6 Jan 24

Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church, Church Ope Cove, Rufus Castle, Portland Museum and Wakeham

It was a visit to the beach today, to see what new bird species I could find for my 2024 year list. And I must admit I didn't do too bad with 8 new species bring my year list to 45.

They were:

Razorbill - two fishing 100 metre from the shoreline.
Collared Dove - two in Wakeham
Stonechat - a pair at the cove
Black Redstart - two fem/juv at the cove
Chiffchaff - one in Penns Wood and two at the cove.
Long-tailed Tit - a small party in Penns Wood
Wren - several on the beach
Siskin - one over Penns Wood.

Birds Recorded:
2 Cormorant
3 Shag
Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

2 Razorbill
Wood Pigeon
1 Collared Dove
3 Rock Pipit
2 Pied Wagtail
1 Grey Wagtail
Dunnock
Robin
2 Stonechat
2 Black Redstart
Blackbird
3 Chiffchaff
Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
1 Siskin
Goldfinch

It's not unusual to see Razorbills around Portland............

..............but its not often you see them at Church Ope Cove

Just three......

.................Rock Pipits seen at.......

............the cove today. There was no sign of the ringed individual "AAL".

There are still plenty of Robins about, with quite a few singing.

The pair of Stonechats are still at the cove.

This is the male and here.....

.....is his mate.

And it was great to that there wasn't just one Black Redstart at the cove..........

.............but two fem/juvs here

And there were at least three..........

..............Chiffchaffs around the cove. 

Here's the third Chiffchaff with the female Stonechat taking off on the right.

Around the beach huts are a great place to see Wrens at the cove. My first Wren this year.

Fungi Recorded:

fungi sp.

fungi sp. I came across in Penns Wood

General Shots:

You can just about see the sea through the trees at Penns Wood.

This boulder has recently fallen from the cliff face onto the steps between Rufus Castle and the beach.

And the view from the beach looking north-east towards Rufus Castle

Ted:

Ted making his way through the rain water overflowing from the reservoir under St Andrew's Church.

Ships Today:

This is the British Fishing Boat WH148 "Rampant", passing Church Ope Cove on its way back to Weymouth Harbour. There is no info on this vessel, but there are a couple of photos of it in Weymouth Harbour Here and Here.

This is the British Fishing Boat WH555 "Lucid Dream" on its way back to Weymouth Harbour.

This is the British Fishing Boat NN7 "Saint George" on its way back to Portland Harbour. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Fishing Boat DH12 "Red Dwarf" heading north along Portland's east coast. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Trawler WY37 'Nicola-L' on her way back into Weymouth Harbour. There is no info on this vessel but there is a close-up photo of her in Weymouth Harbour Here.

This is the Singaporean Chemical/Oil Ship "Hafnia Axinite" on its way from Rotterdam to Portland harbour. More on this vessel here.

This is the British Fishing Boat DH23 "Hannah Beth II" heading south past Church Ope Cove. I don't have any info on this vessel, other than.................

..................this video of it leaving Brixham Harbour February 2021.

This is the Italian Vehicles Carrier "Grande Detroit" on its way from Antwerp to Cork. More on this vessel here.