All The Leaves Are Brown, and The Sky Is Grey - Mamas & Papas

While the sky was completely overcast and the temperature continued to fall as I left home this morning at 07-30, the wind had dropped and there was altogether a better feel to the day. By 09-00 much of the cloud had disappeared, making way for some prolonged periods of sunshine and generally warming things up a bit.

Apart from the arrival, or maybe appearance from cover, of a small flock of c11 Long-tailed Tits things were much the same in the cemetery so hurried on across the road to Radipole. There, both Water Rail and Cetti's Warbler were vocal and in short time this years breeding male Marsh Harrier put in an appearance.

Distant but discernible shot of the male Marsh Harrier

This small group of Gadwall seemed a little unnerved by the presence of the raptor, but the few


Pochard on the other side of the lake seemed untroubled.

On the Wader front, Green Sandpiper, Common Snipe and Lapwing,all as singles and all in flight put in brief appearances, while later the Snipe tally rose to double figures.

A number of Mediterranean Gulls were on the shingle island outside of the Visitor's Centre in company with a few Common Gulls, a couple of Shelduck and the |Hooded Merganser, always nice to see.

At Ferrybridge the Brent Geese were there again in good numbers, as were several Red-breasted Merganser, a couple of Little Grebes plus c4 Little Egrets. Waders were once again at a premium with only c6 Ringed Plover, c3 Dunlin and c2 Oystercatchers being noted.

Brent Geese a few images of birds both

in flight (a 'skein' of Geese) and

on the ground (a 'gaggle')

There were also a good number of Mediterranean Gulls here too, and while not counted a guesstimate would be in the high tens?

Walking through the Top Fields a Common Snipe was flushed, while c22 Skylark flew, seemingly off the sea, to the north. Despite the slow wind down of bird numbers as we head further into winter, the staff at the Observatory have been given little respite in a year when 'records' have tumbled in all directions. Of these, the number of

Brambling (this one a female) have far exceeded the the highest annual ringing total for this species, while

Linnet (a male shown) continue to thrive overwinter in the carefully managed and sown fields adjacent to the Obs.

Goldfinch are also numerous at the Bill and I know final tallies will be shown in the end of year report. On my way home, a Water Rail was 'calling' loudly from the sanctuary of Culverwell and later at Sweethill c5 Redwing flew over and to the north.

These 2 Cormorants were posing on the catwalks

in the Weymouth Marina, and after a pint in The Swan I headed home - good day!

It's An Ill Wind

The signs of some movement of birds this morning were good, even under the cover of darkness. From my back garden there was a Robin already in full song, but more importantly what seemed like good numbers of Redwing flying over given away by their continuous thin, wispy location calls. The cemetery gate was still some way off when I saw the first of these, c6 flying north, then closely followed by a large flock that must have been around the 100 mark.

Once again I opted for the early bus directly to the top of Portland, but on the way it was noted that the Brent Geese at Ferrybridge were reduced by 50% on yesterdays estimate. Deciding to retrace my steps, even if only to photograph the huge depression that is the

Perryfield Quarry

making for a dramatic, even lunar-like, landscape. There was little of note on the way, but soon found I had company searching to relocate yesterdays Pallas's Warbler, without success. In fact by comparison there were very few birds at all, except another Firecrest and a couple of Chiffchaff. Taking a diversion via Wakeham, there was a tree with no fewer than

c29 Collared Doves plus a further c3 close by. In days gone by this would have been normal fare, but as numbers seem to have dropped dramatically this count was noteworthy.

Collared Dove

A little further down the road my attention was drawn to a small flock of Long-tailed Tit, foraging the hedgerow, in company with a second Firecrest.

A report from fellow birder Graham Walbridge of a Woodcock at the hump had me scampering in that direction, but soon pulled up short at the sound of a strange bird-call overhead. Looking up I saw a pair of

Snow Buntings, not at all a common sight in the Island.

The first time I ever saw one of these nifty little birds was on 23rd January 1974 when I thought I had found one in the Admiralty Compound at Portland Bill. With that I raced to the Observatory to report my find to the then Warden Ian Robertson, who told me it had been there for about 2 weeks, blast! These 2 photos are from the archives.

A small stand of Fungi on the way, there was no sign of the Woodcock, but I did turn up a Great Spotted Woodpecker and c5 Brambling on the way. It was now time to head for the Bill where, in transit, there was a single Common Scoter, c2 Raven, a few Gannets and Auks while at the tip of the Island this

lone Turnstone, and a few feet away a

single Purple Sandpiper.

