Dorset - Lodmoor RSPB - Shrikes It's Still Here!

 

I was up and out at stupid o’clock this morning a Red Backed Shrike had almost taken up residence at the Old tip at Lodmoor RSPB. The general rule in “twitching” is to drop everything and go on first news which significantly improves your chances of seeing the bird! I had waited about a week to go, Brett had sent me a pin and was probably wondering what I was doing!! Lucky enough for me I bagged this Dorset tick with some help from Simon who had already nailed it when I arrived for my second spell of the morning! We spent some time catching up on news as our patches (Charminster/Puddletown) have a relatively high exchange of birds!  

The rest of the day was spent kicking bushes and covering the reserve which had a good variety of species on show. Great White Egret is resident these days with four birds on show today!

Shorebirds were represented by Curlew Sandpiper, Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Redshank, Lapwing and

up to four Ruff including two males were seen on both sides of the reserve.

Black-tailed Godwit and Dunlin seem ever present when I visit the site.

There were Canada Geese everywhere and included a Greylag x Swan Goose hybrid. An odd looking creature! A Wigeon was a new arrival this morning with a few Teal and Gadwall on the pools.

Med and Black-headed Gulls were present but there was a distinct lack of bigger gulls on site. I recorded fifty species with a few common species missing but I considered that a reasonable days effort!