12 Jan 20

Portland Marina

Late afternoon and a Great Northern Diver was diving down between the pontoons and catching crabs.

This Great Northern Diver.......

........is quite a home in the marina.

It spent a lot of time diving down for food. On this occasion I was anticipating where it would pop up.

Portland Bird Observatory, Obs Quarry, The Pulpit, QinetiQ, Slopes, West Cliff, Higher Lighthouse, Top Fields and Crown Estate Fields

A bit of a repeat from the 9 Jan, but this time no hint of rain and I was able to carry on to the Top Fields and Crown Estate Fields without getting a soaking this time.

Today's weather was really sunny, though that brisk westerly was pretty chilly, especially along the West Cliff.

Today's highlights were a few year ticks with 4 Purple Sandpipers behind the Obelisk, a Sparrowhawk zooming across the Crown Estate Fields where there was also my first Buzzard of the year and 5 Linnet.

In the Top Fields I counted 9 Skylarks in one of the fields and as I continued pass other fields I began to realise that the 9 was in fact around 90+. I've never seen so many!!

And finally my last image taken today was of a strange fungi I found on the West Cliffs. So odd it has a few fungi experts interested. More below...........

Here are a few images from today:

It was difficult to get a decent photo of these Purple Sandpipers.

Unfortunately I was looking straight into the sun.

This video wasn't much better, but it does show you how close to the edge these Sandpipers live as the waves crash over them.

Two Oystercatchers in breeding plumage.

Along the West Cliff there were at least 8 Common Gulls.

There are plenty of corvids at The Bill. Magpies, Ravens, Jackdaws and the odd Carrion Crow or two.

My first Buzzard of the year in the Crown Estate Fields.

And finally an odd looking fungi, which even has the experts a bit baffled. Apparently it could be a Waxcap and possibly more than one here. It's unusual because it's late, and normally seen between August and November, but then it has been pretty mild here. It is certainly in the right habitat, as Waxcap's prefer south-facing slopes on calcareous unimproved grassland. I have been asked to return to where I found it and take specimen for further analysis. So watch this space.

Birds Recorded: Gannet, Cormorant, Shag, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Buzzard, Kestrel, Oystercatcher, 4 Purple Sandpiper, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, 8 Common Gull, Razorbill, Guillemot, Wood Pigeon, 90+ Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Raven, Starling, Chaffinch, 5 Linnet and Goldfinch

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On this day..........

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.