Portland Shining Bright

The best day since I moved here was enjoyed today, though there were two big disappointments. A) I wasn't able to get any bird photos for varying reasons, and B) I didn't find anything of significance myself, despite being in the field virtually all day.

Nonetheless, I did enjoy it hugely, and hopefully this is just the start of a classic Portland autumn.

Although I was out all day, I did have a little bit of a lie-in, as the Cornish shenanigans had taken a lot out of me.  I headed out to Barleycrates as usual, and seeing the first field covered in Wheatears (at least 10) certainly got my hopes up.  Bumping into Debby and Pete Saunders, we got to the end of the lane, only for a flock of 5 Redshank to fly over south calling.  They also had two larger birds with them, but I suspect they were Pigeons.

Into Suckthumb quarry, which initially seemed quiet.  Though, out into the middle I found a nice Spotted Flycatcher, and shortly after found a little patch of warbler activity by the hump, but they frustratingly eluded identification (other than a couple of Willow Warbler).

Top Fields was largely quiet, except for a single female Redstart by the farm, and a load of Yellow Wagtail.

I was eager to get to the Obs, to see the star moth capture.  Shame it's a bit worn, but this Shining Marbled is rare indeed, with only 3/4 previous records.

 

I'm not sure how many traps Martin ran, but there were a lot of other moths to look through.  The other highlights being a Vestal (with Orange Swift).

 

 

Not unusual at all, but the first Purple Bar I've seen at Portland.

 



 

 

And the best of the micros was this lifer, Agonopteryx subpropinquella.

 

 

Whilst I was searching through the traps, Brett Spencer (see his great blog http://bretteeblahblahblah.blogspot.co.uk/ ) phoned the Obs to say an Osprey was circling over the Bill.  It wasn't hard to find from the Obs patio, as it soared up on a thermal, being harassed by a Great Black-backed Gull.  Quite possibly the same bird had earlier been seen at Abbotsbury.

 

I headed back home, travelling via the East Cliffs and the Admiralty Hedge, seeing nowt bar loads more Wheatear and Yellow Wagtail.  I got to the Reap Lane barns, and quickly found the Pied Flycatcher that the Saunders' had found earlier.  Though, it was hard to follow as zillions of House Sparrow were fly-catching in the same trees!

 

I was nearly home when I got the message that a Wryneck had been found.  Probably the most predictable find of the day (I was hoping to find my own in the north-island quarries after lunch!).  I rushed down there, and soon had good views of the bird preening in the middle of an Elder. 

 

I was about to get the camera out to get some shots, when someone informed us that an Ortolan Bunting had just been found, by that man Brett again (plus Julian Thomas) at the East Cliffs, very close to where I'd walked earlier in the day!  We all rushed up there, leaving the Wryneck no doubt feeling rather usurped!  We searched the area, including all the nearby fields and quarries.  No sign.  Would have been a lifer, but hopefully more will occur here this autumn.

 

I finally got an opportunity to do my shopping and get something to eat I thought.  Well, I got the former in, but not the latter, as a Curlew Sandpiper was found at Ferrybridge!  No time to eat in autumn at Portland!

 

I cycled down there, getting showered with Flying Ants on the way, only to find the place teeming with imbecile holidaymakers as usual.  I started scanning.  There was still plenty of waders out there though, including Sanderling, Redshank, Turnstone, Little Stint....wait...Little Stint!  I was not expecting to find that!  There were actually two birds, and another also flew over in addition.  Joe arrived, and quickly found the Curlew Sandpiper, though the flushing of the birds continued, and all the goodies soon scarpered, so only brief views of the Curlew Sand were had.

 

On the way back I checked out Tout Quarry and Lancridge (the bushes above Chesil Cove and below Priory Corner).  The latter was a marvellous little spot that would certainly repay further investigation, though exploring it in shorts isn't a good idea, as I found out to my cost!

