7 Dec 17

Church Ope Cove

Another waiting game this afternoon and eventually it paid off as the mobile Long-tailed Tit flock made its way down to Church Ope Cove. And with them the Yellow-browed Warbler for the 3rd day running. Also with the flock were 2 Goldcrests, 1 Firecrest, Great Tits and Blue Tits. They didn't stay long behind the huts and the best views were when they all moved up to the scrubland below Cove Holiday Park Here.

Also about the resident Pied and Grey Wagtails on the beach, where there were just 4 Wrens flitting about the stones and pebbles. Also here 1 Rock Pipit and a Herring Gull.

Elsewhere a Water Rail calling from the pool area off Broadcroft Quarry Lane as I was making my way home, 2 Meadow Pipits in the Horse Field close-by and a Sparrowhawk at speed over the hedgerow.

Here are a few photos from this afternoon:

Just behind the huts on Church ope Cove is an excellent spot for Firecrests travelling with the Long-tailed Tits.

A bit further along Chesil Cove in the scrubland under Cove Holiday Park was where the Yellow-browed Warbler was toady with the Long-tailed Tits.

On the beach the female Pied wagtail again and...... 

....her mate.

Not forgetting the resident Grey Wagtail.

The view looking north over Church Ope Cove

And from the same position, looking north towards Rufus Castle on the other side of the Cove.

Birds recorded were: 2 Cormorant, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Water Rail, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Rock Pipit, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Yellow-browed Warbler, 3 Goldcrest, 1 Firecrest, 10+ Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, 5 Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, 1 Raven, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, 2 Siskin and 12 Goldfinch.

Ships Today

Just the one ship today

This is HMS Duncan a Type 45 Destroyer just leaving Portland Harbour. More Here

6 Dec 17

Church Ope Cove and Pennsylvania Wood

With the prospect of catching up with the Yellow-browed Warbler I found yesterday, it was off back to Church Ope Cove in the hope of relocating it. It was a bit of waiting game but eventually it turned up in Pennsylvania Wood. In fact myself and another chap saw a "warbler" half-way down Pennsylvania Wood which started to sing. A very sweet song, which I wished I'd recorded now.

Yellow-browed Warbler is a bird I have never heard singing before and having listened to this audio Here, (courtesy of Xeno-canto), I'm pretty certain that is exactly what we heard, which must be a first!! I know Chiffchaff's will give the occasional burst of song but a Yellow-browed Warbler Wow.

There is something to be said when listening to birds singing. When you get to know the songs of regular songsters, anything sounding remotely different is bound to get your notice. The Radde's Warbler and Greenish Warbler were great examples for me this year. Having not heard them before, I knew they were something "different" and so they proved to be the case.

Also about in the wood were 20+ Long-tailed Tits, which made it pretty difficult to identify anything, especially as they and other "followers" were high in the canopy against a grey dull cloud cover. Eventually the counts were 20+ Long-tailed Tits, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Firecrest, 2 Great Tits, 3 Blue Tits, 2 Robins and 3 Chaffinches.

Having spent a good hour or more in the woods, it was back down to Church Ope Cove where I came across another Firecrest in amongst a very small flock of 5 Long-tailed Tits.

On the beach there were 9 Rock Pipits and the usual posse of Wrens feeding in amongst the stones and pebbles. Also about were the resident pair of Pied Wagtails and the Grey Wagtail.

On the way back I came across 4 White-tailed Bumblebees on a Hebe.

Here are a few photos from today:

A female Pied Wagtail........

.......and her mate.

This Grey Wagtail is enjoying the small black flies in amongst the seaweed.

One of the 9 Rock Pipits here today.

And a White-tailed Bumblebee on a Hebe.

The view across Church Ope Cove, plus Ted.

Birds Recorded: 1 Kestrel, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, 30+ Wood Pigeon, 2 Meadow Pipit, 9 Rock Pipit, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Yellow-browed Warbler, 4 Goldcrest, 2 Firecrest, 30+ Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.

Also 4 White-tailed Bumblebees.

A few Ships from today

This the Norwegian Tanker, Kronviken on its way to Ust-Luga, Russia from Montoir, France. More on this vessel Here and Port Ust-Luga Here.

