The Lord of the 'Ringers'

Based on information received overnight, this morning I made a B-line for Ferry Bridge hoping to meet John Dadds (RSPB Team Leader for the Little Tern Colony protection scheme) or any member of that team. I could see from the 'safety' of Ferry Bridge that the incumbent 'lookout' in the bivouac on Chesil Beach was Danny ? from the RSPB Visitor's Center at Radipole, and knew from our last encounter there would be no value in approaching him. On that occasion, through a tirade of verbal abuse he clench his fists at me offering physical violence (what price RSPB Public Relations given his position). However, as I took up my position close to the Little Tern colony, the watch was changed (Danny purposefully giving me a wide berth) his relief being Mr Dadds.

We had never met before, but not surprisingly he was aware of me, particularly through this Blog, where in recent days I had praised his efforts and success with the terns this year, but had also, it seems, wrongly maligned him in the past. As the Little Terns started to arrive this year I was pleased to note that all RSPB works at the colony were completed, but a couple of days later saw John within the perimeter fence moving shingle. I interpreted that as invasive, took a photograph and produce it through these pages. I took his point that long distant viewing can present an obscure picture, as he was filling a breach in the fence and offered a personal apology, which I would like to extend to a public apology here and now!

We talked for what must have been over a hour, both conceding that some things could have been handled a little differently in the past (an alien attitude for me as far as professional RSPB personnel are concerned) but my main thrush was to find out if my informants had been correct in saying that Little Tern chicks had been 'ringed' yesterday. There was a definite reluctance about his answer, but he finally confirmed that c5 had been 'banded' but, he was at pains to point out, not by the RSPB. It took just 30 minutes to find out who had ringed these chicks!

In the 'birding' world news like this spreads like wildfire, and (excluding John Dadds) everyone I met today with an interest wanted both to discuss it and condemn the actions of yesterday. As I pointed out to most of them, there was a term in the Royal Navy for those who would sit in the messdeck bemoaning everything and doing nothing to resolve matters. They were called 'Lower Deck Lawyers', but you don't have to be in the navy to be one of them!

Since trying to bring some sense to prevail within the RSPB structure in this Borough I have been surrounded by LDL's, who to my face agree with most of what I advocate,but not a single so called 'conservationist' or 'lover of wildlife' has been prepared to publicly support, what John Dadds rightly called, "my campaign".

At this time I really don't wish to voice any more of my opinions save to say there is an opportunity here for anyone to make just the slightest ripple. At the bottom of this post is a COMMENTS link, all you have to do is click it, in a single sentence state your view about the happenings at the Tern colony yesterday then click Post Comments. This is available for all to read and will be read by those who continue to rip the hearts out of our reserves, and don't forget

The RSPB define 'SILENCE' as Success

For those unfamiliar with the terminology and situation described above, this colony is now believed to be the only one on the South Coast of England and certainly the most vulnerable. For many years the Fleet Warden Don Moxom has worked tirelessly to deter both predation and human disturbance (some in the name of conservation) but slowly the colony depleted with less and less Little Terns returning each Spring from West Africa. Over the past 7 years the situation has become critical, with just 1 (known) chick being produced during that time, and no breeding taking place at all last year. I still maintain that failure in 2009, at least in part, was due to the RSPB still erecting signs and banging in fence posts until mid-May, long after the birds had returned.

Among the Little Terns there was a single Whimbrel, but otherwise the 'birding' was extremely quiet.

c2 Little Terns waiting for the RSPB to leave the colony last year so they could get a look in. By back-loading this photograph you should be able to access 'Properties' and see when it was taken.

Hedge Bindweed

More of Old Weymouth

The Boot Inn

the plaque tells the story.

Weymouth Old Town Hall

Ditto the plaque.

Midsummer Madness

Light airs, bright sunshine and little cloud welcomed in the Summer Solstice, so calm being the wind the c5 merchant packets at anchor in Weymouth Bay were tide rather than wind rode. Across Radipole and in the cemetery, young birds were most predominant, accompanied by singing Chiffchaff and the usual Blackcap. With reference to the latter, so long has he been vocal now that should a lady happen along he'll be too knackered to do anything about it?

There were c3 young Pied Wagtails feeding at Pottery Lane,

while this Reed Warbler put in just a brief appearance before I came across both

this adult Moorhen and

the first juvenile Coot I have seen this year. Before leaving the reserve it was worth taking a shot of this handsome

Lesser Black-backed Gull before walking over to Lodmoor. There the story was similar

with this mother Mallard showing off her new brood, paying scant attention to me.

