22 Jun 17

Church Ope Cove
This afternoon Dawn and I took Benji & Ted for a walk down to Church Ope Cove. A lovely walk that took us past Rufus Castle and then down to the cove and then back up the other side to the Easton/Southwell Road and then back up to the cottage.

Lots of wildlife with Speckled Woods, Meadow Browns and several Marbled Whites. Also a few Six-spot Burnet moths and a migrant moth a Rush Veneer (Nomophila noctuella) . Along the main road a Peacock butterfly in the brambles.

Here are a few photos from our walk:

Ted leading the way

And Dawn on her way down the "million" steps from Rufus Castle

A quick check to see who else has been down here.

And the quaint stones gardens in front of the cabins.

A very narrow trail to the beach.

The beach

The track going up the other side.

Great views across Weymouth Bay.

Looking back into the Cove.

A Small Skipper.

Lots of Marbled Whites above the cove.

A Meadow Brown takes a rest.

A pair of Six-spot Burnets.

A Rush Veneer

Unless I've got this wrong I'm pretty sure this is a Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis). I found one on Broadcroft Quarry Butterfly Reserve. Here there are dozens of them.

The Fleet
This morning, Dawn and I joined the guided walk along the edge of The Fleet headed by Mark from the Dorset Wildlife Trust.

Birds Recorded were: 2 Oystercatcher, 3 Ringed PloverBlack-headed Gull, 4 Mediterranean Gull, Herring Gull, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, 5 Little Tern, 1 Sandwich TernSkylark, 1 Swallow, 3 Meadow Pipit, 2 Pied Wagtail, 4 RookCarrion Crow and Linnet.

Also recorded: Sand Hopper, Green Shore Crab, a Rove Beetle (Bledius spectabilis), Limpet, Barnacles, Periwinkle and Cockles.

Plants: Shrubby Sea-blite (Suaeda vera), Sea Purslane (Halimione portulacoides) and Sea Asparagus

Here are a few photos from our walk:

Mark show us a Little 

The bridge between the Visitor Centre and Chesil, which at times can be under water.

Our route took along the creek.........

........and then to the water side.

The view back to the Visitor Centre.

Shrubby Sea-blite (Suaeda vera)

Sea Asparagus (Salicornia)

Sea Purslane, Halimione portulacoides

Green Shore Crab (Carcinus maenas)

Young Green Shore Crabs can moult around 12 times in a single year......

........this one on Fliss's hand will be busy this year then.

Mark shows us a Limpet.

And on this slab of rock there could be up to 30 different animals dependant on it.

The remains of a Spiny Spider Crab

Periwinkles

Herring Gulls

A Mediterranean Gull having a nap.

A Little Tern looking for food............

.......and another

An Oystercatcher passes us by.......

........whilst this Ringed Plover dropped in with its mate just a few metres away from us.