13 Jan 18

Ferrybridge and Portland Harbour

A trip to Ferrybridge to see the drake Eider duck ended in failure. It was seen earlier this morning, but despite myself and 3 other birders we failed to find it in Portland Harbour. Only real highlight was a Great Northern Diver in fairly close to Small Mouth.

In the Fleet several Dark-bellied Brent Goose and Red-breasted Merganser, whist under the the road bridge a Little Egret was feeding, until I disturbed it.

A first for the year was a lone Rook that flew over my head and landed on the railings.

Here are few images from today.

One of the Great Northern Divers in Portland Harbour.

In the USA this bird is commonly known as the Loon.

Also in the harbour a pair of Little Grebes.

An adult winter Mediterranean Gull.

In and around The Fleet and Portland Harbour Mediterranean Gull are very numerous.

Here's another.

An adult Herring Gull.

A trio of Black-bellied Brent Geese.

An Oystercatcher poses well for the camera and then....

.....decides enough's enough....

.....and heads off to another beach.

Under the Portland Beach Road bridge a Little Egret.....

...which wasn't to impressed by presence and took off as well.

Extraordinary but this is my first Rook of the year. I've not seen a single one on Portland, despite there being plenty of fields for them to feed in. In fact you will see dozens of Carrion Crows on the Crown Estate Fields but not Rooks.

When I visited the Ferrybridge Marina earlier this month I came across 3 boats that had been badly damaged by an arson attack which occurred back in November last year. Today the owner of one of the damaged boats was taking it away on his low-loader. A sad sight.

Birds Recorded: 1 Great Northern Diver, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Little Grebe, Cormorant, 1 Little Egret, Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Red-breasted Merganser, 1 Kestrel, 1 Oystercatcher, Black-headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Pied Wagtail, Magpie, 1 Rook, Carrion Crow and 8 Linnet.