In the roadside ditch this Song Thrush was also busily collecting to feed its young. The first Common Tern chicks were being exposed to the world for the first time, while being continuously being fed by the adult birds. In addition there were about a dozen Black-headed Gulls (including a recently fledged youngster), c2 Lapwing, a flying Marsh Harrier and a Ruddy Duck.

It would be untrue to say there was 'nothing' at Ferry Bridge, but single Oystercatcher, the summering pair of Red-breasted Merganser and a few Little Terns were expected, while

at Portland these 2 juvenile Goldfinches were part of a 40+ mixed flock, along with Linnets,

and while not wishing to be branded sexist, a 'female' Broad-bodied Chaser (Dragonfly) should compliment the 'male' presented last week.

Out of the Archives

While at the Bird Observatory, the conversation turned to yesterdays discovery of a Tufted Puffin in Veranger Fjord, remote northern Norway, where Martin Cade, the Warden, had himself been in May last year. On that occasion he missed a Soft-plumaged Petrel by just 2 days, and now a second extremely rare bird had shown up again at the very same place. This generated memories of my first experience of this species in Alaska during my 2007 back-packing expedition, so here is a shot of

a Tufted Puffin taking off just south of Seward, Alaska.

This in turn led to a discussion about the differences between Marbled & Long-billed Murrelet and their very close relative Black Guillemot. A single of the later, almost exclusively associated with salt water (the sea), was once found in the fresh water area of Lodmoor, while both Murrelet's are just as likely to be recorded inland and often nest in trees.

Great Britain's first, and still only, Long-billed Murrelet was found at Dawlish Warren on 7th November 2006, and initially identified as a Little Auk, later being seen by many hundreds of 'birders' at Seaton.

This 'summer plumage' Black Guillemot graced the Buchan Alpha sea-area for several days, some years ago,

and at one stage photographed 'underwater' clutching an unidentified object in its bill.

and as I wended my way home, the Maersk Boston, which had previously been anchored in Weymouth Bay for 3 days, appeared as she rounded Grove Point.

The medium size Container Ship Maersk Boston heading in the direction of the Atlantic Ocean.

A Load of Rubbish - But Not In Exeter

So, did anyone notice what was 'missing' from yesterday's Exeter street scene photographs? I bet all the English readers did, as the complete absence of any 'litter' would be alien and immediately noticeable. I didn't realise such a clean city existed in the UK, so congratulations to residents and visitors alike for sticking to The Law and disposing of their rubbish in the proper fashion. As I understand it Exeter introduced 'on the spot' £80 penalties for any transgressors a year or so ago which appears to be working very well. A short period of harsh punishments would be welcome in Weymouth I know and feel would have the desired effect in very quick time!

I walk past these garages almost daily, but never even dreamed of what lay within. This morning, heading for the early bus, I encountered 2 gentlemen preparing their obvious pride and joy for a session of charity work at Poole Park. The Fire Engine is a 1963 Karrier, Carmichael from the Dorset Brigade,

while the 'pump' tender is a 1939 Dennis. I don't know the 2 gents concerned, but certainly they had more important things to do this morning than stand around 'yarning' to me. Let's hope we meet again soon.

The morning was bright and sunny enough, with just a light breeze from the west. However, as the day wore on or when cloud obscured the sun it was chilly, while at Ferry Bridge it was down right cold!

Black-headed Gulls have, to my knowledge, been absent from the area for the past couple of months but a few post breeding birds are now showing up here and there.

British Red-breasted Mergansers, in general, should now be in Eastern or Northern Europe engaged in breeding. This year, a pair have decided to stay in the southern reaches of the Fleet, but have for the most remained well away from human disturbance.

Today I watched the 'pair' leave the undisturbed waters adjacent to the Little Tern colony and swim across the lagoon and close to Ferry Bridge.

The female was content to sit on a rock, close to the bridge, until a passing kayak

put both birds to flight, sending them back to their sanctuary.

Once again on Portland there were few birds to report except for a good number of juvenile Great Tit (above), a mixed flock of about 40 Linnet/Goldfinch and a recently fledged family of Wrens at Culverwell.

There were of course Whitethroat singing from just about every available perch, seeming, as a species, to have done very well this year.

There were also a couple of comments on yesterdays post, one of which came from the Jellicle Cats

* From: DANIEL CAUTE
* To: captbagsy@waitrose.com
* Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2010 01:33:20 -0700 (PDT)
* Subject: Re: Thank You For The Music

Thanks Bagsy.

