Mermaid Track, Rufus Castle, Penn's Copse, Penn's Weare, Church Ope Cove, St Andrew's Church, Pennsylvania Castle Woods, Perryfield Quarry Butterfly Reserve, Wakeham Meadow and Old Quarry Lane
After a bit of a cold and wet start, which saw a few snow flakes falling, it actually turned out quite nice by late afternoon. Despite the sun being out it was pretty raw in that biting northerly wind.
Unfortunately there wasn't much around and the best I could find were two Chiffchaffs. One at Rufus Castle and another at the bottom of Penns Wood. A Siskin was a fly-by at Penns Wood.
There were no butterflies about, just a few bumblebees, 1 Common Wasp and 2 Dead Head Hoverflies.
Birds Recorded: 1 Gannet Herring Gull Wood Pigeon Dunnock Robin Blackbird 2 Chiffchaff Great Tit Blue Tit Wren Magpie Carrion Crow Jackdaw House Sparrow Chaffinch 1 Siskin Goldfinch
A Chiffchaff in Penns Wood
And a rather inquisitive Blue Tit
And a Goldfinch giving me a good stare. Or maybe it's just seen Ted.
Reptiles Recorded: Wall Lizard
Despite the freezing wind the Wall Lizards were out in the more sheltered spots.
Another at the cove.
And this one by Rufus Castle.
Bees Recorded: Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)
Wasps Recorded: Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
Hoverflies Recorded: 2 Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
Plants:
Horseshoe Vetch (Hippocrepis comosa)
Horseshoe Vetch now in flower.
General Shots:
Church Ope Cove
Ted:
Ted off on his travels through Penns Wood.
Time to rest those legs.
Ships Today:
This is the British F82 - Frigate (HMS Somerset) just south of Portland Bill. She has just returned to sea after a massive 4 year revamp. More on this vessel Here and Here.
This is the Cypriot Container Ship "BG Emerald" on its way from Cork to Rotterdam. More on this vessel Here.
This is the British Cargo Ship "Ventura" on its way from Rotterdam to Plymouth. More on this vessel Here.
This is the Panamanian Vehicles Carrier "Schelde Highway" on its way from Zeebrugge to Dublin. More on this vessel Here.
This is the Italian Ro-Ro Cargo Ship "Eurocargo Bari" on its way from Zeebrugge to Ringaskiddy (Ireland). More on this vessel Here.
This is the British Sailing Vessel "Carte Blanche" on its way from Lymington to Portland Harbour. More on this vessel Here.
Barleycrates Lane, West Cliff, Reap Lane Barn, Avalanche Bump and Thumb Lane
Yet again it was another day where rain was forecast but never materialised. So with the weather remaining dry it was off to the west side of Portland to see what was about.
Highlights were a Redwing and Chiffchaff in Barleycrates Lane, followed by a couple of Stonechats alongside the ploughed fields.
There were more Chiffchaffs along the West Cliffs and then the main highlights were a male Pied Flycatcher, a female Common Redstart, a male and 2 female Black Redstarts, a lone Willow Warbler and a couple more Chiffchaffs, all alongside a field and a small Copse by Reap Lane.
At Avalanche Bump there was male Blackcap and 4 Chiffchaffs, plus 5 Grey Squirrels.
And finally at the copse at Thumb Lane there was a pair of Blackcaps and 3 more Chiffchaffs.
Other things of note was my first Orange-tip butterfly of the year and a Speckled Wood. My list of butterflies this year has reached 9 so far, with Orange-tip, Large White, Small White, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Holly Blue.
There were quite a few Honey Bees about and Buff-tailed Bumblebees, plus a Common Wasp and an
Mammals Recorded:
5 Grey Squirrel
Birds Recorded: Fulmar Buzzard Kestrel
Pheasant Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Wood Pigeon Skylark Meadow Pipit Dunnock Robin Stonechat 1 Common Redstart 3 Black Redstart Blackbird 1 Redwing 3 Blackcap 10+ Chiffchaff 1 Willow Warbler 1 Pied Flycatcher Great Tit Blue Tit Wren Magpie Carrion Crow Jackdaw Starling House Sparrow Chaffinch Linnet Goldfinch Greenfinch
A male Kestrel comes into..........