The weather had been a little more chilly today and the wind, in the east at first, did 'back' slightly to the north as the day wore on and became a little more blustery. The forecaster is still predicting much colder weather during this week, so working on the theory "it's an ill wind that doesn't blow somebody some good" there may just be a rarity or two?

Dedicated to the Life & Works of Miss Helen Brotherton

So, we now know were all the mid-week Chiffchaffs from the cemetery ended up, in the redundant railway cutting at the bottom end of Wakeham!

With clouds still full of rain and the wind now seeming firmly in the eastern quadrant, it's not surprising the forecasters are predicting a 'cold snap' next week. However, for today the precipitation failed to materialise and I was once again in the graveyard at 07-30 but unfortunately the birds were not. Deciding to give Ferrybridge a miss until later, as the bus steamed past the sight of well in excess of 1,000 Brent Geese settled on the foreshore had me kicking myself. A wander across the Top Fields and onward to the West Cliff soon produced this

Rock Pipit and a familiar 'charter boat', tucked under the lee of the cliff on the Plaice beds,

the third generation Top Cat skippered by the effervescent Ivan Wellington.

The only black man ever to have won the title 'Mister Portland', Ivan has been great company and a firm friend to both myself and my daughter Lisa for many a year - hope your reading this one Lisa! Continuing along the cliff I was surprised to see

Guillemots back in residence, but was later informed that this is usual. Less unexpected were both

Great Black-backed Gull and

Shag along with a number of 'shore-side anglers', some more adventurous than others,

such as this fella atop the Pulpit Rock. It was of note that between all of the fishermen there wasn't a sign of a 'tight line'. Continuing to 'The Bill', in search of Purple Sandpiper, I failed in the attempt but as I crossed the Bill Common a usual gathering of mixed Gulls, these being

Great Black-backed and Herring, were seen resting adjacent to the Coast Guard Cottages.

There was also a mass of fungi to be seen, but this Prog Rocker has no idea of identification, but I know a Punk who does!

Much of this fungus has always grown here in almost perfect circles reminding me that when my 2 girls were just children there was no difficulty in convincing them that these were home to 'Fairies'. We waited on many a day for them to appear, but like the Purple Sands today I'm still waiting!

This is the fine commemorative plaque 'struck' to commemorate the life and times of Miss Brotherton who sadly passed away last year. A remarkable lady who was, in a nutshell, well ahead of her time and always a fascinating conversationalist - RIP.

Alone in the Observatory lounge, and barely one bite into my corned beef bun, I answered the telephone to find fellow birder Peter Saunders reporting the presence of a Pallas's Warbler along the cutting of the redundant Weymouth to Portland railway line. Fortunately, this coincided with the ending of a meeting of the Observatory Committee so along with the Warden Martin Cade, Edwin Welland and John Lucas we headed off in pursuit. Others had already arrived and in short time the bird was relocated, among a fairly large feeding flock of other small birds, and seen reasonably well by all. The flock consisted of at least 2 dozen Long-tailed Tits, Blue & Great Tits, numerous Goldcrest plus c2 Firecrest, and this is where the Chiffchaffs were. At least c8 in one bush alone while goodness knows how many others elsewhere, but none of these birds were allowing me a photo shoot. Those with far sharper reactions were successful in this, and these 2 photographs of

Pallas's Warbler (today's bird) are published with the kind permission of the © holder Martin Cade.

This Pallas's Warbler was capture in a mist net at the Observatory a couple of weeks ago, one of three trapped there.

I returned to Weston, and the bus home, in the company of Graham Walbridge via a path I have not walked for years. Along the way I was able to view more Portland history familiar to my children.

Portland's Windmills are the two great remaining ancient buildings in the Royal Manor. First recorded in the Land Revenue Accounts of 1608, they were probably over a century old by then. They were owned by the Pearce family from the 1600s to the 1899, and according to historian Richard Crumbleholme relief was given to the millers in the early 1700s for earthquake damage.

By the 1960s no attempt had been made to preserve these shells and the main shaft of one is still in tact and now in the Portland museum. Since, the structures have suffered at the hands of vandals but the authorities don't improve the situation with badly placed signs. Locals now consider this, the most northerly of the pair, to be sporting a Beatle's haircut!

A male Snow Bunting had been seen along this track earlier in the day, but unfortunately there was no sign of it later.

