Trip reports
Radipole and Portland - 6 February
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
'DEFINITELY the best field trip for many a day' was the opinion expressed by the sixteen Taunton RSPB local group members who gathered recently in the Weymouth area.
Early arrivals at the Radipole RSPB reserve were lucky to locate a Mediterranean gull among the large number of gulls in the car park. The lake in front of the visitor centre offered its usual concentration of birds, including mallard, a female ruddy duck, tufties, shelduck, cormorant, coot and moorhen.
Walking around the paths overlooking the newly opened areas among the vast reedbeds offered good views of teal, little grebe and several fleeting glimpses of Cetti's warblers.
Another open expanse of water held many more wildfowl, including pochard and a pair of ruddy duck, plus several great crested grebes and, among the teal at the edge of the reeds, many snipe were almost invisible with their camouflaged plumage blending with the stems of the reeds.
Best bird at Radipole was a female marsh harrier that was in view for a lengthy time. The excellent light conditions made it possible to see the golden head of this superb bird even when it climbed high in the sky.
The group then moved on to a small area overlooking Portland Harbour, just below Sandsfoot Castle, and spent a good deal of time scanning the large expanse of fairly calm water. First bird of note was a distant great northern diver. There was a good sized party of red-breasted mergansers and then a black-necked grebe was located close enough for some to make out its bright red eye.
Shortly afterwards another grebe was identified as the red-necked variety, then a further great northern diver appeared much closer. Eventually another was spotted and recognised as a black-throated diver.
At Ferrybridge, with the waters edge somewhat distant, other species added to the list included ringed plover, turnstone, dunlin, oystercatcher, curlew, little egret and a single black-tailed godwit.
Final destination was Portland Bill, and what a welcome when two hunting short-eared owls were found over the meadows opposite the Old Lighthouse.
These two wonderful birds kept everyone enthralled as they interacted and moved up and down in front of the grandstand viewpoint. Several times one or the other came to rest on a fence post, giving superb views through telescopes.
From the tip of the Bill, over a smoother than usual, but still turbulent sea, good sightings included gannets, Manx shearwater, kittiwake, razorbill and a somewhat sickly guilletmot that had probably fallen foul of the oil from the recent sunken ship in Lyme Bay.
Excellent views were obtained of three purple sandpipers dodging the spray on the rocks and other species of note included rock pipit, skylark, kestrel and a passing peregrine. To cap a superb day, the resident little owl stood sentry at the entrance of a crevice in the small quarry.