With the news out that a pair of Puffins were showing on and off at The Bill, I decided I would spend a couple of hours there in the hope of seeing my first ever one, or hopefully two.
From my advantage point just north west of the Pulpit, I had great views of the cliffs and the water below where they had been seen for the past few days, including this morning before I arrived at 8:30am.
Looking northwest towards the cliffs.
Well I saw just about everything else, from a large pod of Short-beaked Common Dolphins, a Manx Shearwater drifting slowly pass me and a Guillemot chick, which I can only presume left its "nest" on one of the ledges, a little earlier than it probably wanted to. But yep you guessed it no Puffins.
Mammals Recorded:
9+ Short-beaked Common Dolphins
Below is a video and a few photos of my first ever Short-beaked Common Dolphins just off The Bill. More on this dolphin here.
Birds Recorded:
2 Fulmar
1 Manx Shearwater
2 Gannet
Cormorant
Shag
2 Common Sandpiper
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Razorbill
Guillemot
Wood Pigeon
12+ Swift
Skylark
Meadow Pipit
Rock Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Dunnock
Stonechat
2 Wheatear
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Raven
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
Moths Recorded:
Silver Y (Autographa gamma)
Bees Recorded:
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
General Shots:
Ted:
Ships Today:
Birds Recorded:
2 Fulmar
1 Manx Shearwater
2 Gannet
Cormorant
Shag
2 Common Sandpiper
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Razorbill
Guillemot
Wood Pigeon
12+ Swift
Skylark
Meadow Pipit
Rock Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Dunnock
Stonechat
2 Wheatear
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Raven
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
A Manx Shearwater drifting ................
.................past me, was a.............
.......bit of a surprise. I've only ever had distant views of them before. What was really good though, was that this was my first one for the year.
And as I was keeping my eyes open for a Puffin, these two Common Sandpipers flew past.
Razorbills and...........
................Guillemots.
And here we have a juvenile Guillemot in amongst adults and a lone Razorbill.
Two juvenile Wheatears at The Bill. This one here.....
............is a juvenile male.
Butterflies Recorded:
Lulworth Skipper
Large White
Small Heath
Meadow Brown
Marbled White
Red Admiral
Common Blue
Lulworth Skipper
Large White
Small Heath
Meadow Brown
Marbled White
Red Admiral
Common Blue
A Lulworth Skipper
And a Marbled White
Silver Y (Autographa gamma)
Bees Recorded:
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
Plants:
Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis)
Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis)
This is my first.............
Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis) of the year.
General Shots:
The Pulpit
Ted:
Hang on Ted. Wait for meeeeeeeeeee.
This is the British Fishing Boat WH425 "Quarter Bell" on its way out to its fishing from Weymouth Harbour. More on this vessel Here.
This is the British Pleasure Boat "Lady P" on its way from Dartmouth.............
