Rain Stops Play!

'Calling' Black Redstart in Pottery Lane

Visibility was down to about zero when I left home this morning but so was the wind making for a mild start, neither of which deterred a Song Thrush from bursting into vocals at 04-00. The first Chiffchaff in the cemetery this year was in similar voice, but a real surprise was a Black Redstart 'calling' from a rooftop just across the road in Pottery Lane. The bird itself was not unexpected, but this was only the second time I have ever heard one producing vocals in the UK. As I crossed the bye-pass, with the Black-start following and invading Radipole airspace, the fog simply drifted up the Wey Valley and disappeared from the area.

A male Pochard undertaking ablutions.

There were more Chiffs on the reserve, c3 to be precise, but little else except for c5 Pochard, a pair of displaying Canada Geese, 2 pairs of Great Crested Grebe, a fly-by Shelduck plus c47 Common Snipe. Down at the Westham sluices the Hooded Merganser was also displaying and soliciting just about every waterfowl in residence in, I guess, another vain attempt to find a mate. In such fine plumage I find it impossible to walk past without taking a photograph, reproduced here for your pleasure.

Shelduck

Hooded Merganser

Ditto

Ditto in 'courting' mode.

With the fog gone and the day brightening by the minute, the best bet was thought to be Portland. With the tide pressed hard up against the wall at Ferry Bridge there was little point of a stopping there, so continues onto the Island which is when I caught up with the mist and rain again. Alighting at the George pub on Reforne and happening across another Black Redstart at the Royal Manor School, the rain continued but I persisted through Barleycrates. All I found there was another Chiffchaff, after which, apart from a small flock of Linnets, there was nothing down to the Observatory. The intent was to have a coffee and assess the weather but bumped into Ken Parker, recently returned for Sri Lanka, who was unfortunately in a bit of a hurry so no time to hear his story (never mind Ken, I'll catch you next time). With an offer of a lift back to Weymouth with John Down and lady-friend Mo, the rain seemingly set in for the day I accepted. There, we spent a short time in the north hide, Radipole before heading to my house for coffee. With more or less a captive audience, it was time for a couple of tracks of Joe Bonamassa, but these 2 serious muso's needed no captivating as they had already taken a punt on Joe via my recommendation on this Blog. In possession of 2 albums, they had not seen the 'Live from the Royal Albert Hall' DVD, and while playing the conversation darted from one music legend to another. Thanks for coming over guys!

Round the table from left Bob and Anne Clark, Don & Liz Moxom, Nigel and (my eldest) Julie plus Caroline and Nick Tomlinson, all saluting with an Estonian chocolate.

The back end of the day was given over to some serious socialising, as 9 of us met up at the Imperial Garden restaurant in Dorchester. A convivial evening much given over to thoughts of my Estonian lady-friend Ille, we toasted her health with some of the chocolates she had sent to us as a gift.

The Master of Ceremonies with his new bag!!

Pull Up a Bollard and We'll Swing the Lamp

Ginge, Val & Bagsy today, just in time for 'Up Spirits'.

John (Ginger) Prince was the Killick* of the Seaman's Mess on HMS Undaunted during the period 1967, and as such was my immediate boss. Since then I have seen him just once, whilst driving through Sandford recognising him in my rear view mirror. His wife Val has been a little luckier in avoiding me for all of that time, the last time we met was at my 21st birthday party, a bit of a boozy do at my flat in Wyke Road, Weymouth, involving all the non-duty members of the Sailor's Mess on HMS Undaunted. Our 'rear view mirror' encounter lasted a few minutes, when we decided we should meet up for a longer yarn, but never did. Another of the plus points for this Blog is that it has brought Ginge, Val and me back together again. The key element of any true friendship being that time, difference of opinion etc should not tarnish it and today we found that to be true. In the great plan of things we live no more than a 'stones throw' apart, they in Northmoor Park, Wareham and me in Weymouth, so why you may ask have we not done this before - search me - but finally we met for lunch at the Gurkha, Sandford and agreed it was a golden moment for us all. We could easily have gone on forever about our runs ashore in Liverpool, the Channel Islands etc, involvement in the 2nd Frigate Squadron and the Portland 'work up' regime, preparing other ships for deployment around the world but as ever time was short. This will by no means be the last time we meet, and our collective thoughts tonight go out to our shipmates who shared this brief period in HMS UNWANTED (sic).

Where then are George Richardson', Peddler Palmer', Graham Colson', Mick Hutley et al a great Run Ashore each and every one of them. Those marked ' did join Boats with me, but after Submarine training we were drafted in different directions.

Refueling at Sea (RAS) is one of the more testing skills of seamanship, ship handling and coordination. As can be seen from the nearness of the Tanker, half a degree miscalculation in steering could result in dire consequences!

