31 Dec 25

Black Barge Beach and Castle Town Beach

After a few cups of coffee with my niece and her fiancé, at the newly opened "Riptide" Cafe next to Portland Castle, we all ventured down to Portland Castle beach, which I have now been informed is actually called Black Barge Beach.

From the beach I was able to see two Great Northern Divers and a Cormorant. The latter right in close to the beach. However the main highlight was watching two very frisky Bottle-nosed Dolphins by the Mulberry's here.

After my niece left, Dawn and I made our way around to Castle Town Beach here, so that we could get a better view of the dolphins. And we weren't disappointed as the two were having great fun, chasing boats and breaching many times.

My niece, me and Dawn

Mammals

2 Bottle-nosed Dolphins

Below are a few images and a video of the dolphins.

Birds Recorded:

2 Great Northern Diver

2 Cormorant

1 Grey Heron

2 Oystercatcher

8 Herring Gull

2 Great Black-backed Gull

2 Pied Wagtail

1 Robin

Magpie

Carrion Crow

One of the two Great Northern Divers by the Mulberry's

And a very confiding Cormorant close to Black Barge Beach

And a Grey Heron.....

.............comes into.........

.............land by Castle Town Beach.

Ships today:

This is the Liberian Vehicles Carrier "Wild Rose Leader" on its way from Bremerhaven (Germany) to Galveston (USA). More on this vessel here. (Photo taken with a mobile phone)

Note

Since I arrived on Portland back in May 2017, I have pretty much managed to keep a daily Blog going. Overall I think it was pretty successful, with hundreds of different photographs of the flora and fauna I encountered both on the island, and in & around Weymouth.

Today though is my last day of keeping a daily Blog and instead I will have a brand new Blog called Home and Away. A Blog not too dissimilar to Swindon Birder which I enjoyed running very much, from 13 Jan 13 to 29 May 17.

So instead of the same repetitive photos appearing everyday, hopefully there will be a bit more variety on what I come across, either here on Portland, the British Isles or overseas.

Home and Away Here.

30 Dec 25

Wakeham

No walk today, but just a helping hand for Dawn who did a great job filling the new shed with garden equipment etc.

Despite the freezing conditions this Iris Iridaceae sp is still in flower as is..........

........this Common Marigold Calendula officinalis in the wildflower patch.

The next Full Moon over Wakeham will be the Wolf Moon on Saturday, 3 Jan 26 at approximately 10:02am local time. Not long to go.

29 Dec 25

Out and About

Well after having blood tests at Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester, Dawn took me to see the 2 Tundra Bean Geese and 2 Russian White-fronted Geese about a mile or so north of the hospital in the Charmouth Water Meadows here.

They have been there for a few days, so the expectation of seeing them was pretty high. So imagine my disappointment when I arrived in the lay-by here, to be told by friends of mine Pete & Debbie, who had  arrived from Portland slightly earlier, that 5 minutes before they had arrived themselves that a White-tailed Eagle had spooked everything and they had missed the geese and eagle as well.

The three of us wandered up and down the path alongside the B3147 for a good 20 minutes or so, in the hope that the geese had returned, but sadly they had not.

Birds Recorded:

2 Little Egret

2 Grey Heron

Mallard

Wigeon

Teal

1 Pintail

Lapwing

Black-headed Gull

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Common Gull

Wood Pigeon

Fieldfare

Redwing

Magpie

Rook

Carrion Crow

Jackdaw

Starling

Note:

With the continuous flow of traffic heading in and out of Dorchester, it was pretty noisy along this route making it difficult to hear smaller birds calling.

A Little Egret

Just a few of the Wigeon in the meadow.

Wigeon, Lapwings, Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls and a Great Black-backed Gull in the meadow.

In the centre my first Pintail of the year.

Lapwings and a............

few in flight.

And two more which were a bit closer.

Lapwing, Herring Gulls and Common Gulls

Another Common Gull. This is I believe a 2cy. GRO. It isn't. In fact it is a 1st winter bird - Nature Spot. Thank you to Ed Wilson for the correction.

And an adult Common Gull.

Fieldfare

Ferrybridge

Three Little Egrets at Ferrybridge

Portland Harbour

And Red-breasted Mergansers.........

...........in Portland Harbour. This is a drake.

