Dorset - Puddletown Water Meadows Bardolf Farm - Star and Stripes!

 

The star of the Puddletown Water Meadows a juvenile Greater Scaup is still present spending its sixth day on the Causeway pond. The pond is about 1.5 acres in size and is rarely disturbed. The vegetation around the lake is mature and there is plenty of weed and food held within its depths! To view the lake without scattering all the birds upon it a degree of creeping around has to be done. But first you have to negotiate whatever livestock that may be present within the environs of the pond!

Spotted Flycatchers were also present in the area of the pond this afternoon. I am still on the lookout for Redstart and Yellow Wagtail in the surrounding fields but have not been successful so far.

I completed my rounds visiting Burleston pond just before dusk. A couple of Spotted Flycatchers were also present buzzing over the pond between trees to feed on the ample source of flies!

Tomorrow is set to be a washout with a full program of fixtures at the weekend which will reduce my time at the farm until the beginning of next week!

Dorset - Puddletown Water Meadows Bardolf Farm - Causeway Pond Strikes Again!

Friday 25th August 2023

My last visit to Puddletown Water Meadows was cut short by news that my dad had been rushed into hospital and was not looking to last the day! A crazy four hour drive in some of the worst pre Bank Holiday traffic did not assist with the heart-rate! I am relieved to report that dad has pulled through but remains in hospital where he is receiving the best treatment!

Before the dash to London I happened upon an interesting duck on the Causeway Pond. I called Hugo down as I believed the bird was a female / juvenile Greater Scaup! Hugo joined me and we both observed the bird and seemed happy with its characteristics!

I had taken several pictures of the bird and have reviewed them this evening. The head is rounded; eye colour is stronger than in a juvenile bird. The bill is larger than a Tufted Duck no tuft present. The front of the white at the base of the bill is not complete along with the darker brown back with slightly lighter flanks suggesting a juvenile bird.

I did not see the bird in flight which was still there when I departed at speed! I will check the pond in the next couple of days to see if it is still there!

The last and only record of Greater Scaup was a juvenile on the Causeway Pond on 17 and 18^th January 2011.

Dorset - Puddletown Water Meadows Bardolf Farm - Buzzarding Around!

This was a perfect day to go searching for passerines on Bardolf Farm. A mix of cloud and sunny spells with a gentle SW wind! The plan was to take a slow walk paying attention to the Causeway pond and its environs.

As I was walking towards the gate to the pond a low flying raptor appeared above the tree line to my right. I deployed the camera as a Honey Buzzard circled overhead. For once the brain engaged almost instantly! Once I had secured pictures I phoned Hugo who suspended his morning’s moth processing session to view from the Manor House. The HB in the mean time circled a couple of times and slowly made its way east towards the meadows at Athelhampton.

This is the fourth record for Bardolf Farm. Previous birds were on October 1^st 2006, August 18^th 1999 and May 25^th 1999.

I continued with my original plan once the bird had departed. I noticed a few Spotted Flycatchers along the hedgerow west of the pond. Initially it was tricky working out how many were present but a line up along the hedgerow and fence line had me count eight birds.

There were a couple of birds at the gap in the next field up but they could have easily been birds from the initial tally. I had an interesting encounter with the cows today but they are friendly and just generally inquisitive! 

I do need to brush up on my moooo!

Dorset - Puddletown Water Meadows Bardolf Farm - Missile of a Merlin!

The weather has been unsettled over the last few days but it has remained warm with a few sunny spells. The water meadows on Bardolf Farm are pretty dry at the moment which had me heading to the Causeway pond to start my mid morning search.

The Egyptian and Mute Swans have both successfully raised young and initially both families were sheltering from the howling wind on the small island. I went looking for areas that were sheltered from the wind and began looking for flocks of passerines.

As I was walking up the track I noticed several birds hawking insects at the far end of the field between horse field and the Causeway Pond. I Spotted a Flycatcher and decided to enter the field and slowly walked the tree line to get in a better position to view the flock.

Having taken up a good position I dug myself in to the nettles at the hedge-line and waited to capture the species feeding around me! I did not expect what happened next!

I had been there about thirty minutes when a tiny torpedo of a small falcon headed towards me from between the conifer and the bush scattered the flock looked at me as it veered off and flew low through the trees bordering the Causeway Pond. The Merlin looked like a juvenile from the overall dark upper-wing and barring in the outer wing but it was gone as quickly as it arrived!

I had always expected to see a Merlin on the farm but during the winter months when I am at the feeding stations counting hundreds of finches! This one definitely caught me by surprise!

I remained in the same spot for a couple of hours as the flock re-assembled. It appeared birds were joining the ample bug and berry feeding fest! There were four Spotted Flycatcher, ten Chiffchaff there were various shades including juvenile birds, Willow Warbler, three Blackcaps that were feeding on the berries. I started thinking of other possibilities that could turn up but they did not arrive!

Dorset - Arne RSPB Shipstall Point - The Forster's Terns Up!

I took the opportunity to have another attempt to nail the Forster’s Tern that has been frequenting Arne RSPB at Shipstall Point. The bird seems to be a morning bird with fewer reports in the evening. I have visited at various times around high tide and had failed to see the bird therefore I changed tact and visited on a receding tide.

It appears I missed the bird by around ten minutes this morning so another patient wait ensued. There were not many terns in the channel but whilst scanning I noticed a dark billed smaller tern fishing off the tide line. It was smaller than a Sandwich Tern and had a more flickering flight pattern than a Common Tern. I put the guy I was chatting to onto the bird whilst I put the camera to work.

The Forster’s Tern spent fifteen minutes flying up and down the channel stopping intermittently to dive on an unsuspecting fish meal! The tidy black mask was obvious against the white head. I small wave of folk appeared along the beach soon after the bird’s departure from the area!

This is my second Forster's Tern in the UK. The first I saw on the River Stour at Mistley Essex on 20th November 2016.

I’m certain it will be seen again in the area but it has no fixed time slot to when it appears! The best route is to walk through the main car park and entrance to the reserve following the track up the hill turning right at the sign-post to Shipstall Coastline. The walk is about a mile mainly on gravel track.