A revisit to yesterday's post
and the fine looking Gaff Yawl passing the Bill close to mid-day. With
such a learned and inquisitive readership, it was felt almost inevitable
that someone would come up with the answer as to identity of this
craft. It was no surprise that the person concerned is Janet Read who
has solved many a conundrum during the lifetime of the Blog - Thank You
so much Janet!
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While
next comes a real surprise in that the 170th country/Region to join the
Blog Readership is none other than the Caribbean country of the Republic of Haiti. It
was as far back as the 22nd April this year that we had a new addition,
Laos and that probably only as a result of my visit there. While plans
at this stage are only tentative, there is a chance I could be visiting
Haiti's neighbour Dominican Republic before years end so what more
reason would I want to go the 'full 9 yards'.
Onward to today, and again the sun was shining but accompanied
early morning with something of a chill. However. the walk along the
Rodwell Trail,
with
only this WREN and c3 singing Blackcap to report, soon got the
circulation going with jacket and neckerchief removed before Ferry
Bridge.
Lovely summer-like views back across Portland Harbour to the north
The
best news from here was that c9 LITTLE TERN chicks have now hatched,
despite the terrible weather, and several more eggs have been noted in
other nests. Some parent birds were noted flying between 1 and 2 miles
to catch food for the chicks
There
was much less of interest on the foreshore as the 'only' bird present
there was this BLACK-HEADED GULL in summer plumage, but to be fair
little sand is exposed on a High Water Spring Tide. The Gull itself did
have some significance, as most of its mates will still be on the
breeding grounds in Poole Harbour so this may well be the harbinger of
more to come?
All else there and strangely were c4 White Doves which, as they flew in, rather recalled
the rather unpopular SNOWY SHEATHBILL of the colder reaches of the South Atlantic.
I say unpopular, as this bird has a
penchant for Seal feces as a staple to its diet which when passed as
'droppings' plays havoc with the mariners shiny varnish and paintwork.
At
Castletown, the site of the 2012 Olympic (Sailing) Village, there are
now dozens of daily deliveries of concrete blocks will form security
walls and barriers during the games,
while at The Bill things were far more tranquil. A
search among the crags and rocks produced no birds at all and away to
sea all that showed today were Gannet, Razorbill, Guillemot, Fulmar plus
a few Gulls.
At the Observatory Quarry the Little Owl was seen 'in flight' (quite novel) while these
'Poppys' were far less mobile. The nearest I can get via Gerrard and
Streeter is OPIUM POPPY but may just be 'escapes' from someones garden.
I'll let you know as soon as I come down from flying around the
lampshade!!
A little company at the Obelisk today as this ROCK PIPIT took up perch on the apex, and later
these 2 PYRAMIDAL ORCHIDS
were pointed out to me by my friends Dave and Anne Rashley.
The
Observatory Garden Pond is slowly coming to life with a variety of
insects and Tadpoles, with this female EMPEROR DRAGONFLY not getting a
lot of help from an AZURE DAMSELFLY riding piggy-back
In
the meantime The Warden had gently teased this adult WHITETHROAT from
one of the garden 'mist nets' which due to its ragged look I thought was
a juvenile. No, just the rigours of nest-building, incubating and
carrying an endless supply of food for their young day after day
certainly takes a toll!
and finally another yacht rounding The Bill for the Maritime Identification Society to take a look at.
 | 2 | 0.00% | Cameroon |  | |
| 2 | 0.00% | Faroe Islands |  | |
| 2 | 0.00% | Gabon |  | |
| 2 | 0.00% | Iran, Islamic Republic Of |  | |
| 2 | 0.00% | Fiji |  | |
| 2 | 0.00% | Sudan |  | |
| 2 | 0.00% | Macao |  | |
| 2 | 0.00% | Uganda |  | |
| 2 | 0.00% | Ghana |  | |
| 2 | 0.00% | Andorra |  | |
| 2 | 0.00% | Grenada |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Turks And Caicos Islands |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Cayman Islands |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Kazakhstan |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Martinique |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Afghanistan |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Malawi |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Seychelles |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Haiti |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | French Polynesia |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Uzbekistan |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Suriname |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Botswana |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Cote D'ivoire |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Saint Lucia |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Guam |  | |
| 1 | 0.00% | Bolivia |  |
