Port and Wey

24 Nov 18

Radipole

Having picked up my new camera from Curry's it was off to Radipole Lake up by the Tennis Courts Here. Unfortunately the new camera needs a full charge, so old faithful was used. The light conditions, once again, were horrendous and as I got out of the car, so the drizzle came down.

The Ring-necked Duck was easy to pick up as it kept close to one of feeding Mute Swans. In fact a couple of times it dived under the swan. Also here were Tufted Ducks, Shoveler and at least 7 Pochard.

Here are a few poor quality images again I'm afraid.

Wakeham

The feeders were really busy again today with the normal suspects of Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Great Tit and Blue Tit. Locally there were a few Blackbirds, a Robin and overhead a Siskin was heard calling.

Greenfinch, Great Tit, Blue Tit and House Sparrow

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On this day..........

2017

Today's Sightings Here

23 Nov 18

Wakeham

Another busy day on the boat and the good news is the radio now works. Apparently there was water in the cable of the old aerial which had to be replaced. I also managed to get the Garmin Fishfinder to work, which is good news, as it also gives you the depth under the boat. The transducer which is normally attached under the boat was actually next to the bilge pump and had broken away. So a bit of a clean up and reattachment to the hull and that also works now. Happy Days. Unfortunately the bilge pump and sensor I had fitted by a local marine engineer company, doesn't work and there is a huge amount water at the bow end of the boat. So hopefully they'll be out on Monday to fix it.

So the bird watching today was centred around the back garden with good numbers of birds on the feeders, which included Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Chaffinches, House Sparrows, Great Tits and Blue Tits. On the lawn was a Dunnock, Robin and 2 Blackbirds. In the neighbours garden were 2 Redwing and a Song Thrush.

Not wanting to miss out, the Grey Squirrel was back.

Here are a few images from today with an apology about the poor quality. I'm still using my back up camera which is really naff in low-light conditions, but the good news is I pick up my new one tomorrow.

This Grey Squirrel was quite clever. Once he turned round to stop the blood rushing to his head and ran up the feeder over the top and then came down........

.........on this one before going back to the other one. Ingenious.

Once the Squirrel had his fill, the birds came back. Here are two male birds, Chaffinch on the left and a Great Tit.

Here are two Great Tits and a Greenfinch.

And finally 3 Greenfinches with a male House Sparrow.

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On this day..........

2017
Today's Sightings Here

22 Nov 18

Broadcroft Quarry Lane, Pool, Bumpers Lane, SW Coast Path, Rufus Castle, Penn's Weare, Church Ope Cove, St Andrew's Church and Penns Wood.

For the first time in several days it wasn't raining and so it was off on my usual walk. Once again though it was very quiet with the main highlights being 9 Rock Pipits and 3 Wrens on the beach at Church Ope Cove. Other than that there was a Buzzard over the lane and a Meadow Pipit in the long grass by the pool.

A Harlequin Ladybird in Penns Wood, just shows you how tough this Ladybird is and why it is such a threat to our native species. Also here 2 Siskins flew south.

Here are a few images from today:

Church Ope Cove. No blue seas today.

A Rock Pipit pauses for a pose.

This one was very interested in this piece of seaweed. It picked it up, tossed it in the air and then grabbed at anything that fell out.

Rufus Castle from the cove.

The one and only invertebrate I found today. A Harlequin Ladybird in Penns Wood.

A Public Notice in Bumpers Lane warning you that if you attempt to walk from A to B you will face a fine not exceeding £1000. Additionally if you were on this path A to B and then headed off to C you could face the same fine. It would be interesting to see if there is a similar sign at B, because, as far as I know, there isn't a fence at this position. Its actually about 20 metres further back towards position A. So you've been warned if you walk along the track from B to A you can be fined, even if you were unaware of the Public Notice.

Love the Grid References though. They don't match up to positions A, B and C on the map. According to the text above A is Here, B is Here and C is Here. In fact C is in one of my neighbours garden and as for position A, the grid reference puts you about a mile out to sea south of Chesil Beach.

It really does make me laugh that in this day and age, those in position of authority don't bother to check their work. I would love to see what would happen in a court of law, if they tried convicting someone for being at position A, which according to their precise grid reference puts west of Portland in the sea. 😂

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On this day..........

2017
Today's Sightings Here

21 Nov 18

Top Fields

Another horrendous day with shower after shower falling on Portland. There were even a number of thunderstorms in amongst the squally showers that passed overhead.

Eventually the main weather front passed over and there was an opportunity to get out for a walk. The light was fading quickly so the best place for any birding had to be the Top Fields, for possibly a Short-eared Owl.

Well I did see one very briefly at 4:10pm, when a single bird appeared above the West Cliffs just north of the Higher Lighthouse. One minute it was above the cliffs and then it was gone. I walked around the fields for another 35 minutes until the light really faded, but that was the only SEO about.

There were good numbers of Chaffinches in the Crown Estate Fields with a few Goldfinches for company. Also seen were 2 Ravens, 2 Kestrels, a Buzzard, 3 Meadow Pipits, a Skylark on the path which I nearly stood on, a pair of Stonechat and a Grey Heron heading north towards Southwell.

As I walked back to the Obs a Chiffchaff was heard calling and a large Bumblebee zoomed across in front of me as the daylight had almost gone.

Looking south towards the Bill, with the back end of the stormy weather drifting west.

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On this day..........

2017
Today's Sightings Here

20 Nov 18

Wakeham

The temperature dropped to 4°C today and with that strong north easterly it felt a lot lot colder.

The number of Chaffinches is rising daily and there were 7 around the feeders. The Greenfinches are back, with 3 squabbling over the bragging rights to the sunflower seed feeder.

No Goldfinches today, but both Great Tit and Blue Tit were busy grabbing seeds, before disappearing into the neighbours Buckthorn to eat them.

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On this day..........

2017
Today's Sightings Here

19 Nov 18

Wakeham

This morning there were a few Redwing passing overhead and one landed in the Cherry Tree in the back garden for a brief few seconds.

On the feeders Goldfinch, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Great Tit and Blue Tit. No sign of any Greenfinch today!! Also noted 2 Carrion Crow, a Dunnock and Robin.

Goldfinch and Blue Tit.

Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Great and Blue Tit

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On this day..........

2017
Today's Sightings Here

18 Nov 18

Radipole Reserve

Having broken my camera yesterday, it was off to Curry's today to get a replacement. Sadly the Canon SX50 HS is no longer sold and the next generations the SX60 and SX70 are not a patch on the SX50. Not only that, but it appears that Curry's must be aware of this and they don't even sell them. So my next camera is going to be a SONY Cyber-shot HX400VB Bridge Camera. I don't know how it's going to compare, but I do have 21 days to try it out.

Whilst I'm waiting for it to be delivered I'm using my backup camera, which is a Fujifilm FinePix S8200. Its a bit clumsy but at least I've got a camera to photograph the wildlife still.

Having left Curry's I parked up in the Swannery Car Park and made my way to this spot Here, where yesterday I'd noticed several birders standing whilst they were watching the Ring-necked Duck tucked under the reeds Here. However as it became apparent today, the Ring-necked Duck had other ideas and was in this stretch of water Here.

Before I headed off round it was great to watch 5 Great White Egrets suddenly appear over the reed beds. Up until yesterday there had only been 3, so an addition of 2 more birds is pretty exciting. At this rate they'll outnumber the Little Egrets.

Eventually I made my way around to the Tennis Court Car park and having parked up crossed the road and there was the Ring-necked Duck hard up against the reed beds. Eventually it did come out into the open water, and I managed a couple of shots before it did a vanishing act!!

Here are a few images from today: