PORTLAND BIRD OBSERVATORY QUARRY - EAST CLIFFS AT EAST WEARE - PORTLAND HARBOUR VIEWED FROM PORTLAND CASTLE - FERYBRIDGE VIEWED FROM VISITOR'S CENTRE - PORTLAND HARBOUR FROM BILLY WINTERS
WEATHER; quite dull and quite cold, no wind. Temp 4C - 7C
This was our last morning of the trip, we only had a few hours remaining and a target list of species which would take us to several places in the local area.
Our first stop was the Portland Bill area, specifically the Quarry next to the Bird Observatory, we were hoping to see the resident Little Owl, but once again we were thwarted. The Owl refused to come out from its hiding place in the quarry wall, to be honest, I don't blame it, the temperature wasn't that good.
Driving back to Wakeham on Portland we parked up and began a walk along the old Railway Track which runs beneath the impressive limestone cliffs called the East Weare. A male Blackcap was spotted near some gardens, but not all of us saw it. More birds appeared as we walked along the base of the cliffs: Crows and Magpies, Buzzards and Kestrels, Blue and Great Tits. A lot of Rock Doves, the feral types were flying around, they provide a regular food supply for our next target species, the Peregrine Falcon.
the old Portland to Weymouth Railway track along the East Cliffs
A nice surpise was the appreance of a number of pairs of Fulmars, they were pairing off and settling on the cliffs in readiness for breeding. We got them in the scope and enjoyed watching their courtship antics.
the Fulmars in courtship - they would tickle each other's neck with gentle preening
then they would burst out laughing together, it was so noisy
Then we spotted the most dealiest killer with wings, the Peregrine Falcon. This species was very rare in the 1970's and nearly went extinct due to the use of pesticides which were absorbed and carried by their prey. After the pesticde ban a recovery took place. Now there are at least four pairs on Portland alone. The formidable female of our pair has a favourite perch high on the cliff face and there she was in all her glory, looking magnificent.
Peregrine Falcon surveying her kingdom
Black-throated Diver was next on the list and we knew that at least one was reported in the harbour everyday so we decided to look for that. From Portland Castle we scanned the flat calm water of the southern section of the Harbour and came up with nothing - not a single bird was showing.
After 10 minutes some birds came into view, we found a small group of Great Northern Divers (4), a few Red-breasted Mergansers, one or two Shags and Cormorants. It was really barren out there we didn't even see a gull? One bonus bird was an adult Gannet which was most welcomed by Mike and Lorna as they had missed other sightings earlier in the trip.
believe it or not - there are three Great Northern Divers in this picture, ha! and a bunch of Cormorants
Parking in the main car park at Ferrybridge we dropped into the recently re-opened cafe for a hot chocolate, which went down well. The tide was at its highest so there we no mud-flats to scan at Ferrybridge. We saw dozens of Mediterranean Gulls, a few Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls, lots of Brent Geese and a few Common Shelduck. Oystercatchers were the only wader species present.
seven Common Scoter taken from Billy Winters
We drove across to Billy Winters car park and scanned the Harbour once more, there were a lot more birds in this middle section of the harbour. We saw 5 Great Northern Divers, 7 Common Scoter, 7 Black-necked Grebes (5 in one bunch), also seen were many more Red-breasted Mergansers lots of Shags and Cormorants and a few Gulls. A couple of small flocks of Turnstones flew past us but we never saw our target bird the Black-throated Diver.
It was now 11:30am and we had to leave at 12 noon, so we drove back to the Guest House in the centre of Weymouth and loaded our luggage into the boot. We said goodbye to our fabulous hosts, Sonia and Chris, they really are the most welcoming people, their hospitality is second to none. I will be back there in October.
Our total count of species for this tour stood at 123, that is three more species than I predicted. We missed a few but gained some unexpected bonus birds. The weather had been excellent throughout, no wind, not a drop of rain and some really nice sunny skies. The sunrise and sunset colours will always be in my mind when I recall this trip. Bird of the trip was voted at the male HEN HARRIER seen at Catcott during the 'Levels' part of the trip.
Happy Birding for 2025 to all my readers (both of you).