Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadows, Wakeham Wildlife Site, Wakeham Railway Cuttings, Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church, Church Ope Cove, Rufus Castle and Portland Museum
It was back to the local patch this afternoon, and what a surprise it was to find four Black Redstarts on the beach at Church Ope Cove. Also here were two Rock Pipits, 5 Pied Wagtails, a pair of Stonechats and a Chiffchaff.
Elsewhere there were two Greenfinches close to Wakeham Meadows.
Mammals Recorded: 1 Grey Squirrel
Birds Recorded: 2 Cormorant Herring Gull Wood Pigeon 2 Rock Pipit 5 Pied Wagtail Dunnock Robin 2 Stonechat 4 Black Redstart Blackbird 1 Chiffchaff Great Tit Blue Tit Wren Magpie Carrion Crow 3 Raven House Sparrow Chaffinch Goldfinch 2 Greenfinch
There were just two Rock Pipits on the beach. This one and another that flew off to south. No sign of AAL.
When I arrived at the cove there were no Pied Wagtails to be seen and then all of a sudden five came "screaming" in with lots of excitement and chatter. In amongst the five were two juveniles.
A male Stonechat at the southern end of the cove. The female was close by
Below are a few photos and a video of the four Black Redstarts at the cove this afternoon.
Apologies for haphazard panning of the camera. I was trying to remember where all four Black Redstarts were located on the beach. I got them in the end.
Just as I was about to photograph this Chiffchaff it decided to take off.
Two Ravens heading south over the cove
Plants: Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)
I'm still finding a few Common Knapweed in flower.
Ted:
I don't know where Ted gets his energy from.
Ships Today:
This is the Maltese Ro-Ro Cargo Ship "Hermine" on its way from Zeebrugge to Dublin. More on this vessel here.
This the Dutch General Cargo Ship "Sea Charente" on its way from Erith to Teignmouth. More on this vessel here.
Another opportunity came up to visit Lodmoor today and one that I hoped would give me better views of the American Golden Plover, rather than the brief glimpse I had of it on Sunday.
After a few minutes of looking through the 300+ Golden Plovers sat on the west scrape, I eventually found it using my binoculars, though photographing it prooved to be a bit trickier as it kept tucking its head under its wings.
What a wet miserable day it's been here on Portland. It was raining when I got up this morning and as type (19:35) it is still raining. So here is a look back on this day from the past 6 years. I say 6 years, it appears that on this day in 2022 & 2021 it was wet and miserable just like today.
2020
A Grey Wagtail in Wakeham Railway Cuttings
2019
A Raven on the left and a Carrion Crow on the right in close formation
This was a totally unplanned visit to Lodmoor, but one that I am very pleased I did. To cut a very long story short, I had 45 minutes to spare before I was meeting Dawn at Wey Bay Caravan; so as I was passing Lodmoor, I decided to take Ted for a short walk there.
The highlight was meeting several birders heading back to the car park, after they had seen an American Golden Plover in amongst a large flock of Golden Plovers.
I was very fortunate that despite the failing light, myself and other birders did at least see it take off briefly and land in amongst around 300 Golden Plovers.
This is my first UK sighting of this plover, and one that was, well very fortuitous on my part.
Birds Recorded: 2 Cormorant 1 Little Egret 2 Grey Heron 2 Mute Swan Canada Goose Shelduck Mallard Teal Shoveler Tufted Duck 2 Water Rail (heard) Moorhen Coot 300+ Golden Plover 1 American Golden Plover 40+ Lapwing
With lots of household chores to do, unfortunately there wasn't an opportunity for a walk today. So instead, here is a look back on this day from the past 6 years.
2022
A Kittiwake takes off at Church Ope Cove
2020
A Black Redstart at Church Ope Cove
2019
The "Eastern" Lesser Whitethroat in its favourite Cypress Tree in Penns Wood.
Portland Bird Observatory, Top Fields and Crown Estate Fields
With news out today, that the male Hen Harrier from yesterday, was still flying around the fields to west and north of the Observatory, I decided I'd try and see if I could find it. It took awhile, but I eventually tracked it down to a field just north of Culverwell.