Great photos - you've pretty much covered the culture of the Jurassic Coast without once needing to focus on ammonites. Your record of Portland is particularly impressive because there is much wild beauty within this bleak and desolate place which requires 'seeking and finding'. You probably learnt how to 'seek and capture' at sea. Or perhaps it's the inner ability bestowed upon those born in the Chinese Year of the Fire Dog.

see you again soon

Dan and the Jellicle Cats

while from Jonathon Hudston, whose 'Real West Dorset' website is well worth a look, some kind words that can be viewed by clicking on 'Comments' at the bottom of yesterdays post.

and finally an unexpected 'year tick' as I checked my dhobying (washing) in my back garden this afternoon. Paying more attention to the 'heavens' than the job at hand, and with binoculars close by I watched a Hobby fly in from the south, and fly amok among the few Swifts that still remain. As a matter of trivia, the table top football, cricket, hockey et al games invented by Peter Adolph (1916 - 1994) was refused a trademark under the name Hobby (coincidentally Mr Adolph's favourite bird) so he resorted to calling it after the raptors Latin name Falco subbuteo.

The View From An X53

I'm still not sure if it was a good idea to accept my neighbour's kind invitation for dinner and watch England play Algeria in the World Cup, but I did. Joy, above in her regalia, an ardent England and Manchester United fan had only asked that each guest wear something 'red & white' and enjoy the evening but if you are any kind of football fan that was a hard ask!

Geraldine, Brian, Me, Julie and Roy made for excellent company and the food was good, but the undoubted star of the show as far as the TV was concerned was a bird perched on the right goal crossbar throughout the game.

I am now of the belief that the programme's producer had set this avian visitor up knowing the England performance was going to be 'A JOKE'! It just seems too much of a coincidence that the bird in question was a Laughing Dove. Those of you who, like me, have turned into a couch potato during these games may have notice that this isn't the only bird to have caught the attention of the cameraman, the other seen feeding on the field of play, some days ago, was a Cape Sparrow, and it looked like both were juveniles.

The X53 bus service, also called the Jurassic Coast Link, runs between Poole in Dorset and Exeter in Devon, a distance of some 69 miles, and passes just a 3 minute walk from my front door.

So, with the weather being once again fine and dry I decided to catch the 07-20 for a long overdue return to Devon's main city.

Having passed through the villages of Chickerell and Portesham we passed Saint Catherine's Chapel high on the hill overlooking Abbotsbury.

The main street and church in Abbotsbury.

Abbotsbury Hill, looking back along the full length of the Fleet and to Portland in the distant and hazy background.

Passing Burton Bradstock, climbing the hill we could see the flat plateau of Golden Cap, the highest point on the South Coast of England, before arriving at

the small fishing port of West Bay.

Next came the 'market town' of Bridport, that always reminds me of a time warp as little ever seems to change there.

Colmer's Hill near Bridport, was named after the Reverend John Colmer, former rector of Symondsbury, and although only 400 feet above sea level can be seen from many locations, not least from the centre of Bridport in South Street. The trees were planted on the top of the hill around WWI and it is an extremely popular subject for artists and photographers alike.

Considered an 'iconic' landmark, it is the inspiration behind a proposal for an unusual arts and cultural building next to Tower Bridge which could be recreated next to the River Thames in time for the 2012 Olympics.

Next we wound our way down the steep hill into Lyme Regis,

and in turn caught sight of the pier which is known as The Cob. In more recent years it gained notoriety as the location for the filming of the French Lieutenant's Woman.

Just a few miles up the road we entered the county of Devon, first stop being the sleepy seaside town of Seaton. The smart little holiday resort will be familiar to hundreds, maybe thousands, of 'birders' as the place where Great Britain's only Long-billed Murrelet was seen after being found at nearby Dawlish Warren on 7th November 2006.

Beer Cliffs

Approaching the Village of Beer, Devon.

A typical Devon cottage.

Main street Beer, and finally arriving at

Exeter main shopping square. From here its worth trying to spot what is missing from most of these photographs.

The old city walls, first built by the Romans.

City Wall Chapel.

Houses in the Cathedral Quarter.

The Cathedral obscured by Fire Engine and Scaffold.

The South Tower.

Detail of ancient Mason's handiwork.

There were lots of atraction all over the city including a 'plate spinning' clowness.

Plus a few more architectural features. Restaurant.

Private house.

Fine doorway 1.

Fine doorway 2.

Burnet Patch Bridge, built 1814.

Tudor style building.

That's some 'dreadlocks' man!

Sat in the sun enjoying a Cornish (traitor) pasty and listening to 'Jellicle Cat' (name derived from TS Eliot's book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, an extremely talented Father, Daughter & Son trio. The Caute family are Jess on drums and vocals, dad Dan on just about anything that's playable including Flute & Guitar and young Ollie of bass guitar. Contact 01297-444940.