...........land on the West Cliffs
One of the many Pheasants on Portland.
Here is its mate.
And there's no getting away from the Robins, they are everywhere.
A few record shots of a male Black Redstart.....
.........a female Black Redstart...........
............and another female Black Redstart.
A bit of a surprise was this Redwing along Barleycrates Lane.
It looks familiar but I cant put a name to it. For the moment at least it is a Ichneumon sp.
Hoverflies Recorded: Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: Muscid Fly sp.
Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Two 7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata) 1 Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)
I came across two 7-Spot Ladybirds today
And a Common Green Shieldbug
Plants:
Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna)
A carpet of Lesser Celandine
And a close-up of them.
General Shots:
Reap Lane, and the field and copse, where there was the male Pied Flycatcher, a female Common Redstart, a male and 2 female Black Redstarts, a lone Willow Warbler and a couple of Chiffchaffs.
Southwell Business Park, Sweethill Farm, Top Fields, Crown Estate Fields and Helen's Field.
Well the expected rain never materialised, so I decided to have a walk along the West Cliffs, in the hope of seeing my first hirundine of the year. My route was going to be from the Business Park, through Sweethill Farm and then along the cliffs.
However on bumping into a chap I met a few years ago, he informed that a Ring Ouzel had been seen in the Crown Estate Fields. As it was just off my planned route I decided to have a look. In fact my initial view of it ended up being from the entrance of the Portland Bird Observatory, quite a detour from my walk, but well worth it.
My view of the male actually got better as a female Ring Ouzel was seen with it and both were heading off to the Top Fields, the same fields I had just come down from. To cut a long story short I relocated both of them at Helen's Field and ended up with some really good views of the male. The female was a little trickier to see.
Other highlights were dozens of Chiffchaffs passing through, if I said 20+ it could well have been double that.
And the one that got away!! I heard two Pied Wagtails in one of the Top Fields, and as I went to look at them close-up with the binoculars, they both took off and headed north towards the farm. One of them was distinctly lighter in colour and I wondered whether it was a White Wagtail, as two had already been seen during the morning.
I did eventually catch up with them, but as a crept along a hedgerow, when I arrived at a gap they had gone. Oh well hopefully I will get to see one in UK, one of these days.
So having taken up so much time watching the Ring Ouzels and a potential White Wagtail, I ran out of time to walk along the cliff tops. Maybe tomorrow.
Mammals Recorded: Bunny
Birds Recorded: 1 Buzzard Kestrel Pheasant Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Wood Pigeon Collared Dove Skylark Meadow Pipit Pied Wagtail 1 White Wagtail Dunnock Robin Stonechat Blackbird 2 Ring Ouzel 20+ Chiffchaff Great Tit Blue Tit Wren Magpie Carrion Crow Jackdaw Starling House Sparrow Chaffinch Linnet Goldfinch
Through the binoculars it looked very much like this Buzzard was eating a dead bunny
This male Kestrel was very vocal and very busy flying from one wall to........
..........another.
Whilst all the while this female was watching him and then.......
............decided she wanted to stand on the wall.
A very colourful Pheasant
I'm not sure what all the commotion was about........
.........but there was a lot of noise and a bit of dive-bombing going on here by these Herring Gulls.
One of many Meadow Pipits seen flying or resting up in the Top Fields.
A White Wagtail maybe. I'm managed to take a couple of record shots, but........
........unfortunately as pale as it looks or is that wishful thinking, when I moved closer towards it (using a wall and bushes for cover) it had flown off. So close!!
One of the Ring Ouzels coming into land on this bush.
Those wings are really pale almost translucent.
This is the male.
And another slightly closer shot of it.
I eventually found a good spot behind a wall and managed to video the male Ring Ouzel calling to the female close-by.
