds and here Greenfinch and
Long Tailed Tit plus year tick no 12 Lesser Whitethroat and a Wren were found. The afternoon finished in style with Hazel finding a fabulous Hummingbird Hawk-Moth. A Red
Admiral on the buddleia meant we could go for some tea with a smile on
our faces. After tea we had our evening stroll to Ferrybridge adding Oystercatcher, Mediterranean Gull, Little Tern, Black Headed
Gull, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Sandwich Tern and Sanderling to the days and most likely the weeks
total.
But NO on Friday on the way home Hazel spied a Red Kite. That was our last sighting of a fantastic
week.
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Six-spot Burnet - Bath Birdwatcher
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