The North West Surrey RSPB Local Group September outdoor meeting was planned for Portland. Both Dave and I love this place so we decided to make a weekend of it leaving Surrey after tea on Friday evening and missing the worst of the Friday traffic arriving in Portland at about 9.00pm. Two weather systems – one to the west, the other to the east meant kept the weather at Portland sunny and very breezy.
We got up for a dawn sea watch on Saturday. Quite a sea was running and we had a steady stream of Gannets, Guillemots, Razorbills, Shags, Gulls, Cormorants and six Mediterranean Gulls. Rock Pipits, Wheatears and Pied Wagtails were all round the Bill but with the cold wind from the north the autumn migration was not quite as good as it could have been – we went back to our B&B for breakfast! The rest of the day was relaxed as we ambled our way around the Swannery at Abbotsbury getting great views of Goldcrest, then onto Lodmore where we saw Spoonbill, Bar-tailed Godwit, Greenshank and Water Rail. We went back to the Bill for an evening wander where the small bushes were heaving with Blackcaps, Chiff Chaffs and Greenfinches. Sitting having a cup of tea gave me an identification lesson on juvvie gulls! Being one of Dave’s favourite subjects! One youngster in particular gave rise to a lengthy investigation which was only resolved eventually at home. Original thoughts were that it was a juvvie Common Gull, but it was my question about its bill that made Dave look much more closely at this bird. Having studied the photograph it was decided that it was Herring Gull argenteus going into 3rd winter. Another character was a cheeky Jackdaw that came looking for crumbs from peoples tables!
Sunday dawned..and apart from us both having a dreaded lurgie, we were looking forward to meeting the group. Again the sun was shining and eventually 16 of us set off. The sea watch was a little more eventful with a couple of Great Skuas passing. Walking up the cliff we had fantastic views of a Peregrine playing games with a couple of crows and further on several Kestrels were displaying their flight skills against the wind. Walking down back to the quarry a Little Owl was found. Sadly we both felt so unwell at this stage we decided to head for home, but a great weekend and 75 species for the trip.
The North West Surrey RSPB Local Group September outdoor meeting was planned for Portland. Both Dave and I love this place so we decided to make a weekend of it leaving Surrey after tea on Friday evening and missing the worst of the Friday traffic arriving in Portland at about 9.00pm. Two weather systems – one to the west, the other to the east meant kept the weather at Portland sunny and very breezy.
We got up for a dawn sea watch on Saturday. Quite a sea was running and we had a steady stream of Gannets, Guillemots, Razorbills, Shags, Gulls, Cormorants and six Mediterranean Gulls. Rock Pipits, Wheatears and Pied Wagtails were all round the Bill but with the cold wind from the north the autumn migration was not quite as good as it could have been – we went back to our B&B for breakfast! The rest of the day was relaxed as we ambled our way around the Swannery at Abbotsbury getting great views of Goldcrest, then onto Lodmore where we saw Spoonbill, Bar-tailed Godwit, Greenshank and Water Rail. We went back to the Bill for an evening wander where the small bushes were heaving with Blackcaps, Chiff Chaffs and Greenfinches. Sitting having a cup of tea gave me an identification lesson on juvvie gulls! Being one of Dave’s favourite subjects! One youngster in particular gave rise to a lengthy investigation which was only resolved eventually at home. Original thoughts were that it was a juvvie Common Gull, but it was my question about its bill that made Dave look much more closely at this bird. Having studied the photograph it was decided that it was Herring Gull argenteus going into 3rd winter. Another character was a cheeky Jackdaw that came looking for crumbs from peoples tables!
Sunday dawned..and apart from us both having a dreaded lurgie, we were looking forward to meeting the group. Again the sun was shining and eventually 16 of us set off. The sea watch was a little more eventful with a couple of Great Skuas passing. Walking up the cliff we had fantastic views of a Peregrine playing games with a couple of crows and further on several Kestrels were displaying their flight skills against the wind. Walking down back to the quarry a Little Owl was found. Sadly we both felt so unwell at this stage we decided to head for home, but a great weekend and 75 species for the trip.
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