What an extraordinary day, having seen dozens of Gannets and 100's of auks just off the "Races" this morning, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised in watching 450+ Gannets off Church Ope Cove Here.
There was an absolute mêlée of birds, including 100's of Razorbills and at least 4 Red-throated Divers. This feeding frenzy hadn't gone unnoticed by the local fisherman, and as one boat reached his quota and left, so another came along to replace him.
When the huge shoals of fish broke up, the Gannets dispersed only to come back in a smaller of flock of 100+ birds as the fish reappeared further out to sea.
With all that going I nearly forgot to keep an eye on the beach where the 2 overwintering "resident" Black Redstarts remain, with the interloper from yesterday not seen. Also here were the Stonechat, male Pied Wagtail and 41 Rock Pipits. There was no sign of the Grey Wagtail today.
Elsewhere there was a Song Thrush and a Goldcrest in Wakeham Wood, and a single Chiffchaff and Goldcrest in Penns Wood.
Here are a few images from late morning onwards:
.........hundreds of Gannets were dive bombing onto the fish below.
This is just one section of the Gannets sat on the water having just filled their stomachs with fish.
There were Gannets everywhere and though I estimated 450, it could quite easily been a lot more.
One of the many rafts of Razorbills and..........
So many birds that the focus on the video camera was struggling.
On the beach one of the two Black Redstarts.
The "resident" Pied Wagtail..........
.......and likewise the "resident" adult Winter Herring Gull.
Birds Recorded: 4 Red-throated Diver, 450+ Gannet, Shag, Cormorant, Kestrel, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Razorbill/Guillemot, Wood Pigeon, 41 Rock Pipit, 1 Pied Wagtail, Magpie, 1 Raven, Carrion Crow, Wren, Dunnock, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Stonechat, 2 Black Redstart, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.
Portland Bird Observatory
As I was up fairly early this morning, it seemed a good idea to pop down to the Obs and do a bit of a sea-watch. And it turned out to be pretty good with 2 possibly 3 year ticks. First off a small flock of 7 Common Scoter headed south, followed by a probable Black-throated Diver and then 4 Red-throated Divers.
There was a fair bit of traffic as auks (mainly Razorbills) and Gannets were making their way up and down the coastline.
Another good sight was watching at least 7 Bottle-nosed Dolphins making their way down to The Bill.
Here are a few very distant shots of the Red-throated Divers and Dolphins:
The view from the Obs Patio where............
..........4 Red-throated Divers flew by and......
..........a small pod of around 7 Bottle-nosed Dolphins headed south.....
.........towards.......
.......The Bill.
Birds Recorded: 4 Red-throated Diver, 1 probable Black-throated Diver, Gannet, Shag, Cormorant, 7 Common Scoter, Kestrel, Pheasant, 9 Oystercatcher, Mediterranean Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Razorbill/Guillemot, Wood Pigeon, 1 Meadow Pipit, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.
Ships Today
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On this day..........
2018
Today's Sightings Here