| 2004 | JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |
31 December: A Red Admiral was the latest butterfly record (but only by a day!), and was reported with three Chiffchaffs along the south shore.
28 December: A Yellow-legged Gull reported on Birdguides was the first year-tick since 1 Nov, and brought the year list to 116 spp., with late records of Velvet Scoter (two on 12 Dec) and Franklin's Gull (the Radipole bird seen to roost in Weymouth Bay on a couple of dates in March) making the final total 118 spp., for another record year!
16 December: Never mind record counts; it was hard to find a single bird on the land this afternoon, apart from a few late Goldfinches. However an adult Mediterranean Gull amidst the roosting Common Gulls in the bay was a nice find.
8 December: Yet another record fell this morning, with a max. 24 Long-tailed Tits coming out of roost in the gloom - the previous max was 16 on 10 Nov 2000. There seem to be two Long-tailed Tit flocks at present on The Nothe, but this is the first time I have seen them all together, and presumably they all roost in the same spot. It would be interesting to know if the same indivduals then form the same separate flocks during the day.
Cormorants take over the harbour signals, 7 December 2004
7 December: A little movement this morning in the calm, mild, 'Indian Autumn' conditions, with a Fieldfare on the north side treetops continuing the excellent year for these, two Meadow Pipits by the south-east rocks, and now both male and female Black Redstarts on the north-east fort wall. A Chiffchaff seemed settled on the Newton's Cove scrub, and a Great Northern Diver was in the bay. 18 Cormorants were a joint year max (also 18 on 17 Oct).
5 December: The fem/imm Black Redstart was on the south side of the fort and rocks below this morning, with two Guillemots in the harbour and a Razorbill off the pier.
3 December: No cold weather birds on the move despite the first real frost of the year this morning. A Razorbill and Guillemot were both in the harbour. The first Black Redstart of the autumn was reported yesterday.
30 November: No sign of yesterday's reported Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes and Great Northern Diver in Weymouth Bay, though two Common Scoter were flying about. Carrion Crows were again present in numbers, the count of 49 just short of last weekend's record, but today's record-breaking count went, perhaps predictably, to Collared Doves, with 20 counted coming out of the holm oak roost. Both these species are, I suspect, benefiting from the squirrel-feeding visitors, but, oddly, the squirrel counts are down this year.
Crow City: part of the record max gathering of 58 Carrion Crows, 27 November 2004
27 November: A Red-necked Grebe was on the calm waters of Weymouth Bay this morning, but more notable was the record gathering of 58 Carrion Crows around the Tavern lawns, continuing the trend of ever-increasing numbers of these. Twenty years ago the annual max was less than 10! A passer-by asked whether the increasing crow numbers would affect the numbers of smaller passerines - answers to this are welcome!
24 November: All still hyper-quiet, with just three Redwings in the treetops this morning. A Firecrest was reported on 22nd.
Going nowhere: yachts in Weymouth Bay not moving much in calm conditions, 21 November 2004 - just like the birds at present.
17 November: A Little Egret on the south shore was the 12th record this year, making it another record year for this ever-increasing species.
16 November: A Peregrine over first thing in the gloom, and a near max 17 Wrens, the largest autumn number since Oct 2000, again showing a possible autumn passage.
13 November: A sunny morning with little of note except the usual autumn flock of Long-tailed Tits back in the tavern sycamores and a late Chiffchaff.
12 November: A small movement of Song Thrushes (year max of 11) this morning, together with a few Redwing and a couple of Skylark, but Collared Doves again were around in number, with a near-record max of 17 noted coming out of a roost in one of the holm oaks.
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After the October storms: repairs to the battered Stone Pier (left), and erosion of the "reedbed" (right) on the raised "saltmarsh" of the south shore. Will the latter have destroyed the habitat of the Sea Hard-grass (Parapholis strigosa) or enhanced it?
10 November: Quiet again, but with a few Pied Wagtails still on the move, and a good count of 14 Collared Doves.
Wood Mushrooms from The Nothe for tea, 9 November 2004
9 November: A return to tales of the great storm a fortnight ago, with a 'wall of water' crashing in that rearranged the Stone Pier, demolished the Sailing Club hut (pity as this was a useful seawatching shelter) and exposed lots of new rock and clay on the Newton's Cove shore - which could be interesting for plants next year.
The storms brought in a few birds, and reports over the last three weeks include four year-ticks: Little Gulls on 19 Oct (ad in Weymouth Bay) and 29 Oct ( 1 ad, 2 1st-w in Newton's Cove), an Arctic Skua in Weymouth Bay on 19 Oct, a Grey Phalarope off Preston on 29 Oct (possibly the first for 20 years), and, best, a Yellow-browed Warbler by the Cadet Base on 1 Nov. The latter was a very much anticipated and welcome first record for The Nothe, bringing the total to 198 species. The year list goes to 114 spp.
