Dorset - Bardolf Farm - Golden Greats!

The water levels continue to rise but there has not been much to report on of late. It has turned cold again and I was rubbing my hands together in anticipation when the sky was filled with snow this morning! Frozen ground and snow will create a movement of birds as they look for feeding grounds. The River Piddle has burst its banks also providing some open grazing ground for the wildfowl.

I was stood at the front door as if I was waiting for the school bell to go but this time the signal to go was for the snow to stop! I spent a couple of hours on the Water Meadows at the gate at Cattlecrush hoping for a flock of Golden Plover or another species of shorebird that had tagged onto a Lapwing flock. A couple of wintering Green Sandpiper and twenty seven Snipe were the only offerings from this group.

Mid afternoon I moved up to Waterbarn Cottages and checked a couple of the feeding stations before walking the fields which run parallel to the River Piddle and the flooded meadows. There were a reasonable number of Lapwing but they seemed very flighty which had me thinking there may be a Peregrine about. 

My scanning did not find a raptor but a flock of Golden Plover that were on the move in front of the Lapwing. There were twenty six birds who all headed north and out of the Bardolf Farm boundary! This species is new for my farm tally and used to be a regular occurrence in the fields during the winter. A large flock of up to a thousand birds is regularly seen at Maiden Castle which is a couple of miles southwest as the crow flies.

Within a few minutes the first Red Kite of the year appeared over the ridge and remained in the area for most of the afternoon. This was my first Waterbarn Cottages kite with most birds being observed passing through the water meadows.

A pair of Pintail were also present with Wigeon and Teal on the flooded meadows was it the kite that was causing the commotion amongst the wildfowl! That was an interesting half hour!

A late visit to Athelhampton completed the day observations, but there were no additions to the species list. A Brambling was noted in a bordering garden this morning therefore my eyes need to be peeled as this is a new species for my Bardolf Farm list!