Birdingpooleharbourandbeyond

On a quiet visit to Brands Bay, it was nice to see this Green Hairstreak. This is a species that I see less than annually at Studland. So, every sighting of this great-looking Butterfly is special.

It was the last full day at sea on our whistle-stop trip to Antarctica. We awoke to find the seas were moderating as we continued sailing towards the Tierra del Fuego. However, it had been another reasonable crossing of the notorious Drake Passage.

It turned out to be a more start to the first full day at sea heading North in the Drake Passage. Pippa's morning wake up call said there were fifty knot winds coming from the North East. Typically, Oceanwide Expeditions expect the winds to be South Westerlies. I spent most of the day looking from inside the shelter of the bridge. The sea conditions were generally OK, with a sea...

The visit to St Aldhelms felt like it was already June, despite only being the start of the second week of May. Historically this could be a great date to be out on the Dorset coast. Typically by this date, the bulk of the common Spring migrants have already passed through the Dorset coast, even more so in 2026, given this is clearly an early year. With fewer common Spring migra...

Keeping with the Signs of Spring theme for Blog Posts this Spring, early May has seen a big arrival of Painted Lady Butterflies. My highest day total was on 3 May when I walked from St Aldhelms to Winspit and then followed the coast path back to the Coastwatch building at St Aldhelms, before returning to the car park via Emmetts Hill. This maximised my time on the coastal footpa...