13 Oct 21

Chesil Cove

With Ted at the Vets, I took the opportunity to do a bit of sea fishing off Chesil Beach. The weather was absolutely brilliant, with a light north-easterly breeze, very sunny and best of all it was warm enough for just a T-shirt.

Not too birds over with the only migrants noted being a few Skylarks and several Siskins.

With the calm conditions there were millions of "whitebait" right up to the shoreline. Every now and then a large predator, Bass or Mackerel, would come up underneath them, forcing a few onto the beach.

This didn't go unnoticed by the gulls and before you knew there was a huge foray of Great Black-backed Gulls and Herring Gulls converging onto the beach, and then it was just a feeding frenzy. A few minutes later, all the "whitebait" had gone.

The fishing was a bit slow, but I did catch 2 Conger Eels, albeit "straps" which are very small eels. It was a bit of fun and after removing the hooks they were returned to the sea to fight another day.

Birds Recorded:
7 Shag
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
2 Skylark
Pied Wagtail
Carrion Crow
Linnet
7+ Siskin

As a few "whitebait" were forced onto the beach, these gulls were here in no time.

In amongst the Great Black-backed Gulls were quite a few Herring Gulls. This one on the right has managed to grab a small fish.

It didn't take long for these gulls to realise there was free food, as 100's of "whitebait" were forced onto the beach by large predators, Bass or possibly Mackerel.

These 7 Shag were doing well catching fish, though they had to be careful not to get to close to these Great Black-backed Gulls.

Eventually all the Shags got together, well almost and then began drying their wings out on the water.

Fish Recorded:

2 Conger Eels

This small eel is a Conger Eel of which there are many along Chesil Beach. Here are a few facts about Conger Eels: There eyesight is poor, they can grow up to 13 feet in length, they can swim backwards and forwards, and can live for up to 85 years.

Butterflies Recorded:
2 Red Admiral

Spiders Recorded:
spiders sp.

As I sat on the beach watching the world go by, I realised I wasn't alone............

..........Everywhere I looked were these spiders. If I cant find out what they are, I'll call them "Pebble Spiders"

General Shots:

From where I was sat, I had Portland's West Weares to my left.......

...........the very calm sea in front of me and...........

.........to my right Chesil Beach as far you can see, plus Colin, one of the locals returning from a boat fishing trip.

Ted

Ted in Radipole Gardens before his visit to the Dentist this morning.

Ships Today

This is the British Fishing Boat "Quarter Bell" returning to Weymouth. More on this vessel Here

This is the British Trawler 'Nicola-L' about a mile of Chesil Beach. No info on this vessel but there is a close-up photo of her in Weymouth Harbour Here.

Aircraft Today

A laying on your back shot of one of the Sea King Mk5's taking off from the HeliOps behind me. More on the HeliOps Here.