10th January - The Fleet, Dorset

The south missed out on the weather that came with Storm Goretti, but it did keep me inside towards the end of the week.  The weekend though was all about Helen and her birthday.  We had arranged a weekend away with the family, a family friendly hotel on the shores of the Fleet just to the west of Weymouth in Dorset.  

After the winds of Thursday and Friday, the morning dawned clear and frosty, with no wind to speak of and calm waters on the Fleet.

Later it  was still clear and cold.

The grandchildren were having a wonderful time using all the facilities in the aptly named Play Barn and I was able to get out for a walk in the afternoon.  I set out from the hotel and headed west along the coastal path.  I didn't have any camera or binoculars, so was relying on my phone to capture the beauty of the area

The Fleet Lagoon is thought to have been formed some 5,000 to 7,000 years ago. Chesil Bank was driven slowly shoreward by rising sea levels and bolstered via longshore drift of gravels from east Devon’s crumbling cliffs. Chesil Beach made landfall and now the only remaining direct access to the sea from the Fleet is via the narrow channel at Ferry Bridge at the southern end.

I walked around the headland that is called Herbury, at first I thought there was an additional lake not realising that there was a headland.

With minimal freshwater input and percolation of seawater through the shingle bank, the lagoon remains saline for much of its length, although salinity becomes lower and more varied toward the northwestern end. Percolation is the process by which sea water seeps or is forced through the shingle bank of Chesil Beach at high water and during storm events. Occasionally seawater enters by waves over-topping the beach.

Much of the Fleet is very shallow with depths above ‘The Narrows’ no more than 2m, often less. The tidal range is only around 1.5m on a big tide – very small when compared to the tidal range over 4m in Chesil Cove for example. Being so shallow and with a narrow entrance to Portland Harbour at Ferry Bridge, the tidal range can be very unpredictable due to the greater influence of wind strength and direction and atmospheric pressure.

The tide was falling leaving quite a bit of mud around the edge of the lagoon.  A stunning sky above the water

And it suits some black and white images as well.

A slightly different angle of the same bay.

And again in black and white.

There were a few Redshank on the shore and Black-headed Gulls on the water.  However as we walked around the bay there was gun shot and we came across an organised shoot with beaters.  They were pushing the birds down towards the valley, you can't see the guns in this view they were hidden below the field, but the beaters walked through the stubble area.

There were birds flying everywhere and you could see them drop.  It looked like Red-legged Partridges that were taking the brunt of it, and many flew past us along with Skylark, Snipe and a couple of Brown Hare at speed away from the guns.

The shooting stopped and we watched the shooters with their dogs picking up the dead birds, confirming that they were mostly partridges.

The Fleet lagoon was a little calmer, with still water and literally hundreds of Mute Swan.

In amongst the swans were Brent Geese and you could hear their calls and I wondered if they were going to take flight and head to the fields.  There were gas guns in the fields so they are probably a nuisance.

It looked like family groups feeding together.

A Redshank feeding along the shore of the fleet, not one of my best photographs but you get the idea.

Walking back in better light a nice reflection of the sheep in the fields.

So it was back to the hotel and some time with the kids before diner and birthday celebrations.  Happy birthday to my my wonderful wife X