A wet ride into Dorset for a weekend at Portland, based out of the spectacularly located Heights Hotel with views looking down over Portland Harbour and Chesil Beach.
The reason visiting was for a spot of “birding” and to see what might be flying in on the Spring migration. Saturday was an excellent day with Black Redstart, Wheatear, Sand Martin, a Peregrine Falcon and a Little Owl. It was also nice to see some Swallows, a sign if ever there was one of the season turning.
On Sunday, I had less time, but still saw a few interesting things of an avian nature. There were probably at least three Black Redstarts in Tout Quarry, the Peregrine granted another fly past, and I enjoyed seeing a lot of chirping House Sparrows along a path behind a row of houses – an increasingly rare sight today. I had a quick stop at the RSPB Radipole Lake visitor centre on the ride home, but there wasn’t much happening so I headed home.
Over this weekend, during the “downtime”, I found time for some writing, including collating notes for an upcoming feature for Scuba Diver magazine, a long-term writing project, and website content.