 

All in all, a very tiring and enjoyable day, and I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.  These easterly-induced goodies need to filter down here now!

 

 

 

 





The Fool and the Fall

Yesterday to round-up first.  I got up, it was rubbish, I went to bed.

No, sorry I was being facetious! It wasn't quite that bad!

It sounded like it was blowing something of a hoolie last thing the day before, so I thought it would be worth getting up early and putting a couple hours of seawatching in before work.  This time, I successfully negotiated my first alarm, and got up at 5, and went off down the Bill.  Once there, the wind didn't feel half as strong as it sounded from my room!  Sadly, there was no hoped for large Shearwaters to be had, or anything else of much consequence, but I did manage to see going west, 2 Balearic Shearwater, 3 Manx Shearwater, 14 Common Scoter, a dark-phase Arctic Skua, and 4 Sanderling going east.  This was despite the presence of a couple of hefty showers passing over.

After work (which the thrilling seawatch caused me to be late for! I wasn't in trouble though thankfully), I headed back down the Obs, expecting to see the lovely sunny conditions I had enjoyed while at work at Fortuneswell. No! Just as I got there, it started to hammer down!

 

It was rather a biblical downpour, but thankfully, it did eventually stop, and I was able to have a wander about the Bill and Top Fields.

 

A few days ago I noticed these extremely distinctive Umbellifers growing in one of the fields.  I wasn't sure of their identity (not in my book), but I have been able to get them ID'd after taking these photos yesterday.  They turned out to be Falcaria vulgaris, which, despite the remoteness of these particular examples, is a naturalised species from the continent.  It's English names include Longleaf and Sickle-weed.



 

I saw little in the way of birds on this jaunt, but I did get a good display of raptors with Peregrine, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, and Buzzard all in evidence in quick succession.  There were loads of Woodpigeon hovering up the crops.  More evidence of a good breeding season here.

 

On to today then.

 

I had to go into work a little later today (despite my tardiness yesterday!), so I had some time to have a look at the bushes of Barleycrates Lane.  As soon as I entered the bushes proper, I saw a Willow Warbler, a Chiffchaff, and a Sedge Warbler.  It was clear that there had been some sort of a fall.  I carried on, and flushed several more warblers (not all were identified), before I got to the end.  I managed to count 3 WW, 1 CC, 2 Whitethroat (always difficult to judge whether migrants or locals, but I think these had the 'feel' of migrants), and 5 Sedge Warblers.  I also heard the distinctive call of a Dunlin flying over.  I thought at the time I had flushed it from the fields, but I feel now that it was probably just moving through.  I was also entertained here by a juvenile Kestrel practicing it's hunting technique by pouncing on lumps of Sheep dung!

 

Having seen the totals from the Bill area, I felt I had to keep searching for migrants, so after work I checked out Verne Common.  Surely that would have a decent haul?  I walked the full length of the place, but the sheer amount of cover there makes working it very frustrating.  All I managed were a few more Willow Warbler.  I did however, also bump into two juvenile Bullfinch.  Nice to see they have bred there once again.

 

Even though it was now afternoon, I felt I had to put the time into migrant searching to get any more reward, so I walked all the way from home to the Obs, via Barleycrates, Reap Lane, Top Fields and Culverwell.  At Reap I did find a couple of Wheatear, but apart from that it was just more of the same.  Just a smattering of Willows and Sedges. 

 

I have to say, when I got to the Obs, I was a tad horrified when I saw the supposed counts from those areas earlier!  Particularly Culverwell, which had a Pied Flycatcher amongst others.  Never mind, it was onto the moths.  Not a great deal from last night but a couple of good ones were supposed Saltern Ear (dissection is not carried out anymore, but this is apparently by far the commonest species here).

 

 

And the variable Garden Rose Tortrix.

 

 

We were pretty astounded to notice this huge lump on the horizon, the Queen Mary 2.

