12 Aug 24

The Fleet

As I was coming back from Weymouth around 11:00am, I stopped off at Ferrybridge to see if there was anything of interest on The Fleet. I didn't time it very well, as the tide was almost in when I arrived, which meant the sandbanks were covered and any birds about, were on the far bank from where I was stood.

However there were a few birds about, albeit distant, and the main highlights were a Little Egret, a few Dunlin, at least one if not two Little Terns and 3 Swallows.

Birds Recorded:
2 Cormorant
1 Little Egret
2 Oystercatcher
Dunlin
Black-headed Gull
Mediterranean Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
1/2 Little Tern
Wood Pigeon
3 Swallow

Robin

Wren

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Starling

House Sparrow

Greenfinch

One of the two Cormorants on The Fleet. The second bird which flew off when I arrived had just caught a huge flatfish. I had hoped to get a photograph of it, as having swallowed the fish, it had ballooned its gullet about four-fold.

A Little Egret on the far bank.

As highwater approached, so the waders starting to move up The Fleet. I suspect these are mainly Dunlin, with a possibility of a Ringed Plover and Sanderling in amongst them.

A Great Black-backed Gull sat on the tarpaulin roof of Explorer, the Dorset Wildlife Trusts glass bottom boat, skippered by my friend Roger. Apart from the Winter, Roger can often be seen taking visitors out into The Fleet to see one of the UK’s most important Marine Protected Areas. More on Explorer here

Another Great Black-backed Gull sat on one of the buoys........

..........Possibly an adult going through a moult.

Butterflies Recorded:
1 Large White
1 Peacock

General Shots:

Looking up the Fleet with Portland in the background and Explorer anchored up.

And looking down The Fleet with a World War II type 22 pillbox on the edge. More on Ferry Bridge here.