Another sparkling spring like day, weather wise there was nothing to mar the day. Unfortunately in the cemetery the birds probably weren't feeling the same as there was little, or in the case of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, no action at all, so it was straight on to Radipole were
Greenfinch were the most prominent of an extremely low count of species, every reason then to hurry on to Portland. Alighting the bus at Barleycrates it soon became obvious that a small passage of
Meadow Pipits was underway, while a little further on and at the other end of the scale, a tardy
Fieldfare was still hanging around, sounding as if trying to attract a mate.
A 'first' for the year was this Small White butterfly, while before reaching the cliff
a pair of Stonechat put in an appearance. It was soon after this that I met up with long standing friend Colin Robertson, and soon after leaving his company encountered
this lady, Lesley Godfrey, welding an impressive looking Canon camera and lens. Striking up a conversation she told me she was enjoying a few days on her own in Dorset, while husband Simon had been packed off to work. An idea opportunity to show someone round 'gods little acre' we walked on together enjoying
c2 Common Buzzards being hassled by Herring Gulls,
a close encounter with this Skylark
and half an hour watching the Auks (Guillemot & Razorbill) on the cliff ledges.
Along the way we found 2 Snail species, and knowing that Snail & Slug expert John Fleming was in residence at the Observatory took them along for his opinion. Turns out that this spiral shelled creature goes under a Latin name only, Cochlicella acuta while the others identity will have to lie in abeyance. Having given Lesley the 'Cooks Tour' of the Bird Observatory we wandered back towards Weymouth via the East Cliff only to come across this
Grey Seal, at first totally submerged,
but coming up briefly for air before disappearing out of sight!
Finally, this Cormorant did a fly past before we enjoyed a Jameson's Whisky or two before parting company. A great day Lesley and maybe I'll get to meet Simon on Friday evening?