13 Jan 25

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

It's been quite sometime, but today I finally managed to walk down to Church Ope Cove. My last trip here was on 7 Sep 24, just before I ended up in Southampton General Hospital for my open heart surgery. The easy bit was getting down to the beach, but those 151 steps back up to Rufus Castle were a killer.

Main highlights were two Grey Seals in the surf, just off the beach, a pristine male Black Redstart on the beach and a Collared Dove by the Museum. All of which were firsts for the year.


Mammals Recorded:
2 Grey Seal

A Grey Seal at Church Ope Cove.

And a second one popped up.

Birds Recorded:
2 Cormorant
1 Shag
Herring Gull
1 Great Black-backed Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Robin
1 Black Redstart
Blackbird
6 Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch

A Cormorant coming into land just off the beach

A very "tame" Robin..........

................which was quite happy to feed on the seeds I placed on the wall at the viewing point next to Rufus Castle.

And a male Black Redstart at the cove.

Most winters here at the cove, you normally come across female/juveniles..........

........so it's good to see a male here for a change.

Escapees, Ferals, Possibles Etc.
Feral pigeon


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

Plants:
Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum)
Common Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis)

A few Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) were in flower at the back of the cove and attracting one or two flies.

And Common Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) at the top of Penns Wood.

General Shots:

This was an effort, but I made it to the top of the 151 steps.

Ships and Aircraft Today:

This is the Ro-Ro Cargo Ship "Hartland Point" just off Portland's east coast..........

It appears to be part of a possible naval exercise with 5 helicopters flying over and around it. More on the "Hartland Point" here.

This is the British fishing boat WH27 "Geraldine".

This is the British Fishing Boat WH988 "Kelly Marie" fishing just Church Ope Cove. It was a newly built fishing boat made at Audacious Marine, Ramsgate Kent. Here it is in Ramsgate, in July last year.

This is the British Cable Layer "CS Sovereign" on its way back to Portland Harbour. More on this vessel here.

This is the British Fishing Boat "Sea Quinn" returning to Portland Harbour. More on this vessel here.