28 Dec 25

Wakeham

No sightings today.

Behind the beach huts at Church Ope Cove was this Firecrest -28 Dec 17

27 Dec 25

Wakeham and Rufus Castle

It's been awhile, but today I finally managed a long walk. The last time I walked more than 20 metres was before I had my open-heart surgery on 20 Nov 25 and that was on my local patch back on the 18 Nov 25.

I have done other walks like at Radipole and Portland Castle, but only just a few metres from the car, which I hasten to add was not being driven by me.

In fact on New Years Day (6 weeks after my surgery), I am allowed back behind the wheel, which I'm sure Dawn will be pleased with, as she has been chauffeuring me around for both Doctor and Hospital appointments. She is a star. Thank you so much xx.

So this afternoon, accompanied by Izzie, granddaughter Poppy and Ted we left the cottage in glorious sunshine, and wall to wall blue skies, and headed off to the viewing point at Rufus Castle. The only downer on the walk, was that stiff north-easterly gusting at over 40mph. But I needed to get out and blow the cobwebs away.

Highlights along the walk were 2 Chiffchaffs between barrier at end of Church Ope Road and the viewing point.

Birds Recorded:

3 Gannets,

1 Kestrel

50+ Herring Gull

Wood Pigeon

Black Redstart - 2 males in Church Ope Cove. Sadly not seen by me, but by 2 visiting birders.

2 Chiffchaff

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

Herring Gulls just off Penn's Weare in a bit of a feeding frenzy.

A very friendly Robin at the viewing point

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
3 Blue Blowfly Calliphora vicina

A Blue Blowfly Calliphora vicina

Plants:
Daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissus

Well these were a bit of a surprise. Two Daffodils in bloom.

General shots:

Church Ope Cove with that north-easterly blowing straight in and up the beach

And yes me and Poppy my 20 month old granddaughter

Ted:

And a long overdue photograph of Ted. Hopefully more to come.

Ships today:

This is the Belgium LPG Tanker "Angela" on its way from Portland Harbour to Antwerp. More on this vessel here.

Aircraft today:

This is the British Airways 2262 on its way from Kingston, Jamaica to London Gatwick. More on this aircraft here and here.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Note:
Just in case you were wondering why it has taken me this long to venture out. Well having been discharged from Southampton General Hospital on 26 Nov 25, four days later I fell ill with Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and endocarditis on the inner lining of my heart (a very serious heart infection), which saw me admitted to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester.

The medical team were very quick to discover the endocarditis, and after many blood tests and antibiotics, it was dealt with very quickly, leaving just the RSV, which meant 8 days in isolation from the rest of the Cardo Care Unit.

Unfortunately there was something else which was making me feel quite nauseous and for 27 days I felt absolutely rubbish. So bad was the nausea and sickness, I lost 2 stone in weight as I just couldn't eat or drink. General census of opinion is that I have a gastro problem.

However today is the first day that the nausea has gone, and I'm hoping that it is down to the medication I was prescribed on 22 Dec 25. We shall see!!!

23 - 26 Dec 25

Wakeham

No sightings over this period.

A Firecrest in Pennsylvania Castle wood - 26/12/21

22 Dec 25

Portland Castle and Harbour

It was a flying visit to the beach at Portland Castle to check on my Kayak which is moored there. I'm glad to say its still there and hopefully I will be out in it again next summer.

Another reason for the visit was to see the Goosander which was in the harbour last week. sadly no sign of it today, though I did record 4 Red-breasted Mergansers a bit further around the harbour just off Hamm Beach.

In the grounds of the castle were a Goldcrest and two Goldfinches.

Birds Recorded:
12+ Cormorant

3 Shag

4 Red-breasted Merganser

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

1 Pied Wagtail

1 Goldcrest

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Chaffinch

2 Goldfinch

Cormorants on the Portland Marina Breakwater

And a Cormorant heading off into the main harbour.

A Herring Gull comes into land and.....

...........an adult Great Black Back-backed Gull on the next post along.

General Photos:

Portland Harbour as seen from Portland Castle Beach

The gardens in Portland Castle where there was a Goldcrest and a 2 Goldfinches.

Ships today:

This is the Maltese oil/products tanker "Aral" anchored up in the harbour. More on this vessel here.