With the weather clearing up this afternoon, I decided on a quick trip to the Quarry at the Portland Observatory. I spent an hour sat on the edge from 4:00 - 5:00pm watching Blackcaps, Blackbirds, Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and a Garden Warbler feeding in and on the Brambles.
There was a pair of Blackbirds and a juvenile together, though sadly the youngster had a tick on its neck. Not sure if it will survive this.
The Garden Warbler was definitely a skulker, compared to the Blackcaps, but I eventually managed a couple of shots and a video.
A Sandwich Tern passed overhead and there were at least 100 Linnets flying about.
Also about a Red Admiral, Speckled Wood and a Small Copper.
Portland Bird Observatory from the quarry.
Looking east across the quarry
Unless you are a Robin and like to be out in the open singing.
Here a female Blackcap.........
.......and another
Two male Blackcaps.......
and another.......
.....and another. There were 4 males and 2 females
Here is a Garden Warbler......
.......a skulky bird.....
.........but it did come up for some shots, here its tucking into a Blackberry.
A very obliging bird in the end.......
...though it did hide away every now and then.
The Garden Warbler in the Obs Quarry this afternoon.
A juvenile Blackbird which from this view looks absolutely fine........
This Kestrel was playing at being a Sparrowhawk.......
.......it spotted a small flock of Linnets and swooped down on them, unsuccessfully I might add.
The weather wasn't brilliant this morning, so a shorter walk which took me to the back of the cottage down to Rufus Castle and back.
I'm indebted to Steve Covey for pointing out the Ivy Bees (Colletes hederae) to me a few days ago, and I have definitely found a hot spot for them behind the observation area by Rufus Castle. There were a good dozen or so feeding on the Ivy flowers along with a few drone flies, Honey Bees and 2 Red Admirals.
Not too many birds species recorded today, but certainly a few Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs about, plus one or two Blackcaps.
And also on the Ivy a Rush Veneer (Nomophila noctuella).
A very small quite cute looking bee.
It was pretty overcast, so a little bit of flash to highlight this very striking bee.
An Ivy Bee has a wash and brush up
A Rush Veneer......
.......was also on the Ivy. This is the second one I've seen around the Rufus Castle area.
Note
A bit of a catch up on a spider I came across on 6 Sep 17. Apparently a difficult one to pin down to the exact species and Drassyllus / Zelotes sp. seems to be as far as the spider experts can get (via British Spider Identification Facebook Group). Either way an impressive looking "black" spider.
Drassyllus / Zelotes sp. seen on the cliff face behind Bumpers Lane on 6 Sep.