28 Feb 25

Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadows, Wakeham Railway Cuttings, Penns Wood and St Andrew's Church

Nothing really exiting today, in fact there was very little about, despite it being sunny all day.

Mammals Recorded:
2 Grey Squirrel

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

One of many Robins seen along my walk. This one along with three more were in Penns Wood.

Just as I was zooming in on this...................

..................Long-tailed Tit, it decided to look the other way.

Taking centre stage in the middle of Penns Wood is this..........

..................Magpies nest high up in the canopy.

Penns Wood has a good number of Chaffinches here in the winter. This is a female which appear to outnumber the males by 2:1.

Escapees, Ferals, Possibles Etc.
Feral pigeon

Ted:

Go Ted go.

Ships Today:

This is the Greek LNG Tanker "Asklipios" which looks as if it might be heading towards Weymouth Bay/Portland Harbour. The information on where this vessel sailed from is not available. More on this vessel here.

This is the British Fishing Boat "Finsup" on its way back to Portland Marina. More on this vessel here and here.

This is the British Shellfish Charter Boat WH23 "Drifter" on its way south down Portland's east coast. It is a More on this vessel here and here.

27 Feb 25

High Angle Battery and Fancy's Farm

It was a change of scenery today with a visit to the High Angle Battery and Fancy's Farm, just in case there were any migrants about. Sadly not.

Birds Recorded:

1 Kestrel
Herring Gull

Wood Pigeon

Pied Wagtail

Dunnock

Robin

3 Stonechat

Great Tit

Wren

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Jackdaw

House Sparrow

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

A male Kestrel on lookout for its next meal.

In the High Angle Battery were................

..............these three.................

....................Stonechats

That's a lot of Carrion Crows. I counted at least 15 and there were just as many behind me.

General Shots:

Weymouth Bay with Portland Harbour far left and ending at the Young Offenders Institute.

Ted:

A few Teds having a buzz.

Ships Today:

This is the Maltese Chemical/Oil Tanker "Monjasa Provider" moored up in Portland Harbour. More on this vessel here.

This is the Panamanian Vehicles Carrier "Euphony Ace" on its way from Abu Qir (Egypt) to Zeebrugge (Belgium). More on this vessel here.

This is the British Yacht "Remi" on its way from Poole to Portland Marina. More on this vessel here.

This is the British Fishing Boat "Sea Quinn" on its way back into Portland Harbour. More on this vessel here.

26 Feb 25

Portland Bird Observatory, Hut Fields, Portland Bill and Obs Quarry

Having missed out on the Wheatear seen at The Bill yesterday, I decided to return today to see if anymore had turned up.. It was a bit much to ask that there would be another one today, and I was right there wasn't, but I'm pretty sure they will be here in good numbers within the next few weeks.

Main highlights were seeing not one but two Little Owls in the Obs Quarry. It has taken awhile to see one this year, so it was good to see that they are still here.

Birds Recorded:
2 Gannet
Cormorant
Shag
2 Kestrel
7 Oystercatcher
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Guillemot
Stock Dove
Wood Pigeon
2 Little Owl
1 Skylark
3 Rock Pipit
2 Pied Wagtail
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
1 Raven
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch

An Oystercatcher

And another

Plus four more.

One of the Oystercatchers searching for a meal.

This one has found a Limpet.

Two adult Great Black-backed Gulls.

One of just a handful of Guillemots heading out to sea from the West Cliffs.

And two more returning to the cliffs.

This Little Owl has.......

.............just seen its mate.........

..........fly past and......

..........up...........

............onto this ledge in the Obs Quarry

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

A female Chaffinch

Linnets in the Crown Estate Field

General Shots and Videos.

There can't be many places in the UK where you can see three Lighthouses in close proximity to each other.

From left right: Higher Lighthouse (arrowed), Portland Lighthouse and the Portland Bird Observatory Lighthouse. Only the Portland Lighthouse is operational.

Ted:

He's a very patient dog is Ted.

Ships today:

The fishing boat PO1 "Pearl May" heading south down Portland's east coast.

25 Feb 25

Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadows, Penns Wood and St Andrew's Church.

The ban on walking along the coast path, at Church Ope Cove because of the rockfalls, is still in force, so my walk stopped in the grounds of St Andrews Church where I did an about turn and headed home via the woods again.

Main highlights were a Firecrest, Chiffchaff and a Great Spotted Woodpecker in Penns Wood. Another Chiffchaff was just below the church grounds behind the beach huts.

Birds Recorded:
1 Kestrel
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
3 Pied Wagtail
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
1 Song Thrush
2 Chiffchaff
1 Firecrest
Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch

A male Kestrel looking for a meal at the cove.

There were a lot of Robins about..........

............with several singing, like............

.............this one in Penns Wood.

I just caught this Chiffchaff in flight in Penns Wood.

Escapees, Ferals, Possibles Etc.
Feral pigeon


Reptiles Recorded:
1 Wall Lizard

A juvenile Wall Lizard minus a bit of its tail, soaking up the afternoon sun in the grounds of St Andrews Church.

Bees Recorded:

1 bee sp.
2 Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

A bee sp. top and a Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax) below on Common Hawkweed (Hieracium vulgatum)

A Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) on a Hebe

Hoverflies Recorded:
6 Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

There were at least.............

..............six Common Droneflies (Eristalis tenax) on the flowering Common Hawkweed (Hieracium vulgatum)

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Many unidentified flies
Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)

There were a lot of flies about............

..............especially these female...........

........................Yellow Dung Flies (Scathophaga stercoraria)

Plants:
Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum)
Common Daisy (Bellis perennis)
Common Hawkweed (Hieracium vulgatum)

Mediterranean Spurge (Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii)
Russian Comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum)
Snowflakes (Leucojum Vernum)

There were quite a few Common Hawkweeds (Hieracium vulgatum) in flower.......

........close to Wakeham Meadows.

This Mediterranean Spurge (Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii)..........

................is also known as Albanian Spurge. More on this plant here and here.

Russian Comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum) in Penns Wood. No flowers yet.

And these..........

.............are Snowflakes (Leucojum Vernum) in the grounds of St Andrew Church

General Shots:

Church Ope Cove and calmer seas.

Pennsylvania Castle Woods

Ted:

If you go down to the woods today you'll see a Ted at the bottom of the path.

Here he is in amongst the comfrey.

Ships Today:

The fishing boat PO1 "Pearl May" heading Portland's east coast.

NOTE

The past 3 days I have been visiting Portland Bill, in the hope of seeing an early Wheatear. Today I decided to have a walk around my local patch. Yep, you've guessed it a Wheatear pitched up at the Bill today. The second ever earliest Wheatear to have arrived on Portland according to the Portland Bird Observatory.