Sunday, April 27, 2008 - Portland Bill, a few Bats and a Firecrest. |
Friday:
Spent most of the morning at Portland Bill.
Weather was very overcast with some mist and a light South / South West Wind.
Most of the day's excitement was from the sea watch, but I fancied the walk from Southwell to the bill and back, so missed out on Pomarine Skua, and one or two other sightings. I did see a good passage of Gannets offshore, Fulmar, Kittiwake and a small number of Manx Shearwaters really close in during my brief seawatch.
The grounded land birds wasn't that bad, just missing the bit of quality that you hope to find at the Bill.. let's just say I've had worse days there! My tally for the morning was:
14 Wheatear, 2 Tree Pipits, 1 Siskin, 2 Chiff Chaff, 2 Sedge Warbler, 1 White Wagtail, 3 Blackcaps, 2 Whitethroats.
Overhead there was a strong passage of Swallows which was probably the most memorable part of the day for me. I managed a single Sand Martin, and a single House Martin amongst them. The Swallows were all flying with the wind.. something I don't recall ever seeing before. I am more used to seeing them battling against a wind, no matter how strong it is.
Saturday:
Ran the moth trap overnight. Pretty quiet! the highlight being a Pebble hook tip. Also 2 Hebrew Characters, and a smart looking Brimstone. Later on in the day an Early Tooth striped showed up on a wooden fence. Towards dusk an Early Thorn made an appearance. This had obviously been brought in by the moth trap but gone undetected through the day. Had a brief look along Hoe Lane after shopping but nothing noteworthy. spent the evening out on the back patio with the bat detector! Was a good night for Pipistrelles with constant passes of Common Pips picked up on the detector. A Noctule passed over which doesn't happen too frequently from this garden ( we get more Serotines).
Sunday:
A day of DIYing, but did take the binocs out during a trip to B&Q (sneaky!) and had a look along Hoe Lane. Stopped off at the East end to scan a sheep field but not much there apart from a Stock Dove and Mistle Thrush. Woodland on the other side of the road was filled with birdsong, and I picked up a Firecrest singing high in the canopy. Eventually got a good look at him, and better views as he came down to head height. As this is an area I haven't checked before, I've no idea how long he has been there, however he was constantly feeding, and was probably a freshly arrived migrant. No sign of him later in the day when I went with sound recorder to try and record the song. |
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Diary of wildlife watching in and around North Baddesley, Hampshire.
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