 

 

We were also somewhat entertained by Joe's antics in attempting to catch Swallows (there were now a lot of hirundines around the obs, including many attempting to land on the tower).  Suffice to say they mostly outsmarted him ;-)  One inexperienced youngster did dive headfirst into the net, though sadly it would not behave itself in-hand for photos!

 

I eventually wound my way back over Top Fields.  I had yet more heard-only fly-over Dunlin here, but the highlight was a moth.  There had been quite a bit of migrant Lepidoptera activity in recent days (including at least 6 Painted Lady seen today by me).  Even so, I was quite surprised to come across my own Vestal, which was so much more satisfying than being handed one in a pot. 

 

 

I also saw my first Portland Holly Blue, drinking the salts from the edge of a puddle, though sadly I could only get an appalling photo, as I was about to be run over by a van!

 

 

I was mindful of the haul of warblers (plus Pied Fly) someone had managed from the Avalanche Road Hump earlier, so decided to return home via that.  A juvenile Buzzard was mewing away here, so decent evidence that they have bred in that area.  I was there mid-afternoon, and needless to say, I saw absolutely nothing on the warbler front!  Either a) I'm a really bad birder b) the migrants quickly move on south, or c) they become really elusive and keep their heads down.  The way I'm feeling now, if I was playing that 'Million Pound Drop' programme, I would certainly bung one or two wads of cash on the trap door of a)!

 

Something that did make me feel a bit better, was meeting a guy on the way home, who greeted me by saying ''you haven't by any chance seen any of my favourite bird have you, the Chaffinch?''.  Each to their own.

 

I've got the day off tomorrow, so just maybe, I can feel better about my birding skills and actually use the morning to find something!  Here's hoping.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 



Asparagus and the Virgin

Only in the study of natural history could one come up with a title to a blog post like that!  All will become clear.

Well, I say that, but actually things have not become clear at all. I woke up this morning to a scene familiar to those who remember yesterday...

 

 

After work, I rushed down to the Bill, because I wanted to join a botanical walk led by Brian Bland.  At least plant-watching isn't affected by the weather!  I was unfortunately rather late for it, so only caught the end.  I did however, still managed to appear, just as Brian was revealing the location of Wild Asparagus.  This is a plant which is extremely rare in Britain, with only a few other sites known.  These plants on the East Cliffs were trans-located here many years ago, to give them a good home, and they seem to be doing well, although sadly they were not in flower today.  Looks rather inconsequential doesn't it!

I was also in time to see the fantastic Portland Sea-lavender, although I had already seen some in bud before.

 

 

Also added to my Portland plant list was Strawberry Clover (the fruits do indeed look like tiny strawberries! - I'll try and get a photo later) and Autumn Hawkbit.

 

 

Next it was to the moth traps.  The highlight from the morning opening was the migrant Vestal.  What's in the name? Well this from good old Wikipedia: 'In ancient roman religion , the Vestals or Vestal Virgins, were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth'.

 



Also amongst the throng were a perfect comparison of Uncertain (left) and Rustic.

And this odd form of (a damaged) Marbled Green, a species I've seen a lot of in the block of flats where I deliver in Fortuneswell.

 

Not at all unusual, but this fresh Rosy Minor was just absolutely stunning.

 And finally, a Dusky Sallow.  A species which an old friend of mine back in Surrey called the 'toffee moth'.

I then took a short walk back down to the East Cliffs, but the visibility was as hopeless for birdwatching as ever.  Luckily, I found a cutting with steep grassy banks on each side, that was absolutely teeming with Lepidoptera!  Amongst the butterflies were Lulworth Skippers and Small Blues, but there were also some great moths.  These included my first ever Scarlet Tiger, which sadly got away before I got a picture.  But also, there were loads of these Chalk Carpets, which are quite a scarce species!  My first.  They were very jumpy, and this was the best pic I got!

 



 

The forecast looks cooler and cloudier for the next few days, which is brill.  Just keep that cloud at a height thank you!