Back in June 22, I was lucky to be invited by my friend Mark Singleton, who is one of the local National Trust team, to join one of the annual breeding Seabird surveys that are carried out by Footprint Ecology for the National Trust. The survey covers the Purbeck coast from Durlston to St Aldhelms and along the cliffs to Old Harry. We left Swanage on one of the small fishing boats and sailed past Durlston as far as St Aldhelms, before returning along the same coastline. The only problem with the trip, we were warned we would be out from 09:00 to early afternoon, which turned into mid-afternoon & there wasn't a toilet on the boat. Therefore, it was a case of skipping breakfast and limiting myself to a single cup of tea for breakfast.
Durlston Castle: Durlston Castle is a Victorian folly & restaurant that was built in the four years before its completion in 1891 by George Burt. Burt made his fortune running the family firm, Mowlem, who mined and shipped Purbeck stone to London. The Castle was the centrepiece of his Durlston Park. It is now owned and run by Dorset County Council as the centre for Durlston and the start of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Coastline
The Tilly Whim Quarry at Durlston: This old quarry area is now closed off as the underground quarry works are in a dangerous state
My Durlston Seawatching location: This is where the lighthouse gully reaches the sea and it provides the lowest point for seawatching at Durlston. There is a similar low point at St Aldhelms: but it is a mile & a half walk from the car park to the start of the steep track to the base of the cliffs which includes a short climb up & down one part of the path
Approaching the Durlston Lighthouse & one of the Mile Markers
Looking West from Durlston
Durlston Climbers: There is a part of the Durlston Country Park where climbing is allowed which is well away from the Seabird ledges
As we passed the Durlston cliffs, we started to see the first of the Seabirds. Durlston has the highest densities of Seabirds on the Purbeck coastline. The vast majority of the Auks are Guillemots, with a small percentage of Razorbills. There are some breeding Fulmars, Shags, Herring Gulls and a few pairs of Kittiwakes. The Purbeck speciality is easily the handful of pairs of Puffins in the Dancing ledge area.
Guillemots: There are good numbers of Guillemots on the Durlston undercliffs
Debbie & Durwyn surveying one of the Guillemot ledges: The counts are supplemented with photos of all the cliffs, so that the field counts can be confirmed from examination of photos. These photos will provide additional information for comparing results from one year to another
More Guillemots on the undercliff at Bird Cove which is West of Dancing Ledge
Bridled Guillemot: The bird of the day was this Bridled Guillemot. This is a colour morph which increases going North in the Guillemot range. They are scarce in Dorset, but commoner in the Shetland Islands. It is the first I've definitely seen in Dorset
Razorbills & Guillemots: This photo is good at showing the black Razorbills from the browner Guillemots
Blacker's Hole: This is one of the sea caves at Blacker’s Hole & it is home to the last small colony of Purbeck Kittiwakes: we saw six occupied nests
One of the Kittiwake nests
Kittiwake: This first Summer Kittiwake was hanging around the colony
Herring Gull: This Herring Gull looks like it is still incubating
Herring Gull: This Herring Gull nest has two healthy-looking chicks
Peregrine: This is one of the Durlston Peregrines
Little Egret: One or two of the Poole Harbour Little Egrets feed along the Purbeck coastline
Dancing Ledge: This is another ex-quarrying area which is now part of the National Trust coastline to the South of Langton Matravers
Dancing Ledge: As we passed Dancing Ledge, this group of school kids were preparing for a coastal activity of some sort. Good to see they were all wearing safety gear & wetsuits
The Dancing Ledge area and the Portland West Cliffs are the only known parts of the Dorset coastline where Puffins still attempt to breed. There are no more than a few pairs in the Dancing Ledge area. I don't think anybody has been able to confirm successful breeding for a number of years. However, I doubt there are many people actually looking along this part of the Dorset coastline when they would fledge. Therefore, are the pairs failing, perhaps as the nest sites could be accessible to a land predator or are they sometimes successful & Birders aren't looking for Pufflings.
Puffin: The Dancing Ledge area is the only known part of the Purbeck coastline where Puffins still attempt to breed
Puffin: It's great having this gorgeous species so close to home
Swift nest hole: There is a small Swift colony on the Purbeck coast near to Dancing Ledge. This is one of a few cliff-nesting Swift colonies in the UK. A Swift had just flown into the nest hole
Sika Deer: This was the surprise of the day. It's hard to see how this Sika Deer reached this platform
Sika Deer: It looks quite content when this photo was taken. They are a semi-aquatic species of Deer, so it is possible it could jump in the water & swim along the coast to a beach where it could get out of & back onto the downs
Finally, we reached the Winspit to St Aldhelms section. There is another reasonable sized Guillemot & Razorbill colony on this section, along with a few Fulmar nests. As we reached the St Aldhelms tide race, the sea got a bit more bouncy, but we were soon past the last of the breeding Seabirds and turning around.
The East Quarry at Winspit
The East Quarry at Winspit
The West Quarry at Winspit
Approaching St Aldhelms: It was time to turn around and enjoy the trip back to Swanage, as the survey was over
Peveril Point: This is the last point of the Jurassic Coast, before the turning into Swanage Bay. Mark is relaxing & chatting with Durwyn & the team
Sea Kayakers: These two Sea Kayakers were enjoying the seas off Peveril Point
We weren't done yet as we crossed Swanage Bay to cover the chalk cliffs of Ballard Down as far as the breeding Gull colony on Old Harry. But I will cover that in the next Blog Post.
