2004

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

DEC

29 September: A drizzly and dark morning produced year maxima of 26 Chiffchaffs - including 14 in one sycamore - and 30 Robins, but seemed to dampen down visible migration.

28 September: Quite busy, with 13 Goldcrest an autumn max, and 88 Swallows over the most since 17 Sep 2002, but nothing new for the year.

27 September: A few Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests again, with Meadow Pipits still moving on a warm mid-morning, but the butterflies were the main event , with Comma new for the year, year max 10 Large White and record max five Speckled Wood as well as a Migrant Hawker dragonfly.

Dawn, 25 September 2004: great conditions for migrants, but few birds on the move

25 September: Fine with light cloud and very light northerlies: classic movement weather, but slightly disappointing,with Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits only just about getting to year maxima of 25 & 29 respectively, with a few Chaffinches and Linnets over. 11 Goldcrests were an autumn max, a Sand Martin was amongst the hirundines stocking up over the slopes, two Kingfisher were a joint max, and a passing Ringed Plover was a year-tick. With Clouded Yellow and Raven both new for the year reported on 7 & 8 Sep, the bird year list moves up to 104 spp.

22 September: Not much on the land in the continuing westerlies, but a Kingfisher going across the harbour was the first of the autumn, and an imm. Red-necked Grebe in the bay - showing a red neck - was my earliest in autumn as well as being a year-tick. Year list now 102 spp.

20 September: Strong SW winds again produced little on the sea, except, oddly, a passing Little Egret. The first Wheatear of the autumn was sheltering amongst the SE boulders.

19 September: Fine and sunny with good insects mid-morning including a year max 30 Small White butterflies, and the first dragonflies of the year - two Migrant Hawkers and a Common Darter. A juv. Arctic Tern off the pier was showing extremely well and was a year-tick, the year list going to 101 spp.

17 September: A wet morning with south-westerlies, which failed to bring in any seabirds or anything of note.

16 September: A colourful sunrise and fine morning produced the usual mid-September fare of Chiffchaffs in the sycamores and Meadow Pipits and hirundines going over. A flyover Yellow Wagtail was a year-tick, bringing up the 100 spp. mark - 10 days later than last year.

3 September: Still no migrants apart from hirundines, but a Kestrel over the top lawns was a year-tick on a warm, hazy morning. Year list to 99 spp.

1 September: A little more lively on another fine cool morning, with more than 50 hirundines, including two Sand Martins, the first Meadow Pipit and Redstart of the autumn, and two Chiffchaffs.

A more significant arrival yesterday was the much-anticipated Birds of Dorset - a superb production with plenty of new armchair records for The Nothe and Weymouth Bay to sift through. Additions to the list include the first definite Ivory Gull (killed in Weymouth Bay in Nov 1860), and the 1995/6 Forster's Tern which moves up in the probability stakes to 'almost definite'. The total list is now 196 spp. Still need a definite Caspian Tern sighting from the ad and juv 13-15 Sep 1991.

30 August: Exceeding quiet again, with only a Chiffchaff and a light hirundine passage as signs of any movement.

27 August: The first good blow of the autumn produced a few Gannets in the bay and overhead from the pier, with 10 Common Scoter on the sea, and a group of four Sand Martins beating their way over the waves, but there was too much west in the wind to produce anything spectacular.

25 August: Quiet again, but a report of two Balearic Shearwaters in Weymouth Bay on 23 Aug was only the second record, and pushed the year-list to 98 spp.

24 August: With all quiet on the land amidst the showers this morning, it was left to the sea to produce something. A late Fulmar and a few Gannets were the only seabirds, but a passing Wigeon was a year-tick and the earliest record in autumn by a long way. Year list to 97 spp.

Guillemots, 17 August 2004

17 August: Really autumnal this morning, with a cool SW breeze and showers threatening. Very quiet on the land, but the sea was more productive, with two Guillemot in the harbour, a juv. Mediterranean Gull on the south shore and three Sanderlings flying past the pier, the latter an excellent year-tick and only the third record for the site. Year list goes to 96 spp.

13 August: Quiet again on a slightly cooler, clear morning. Five Common Sandpiper were a year max, and a Turnstone below the fort was the earliest in autumn by two days.

11 August: Still warm and muggy with just a single Willow Warbler on the land. A Little Egret on the south shore with two flying over later were a year max.

9 August: Really promising weather - calm and light rain, and very muggy, but with, disappointingly, only a single Willow Warbler present.

5 August: Few land birds on a hot morning, with only Guillemot and two Razorbill off the pier of note, and a year max of 44 Common Terns, which seem to have had a good breeding season. A Gurnard caught by the fisherman was a new record, and two Wall Brown butterflies on the landslip and south-east grassland were a joint max. Much evidence of the hoverfly invasion that is hitting the media and the south coast - seemingly a good variety of species, but with plenty of the usual Syrphus balteatus.

3 August: Dramatic thunderstorms and heavy rain overnight will no doubt have dumped a good bird somewhere - but not here, where just a couple of Willow Warblers were in evidence. A flyover Curlew was new for the year, though, bringing the year list to 96 spp. A Chalk Carpet moth was an excellent first record of a local coastal speciality.

1 August: The scent of the Monterey Pines on a warm sunny morning added to the woodland feel provided by the birds, which included calling Coal Tits, a Willow Warbler, settled female Sparrowhawk in the south scrub, and a calling juv. Green Woodpecker, the first this year, and on a typical post-breeding dispersal date. The year list advances to 95 spp.

30 July: A very fine morning and therefore a bit of a surprise to get a fall of Willow Warblers, probably due to drizzle during the night. But the count of 32 was totally amazing, and a record max., the previous high being 25 in Apr 2001. It is also very early for a high autumn count - so there may be more to come! Swallows settled on the pier were unusual, and the first Holly Blue since May 2002 was in the NE corner.

29 July: A warm and muggy start, with just singles of Whimbrel, Common Sandpiper and Garden Warbler as migrants, and single Fulmar and Gannet close in to the pier, the latter actually settling on the sea. The Garden Warbler was, encouragingly, in the somewhat devastated Steps Garden, in about the only tree left there, and was the first July record. The re-opening of the toilet block (and moth-trap) was a welcome development, with the first record of Small Blood-vein and second record of the tiny Small Dusty Wave.

Juv. Mediterranean Gull amongst the Black-headed Gulls, 23 July 2004		Starlings on the pier, 23 July 2004. Recent counts have been the best for three years

23 July: A fine, fresher morning and consequently fewer birds, but a juv. Mediterranean Gull was early, and my first July record. Starlings continue to appear in numbers, today's count reaching 105.

22 July: Quite busy on a muggy morning with light rain: five Common Scoter in Newton's Cove, six Dunlin going past, with four Common Sandpipers and a Whimbrel on the rocks. 95 Starlings were a good number - mostly juvs and the best count since 7 Jul 2001. A Wall Brown and Grasshopper Warbler were reported later in the day, both new for the year, the latter a year-tick. Year list to 94 spp.

Gatekeeper, 20 July 2004		Strawberry Clover, 20 July 2004. Abundant in the south lawns at present.

20 July: Both Whimbrel and Redshank on the shore this morning, and the first returning Willow Warbler was on the top lawns, with Chiffchaff on the south scrub. Fine, sunny weather brought out the butterflies, with a good showing of 23 Gatekeeper and a Small Copper, only the second record, on the landslip.

15 July: The first returning Whimbrel was on the south rocks on a drizzly morning.