2 Dec 21

Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church, Church Ope Cove, Church Ope Cove Wood, Penn's Weare, Penn's Copse, Rufus Castle and the Museum

A day not to dissimilar to yesterday, with lots of sunshine but thankfully less wind.

No Firecrests seen or heard today, but there are still 30+ Rock Pipits on the beach, along with the female/juvenile Black Redstart, a Grey Wagtail and now 2 Pied Wagtails. There was also an increase in Wrens feeding in amongst the pebbles with 4 recorded.

Birds Recorded:
Gannet
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
30+ Rock Pipit
2 Pied Wagtail
1 Grey Wagtail
Dunnock
Robin
1 Black Redstart
Blackbird
Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
7 Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Chaffinch
Goldfinch

A Woodpigeon on the south facing cliff at the Cove.

A Rock Pipit on the search for insects around one of the beach huts.

This is the same Pied Wagtail from yesterday, still on the beach.

Today this juvenile Pied Wagtail turned up

The Grey Wagtail was proving difficult to photograph today, but I did manage one flight shot.

And the "Rock" Robin is definitely in charge at the north end of the beach.

Here it is on the south facing cliff face.

The Black Redstart is still trying to keep out of the way of the Robin and this afternoon, spent a fair bit of time feeding around the beach huts.

Occasionally it would sit up on one of the large rocks and have a look around or.......

...........make its way onto the beach to feed on the Kelp Flies. But always keeping an eye out for that pesky Robin.

Here are a couple of videos of the Black Redstart

It was a bit of a Wren day here on the beach........

.........with at least 5 feeding in amongst the pebbles and around the huts.

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Kelp Fly (Coelopa frigida)


Plants:

Hottentot Fig (Carpobrotus edulis)

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) 

On a rock next to a Beach Hut were these succulent plants.

I did a bit of research and apparently...........

........it is a Hottentot Fig, which is an invasive plant  from South Africa. It seems to be thriving very well along our coasts, especially in Cornwall. It is also known as Sour Fig, Ice Plant or Highway Ice Plant.

This is Rosemary and...........

.............. in flower by one of the beach huts.

General Shots:

Blue sea, blue sky and sunshine. What more could you ask for.

An interesting cloud formation which is cirrocumulus. Better known as a Mackerel Sky

Ted:

Ted waiting patiently for me to climb the 151 steps to Rufus Castle. It's alright for him, he's got 4 legs!!

Ships Today:

This is the Maltese Ro-Ro/Passenger Ship "Visby" on its way from Rosslare (Ireland) to Dunkirk (France). More o this vessel Here.

This is the British Frigate "HMS Northumberland" just off Portland Bill, as it was yesterday. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Sailing Vessel "Mrs Bear" on its way from Brixham to Weymouth. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Fishing Boat "Loyal Friend" fishing just off Church Ope Cove. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Fishing Boat "Clar Innis NN732" just off Portland's east coast. More on this vessel Here.

And another Fishing Boat NN7 "Girl Jo".