22 Mar 25

West Cliff and Reap Lane Barn

With rain forecast this afternoon (again), I returned to Reap Lane Barn to see what was about. I'm glad I did as there were quite a few highlights with:

Heading north:
Meadow Pipit - 20+

In the horse fields to the south of the Barn
Pied Wagtail - 8
White Wagtails - 2
Stonechat - male and female
Black Redstart - male and female

Barn area
Chiffchaff - 2

Birds Recorded:
8 Gannet
3 Cormorant
1 Buzzard
1 Peregrine Falcon
Herring Gull
2 Great Black-backed Gull
Stock Dove
Wood Pigeon
2 Skylark
20+ Meadow Pipit
8 Pied Wagtail
2 White Wagtail
Dunnock
Robin
2 Stonechat
2 Black Redstart
Blackbird
2 Chiffchaff
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
1 Raven
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch

One of the resident "pale" Common Buzzards was trying to avoid the Herring Gulls as it circled its hunting ground over the Slopes, further south from where I was stood.

A Peregrine Falcon flew past me.............

...........at eye-level.

As I walked between a Bramble patch and the horse field this Meadow Pipit popped up from the long grass and flew into the field, closely followed...........

...........by its mate!! who didn't look impressed by my presence. I suspect this is a pair that have a nest pretty close to where I was stood. I moved swiftly on.

The White Wagtails were............

...........quite close to the barn today.

This female Stonechat was very interested in something.

Ahh her mate has juicy grub.

And here she is again.

How did that happen!!

A male Black Redstart in the field south of Reap Lane Barn.......

...............Earlier it was with a female a bit further down the field.

And another shot of the male as it moved closer to where I was stood in the lane.

This is...........

..........one of the two Chiffchaff around the barn today.

Escapees, Ferals, Possibles Etc.
Feral pigeon


General Shots:

Looking north with the horse fields in the foreground, Reap Lane Barn in the centre and the village of Weston in the background.

Ted:

Ted keeping a sensible distance from the edge of the cliff.

Ships Today:

This is the British Trawler WY37 'Nicola-L' trawling along Portland's west coast. There is no info on this vessel but there is a close-up photo of her in Weymouth Harbour here.

This is the British Fishing Boat "Meerkat" fishing just off Chesil Beach. More on this vessel here.

This is the British Fishing Boat "Quarter Bell" also fishing just off Chesil Beach. More on this vessel here.