NEW YEAR LIST NOW STANDS AT 89.
I took wifey shopping today to Weymouth - how convenient! I got 2 full hours watching birds in Portland Harbour - and wifey got to use my credit card for 3 hours!! Tough, I know, and it could have been a very expensive bird watching outing - time will tell.
It was another dull over cast day with fog and drizzle over the hills as we drove from North Perrott to Weymouth via Dorchester. I logged a new bird whilst circumnavigating a roundabout at Dorchester in the shape of a Mediterranean Gull. There were about 50 gulls near the roadside and several adult Med Gulls were clearly visible - I shouted "Med Gull" and wifey shouted "artic. lorry coming this way"! Oops!
Anyway, I almost cleaned up in the harbour, I stopped first at the yachting Club near Sandsfoot Castle where I logged Black-necked Grebe (14), Med Gull (11), Red-breasted Merganser (23), Shag, Cormorant, Common Scoter (3 -female), Great crested grebe and not much else.
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| Med Gulls at the Yachting Culb |
At ferrybrdige I found the regular Snow Bunting on the roof of the visitor's centre! Another 356 Med Gulls were on the mud flat and not much else. From Portland castle I scoped a Black-throated Diver and saw two dark ducks out in the distance (I thought they were female Eider).
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| Snow Bunting at ferrybridge |
I then went back to ferrybridge and walked across the main road to scope the harbour from there. I had a great 30 minutes: first I found two Velvet Scoters (my two dark ducks from earlier), then I got onto a Slavonian Grebe, then a single 1cy Eider Duck, another two Common Scoter, 65 Red-breasted Mergansers and lots of Med Gulls.
Back at Ferrybridge I scoped down the fleet towards Abbottsbury and found a small flock of Brent Geese, two Little Grebes and 4 Oystercatchers (the waders I saw today).
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| Shags and a Cormorant at Portland Harbour |
Well, my 2 hours we up so I drove back into Weymouth making a quick stop at Radipole Lake which was pants, although I did take this picture shown below of a Med gull.
ADDITIONS TO THE YEAR LIST:
81. Black-necked Grebe
82. Mediterranean Gull
83. Common Scoter
84. Snow Bunting
85. Black-throated Diver
86. Slavonian Grebe
87. Velvet Scoter
88. Eider Duck
89. Brent Goose
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