We were back in Dorset last weekend for the wedding of our son Jonny. He was getting married at Smedmore House near Kimmeridge, in the heart of the World Heritage Jurassic Coast famed for its fossils.

Although I didn’t have much time for natural history investigation while I was there, this disused wasp nest was certainly very impressive:

On the day after the wedding, a group of us guests walked from the house down to Kimmeridge Bay. The owner of Smedmore House built the Clavell Tower on the estate in 1831 as a folly and observatory.

However, by 2006, the tower was in imminent danger of toppling into the sea as the cliff it stood on eroded. It was saved by the wonderful Landmark Trust who now own it:

In the Second World War, Kimmeridge Bay was a potential weak point in our coastal defences and reinforced concrete pill boxes were positioned here in 1940:

Another pillbox is sliding slowly down the beach. The anti-tank dragon’s teeth were to hinder access up the gully

Just as we arrived down at Kimmeridge Bay, the PS Waverley sailed by:

Before returning to Kent, we called in to the Etches Collection Museum in Kimmeridge village. Dave in the background gives some indication of the size of this enormous Pliosaur skull, the most complete that has been discovered to date:

This image of a different Pliosaur species, Pliosaurus funkei, gives some idea of what these animals looked like. (image by ДиБгд  CCA-SA 4.0 International)

We returned home to find that the badgers had been carrying out some major excavations themselves:

I have a camera pointing at this tunnel entrance and had hoped to see some action shots of this digging, but all I got was a straw-covered badger:

Autumn is a time when birds of prey gather in the meadows and we have had an exciting new arrival:

A buzzard has returned to the meadows to hunt:

The amount of white on a buzzard can vary greatly and, when I compare this buzzard to the one from last year, shown below, I wonder if it is in fact the same bird:

The ringed kestrel is also still here:

… and she continues to be bothered by the resident magpies:

Below is a magpie that has caught itself a large and juicy hawkmoth caterpillar:

Sparrowhawks are a constant presence in the meadows:

And a tawny owl was on the gate this week:

A weasel has been seen on this same gate:

John and John have been back ringing birds in the meadows and on one of their sessions they ringed seven species of warbler. Almost without exception the warblers are young birds, born this year. The theory is that the adults fly straight on across the sea without first stopping at the coast. John sent me some of his photos from the successful day:

Common whitethroat and reed warbler made up the seven warbler species they ringed that day.

Whilst they were in the meadows John and John spotted a sloe shieldbug (also called a hairy shieldbug, Dolycoris baccarum) which is a new species for the meadows:

One of the Johns is now off to visit his son and family in Western Australia, where the local beach has this interesting warning sign up:

There may not be any further bird ringing now until he returns in late October.

Birding is always thrilling in the autumn when the birds are on the move. But I have now discovered that there is also much excitement in the mothing world at this time, when immigrant moths can turn up in the trap.

The temperatures may now have dropped but, over in the wood, the tawny owls are still often bathing in the shallow ponds:

This next photo shows some highly unusual behaviour. This is a dormouse coming down for a drink at one of the woodland pools:

I finish this week with the giraffes at Wingham Wildlife Park near Canterbury where we went this week to celebrate our little granddaughter’s first birthday.

Now all of a sudden it seems to be mid-September and it is time to start cutting the meadows. But, depressingly, the weather forecast seems to suggest that there will be either rain or strong winds everyday for the next week or so and there may need to be a delay in the proceedings. This is frustrating but we shall have to see what happens.