On the way back from from Weymouth, I noticed a Goosander flying into the cove at Hamm Beach. According to local birders its pretty unusual to find Goosanders in Portland Harbour, so it was a quick stop to to see if there were any others. In fact there were at least two more in amongst the 30 or so Red-breasted Mergansers.
Here are a few images:
The two drake Goosanders in the foreground are certainly larger than the Mergansers...........
......with the third far left centre behind a female Merganser!
Birds recorded: 2 possibly 3 Goosander, 30+ Red-breasted Merganser, 33 Black-headed Gull and 3 Herring Gull.
Portland Bird Observatory
Later in the afternoon I popped into the Observatory to purchase an excellent Portland & Weymouth Walking Map, which names all the quarries on the island. It will come in very useful I'm sure.
While I was there it was good to catch up with Martin Cade and Guy from Yeovil, and also to record a pair of Stonechat in the garden, along with one possibly two Firecrests.
A quick walk in the hut fields didn't reveal anything apart from a Kestrel and Sparrowhawk, so I headed up towards the Top Fields in search of Short-eared Owls. En route I met up with a lovely gentleman called Reg and we walked up past the Crown Estate Fields, across the Top Fields and ended up on the West Cliffs. After pointing out some known hot spots for SEO's, Reg carried on his walk down towards the Bill and I doubled back.
The light was really fading and with it any hope of seeing a Short-eared Owl. As it transpired, having spoken to local dog walkers, the last SEO's were seen last week when up to 3 were observed. Another time!
An unexpected sighting was a Grey Heron which took off from the Top Fields and headed along the cliff face towards Chesil Beach. Also here were a further 3 Kestrels, a lot of Blackbirds & Song Thrushes and in the hedgerow a Chiffchaff.
Here are a few images:
The female Stonechat in the Obs garden......
.....and the male.
Birds Recorded: 1 Grey Heron, 1 Buzzard, 4 Kestrel, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Robin, 2 Stonechat, Blackbird, Song Thrush, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 possibly 2 Firecrest, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, 2 Raven, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.
A few Ships Today
A couple of ships that were well out in the shipping channel:
