Birding The Nothe

Maps and Access

For a series of maps go to the excellent Multimap site and enter the postcode dt4 8ty. The Nothe Fort is well signposted within Weymouth. Car Parking is easy but expensive - the wardens are very vigilant here, especially first thing in the morning, so do pay the parking fee!

If you are coming to Weymouth by train, just head for the seafront , and then right for Weymouth Harbour.

The site also has two long-distance footpaths running through it: the South-West Coast Path (only 500 miles to Minehead via Land's End), and the Hardy Way, a route linking sites mentioned in Thomas Hardy novels. You can also get to the Nothe by boat! A public rowing-boat ferry - which must be nearly unique in Britain (the only other one I can think of is to Handa in Scotland) - runs between here and the quay during the summer - the ferry actually forms part of the designated coast path.

Bird Information

What's about? Check the BirdNet pager via Birdguides

What's about on Portland? Check the excellent Portland Bird Observatory website, with a daily diary and full species list. The 'Obs' is only 5 miles away from The Nothe, but the differences in bird migration are amazing! For a contrast, but forever fascinating, try the Fair Isle Bird Observatory site.

More links? Try UK Birdwatching Links. We're on their regional site links, along with several other local patch sites.

More views of The Nothe

For some great 360-degree views of The Nothe try the excellent VR Weymouth site. The first pic from the south shore shows the views over Newton's Cove towards Portland Harbour, just over the scrub, Weymouth Bay and the Dorset coast beyond. Note the cracks in the path from landslipping on this side. The nearby scrub is where the finches roost in winter,and sometimes hosts wintering Chiffchaffs. The Holm Oaks are not that productive, but behind these can be seen the sycamores and hedge of the Liddell Hut garden, a real migrant hotspot, which has hosted Wood Warbler and Turtle Dove. Behind the little wooden fence you can see the chalk cliffs of the Dorset coast eastwards beyond White Nothe towards Lulworth. Just below this fence is a good landslip area for insects, with Marbled White butterflies and Six-spot Burnet moths in summer.

The second pic is taken from the south slopes, the haunt of Linnets in summer, and Wheatears on migration. You can see the great views you get from here. Portland looms in the distance over the harbour breakwater.

The third pic just shows the fort. You get Black Redstart along here in winter. The fourth pic is the 360 version of the pic at the top of this page - just imagine it in winter with the bay full of Great Northern Divers! The fifth pic shows Newton's Cove, and is another view set to change radically when seawall works start in 2002 - expect a huge seawall, roundabout and walkway.

The Nothe Year

The South shore in 2001- Black Redstarts winter along the sea wall, with Chiffchaffs in the scrub above. One of Dorset's largest Turnstone flocks also winters here.

The South shore in September 2003, post-seawall works. Gulls, herons and waders see m undisturbed by the change, but no Turnstones seen...yet.

In winter it is often sheltered and mild, and can be particularly productive when the weather is harsh inland. A typical winter's visit will produce Black Redstart, Chiffchaff, Great Northern Diver and Slavonian Grebe. In spring, good conditions will give an abundance of Willow Warblers and other migrants feeding on insects around the sycamores and flowering heads of Alexanders. Summer can be quiet, but terns, and the chance of seabirds in rough weather can provide interest, and unusual species like Reed Warbler can turn up.From August to the end of the year is probably the best time, when every day can produce something new, and most of what you see in the area is probably on the move. 25 Aug 2001 has produced the record day-list of 48 species. The area is good for warblers and flycatchers, and has hosted Pallas's Warbler. Firecrest is a typical autumn visitor, that sometimes overwinters. November sees the build-up of divers and grebes, probably at their best around the turn of the year, when Cormorant and Shag also peak.

Rarities

Two major rarities have been found : Britain's first wintering Spotted Sandpiper, found in 1973 by David Fisher (now director of Sunbird), and Dorset's second Lesser Grey Shrike, found 18 October 1988 by John Brodie Good (now director of Wildwings). It is to be hoped that the director of The Travelling Naturalist gets equally lucky here one day!

Why The Nothe ?

I've been birding on and around The Nothe since 1970, when I saw my first Firecrest nearby. I moved to the area in 1978, and first knew The Nothe as a site for winter Black Redstart and Common Sandpiper, and as a good place to watch gulls from - in those days Weymouth discharged its sewage just offshore, and the outfall has attracted a great variety of species, including Glaucous, Iceland, Mediterranean, Bonaparte's and Sabine's Gulls, and even Grey Phalarope. Oh for a good sewage outfall again (only half-joking...)!

Meanwhile, if you have significant records for The Nothe that don't appear on the species notes, please do drop me an email.

Jamie McMillan, Dorset, England jamie@naturalist.co.uk

Thanks for visiting !