25 Jan 24

Lower Horse Paddock, Higher Horse Paddock, Broadcroft Butterfly Reserve, Broadcroft Quarry Lane, Bumpers Lane, Silklake Quarry, The Cuttings Quarry, Rufus Castle and Portland Museum

Yet another very dull, murky and uninspiring day and it was no surprise that there was very little about other than 3 Stock Doves and a pair of Stonechats in the butterfly reserve. Sea watching is definitely the better option at this time of year. 

The only other bit of interest was that I came across a few Alexanders in flower, which had attracted a few flies.

Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
3 Stock Dove
Wood Pigeon
Dunnock
Robin
2 Stonechat
Blackbird
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch

Three Stock Doves feeding on spilt grain..............

.................in the butterfly reserve, where previously there had been a couple of horses, temporarily fenced in by an electric fence to keep the grass levels down.

Wow, was it something I said!!

The male Stonechat and his mate........

................still present on the reserve.

And the pair together.

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
fly sp.

And my fly sp. on..........

..................a flowering Alexanders

Plants:
Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum)

And here are more flowers on this Alexanders.

General Shots:

It's certainly a murky view to the south.

And the sun behind the clouds, showing what look like sunspots maybe!! Word of warning "Never ever look at the sun directly with the naked eye or with a camera etc. This photograph was taken by viewing the fold-out viewer on the back of the camera.


Ted and Theo:

Speedy or what.

Ted and Theo having a good old buzz. No dogs were harmed in this video