Today was simply wet as we endured the wind and rain at the southern end of Storm Amy. Even though the eye of the storm was way to the north, the strength of the winds could be felt all along the south coast, with even windier conditions forecast tonight and into tomorrow.
Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadows, Wakeham Wildlife Site, Wakeham Railway Cuttings, Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church, Church Ope Cove, Penn's Weare, Penn's Copse, Rufus Castle, Silklake Quarry and Bumpers Lane
I stretched my legs a bit further today, though it would have been more had the County Council not placed a metal gate across the path, 60 steps or so up from the beach. Apparently it's there to stop the public from being hit by falling rocks.
However as good as the gate is......................
................., somebody forgot to put a fence either side of it to stop the public walking past it. I do wonder sometimes, I mean its quite obvious there's at least a 2 ft gap on one side of it, so the gate is completely useless!!
Mammals Recorded: 2 Grey Seal 1 Grey Squirrel
In the surf just..................
............off the beach at Church Ope Cove were these two Grey Seals
One of the Grey Seals having a good look around.
Birds Recorded: 1 Cormorant
3 Kestrel
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
2 Meadow Pipit
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
1 Blackcap
8 Chiffchaff
1 Goldcrest
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
1 Raven
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
A male Kestrel over the meadow
A Chiffchaff preparing to catch an insect.
Escapees, Ferals, Possibles Etc. Feral pigeon
Butterflies Recorded: Large White Pieris brassicae Small White Pieris rapae Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta
Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra Common Poppy Papaver rhoeas Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris Dog Rose Rosa canina Elder Sambucus nigra Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna Honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum Ivy Hedera helix Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus
It was back to Barleycrates Lane this afternoon to see if the Wryneck was still about, and I'm pleased to say it was. And what a poser it was today, giving me and several other birders some wonderful views as it sat on the rocky wall just north of the lane here.
For a few of these birders the Wryneck was a lifer, and what great views they had of it.
Aircraft today:
This is the privately owned Cessna 182S Skylane, registration G-MICI on its.......
............way from and then back to Denham via Portland. Here it is banking north over Portland on its return leg. More on this aircraft here and here.