This female Stonechat did put in a brief appearance as dozens of Pied Wagtail fed in nearby horse paddocks.

If you are interested in viewing some serious wildlife photographs, or simply keeping abreast of all the natural daily happenings on the Island, you can do no better than visit:-

www.portlandbirdobs.org.uk

And So Castles Made of Sand Slip into the Sea, Eventually!

For the third day running I woke up to the sound of heavy rain on the windows, and a leaden sky all around. Not surprisingly, I received some interest in my report of about a dozen Chiffchaff in yesterdays post, given the time of year this is quite unusual. Most Warblers have migrated to sunnier climes by now, except for a few of the more hardy types such as Chiffchaff, Blackcap etc of which just a few overwinter in the south of the UK. It had been my intent to start out earlier for the cemetery, and as luck would have it the rain stopped at 07-30precisely . However, what a difference a day makes as my 2 hours at the site produced not one Warbler and by comparison to yesterday just c2 Great Tits, c10 Blue Tits and no Long-tailed Tits at all. On the plus side Blackbirds were numerous and in double figures, c3 Song Thrush were present but absent yesterday, while Wrens and Robins showed just c3 apiece. Finches were represented by Gold, Green and Chaffinch with a few each in the graveyard, as small groups of the later flew overhead my count ceasing at 100. The rain started again soon after 09-00 so I beat a retreat for home, just around the corner, where I resigned myself to the rest of the day on the laptop. That only lasted as long as Daragh's phone call some short while later and it would have had to have been 'the tempest' itself to deter me from answering the call.

This female Smew, one of the 'sawbill' ducks was showing well but at some distance in one of the northern pools on Lodmoor and is the first of this species I have seen since 2004. The last time I recorded one in Dorset was even longer ago than that, while before today I had not had one in the month of November (yeah sad) nor have I ever photographed one.

Appearing again here to the right, these images may not constitute 'photographs' but will enter the archive as 'record shots'.

This is what Smew look like at close range, male at the top, photo from Wikipedia.

Also in Daragh's call was the news that the Long-billed Dowitcher was still on the moor and today at a more obliging distance.

On the way to see that, these

Common Gulls were posing and now increasing in numbers after the breeding season absence.

The Long-billed Dowitcher was indeed closer than at the weekend,

but again only 'record shots' were possible.

It did however have a short stretch of the wings making the subject slightly more interesting.

Also as a result of yesterday's post 3 e-Mails, of a similar nature, arrived asking if there are any photographs in existence of the 2006 Morocco tour relating to the Hendrix experience (excuse the pun) and not birds. The short answer, yes there are a few!

We started our journey, unlike Jimi who flew to Casablanca, by resting up in Marrakesh for a couple of days before heading towards the Haut Atlas (Atlas Mountains) to the village (town) of Anergane before descending to Taroudannt as the history books tell us Jimi did in 1969.

Stories abound about how he visited Morocco on numerous occasions and on one such started a commune with Cat Steven and Bob Marley, this is more likely legend than fact, as he only blessed the country with his presence once?

However, the contrast of scenery between the 'High Atlas' and the lowlands towards Agadir are dramatic. Jimi is thought to have traveller via Safi, which we did not do, to what became his beloved Essaouira. It immediately became apparent why.

There he took up short residence in the ethnic Riad Al Madina Hotel - the locals have been dining out on the stories ever since.

The walls are still adorned with signed photographs of the man,

who was so inspired by the castles, ruins and forts thereabouts.

There is no mistaking Jimi stayed in this room, Jim the Medic being gracious enough to let me bide there, and nothing will change my mind that this was the very bed Hendrix lay in!

Little Wing

Well she's walking through the clouds With a circus mind that's running round. Butterflies and zebras And moonbeams and fairy tales. That's all she ever thinks about Riding with the wind. When I'm sad, she comes to me With a thousand smiles, she gives to me free. It's alright she says it's alright, Take anything you want from me, anything. Fly on Little Wing, Yeah Little Wing

and finally, over the years I have got to know many of the bus drivers on the local First services, many of them interested in my wanderings. None more so than 'Scouser' Mark Hill who had occasion to visit me at home today. He, his partner Annie and I hit it off from the start when first meeting in the Belvedere pub on High West Street and during today's chat he related the story of his last birthday present. During our meetings it has become apparent that he also has a keen interest in birds, so was highly delighted when one of his daughters surprised him with a membership to the Portland Bird Observatory. I'm hoping we can visit together sometime soon - good to see you Mark!