This morning was overcast and quiet, with a couple of Redwings over and an unusual November Redshank at the base of what's left of the pier. A good crop of Wood Mushrooms (Agaricus silvicola) was there for the picking, but no sign of any Pine Boletus this year.
17 October: A fine autumn morning of odds & sods: the first three Fieldfares of the autumn continued the bumper year for these, were the earliest autumn record, the autumn max , and the first autumn record since 1983! The first Long-tailed Tit flock of the autumn actually arrived in off Newton's Cove as I watched, while an Arctic Tern - another juv - was off the Stone Pier. The fine weather promised raptors, and indeed the second Kestrel of the year was in an aerial dogfight with a Sparrowhawk over the south shore. Finally, the latest ever Large White butterfly recorded was flying about the Newton's Cove gardens.
15 October: Much quieter this morning despite the calmer weather, with just the first two Redwing of the autumn of note.
13 October: A wet morning with stiff southerly winds looked unpromising, but was quite the reverse, with yet another record count of 30 Goldcrests - sheltered spots were 'heaving' with crests, with the Steps garden hosting at least 17. One Firecrest - the first of the autumn and two days off the earliest record - also showed well by the cadet base, with a Blackcap and several Chiffchaffs. Greenfinches put in a year max of 71 (the highest count since Oct 2002), helped by a new roosting area in the belt of trees planted by the centre car park.
Birds of the morning, though, were three Golden Plover flying over south, a long-overdue first record for The Nothe. I had thought that when I finally did see Golden Plover here, they would be barely-discernible dots in the sky that I picked up on call. Not a bit of it - these suddenly appeared in the rain, whacking over the top lawns at treetop-skimming height, just giving one call as they headed off towards Portland. The 197th species for The Nothe, my own 160th, and the 110th of the year.
The Pheasant was reported again today - it turns out to be an imm. male.
11 October: Just in time this morning to witness a dramatic movement of passerines, mostly flying north-east low over the waves in the bay, heading into the wind under a grey sky. Most numerous were Meadow Pipits, with a record max 157 in an hour, with a year max of Pied Wagtails (57), three Skylarks for a year-tick, a few Swallows, and small flocks of finches, the latter including Siskin and, another year-tick, a Brambling settling nicely in the fort sycamores for a short time - the earliest record in autumn here. Five Brent Geese were apparently feeding on seaweed on the surface in the bay, and a Little Egret was on the south shore. Year list goes to 109 spp - the best ever total at this date.
Weymouth Lifeboat returns in strong easterlies, 10 October 2004
10 October: Near gale-force easterlies made for hard birding today, with only the first Common Gulls of the autumn of note.
8 October: The fine weather continuing and getting plenty of birds moving overhead this morning, with year maxima of 55 Meadow Pipit, 93 Chaffinch, 55 Greenfinch (a two-year high), 25 Goldfinch and 25 Linnet going mostly north or north-east in two hours. Late singles of House Martin and Common Tern overlapped with the first two Brent Geese of the autumn, while two Siskin and a Redpoll with the finch flocks were both year-ticks, bringing the year list to 107 spp.
7 October: A superb, clear, and much calmer morning, with plenty of birds on the land and going through. Proving that lightning does strike twice in the same place, a Pheasant, flushed by a somewhat startled dog from almost exactly the same place (at the edge of the top lawns) where I saw the last one in Nov 1983, was the big surprise of the day, and probably the year. It vanished into the thick, and now inaccessible cover on the north slopes. The second record, pushing the year list to 105 spp.
With a run of west or south-west winds making The Nothe nice and sheltered, the numbers of small birds have really built up, especially those of Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests, the latter with a record max count of 25 today, the former with a year max of 28, both on a typical peak date. Flyover Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails were moving through, but in rather subdued numbers, while a Sparrowhawk and Peregrine were making their presence felt amongst the Starlings.
6 October: Difficult birding in the blustery westerlies, with six House Martin going through the only migrants of note.
4 October: Surprisingly calm after the overnight gales and rain, but with a nice flock of 12 Gannets close in the bay, with a year max of nine Razorbills, two Common Scoter, and three Arctic Terns past the pier. The latter were the second highest nos on record (max 6-12 on 27 - 29 Sep 1988). A near max 40 Carrion Crow were present on the south slopes, and Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests were still about in some numbers.
3 October: Plenty of birds about, with Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests again reaching good nos (23 & 15 respectively), but with a single Wheatear the only other migrant of note.