RODWELL TRAIL, WEYMOUTH - SANDSFOOT CASTLE - BILLY WINTER'S CAFE - PORTLAND CASTLE
WEATHER; dull and ovecast all day with a very chilly south-easterly wind.
I had a very enjoyable few hours around Portland Harbour today whilst my darling wife went to Sherborne to go shopping with my credit card in tow!!
I arrived in Weymouth around 8:15 and parked on a bridge which spans the old railway line, previously used to connect Weymouth with central Portland, it is now a lovely and very popular walking and cycling route. For the last two days a Hume's Leaf Warbler had been frequenting this trail, it had been showing very well for the small throngs of local birders and the birding Guru from Yeovil, Guy Campbell.
When I got to the favoured place of the warbler I was alone, it was cold, a little windy and very dull. After half an hour of searching I had seen 1 Robin, 2 Wrens, 1 Blackbird, 6 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Great Tits and 1 Blue Tit. At last another birder arrived, a local photographer and he pointed to an area of bushy scrub where he knew that the bird was showing preference for yesterday.
An hour went by and I had added more of the birds mentioned above and added 2 Chiffchaffs, 1 Jay, 2 Magpies and several Crows to the list. at 9:30am I gave up and headed back to the car, I was freezing and needed a warm drink and some shelter from the wind. I got niether and ended up at Sandsfoot Castle where I set up my scope and scanned Portland Harbour.
a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers
The cold wind made my eyes water and I saw very little, I managed to suffer the elements for another hour during which time I found 2 Great Northern Divers, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Oystercatchers, 3 Black-bellied Brent Geese, about 16 Red-breasted Mergansers, all the usual gulls were present too.
Oysetrcatcher
I bought a hot coffee at Sandsfoot Cafe but drove around to Ferrybirdge and parked at Billy Winters Cafe to drink it. At Billy Winter's I could scan the western side of the Harbour, but I had to use the car as a wind break so I could stand up steadily. After eating my lunch sandwich (it was only 10:45!!) and drinking my hot coffee I scanned the water.
a record shot of four of the Common Scoters
After a short while I had seen two Black-necked Grebes, 5 female Common Scoters, lots of Cormorants, Shags and many Red-breasted Merganser. I also saw another two Great Northern Divers (a third one flew over the top of me and towards Lyme Bay behind me, over to Chesil Bank).
another shot of a female Red-breasted Merganser
Now, I was quite cold and so I abandoned my planned walk across the main road to scan Ferrybridge Mudflats, I hoped to visit there later on. Instead, I drove to Portland Castle, it was wondrful there, sheltered from the wind, the harbour was flat calm in this area. I immediately found a Great Northern Diver quite close to the shore and a Black Redstart popped up on the wall to my left. Pied Wagtails dashed about chasing kelp flies and many birds were out on the water. Dozens of Cormorants and Shags fed in small groups or individually, many more sat on the breakwater rocks.
Great Northern Diver
female or 1st year male Black Redstart - would you like to see my red tail?
there you go!
In due course I watched up to 5 Great Northern Divers, I found a single Black-throated Diver and there were dozens of Mergansers swimming about. I bumped into a couple of good friends, Mike and Sarah, from Bournemouth, after a short while I found a Red-necked Grebe which was quite distant but we all enjoyed the sighting.
mostly Shags but with one or two larger birds - Cormorants
We searched for Red-throated Diver without success but Sarah did find a Bottle-nosed Dolphin! The Dolphin seemed to be hanging around a collection of three specific buoys, we thought that maybe it was entangled in ropes or chains or nets. However we were informed that it was a common behaviour of the dolphin.
you will have to take my word for it! Red-necked Grebe
We counted about six Great Northern Divers, the Black-throated variety did not show up again and we never had a sniff of a Red-throated Diver. Mike and Sarah pointed out two different Kingfishers but not much else turned up, the Red-necked Grebe stayed around for ages and we managed to show other birders this lovely and uncommon grebe.
the view from the small beach area at Portland Castle
I left for home around 1:30pm and an hour later I was drinking another hot drink in my lounge. Along the way back I saw four birds of Prey! Common Kestrel, Common Buzzard, Euraisan Sparrowhawk and to my great delight I saw Red Kite fly right over the main A37 road. It was a great finish to my short birding excursion after such a poor start.