Trip reports

Ferrybridge & Portland Area - 22 June

Friday, 27 June 2008

Nevertheless, some good birds were seen, including ring plover, a variety of gulls, oystercatcher, cormorant, several common terns but, best of all, quite a few little terns hovering and dipping into the water as they fed before flying across to the shingle beach where they nest.
Moving on to Portland, a very strong westerly wind made it difficult to steady telescopes. Starting at the cliff top near the coastguard station, brilliant views were obtained of guillemots and razorbills coming into their cliff top nests. There were also many kittewakes and shags and several fulmars sailing along in the wind.
Some shelter was obtained in the lee of the obelisk at the end of the Bill, albeit with the accompaniment of the fog horn blaring right behind. However, there was a non-stop stream of birds passing across the end of the Bill, many of them quite close in, and great views were had of gannets of all ages, from snowy white adults to almost brown juveniles. There were hundreds of auks scurrying past at wavetop level, the majority of which were carrying small fish back to their young.
Other species included more kittewakes, shags, cormorants and the occasional shearwater. There had been reports of the Balearic variety of shearwaters having ben seen. Some were thought to be of this race, but it would have been a brave birdwatcher who could have definitely identified one under those conditions.
Several smaller birds were seen in the small quarries, including some beautifully coloured linnets feeding young. Another good sighting was of two Atlantic grey seals close inshore.
It was then decided to drive across to Dorchester and Maiden Castle. Here, the party had good views of what was probably the best bird of the day - several corn buntings were first located by their jingly calls and then spotted sitting on wire fences. Once common throughout the countryside, this, the largest of the British buntings, some seven inches in length, has been one of the victims of the alteration of farming practices that have robbed it of a great deal of its winter feed.