Stone Free - Jimi Hendrix

The last day of January and still we trail by 3 days of Posts! I have contacted the authorities concerned and they have agreed that the month can be extended by that number of days or, perhaps easier than re-writing the calender, we cram the outstandings onto one page tomorrow. Meanwhile we return to Monday 27th inst. and yet another 'brief' visit to

WEYMOUTH and PORTLAND

OUTER HARBOUR WEYMOUTH
and secured alongside

The Training Ship
PELICAN of LONDON

and a 'weather bound'
CONDOR FERRY

The STONE PIER
in oppose to the Pleasure Pier (ship berths etc) which is to the
North and runs more or less parallel.

 

Looking down the full length of the Stone Pier to the East and the
Purbeck Peninsula

At the root of the pier is a commemorative plaque to the stricken
Earl of Abergavenny.

Views of Weymouth's Georgian Sea Front are splendid from
this vantage point, starting at the end of the afore mentioned
Pleasure Pier and the Sea Life Tower.

Royal Hotel (left)

St John's Church Spire (left of centre)

and looking back to the

and in the far distance the
Isle of Portland.

It was hoped that at least one of a likely two additions to the 

Year List would be found here but the search was proving difficult.

HERRING GULLS
aplenty along with a few

ROCK PIPIT
and other expected and common species were all that were seen
so a walk along the slippery rocks at the base of the Fort was the next move.

'ALPHA' HEAD LIGHTHOUSE,

marking the northern end of the East Ship Channel, the main entrance/exit to the Harbour, and the DISTANT RANGE on the Middle Arm Breakwater of Portland Harbour. The Range was once used for the development of Torpedoes which may still be the case for all I know. It still seems still to be active as the Radar aerial was whizzing round at a great rate! This breakwater is 'sea-locked' and a fine sanctuary for the wildlife (birds and the odd Seal) that can access it, with the only predators being mainly Gulls, maybe a few Rats and

PEREGRINE* (falcons)
which have bred here for years.

No surprise then that one was perched on the range but only clearly viewable through the telescope. However, this was more a bonus than the bird I was hoping for so the wander was continued the full length of

Newton's Cove were c6
GREAT CRESTED GREBE were seen.
No joy before reaching Bincleves but retracing my track there

perched on a rock was this

BLACK REDSTART*

Leaving this most interesting Napoleonic Building behind
(personally the best Visitor Attraction Weymouth has to offer)
I headed for Portland and a quick look across the sea.

RAVEN and

GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL
were all that passed close but down to the east probably 'hundreds'
of Auks, likely mostly Guillemots, were sat on the sea.

In passing it is always worth viewing Portland Harbour from
Portland Castle and while there were no additions the stop was well worth the effort.
young Great Black-backed Gulls with Herring Gulls,

with another on Castle Beach.

SANDWICH TERN
is still patrolling the area

and by the looks of it feeding well!

Also still in attendance the over-wintering
BLACK GUILLEMOT
(bottom right)

remains distant but nonetheless

 

well viewable through the trusty 'scope.

RAZORBILL
completed the days birdwatching, with the final photo relating to the

 FREIGHTER EMSRUNNER

swinging to her anchor in Weymouth Bay.
 With a little luck, End of Month Stats will be published tomorrow??

Entry	Pageviews
United States	4169
United Kingdom	934
Germany	52
Estonia	48
Russia	30
France	24
Canada	21
India	20
Ukraine	10
Australia	9

Sweet Wine - Cream

Still a couple of days behind, and still suffering acute Internet problems in addition to which I visited my friends in Emsworth, Hampshire today planning to return to Dorset this evening but they ORDERED me to stay overnight! Having lost track a bit it is thought the Post refers to Tuesday and a visit to the Avon Causeway again in search of Egyptian Goose. A little over a hour was spent there, before being forced back by rain and high wind, which turned out to be the best period  ever spent in that area.

SNOWDROPS

the first of the year at Harbins.

LAPWING
Undoubtedly the largest concentration of this species I have ever
witnessed in the county.

PEREGRINE
the second in 2 days and playing havoc with the Waders mentioned above.

KESTREL

LITTLE EGRET

MARSH HARRIER+

MEADOW PIPIT

STONECHAT

YELLOW-LEGGED GULL

Then from behind there came a 'grunting' sound as c2
EGYPTIAN GEESE+
flew overhead, also added to the Ongoing January List at last.

Not being big on the archetypal Birthday or Christmas Present, I much prefer giving the unexpected gift as a surprise. As just a small thanks to Hugh and Janet for their GREAT KINDNESS to me over the past few months it was a real pleasure to take them to

The Jetty Restaurant at

The Christchurch Harbour Hotel.
Worth browsing this Link if you are local and love good Food and Wine.

Here we enjoyed a fine meal together, complimented by 2 bottles of Malbec which was unanimously agreed to be the best of its kind any of us had ever had before.

Another 'FIRST' for me and a long outstanding ambition/dream come true.

A 'first taste' of

CHATEAU d'YQUEM (1993)

considered the finest Sauternes in the World!
We will update Bird List Totals as and when time and access allow.

Entry	Pageviews
United States	4169
United Kingdom	945
Germany	51
Estonia	43
France	29
Canada	25
Russia	25
Ukraine	22
India	18
Australia	9