Built soon after the Second World War, helicopters were not even thought of so could her makers have conceived such a picture as this early Wasp landing on our 'later addition' heli-deck?

In her final years, she was towed to 'safe' waters in the Atlantic Ocean

to be used as an Exocet Missile target.

Back broken in her death throws.

As if raising a 'Two Finger Salute' skyward HMS Undaunted finds her watery grave.

* Killick, a word now all but obsolete in the English language, was originally coined to describe a rock, or other heavy weight, used as an anchor in ancient ships. Latterly, used almost exclusively in the Royal Navy as name for an Admiralty Pattern Anchor particularly fouled by a rope or hawser. This foul anchor is used as a badge of demarcation for a Leading Rate (Leading Seaman, Leading Cook, Leading Stoker etc), hence the Leading Hand is familiarly known as a Killick.

The Royal Navy insignia of a Leading Rate.

A Surprise First 'True' Migrant

It was an altogether greyer day today, with total cloud cover, some sign of mist and the wind backed into the southern sector, all making for a less chilly conditions. With little change close to home, Lodmoor was the next stop where a Chiffchaff was vocal, a single Black-tailed Godwit occupied the southern mud flat, a flighty Spoonbill hadn't quite decided where to settle as c3 Ravens flew to the west. Over on the beach a few scans produced a 'year tick' in the shape of a Black-throated Diver, while c2 flying and c3 settled Common Scoter, a lone Shelduck and c2 west bound Brent Geese completed the log entry from here. That's when the text arrived announcing, "Hoopoe at Southwell, still being looked for".

HMS Daring anchored in Wey Bay.

Hoping for confirmation of the Hoopoe, there was no rush to get to the bus stop so took a little time to look at what has become an all too seldom sight around here these days. A 'War Canoe' at anchor on Weymouth Bay, and not just any old warship, but HMS Daring the first of her line and Great Britain's newest. Of innovative design she is the first Type 45 air defense vessel which has been dubbed a 'stealth destroyer'. Build with extremely smooth lines, she has a very low radar threshold (said to give her the radar signature of a fishing boat) and high decontamination rating. Nuclear, Biological & Chemical Defense (NBCD) is of prime consideration in warship design, each ship being fitted with a powerful 'deluge' system capable of washing off any of these contaminates, the theory being the less nooks & crannies the cleaner the vessel becomes in such hazards. She is the 7th vessel in the Royal Navy to bear this name.

Hoopoe in 'Secrets' garden.

With the news that the bird had been pinned down to Langley Close at Southwell, Portland, two bits of good fortune then struck simultaneously. Firstly, as I waited for the bus, fellow birder Nick Hopper, heading in the same direction, stopped and kindly gave me a lift and at our destination decided to join the few 'birders' in the field at the top of Sweethill. As we were about to leave, my old 'ship mate' Gary White backed his 4x4 up the hill to let us know it was in his garden, even giving us a lift the 300 yards back to his house. After a short wait it came back and we were able to get a couple of photos, but decided to wait for more after it departed. In the meantime we were served coffee, which made for a most civilised stay, and that my first 'true' migrant was a Hoopoe being a bonus indeed.

Gary and I enjoyed some brilliant times when we shipped out together, but it was strange he was never 'christened' with the usual shipboard name of Chalky or Knocker, only ever being referred to as Gar. That is until the advert for R Whites lemonade was launch with its catchy little tune and lyric of R White's lemonade, he's a secret lemonade drinker, after which he became know as R White and subsequently as 'Secret', he's a secret lemonade drinker.

Bar-tailed Godwit

the top 2 photographs are from the archive for illustration.

These are the c4 birds seen, not exactly photogenic.

The visibility had now reduced dramatically and the fog signal was bellowing from the Bill lighthouse, so time I thought to head north. Passing Ferry Bridge on the bus, there were a few waders on the foreshore including a couple of larger individuals, so definitely worth investigating. There were in fact c4 which turned out to be Bar-tailed Godwit, in among a few each of Dunlin and Pinged Plover plus c5 Turnstone. Rapidly approaching the equinox now the tide was out about as far as it ever goes. The water was well clear of the raised beds at the oyster farm, not a sight often seen, but encountering this sign on the sea wall thought, I doubt if that is really bothering them either way at the moment.

More problems for the shellfish it would seem!

'Birding' Poole Park & Harbour

There was little change in the weather today, and in this part of the county the same could be said for the birds. All that is except for an almost perfect 'summer plumage' specimen of Black-tailed Godwit and the largest 'charm' of Goldfinch this year at Radipole, while at Lodmoor there are now c2 pairs of Oystercatcher, plus singles of Sparrowhawk and Redshank.

'Summer Plumage' Black-tailed Godwit in company with about 2 dozen Common Snipe.