The French Cargo Vessel, MN Pelican on its way to Bilbao, Spain from Pool, Dorset. More on this vessel Here.

I think this is HMS Diamond, which was off Portland.

5 Dec 17

Church Ope Cove

Another interesting walk to Church Ope Cove this afternoon, with great views of a Yellow-browed Warbler tagging along with a small flock of Long-tailed Tits, 2 Firecrests and 2 Goldcrests.

Though the views of the Yellow-browed Warbler were good, trying to photograph it was extremely difficult. Hence only two shots!!

As I was following the flock of Long-tailed Tits I acme across what I thought was a Chiffchaff until I realised it had two wing bars.......

.....my first thought was Yellow-browed Warbler and then I realised I'd made that mistake before with the Pallas's Warbler a few weeks ago. This though was definitely a Yellow-browed Warbler, even the way it was feeding was totally different from the Pallas's method of hovering.

Following the Yellow-browed Warbler and Long-tailed Tits were two Firecrests.

There are a few Firecrests on the island........

.....but the two here today proved difficult to photograph out in the open.

However this Great Tit didn't mind having its photo taken.....

......nor to some extent this Goldcrest.

There are two Robins in Church Ope Cove that have taken up Winter residence. This one has chosen the hut area. The other ...........

.......the north-east corner of the Cove. The Black Redstart was here briefly a few days ago, but I suspect the "resident" Robin eventually chased it off. Also here 10 Wrens flitting about in the pebbles and rocks like confetti.

The "resident" female Pied Wagtail, the male was close-by.

A pipit a rock. Can only be one bird a Rock Pipit. Just the one here today.

This Raven was heading north over Church Ope Cove, but hadn't bargained on these 3 Carrion Crows giving it a bit of pounding. So much so it gave up and turned around and headed back from where it came from.

Looking across the cove.

Birds Recorded: 1 Shag, 1 Cormorant, 1 Buzzard, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, 1 Rock Pipit, 2 Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Yellow-browed Warbler, 5 Goldcrest, 2 Firecrest, 12 Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, 10 Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, 1 Raven, House Sparrow and Chaffinch.

Wakeham

This morning this Rusty Dot Pearl, Udea ferrugalis flew into the house.

Rusty Dot Pearl

4 Dec 17

Hamm Beach

On the way back from from Weymouth, I noticed a Goosander flying into the cove at Hamm Beach. According to local birders its pretty unusual to find Goosanders in Portland Harbour, so it was a quick stop to to see if there were any others. In fact there were at least two more in amongst the 30 or so Red-breasted Mergansers.

Here are a few images:

The two drake Goosanders in the foreground are certainly larger than the Mergansers...........

.........and if I've got this right, there are are actually 3 in amongst the Red-breasted Mergansers......

......with the third far left centre behind a female Merganser!

Birds recorded: 2 possibly 3 Goosander, 30+ Red-breasted Merganser, 33 Black-headed Gull and 3 Herring Gull.

Portland Bird Observatory

Later in the afternoon I popped into the Observatory to purchase an excellent Portland & Weymouth Walking Map, which names all the quarries on the island. It will come in very useful I'm sure.

While I was there it was good to catch up with Martin Cade and Guy from Yeovil, and also to record a pair of Stonechat in the garden, along with one possibly two Firecrests.

A quick walk in the hut fields didn't reveal anything apart from a Kestrel and Sparrowhawk, so I headed up towards the Top Fields in search of Short-eared Owls. En route I met up with a lovely gentleman called Reg and we walked up past the Crown Estate Fields, across the Top Fields and ended up on the West Cliffs. After pointing out some known hot spots for SEO's, Reg carried on his walk down towards the Bill and I doubled back.

The light was really fading and with it any hope of seeing a Short-eared Owl. As it transpired, having spoken to local dog walkers, the last SEO's were seen last week when up to 3 were observed. Another time!

An unexpected sighting was a Grey Heron which took off from the Top Fields and headed along the cliff face towards Chesil Beach. Also here were a further 3 Kestrels, a lot of Blackbirds & Song Thrushes and in the hedgerow a Chiffchaff.

Here are a few images:

The female Stonechat in the Obs garden......

.....and the male.

