Saturday
June 24th
Weather: perfect butterfly-watching weather - warm sunshine all day with just a light breeze .
Portland Bill, 0530
Definitely
worth getting up early and driving down to the Bill as we were seeing
Gannets moving up the Channel as
soon as we arrived. The sea
held the usual Guillemots and Razorbills with a single Puffin putting in an
occasional appearance.
Star-bird award went to the Manx Shearwaters that glided past not too
far out. On the way back to
the vehicle we stopped off at the seabird colony on the Westcliffs where there
were Fulmars and Kittiwakes flying around with Razorbills on the ledges.
Portland Bird Observatory, 0930
Here the warden, Martin Cade, showed us a huge variety of moths caught overnight including the very rare Many-lined Moth. Martin updates the Portland Bird Observatory web site every day with a summary of the dayÕs sightings Ð see www.portlandbirdobs.btinternet.co.uk.
Southwell, 1000
A walk around the fields here started off our butterfly list with plenty of Meadow Browns and Small Heaths. A tiny moth was caught and proved to be a Portland speciality - Cynaeda dentalis. This beautiful little moth is in the Pyralid family and feeds on Vipers Bugloss.
Next we crossed the road and walked down to the cliffs. This short walk took us at least half an hour as we found species after species of insect. The rarest was probably the hoverfly Xanthogramma pedissequum but we were also taken with the glossy-green Thick-kneed Beetles on all the flowers. Finally we found the real target for the day Ð a fresh Lulworth Skipper. We soon found several others and were able to compare them with Large Skippers which also appeared nearby.
Turning
back we were distracted by the sight of a Peregrine dashing off over the sea on
a hunt. We then spent a very
pleasant half hour watching a series of chases after pigeons over the sea. The last one culminated in
disaster with the female Peregrine
accidentally plunging into the sea with her catch and then having to swim a
sort of butterfly-stroke back to shore to dry off. We left the 2 youngsters forlornly huddled together on the
cliff with both their parents missing.
See below for a PEREGRINE UPDATE
High Angle Batteries, 1300
Lunch was had in the company of more fascinating insects Ð in particular a Hummingbird Hawk-moth and a RoeselÕs Bush-cricket. After lunch we walked down into a quarry area and found countless numbers of Silver-studded Blues and Six-spot Burnets. Back at the High Angle Batteries we came across a couple of shining male Adonis Blues.
Ferrybridge, 1630
Our final stop was to look at the variety of flowers to be found on the shell-sand soil at the edge of Portland Harbour, with Sea Holly the main attraction.
Sunday June 25th
Weather: Rain at first with dry but humid
conditions in the afternoon. Cheyne
Point, 0930 This
was a quick visit in the rain to check on the progress of the Peregrine
family. Happily the female was
back with her young on the cliff and appeared to be using the rain to wash her
seawater-soaked feathers.
See below for a PEREGRINE UPDATE
Powerstock
Common, 1030 We
tried to lose the rain by driving to the west of the county, and largely the
tactic worked with only short spells of rain for the rest of the day. Powerstock Common was a wet and humid
paradise with countless species of
plants and a surprising number of insects, although sadly very few
butterflies. The DyerÕs Greenweed
was very impressive everywhere, but my personal favourites were the Meadow
Thistles. Birds here included
Blackcaps, Marsh Tits, Spotted Flycatchers and a singing Lesser Whitethroat
that we never quite managed to see. Maiden
Newton, 1400 Stood
on the bridge over the Frome looking for Dippers we saw a new species for the
Portland Heights fish list Ð Brown Trout.
The list now stands at an impressive 3 species! Moving to the other side of the village
we walked along the disused railway line where we came across a fabulous pair
of Bullfinches posing nicely next to a hedge. Next we went down to the river and found even more new
plants including Shining Cranesbill and Wall Rue. Another plant we thought might be a fern growing on a tree
by the river turned out to be Upright Hedge Parsley. Back
at the hotel we enjoyed a well-earned cream tea and went through the enormous
list of species we had seen. Bob
Ford, 26 June 2006
PEREGRINE UPDATE
Both adults were on the cliffs on their usual perches and looking well.
2 youngsters were soaring around the cliffs some distance away and appeared fit and well-fed.
Thursday June 29thSaturday July 22nd
Both adults present again, male seen passing food to female.
Female seen taking a shower again in the rain, but this may be normal behaviour for her.
One youngster on the cliff with the male.