Christine's walking & birds blog

Today we drove up onto the (free!) National Trust car park at South Down. This gives great views over Weymouth and the Isle of Portland.

On this stretch of the coast path the chalk cliff overhangs the sea like a snow cornice on a mountain ridge. The great green scoop to the left, known as The Warren, held at least fifteen wheatears and a family party of four or five stonechats.

Perhaps they were feeding on grasshoppers; when we sat down for lunch, they were everywhere.

A bit further on, several more wheatears and another stonechat were along the fence.
This is the undercliff at White Nothes. It was probably packed with warblers but we didn't have time to explore it today.

The undulating cliff path lures you on but we decided to turn back once we had Durdle Door in sight. Although it was a fairly sunny day, the wind had been strengthening and now made walking more tiring.

Back at Ringstead Bay we crossed a field and stumbled on this radar station.

As we made our way past the farm, the hedgerow next to the path was full of house sparrows, many adults carrying food. A familiar call from among the cattle preceded the eruption of a flock of yellow wagtails; Greger reckoned about twenty. A handful landed on the path ahead for a wash.

Then it was a stiff climb back up to the car park, where swallows were swooping low and apparently coming to a standstill against the extremely strong wind. We had a last look at the view and began the long drive home.