Birding The Nothe

Any additional records are most welcome - please email them in! If you've arrived straight to this page click here to get to the home page and site navigation.

Turnstones can be found on or near the pier in most months - July being the only exception. In 2002 The Nothe was the single most important site in Dorset for the species.

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 admittedly somewhat exorbitant 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 rowing 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.

Since 2003 we have also, perhaps rather surprisingly, become part of a World Heritage Site - the (definitely-not-Spielberg-inspired) 'Jurassic Coast'. For more info go to The Heritage Coast website.

Bird Information

What's about? Check the BirdNet pager via Birdguides

What's about on Portland? Check the outstandingly good Portland Bird Observatory website, with a daily diary (of both bords and wildlife - especially moths) 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. Both observatories take visitors; my advice is not to think too hard about it - just book your stay at both now!

More links? Try UK Birdwatching Links. We're on their regional site links, along with several other local patch sites: enjoyable ones include Severnside, Chew Valley Lake, and Chard Reservoir.

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. Sadly this has recently succumbed to redevelopment of the Liddell Hut into an all-singing, all-dancing bungalow! 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, Ringlet, Large and Small Skipper and Common Blue 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 that changed radically when seawall works were completed in 2003 - see below.

For Old Postcards of The Nothe click here!

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 wintered here.		The South shore in September 2003, post-seawall works. Gulls, herons and most waders seem undisturbed by the change, but Turnstones don't seem to like it...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.

Female and male Black Redstarts, 18 Jan 2004

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 produced my 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 (occasional in spring), 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.

		The most memorable days, though, have been during freezing and snowy spells, rather rare in these days of global warming. Such days might produce all five thrushes feeding together on the grassy areas, along with Lapwing, Skylark, and a variety of finches. More wader species, which have included Greenshank and Knot, can be found along the shore, and Scaup and Long-tailed Duck can come close in to the harbour, along with freshwater duck like Wigeon & Pochard. Twice I've flushed Woodcock here in these conditions. January 1985 remains my best month, with a total of 71 species recorded, recently equalled by May 2002 and Oct 2005. The total list currently stands at 202 species of which I've personally seen 170.
A rare light dusting of snow, 29 Jan 2004

Rarities

Eight official ('British Birds') rarities have been found in the recording area: Britain's first wintering Spotted Sandpiper, found in 1973 by David Fisher, an Ivory Gull shot in Weymouth Bay in Nov 1860, Laughing Gull recorded twice: a long-staying bird in 1969, and a 1st-winter in the harbour found by Bob Groves on 3 Nov 2005, Dorset's third and fourth Franklin's Gulls, a 2nd-winter bird roosting in Weymouth Bay in Feb/Mar 2000, and another seen a couple of times in March 2004; Bonaparte's Gull found by Martin Cade and George Green off the pier on 2 Apr 1981,White-winged Black Tern recorded twice, in 1986 and 1988, Forster's Tern, in winter 1995/96, and Dorset's second Lesser Grey Shrike, found 18 October 1988 .

Why The Nothe ?

Yes, a good question! 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...)!

Dorset, and Weymouth in particular, has an excellent track record of bird recording, and records for the site go back to 1860, when an Ivory Gull was shot in Weymouth Bay.

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 !