14 Oct 21

Nothe Fort and Stone Pier, Weymouth

As I was in Weymouth today, I thought I would have a go at fishing off the Stone Pier. And what a good day it was, especially as when I parked the car up at Nothe Fort, I came across my first Yellow-browed Warbler for the year, in the woods down to the Pier. Also here were a few Great Tits, Blue Tits and a couple of Chiffchaffs.

On the pier itself were around 12 Turnstones, though later in the day that number dropped to 11 when a Peregrine Falcon grabbed one for lunch.

The fishing was pretty good with 4 Mackerel, 5 Ballan Wrasse, 2 Pollack and a Garfish.

Mammals Recorded:
Seal

A Seal by Nothe Fort. I'm not sure if it's a Common or a Grey.

Birds Recorded:
Cormorant
Shag
Peregrine Falcon
12 Turnstone
Black-headed Gull
Mediterranean Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Skylark
Meadow Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
2 Chiffchaff
1 Yellow-browed Warbler
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet

What an endearing wader, with 12 Turnstones on the pier.

They are little thieves though. I left my bait unattended and as I turned there were two of them running off with a piece of Squid. Sadly one was taken by a Peregrine, but that is wildlife for you

Fish Recorded:

4 Mackerel

5 Ballan Wrasse

2 Pollack

1 Garfish

A Ballan Wrasse with at least two parasitic Isopods on it. There are two parasites which latch onto Wrasse with these two most likely to be Anilocra physodes.

Not the Garfish I caught, but one the lad fishing next to me caught. In fact there were at least 8 caught up to this size.

Butterflies Recorded:
Red Admiral


Wasps Recorded:
wasps sp


General Shots:

Weymouth harbour

Nothe Forte

In the distance the breakwater around Portland Harbour and the Isle of Portland in the background

Ships and Aircraft Today:

This is the British Potting Boat "Karen Lynn" returning to Weymouth Harbour.

These two Bermudian Passenger Ships are the "Queen Victoria" and the "Queen Mary 2" (right) both anchored in Weymouth Bay. More on the Queen Victoria Here and Queen Mary 2 Here.

This is the Bermudian Passenger Ship "Aurora" anchored in Weymouth Bay. More on this vessel Here.

Later two Chinooks flew past Queen Victoria.........

..........over a small fishing boat and then over.......

..........the Aurora. Within a few minutes.............

...........military personnel were dropping in to the Passenger Ship.

After the Chinooks left, two Royal Navy Merlin were seen hovering over the Aurora.

Here is one of the Merlin

On my way down to the Pier I passed the RNLI Lifeboat "Castletownbere"

Later they were kind enough to give me a wave as they headed out to sea.