It was a quick shopping trip into Weymouth this afternoon and though there was light rain falling, I thought I would take Ted for a walk up to the North Hide, where there was a bit shelter to be had.
Main highlights were 20+ Sand Martin, 6+ House Martin and 10+ Swallows feeding over the reed beds, plus 3 Blackcap, 8+ Chiffchaff and 2 Goldcrest in the Sallows and low-lying bushes.
However the best highlights were when I headed back to the car, with a Spotted Flycatcher and 2 juv/fem Pied Flycatchers in the Sallows close to the River Wey. The latter were a bit of a surprise to see, but as the rain to began to fall quite heavily, I guess they decided to stop for a "rain" break. Sadly no photos of them as I kept my camera dry in my bag.
Birds Recorded:
1 Little Egret
21 Mallard
10 Gadwall
4 Teal
1 Water Rail (heard)
Black-headed Gull
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
20+ Sand Martin
6+ House Martin
10+ Swallow
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Song Thrush
3 Cetti's Warbler
3 Blackcap
8+ Chiffchaff
2 Goldcrest
1 Spotted Flycatcher
2 Pied Flycatcher
Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Bullfinch
Mallard, Gadwall and Teal on the pool just south of the North Hide.
A drake Gadwall
1 Speckled Wood
Bees Recorded:
1 Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
A soggy Buff-tailed Bumblebee under an umbellifer sp.
Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
5 German Wasp (Vespula germanica)
3 Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
5 German Wasp (Vespula germanica)
3 Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
1 Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Slugs and Snails Recorded:
Garden Snail (Cornu aspersa)
Unsurprisingly in the rain, I came across dozens of Garden Snails along the track
Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)
A Garden Spider and its very wet web
Plants:
Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)
This has been a very plentiful year for Blackthorn berries.
Ted:
I think it would be fair to say, that Ted is not a great fan of his raincoat. Look at that face!!