Timing to perfection, there was an opportunity to check out the Overcombe end of the moor for any of the c7 attendant Water Pipit, but none where found before I boarded the Jurassic Coast bus for Poole. Armed with my trusty corned beef banjo, I had decided to look a little further afield today, for a change of birdlife, and give both Poole Park and Holes Bay the once over. Always assured of Greylag Goose in the park, they (c17) were soon found but the hoped for Goldeneye were absent.

Greylag Goose

Only of interest to Julie, Lisa and Me, this old Fir in the park was known by my 2 children as the 'Easy Peasy Tree' because it was so easy to climb. It brought back a few memories, of the heady days of their childhood, as I wandered back to the town. I hope you two are looking in!

A fair, and time consuming, walk to the bay (part of Poole Harbour, the second largest natural harbour in the world) I did contemplate a taxi, but the weather was just too nice. Immediately on arrival there was a Curlew and a Redshank to view and a little further on good numbers of Teal, Shelduck and Redshank plus 2 or 3 Black-tailed Godwit.

The southern section of Holes Bay, the northern part lies beyond the railway line and bridge.

There is a second matching bridge (right out of picture) where I spent a while scoping both the embankment and mud flats, where on the former were c3 Common Sandpiper, c5 Oystercatcher and a Little Egret.

Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Goldeneye - male above, female below.

In the far distance were a few Goldeneye, which I was able to close by walking round to the start of the Upton Country Park. Here I made the decision to continue walking to Upton village rather than retrace my steps back to Poole. All was well until discovering maintenance work on the boardwalk I climbed into the farmer's field to access the main road to the bus stop. Reaching Overcombe again, the weather took a bit of a dip as temperatures had obviously dropped shrouding the whole of Weymouth Bay, Lodmoor and even some of the town in fog. However, the good news from both Daragh and the Portland Bird Observatory was the start of a passage of migrants, including a Swallow, House Martins, Wheatear, Chiffchaff, Firecrest and Black Redstart plus c4 Garganey flying past the Bill.

The 'Year List' stands at - 118

What A Day For A Daydream!

Weather-wise, probably the best day of the year so far? The wind had backed slightly, taking out that bitter northerly element, and decreased to no more than a zephyr while the sun shone, uninterrupted, from a clear blue sky. In the cemetery, Goldcrest were singing for all they are worth, and similarly on Radipole Cetti's Warbler are getting more brazen by the day. Noted as a 'skulker', when seeking a mate they often ascend a bush before letting out a most recognisable, fluid song.

Goldcrest, along with the Firecrest (featured yesterday), is the UK's smallest breeding bird at just 3 and a half inches in length and weighs just 0.2 of an ounce.

Cetti's Warbler

Later at Ferry Bridge, where the tide was still on the ebb, a dozen Brent Geese were still topping up fat reserves before heading north and c4 adult Common Gulls had also dropped in. Crossing the bridge a Greenshank, once much more common over-wintering bird hereabouts, flew up the Fleet calling, while a half grown Grey Seal languished on an exposed sandbank. The few small Waders seen were all on the harbour side of the road today, consisting of about 50 Dunlin and c17 Ringed Plover, and the c3 Little Grebe remained close by.

Greenshank (a photograph from the archives, not the bird seen this morning).

The driver of the bus to Portland was one of my former work colleagues who was pleased to hear how well I had settled into retirement. However, it seemed he was having a moment of indecision as he told me his working life was soon to terminate, and seemed to be seeking some reassurance. I simply told him that while at work I had only been 'addicted' to birdwatching, but since retirement I'd just got very much worse.

Alpaca grazing on the west cliff, I thought I'd returned from whence I had recently come.

Today's report at the Bird Observatory was once again quiet, but I always enjoy a coffee in convivial company but I was soon on my way in search of a migrant along the east cliff. That was not to be, but the weather was now so warm there was room for a little 'clout casting' and I also happened on the group pictured below.

Budding Geologists being put through their paces on the east cliff.

Another interesting feature of Portland is

this pair of Mulberry Units which was a type of temporary harbour developed in World War II to offload cargo on the beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy. This pair of 'Phoenixes' found a home in Portland Harbour after the landings, and have intrigued visitors and locals alike ever since. These two prefabricated or artificial military harbours were taken across the English Channel from Britain with the invading army in sections and assembled off the coast of Normandy as part of the D-Day invasion of France in 1944.

A Day in the New Forest

Some of the Brent Geese at Ferry Bridge

Working on the premise that 'a picture is worth a thousand words' today's post is more pictorial than type-written. There was always a tentative plan laid to pay our, now, annual visit to the New Forest one day this week, but Wednesday / Thursday had seemed favourite. T had his morning an early visit to the cemetery produced about 6 singing Goldcrest and a pair of Coal Tit well into their courtship ritual, but Radipole remained very quiet. At Ferry Bridge c22 Brent Geese had gathered, along with a few Mediterranean Gulls and c2 Little Egrets, but there was also the sound of Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and the mobile phone. Given the continuing good weather Bowie and Sheila had made a spur-of-the-moment decision to do the Forest run and were calling to invite me along. It took just 20 minutes to get home, and a further 15 to collect telescope, small camera and flask then meet at their house.

