It was a better day weather-wise, so it was off to the beach again to see what was about. The first thing I noted was that there was a Grey Seal just beyond the second breaker. And reading some of the local tweets on Twitter there are quite a few around Portland and Weymouth at the moment.
Other highlights were two Rock Pipits, six Pied Wagtails and a Grey Wagtail feeding on the Kelp Flies on the beach. Elsewhere there was a female Blackcap feeding in amongst the Mahonia at the top of Pennsylvania Castle Woods.
Mammals Recorded:
Grey Seal
A big old Grey Seal, which was a good 2 metres in length.
It was certainly enjoying the surf..
Last one.
Birds Recorded:
1 Cormorant
3 Black-headed Gull
Herring Gull
4 Common Gull
Wood Pigeon
2 Rock Pipit
6 Pied Wagtail
1 Grey Wagtail
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
1 Blackcap
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
A Black-headed Gull in full breeding plumage.
And an adult Herring Gull.
Another Herring Gull. This one I think is a 4th Calendar Year bird and.....
...........likewise with this one as well. A similar bird can be seen on the Gull Research Organisations website Here.
Not a Herring Gull, but an adult Common Gull.
And two more Common Gulls with an adult top right and what I believe is a 2nd Calendar Year bird bottom left.
........the female feeding together on the beach!!
One of the six Pied Wagtails on the beach along with.........
...........this Grey Wagtail.
And finally the female Blackcap sat in the Mahonia at the top of Pennsylvania Castle Woods.
Just as I was about to video her, she moved onto another branch with a leaf partially covering her. I didn't want change position as I didn't want to scare her off. Odd behaviour at the start of the video, was she trying to regurgitate something!!
Bees Recorded:
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Kelp Fly (Coelopa frigida)
General Shots:
There were some big waves out there today.
Ted:
All fluffy again after yesterday's soaking.
Ships Today:
This is the Swedish Vehicles Carrier "Undine" on its way from Southampton to Port Said (Egypt). More on this vessel Here.
This is the Bahamanian General cargo Ship "Fri River" on its way from Groveport to Cork. More on this vessel Here.
This is the British PO9 Fishing Boat "Freya May" just off Church Ope Cove and..........
............then heading heading south.