Guy and I think this Firecrest was the 2nd bird in the Obs garden and was unringed. We never found out in the end, as it gave us on right run around, before disappearing.

Birds Recorded: 1 Grey Heron, 1 Buzzard, 4 Kestrel, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Robin, 2 Stonechat, Blackbird, Song Thrush, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 possibly 2 Firecrest, Wren, Magpie, Rook, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, 2 Raven, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.

A few Ships Today

A couple of ships that were well out in the shipping channel:

This is the Panama Bulk Carrier, JSW Salem on its final leg to Rotterdam, Holland having left Tubarao in Brazil on 19 Nov 17. More on the vessel Here

This the Greek Oil Products Tanker, Amazon Explorer, on its way to New York from Rotterdam. More on this vessel Here.

3 Dec 17

Portland Harbour

Here in Bincleaves Cove this afternoon, there were 9 Black-necked Grebes close in. Further out a Black-throated Diver and 1 Great Northern Diver.

Just off the beach towards Sandsfoot Castle there were dozens of Great Crested Grebes and Cormorants feeding in the shallows. On the beach Oystercatcher, a Rock Pipit and a few Black-headed Gulls.

Along the pathway to the beach there was a small flock of Long-tailed Tits, which included 1 Goldcrest, 2 Firecrests, 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Great Tits and 3 Blue Tits.

Further up the embankment a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a few Blackbirds and a Song Thrush.

Here are a few photos from this afternoon.

My walk today from the park at Redcliff View (red spot) to the beach Here 

On the beach looking towards Bincleaves Cove

And looking in the opposite direction towards Sandsfoot Castle

This side of the breakwater were 9 Black-necked Grebes this afternoon.

A very "tame" Dunnock poses for me.

And so did this lovely Long-tailed Tit

Birds Recorded were: 1 Black-throated Diver, 1 Great Northern Diver, 10+ Great Crested Grebe, 9 Black-necked Grebe, Shag, Cormorant, Buzzard, Oystercatcher, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Rock Pipit, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldcrest, 2 Firecrest, 5 Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Starling and Chaffinch.

A couple of ships today.

This is the Danish Oil/Chemical Tanker, Maersk Barry on its way to Montreal, Canada from Portland Harbour. More on this vessel Here.

It will arrive in Montreal on the 13 Dec 17

HMS Cattistock. More on this British Minesweeper Here.

Supermoon

My effort tonight:

More Here

2 Dec 17

Broadcroft Quarry Lane, Rufus Castle, Church Ope Cove and Bumpers Lane

A very grey and overcast day, but at least it was dry and windless. Main highlight was coming across 3 Firecrests in Broadcroft Quarry Lane, which were tagging along with 3 Goldcrests and 8 Long-tailed Tits. I also came across another Firecrest halfway down the steps from Rufus Castle to Church Ope Cove.

There seemed to be an increase in Great Tit numbers with at least a dozen recorded on my walk and the highest number of birds seen today had to go to the 18 Long-tailed Tits at the back of my garden as I was setting off.

Other highlights were a Grey Wagtail at Church Ope Cove and and 3 Rock Pipits. Sadly though no sign of the Black Redstart and the number of Wrens on the beach has dropped to just 3 individuals.

An Oystercatcher flew north across the bay at Church Ope Cove and a Cormorant was seen flying in the opposite direction.

In the horse field to north of Bumpers Lane a single Redwing with two Song Thrushes.

Here are a few images from today:

Firecrest. One of three along Broadcroft Quarry Lane today.

Also in BQL this Song Thrush with another in the horse field opposite.

Down on the pebbles on the beach at Church Ope Cove this Rock Pipit.

Also here on the beach huts a Grey Wagtail.

Behind the huts a Long-tailed Tit.

An adult winter Herring Gull........

.....with its dusky streaks on its head

Birds Recorded were: 1 Cormorant, 1 Oystercatcher, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, 3 Rock Pipit, 1 Grey Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Redwing, 3 Song Thrush, 5 Goldcrest, 4 Firecrest, 30+ Long-tailed Tit, 12+ Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.

1 Dec 17

Local Area

In the trees at Easton Square gardens this afternoon a Firecrest and over Weymouth Harbour a Buzzard.