A Pallas’s Warbler found late yesterday had me heading out for Portland once it had stopped raining this morning. I took a walk down Church Ope Cove in search of the wintering Black Redstart. It took a while to locate the female but it appeared behind me near the chalets before moving onto the beach and then off to the cliff. There is also a male in the area viz Martin.
There was a handful of Rock Pipit feeding along the beach every so often a squabble between birds would break out resulting in one being chased off only to return a short time later!
The Grey and Pied Wagtail were more conservative in their feeding methods keeping their distance from one and other but keeping an eye out should one find a concentration of bugs.
I wandered up to Pennsilvania Castle and spent time around the graveyard where the mixed flock of tits, Goldcrest and a Yellow Browed Warbler appeared at the tail end of the flock. The bird was very restless and obtaining pictures of my first Dorset YBW was not happening! Fortunately this species is a regular on the island therefore pictures will no doubt follow at some point! I saw Martin (Port and Wey) and Martin Cade during my afternoon stake out but the Pallas’s Warbler did not give itself up for anyone!
I did find this little chap sunbathing on the castle walls and unlike the YBW it stayed still to allow the paparazzi to capture the moment but I didn’t overstay my welcome!
Pennsilvania Castle was built by John Penn (grandson to William Penn) and was completed in the 1800. Penn was a friend of King George III and was appointed as governor of the Island in 1805.
In more recent times it was a private residence until 2010 and is now hired out for functions by an Australian Hospitality Company who purchased the castle in 2011.
On my way back home I stopped off at Billy Winters to check Portland Harbour for Black Necked Grebe (having spoken to Andy earlier in the day) and found a group of six with a couple of Great Northern Diver near the entrance to the harbour. My scope was maxed out with eyepiece at 60x and also in my favour the harbour was like a mill pond! I was in the right place the other day at Sandsfoot Castle but got my areas mixed up (see earlier post for schoolboy error)!
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