I was doing an Isle of Purbeck Year List in 2021, albeit I was hampered by the Covid lockdowns which helped to restrict my movements at various points in the year. I was back at St Aldhelms for the full morning as it was a weekend, rather than trying to cover the site in a quick dash before work. The Force 2 Northerly winds with initially cloudy skies and mild conditions seemed hopeful. But I hadn't seen that much on a fairly fast walk to the Coastguards. I tried a ninety minute seawatch from 08:30 from one of my favourite viewpoints known as the Delpinus Seat: this viewpoint is named after the pod of twenty-five Short-beaked Common Dolphins I found in Dec 20 from the stone seat. The seawatch had been uninspiring, except for two Harbour Porpoises about a quarter mile offshore.
My look around Quarry Ledge relocated a Dartford Warbler which had been around for a few weeks and had moved from Trev's Quarry to the back of Quarry Ledge.
I decided on a final look from my other more traditional seawatch site, above 'The Garden'. Fairly quickly I picked up a juvenile Hobby which appeared to come in off the sea. But I think it had probably headed out, before losing confidence and returning. It circled then went West. As I walked back to the coastguards lookout, I found it sitting on the big rock stack near the steps. It took off, flew around a few times and then slowly drifted out to sea. I lost it about a mile out when I was distracted by some House Sparrows flying over.
The walk back produced the first two Black Redstarts of the Autumn on the roof of Trev's Quarry workshop. The final highlight was when a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew West over the car park. This my 150th species for the St Aldhelms patch. Overall, it had been a good morning for St Aldhelms in the end.
