Portland Bill

At long last a respite in the weather, with a dry spell around midday, which saw me and Ted head off to Portland Bill.

Mind you it might have been dry, but that south-easterly, gusting at over 50mph, made it a bit of an effort to reach the Obelisk. And as some of the videos below will show, it was also an effort to hold the camera still in the stormy conditions.

There weren't too many seabirds about, with brief glimpses of Gannets, auks and large gulls further out to sea, plus 5 Purple Sandpipers in one of the few sheltered spots to the left of the Obelisk.

Portland Lighthouse

The Red Crane was.................

...........getting a bit of a bashing today.

The Obelisk

With winds gusting at over 50mph, the waves were pretty big as they hit The Bill

And the Pulpit......

..........in the firing line as the waves come crashing in.

In appalling conditions, these Purple Sandpipers managed to find a sheltered spot just east of the Obelisk.....

.....The awful conditions also made it difficult to get a decent video of them.

And of course Ted. Looking a bit windswept.

Wolf Supermoon

I should have been outside a lot earlier to photograph the Wolf Supermoon tonight. It is the first full moon of 2026. There were some excellent photos on the Kent Online page here tonight. And here are the full moons for 2026.

And my attempt of photographing the planet Jupiter in the bottom right-hand corner. Honest it is there.

New Years Day

Well I didn't really get off to the start I wanted to, as I wasn't feeling that brilliant. But I did at least note my first 5 birds of the year here on Portland:

2026
1. Herring Gull
2. Carrion Crow

3. Collared Dove

4. Wood Pigeon

5. Goldfinch

Just as a comparison here are the previous seven years

2018

1. House Sparrow

2. Blue Tit

3. Robin

4. Wood Pigeon

5. Blackbird

2019

1. Collared Dove

2. Carrion Crow

3. Herring Gull

4. Great Tit

5. Blue Tit

2020

1. Herring Gull

2. Robin

3. Carrion Crow

4. Wood Pigeon

5. Great Tit

2021

1. Herring Gull

2. Wood Pigeon

3. Collared Dove

4. Robin

5. Magpie

2022

1. Herring Gull

2. Carrion Crow

3. House Sparrow

4. Great Tit

5. Chaffinch

2023

1. Herring Gull

2. House Sparrow

3. Dunnock

4. Goldfinch

5. Wood Pigeon

2024

1. Herring Gull

2. House Sparrow

3. Robin

4. Magpie

5. Woodpigeon

Unsurprisingly Herring Gulls figure quite prominently!

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Even though I didn't manage a walk, Dawn took Ted for a trek around the block. Here are a few of her photos along her walk overlooking Penns Weare.

There had to be a photo of Ted.