For the next few days a guest blogger will be in charge of the literary reigns. With the warden and the assistant warden both taking some well earned time off I have been asked to watch over the place and as such do my best to present the daily blog.
Some regular visitors may know me, I am Mark, happily retired and very lucky to ring birds at Culverwell on a daily basis. I am also a trustee on the Observatory committee and happy to help out when needed around the lighthouse.
Hopefully my ramblings won't spoil the constant reader's enjoyment of this blog too much. My views are my own and all facts and statements are accurate to the best of my knowledge.
With rain soon after dawn no ringing took place in any of the trapping areas. This combined with a lack of birders out bashing bushes meant that records of migrating passerines were few and far between. Just a single Willow Warbler was heard calling in the obs garden.
The main excitement of the day came in the form of a power cut which lasted from 7am to around 3pm,
as a result the lack of hot water was the main conversation topic of the morning and caused immense consternation amongst residents and visitors alike.
On the sea the recording was little better with just 5 Balearic Shearwaters, 20 Mediterranean Gulls, 2 Arctic Skuas and 3 Whimbrel.
For the moth lovers, a Small Phoenix was a first for the year.
So our thoughts turned to Portland flora and in particular the warden's recent search for Bastard Toadflax. This small flower has been seen in previous years on the slopes to the west of the Pulpit Inn. A shieldbug, Down or Bastard-Toadflax Shieldbug and a moth, Epermenia insecurella are both known associates of this plant and a few of us were keen to see all three.
After some earlier searching had proved fruitless, a small patch of the plant was found by a regular obs visitor and all round naturalist, Martin King.
Bastard Toad-flax and Autumn Lady's Tresses. Mark Cutts
