WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND - WITH VISITS TO CHICKERELL - PORTLAND BILL - PORTLAND HARBOUR - FERRYBRIDGE - WEYMOUTH SAILING CLUB - THE FLEET AT CAMP ROAD
WEATHER: not so cold today but still a chilly wind and it was rain free again!!
We had a fabulous day in Weymouth and Portland, we saw plenty of birds with some exciting sigtings. Don't you just love it when things go to plan and the birds turn up when they should??
The star of the day was the Yellow-browed Warbler and it was our first target bird of the day. This particular individual has been seen in Chickerell, Weymouth, nearly everyday since well before Christmas. The bird was frequenting a small area in a large woodland and if it wasn't for perfect directions by my good friend Peter Coe, we would never have found it.
So at 8:30am we found ourselves embedded in the middle of a woodland in Chickerell, Weymouth we had the Guru from Yeovil with us, Guy Campbell. Standing in the correct spot we waited for bird movement and after 10 minutes we had sightings of Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, a Siskin and not much else. Then Mike Taylor called out a possible warbler and after a few minutes the bird showed well enough for us to identify it as a Yellow-browed Warbler.
Over the next 10 minutes the bird came so close to us that you could have reached out and touched it, it was that close, amazing. The Guru then found a beautiful Firecrest which also showed very well to all of us.
After a lapse of 10 minutes we found the Yellow-browed Warbler again, this time it was behind us, but that couldn't be right because it was just seen in front of us and it went off in the opposite direction. Then it reappeared along with the second bird, WE NOW HAD TWO YELLOW-BROWED WARBLERS!! Both birds showed well, at the same time but not together in the same place.
Wowza! What a start to the day. We left the wood around 9:30am and headed for Portland Bill, it was a little windy at the bill and quite cold.
The Obilisk at Portland Bill
We sheltered behind the garden wall of the Lighthouse and scanned the ocean with our scopes. It was very busy out there, lots of movement east and west. We quickly logged Northern Gannet, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Shag, Cormorant, Fulmar and eventually a single Razorbill.
Rock Pipits seemed to be everywhere and a walk along to the Pulpit Rock produced nothing else, the tide was still quite high and the waves were lashing the rocks. We searched for Purple Sandpiper without success but I wasn't surprise because of the tide and the windy conditions. It wasn't until we were about to leave when five Purple Sandpipers flew in and landed on the sheletered ledge of the east cliff. Perfect, another star bird on the list.
two of the five Purple Sandpipers at the Bill
We saw Ravens as we walked back to the car, we searched for Little Owl in the usual Quarry and we made a quick at the East Cliffs near the Grove. We looked for Peregrine Falcon but got a Sparrowhawk sighting instead.
We rolled down the hill to get off Portland, we then viisted Portland Harbour at Potland Castle. At first the water seemed devoid of life but soon we began to see pairs of Red-breatsed Mergansers and a Great Northern Diver appeared fairly close in to the shore.
our view of Portland Harbour from Portland Castle
At Ferrybridge we found two Skylarks in the car park and hundreds of Mediterranean Gulls sat on the mudflats. No waders were in view becuase of the high tide status, so we went into the cafe and enjoyed a hot soup and a hot chocolate for lunch.
Skylark at Ferrybridge
The tide had receded and many birds were on view at the shoreline. A couple of hundred Dunlin were joined by Ringed Plovers, Turnstones and three Grey Plover. Many Brent Geese and more Mergansers joined the throngs of Med Gulls oiut on the water.
all those white dots are Mediterranean Gulls
The view point at Weymouth Sailing Club on the northern shore of the harbour provided shelter from the wind and good light to scan the water. Over the next hour we found several good species for the list: 4 Black-necked Grebes, 3 Great Northern Divers, a single Slavonian Grebe and the best of the bunch a Black-throated Diver. A great piece of birding and some excellent sightings.
Great Northern and Black-throated Diver
Lastly we drove around to Camp Road in Wyke Regis to walk the coastal path past the Bridging Camp. We ope to scan the Fleet looking for a Long-tailed Duck and anything else that may appear. However, the weather was against us, the sky clouded over, the light began to fade and the wind picked up.
female Stonechat
We got frozen and we saw very species on the Fleet, one saving grace was the finding of a Black Redstart in confines of the Bridging Camp.
record shot of the Black Redstart
So we finished the day at that point, walking back to the car was better becuase we had the wind in our backs and the sky brightened up a little.