As usual, our first stop was Ibsley Bridge in the hope of finding Bewick's Swan, with just a single among about two dozen Mute Swans.

Woodlark

From there we continued north to Fordingbridge, took the bye-pass past Sandy Balls and into the New Forest proper. There we visited the 'Top Secret' Goshawk site, which only everybody knows about, and within 10 minutes watched a pair enjoying the mid-day thermals. Along with a few Common Buzzard and a single Merlin the weather started to deteriorate, and within the hour had turned from bright, sunny and still to overcast, windy and cold. It was time to move on, but not before recording Woodlark.

Mandarin (male)

Mandarin (female)

At Eyesworth Pond the Mandarins were immediately visible along with a couple of Canada Geese, Moorhen, Mallard and a couple of uncontrolled dogs swimming in the pond.

Marsh Tit

'Shore-sides, there was no shortage of Blue, Great, Coal and Marsh Tit, an obliging Treecreeper plus a vocal Nuthatch, but no sign of the occasional Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

Having pulled away from the car park, in an attempt to leave, it was a last minute bonus to see a male Wood Duck swimming across the water. Scarce at the best of times, even in a feral / escape state, this majestic duck holds no place on the British Bird List, but given the presence of Hooded Merganser, Bufflehead, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Pied-billed Grebe et al in the country at the moment, who is to say that this too is not a true 'American vagrant'??

Bowie spotting yet another Coal Tit.

Treecreeper

Into the heart of the 'ancient woodland' it wasn't long before we were picking up more Tits, Treecreepers, Nuthatch etc and even a suspected Woodcock which unfortunately was not confirmed.

Sheila, maybe a little disgruntled not having quite got enough on a 'springing' Woodcock.

Given the sunny quality of the day, there was great expectations of a few Butterflies. In the event, there were only c2 seen both Brimstone's, as shown.

Nuthatch at a feeding station.

Firecrest

At Bolderwood, we once again had high hopes of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, but unfortunately this was not to be. Instead we found a couple of Firecrest, and cannot imagine anyone would disagree if I observed there's no finer bird in the forest?

Hawfinch

The day ended, as they always do on these winter visits, at the Blackwater Arboretum. The extremely bad news here is still no cure or slowing of the Sudden Death Oak Disease which has blighted the area for almost 2 years now, with large tracts of woodland still fenced off in the hopes of finding a cure. However, on the plus side the population of wintering / roosting Hawfinch remains healthy as we saw at least half a dozen. In addition to the species mentioned, Mistle Thrush and Crossbill were also added to the 'year list' bringing the total to 115.

Puffins @ Portland Bill

With no time restrictions on the 'bus pass' at week-ends and Puffin best seen early morning at Portland Bill, it was the first bus for me this morning. Under an overcast sky and again little wind, there was going to be no problems with glare or wind blown watering eyes so all it needed was for the birds to show. Up to c3 have been in the area for the past few days so prospects were good. Bumping into a couple of fellow birders, they decided to continue their walk as we reached Pulpit Rock where my patience paid dividends as c2 Puffins flew in from the south to settle on the sea under the west cliff. Numbers of Puffin on Portland rarely reach half a dozen, though there are some records of successful breeding but looking at the 'distribution map' (which applies to the mid-year period only, as most disperse into the Atlantic Ocean during the winter months) we are very lucky to have them at all.

The remainder of the day was a fairly quiet affair all round, with even the Bird Observatory having only noted a few Red-throated Divers, Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails but there was a little redress just before I caught the bus home. Last Sunday's walk from Langton Herring village to the Fleet fore-shore to see the Bufflehead had resulted in the sighting of no Pheasants, something I would have considered virtually impossible. By the same token, it was only a very short time ago you would almost have to send a description to the County Recorder if you saw one on Portland. It would seem the tables are turned as a male bird was in the Eight King's Quarry field as I walked up from the east cliff, and entered the log as the second 'year tick' of the day.

Pheasant (male)

Migrants still remain 'thin on the ground' but a few Meadow Pipits have made the effort.

While Rock Pipits are actively pairing up close to the rocky shores at the Bill.

The ever present Common Kestrel.

Year List now stands at - 102

Indication of the weather today as Weymouth Skipper Dave Gibson takes an early party of charter anglers out in Lady Godiva this morning.

Another view of Portland, looking north along the East Cliff towards Cheyne House. I love this spot!