The Sea - Morcheeba

Link to The Sea - Morcheeba - from the album 'Big Calm'

With the early morning weather an exact match to yesterday, it was decided to take a chance and try, once again, for the Spotted Sandpiper at Lyme Regis, as the day after the visit with Lesley it was back on the Bird Alert sites. The main concern with the wind still in the eastern quarter would be the sea conditions, but as I set out the elements were improving by the minute.

It is no more than a 5 minute walk from my house to the bus stop, and as a 'bus pass' holder the fare is 'free' so not a lot of effort required to see what for Dorset is a classic rarity. I can tell you right away that it wasn't seen, so fortuitous some scenic shots were taken along the way of the

Link to Jurassic Coast

Just a couple of miles from home, looking north to the small hamlet of Shilvinghampton & Coryeates, we soon make the downhill approach to

Portisham, a little spoilt by modern development

but still with most ancient buildings left in tact.

One of the main highlights en-route is the village of

Abbotsbury, complete with its Swannery, Sub-tropical Gardens, St Catherine's Chapel and Tithe Barn, to name but a few of the delights.

The narrow lanes are something of a nightmare to drivers, especially the 90 degree 'hairpin' at the end of this section.

The whole village and much of the surrounding lands fall under the stewardship of the family Strangways, with Lady Charlotte at the helm. The Old School, now a Community Hall, bares the family name.

The road west out of the village.

The Highways and Byways of Dorset continue down into the village of

Burton Bradstock and its

favoured 'local' The Three Horseshoes public house.

The tiny port of West Bay comes next,

followed by the market Town of Bridport.

I would use the words throwback and quaint, in the nicest sense, to describe the town as little seems to change here. As far as shops are concerned there is even a Hatter surviving along with Family Butchers, Fishmongers and Bakers. Long may it continue!

There are good views of Golden Cap as we approach the village of

Chideock which also boasts a fine pub, the George Inn and an equally

fine Church of St Giles.

We are now nearing Lyme Regis and feel sure that regular readers will have seen enough photographs of this lovely place to fill an album of their own?

So, we will restrict ourselves to just 3 to show the sea conditions today.

Appart from smashing against the sea-wall and making much of the promenade impassible,

it was also hitting the Cob sending spume and spindrift flying high above the 2 story buildings on the harbour side. No self respecting small Wader would be out in this. A small set back, but in such things you should always have a 'trump card' up your sleeve, which I have!

Best you watch this space and all will be revealed.

A Day In The Life - The Beatles

Plenty more black clouds to start the day, along with a frost, change in wind direction to the east and a definite drop in temperature. In the cemetery the Goldcrest continued to be in full voice, but all else only amounted to the ghostly form of an over-flying

Grey Heron. Not a lot to add to that at Radipole except for the same Bullfinch at the old kissing gate, a male Marsh Harrier at the North Hide, surveying his hunting patch, 17 Black-tailed Godwit today along with a few Common Snipe plus a single Lapwing. Gull numbers had declined to just a handful, so little to delay matters so I headed for

Newton's Cove which overlooks Portland (distant right) and the walls surrounding Portland Harbour. There the full force of the chill wind could be felt so it wasn't surprising the Black Redstart of recent days was absent. There were however 6 Great Crested Grebe but that was not enough to keep me there any longer, especially as there was a plan 'B'. A brief stop at Ferry Bridge added a few Red-breasted Merganser to the day list before catching the bus to the Bill.

The sea-bird feeding frenzy was still underway in the Shambles tidal race, but Auks seemed a lot less than 2 days ago while Gannet numbers had certainly increased.

In fairly quick time a distant Fulmar* was added to the Year List, but further on towards the Observatory once again the Little Owls were out of sight. At he Obs some of the regular 'sea-watchers' were busy spotting Red-throated Divers and a few Common Scoter but for me it was time for coffee. During the stay there was what sounded like a Chiffchaff calling in the garden, but it was now time for a search among the beach huts again for Black Redstart, without success. Being so close, a second visit to the Owl site was thought worth it and paid dividends as this

Little Owl* was sat on the quarry wall. Distant, and not allowing a particularly good photograph

this image has been taken from the archive for illustration.

On the way back, 10 Black-necked Grebe and an Eider where found close to the north edge of Portland Harbour, while the Plan B meant a return to Newton's Cove. It is often the case when the wind is in this quarter that smaller birds seek shelter and food either in the small cove at the root of the Stone Pier below the Napoleonic Nothe Fort or in the Gardens of the same name.

This was certainly true of a calling Chiffchaff* in the garden, a timely back-up for the one in the Obs garden.

Passing the entrance gate of the Fort, now a well visited tourist attraction, the steps drop

to the Weymouth Stone Pier,

where a Black Redstart* was found perched on the stony fortification, moving from perch to feeding station and

back to perch. An area of the town not often visited, I took the opportunity to take these few stills.

Pelican of London is, by and large, stationed in Weymouth, employed training young people.

The Condor Ferry plies a route between the town and Guernsey & Jersey, Channel Islands plus Saint Malo, France.

Weymouth's Historic Water Pump.

The Tudor House

and detail.

The Outer Harbour looking towards The Town Bridge.

The Year (January) List now stands at 169

Dipper in Lyme Regis

The first bird of the day was this Magpie as we waited for

the 09:15 bus to take us to Lyme Regis where the only snag was the closure of 2 of the main roads, meaning the bus had to drop us at the top of the village.

An advantage as far as we were concerned as the views from the Municipal Park are stunning and we took full advantage, You'll note my reference to 'we' as today I enjoyed the company of my friend Lesley Brown, who enhanced the bright sunshine, clear blue sky with a slightly colder feel all round!

We first walked along the sea-front,

then the groynes, at the east beach, overlooking the landslips and the bay, but there was no sign of the Spotted Sandpiper.

This was followed by a walk out to the Cob with little more than a single Purple Sandpiper for our trouble.

A lone Guillemot was close inshore,

giving a chance for a couple of close shots,

as was an obliging Rock Pipit. A prolonged search was made for the pair of Black Redstart but they seemed to have vanished too,

while a most vocal Dipper did add to the Year List albeit with little more than a fleeting glimpse.

House Sparrow plus another

Purple Sandpiper were seen along the promenade, but that was about all the birding there was for today.

However, Golden Cap, the highest point on the south coast of England, was now seen in good light, as we noticed

this banner advertising the appearance of Whole Lotta Led the best Zeppelin Tribute band I have ever seen, so guess I'll see you at the Marine Theatre on the 11th February?

A Starling on the roof of the Royal Standard pub welcomed us to dine,

Lesley opting for the Fish & Chips, and me the Ham & Eggs.

On leaving the pub we did see several Brown Rats along the River Lym, plus a single

Grey Squirrel in the park, but it was now time to return to Weymouth. With a decent bottle of 'white' in the fridge at my house we got off the bus there, spending the last couple of hours together watching Pink Floyd, George Harrison, REM and Mariza (you really need to take a listen to this lady Mariza on you-tube ) on the DVD. A new day tomorrow - so bring it on!

The Year (January) List now stands at 165