Dorset - Portland and Weymouth - Pre Tour Round Up!

 

I have been doing my pre tour rounds on Weymouth and Portland over the last couple of days. The weather has turned cold early morning but has brightened up in the afternoon.

It was calm bright and sunny this morning on The Fleet and the usual suspects were present. A couple of Sanderling, Knot, Bar-tailed Godwits, Dunlin and over 100 Ringed Plovers were on the mud.

The first returning Dark Bellied Brent Goose hit the waters of The Fleet. Debbie and Pete were walking back to their car therefore I caught up with them to announce the arrival (Not sure why I did this as they are both on Whatsapp!).

A Spotted Flycatcher was seen around the Bird Observatory garden during the afternoon.

The Little Owl was basking away in the sun in the usual location.

A couple of Wheatears were located at Fancy’s Farm but sadly not much else in this area!

Lodmoor was reasonably quiet yesterday but the opportunity presented itself to photograph Water Rail as a single bird was taking advantage of the sunshine!

A couple of Ringed Plover were present. Black-tailed Godwits, Common Sandpiper, Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Redshank and Dunlin made up the shorebird numbers!

A couple of Kingfishers were busy fishing in the vicinity of the tern islands. A Cattle Egret and four Great Egrets were present scattered over the reserve.

Dorset - Portland - Plenty Happening on Portland!

A tour which began last Thursday ending Saturday afternoon was loaded with different fortunes. I experienced some of the worst rain I have seen in England. It reminded me of my time spent in Paraguay where storms would close the area down for days at a time!

(Baird's Sandpiper photograph by Peter Coe)

The prize on the tour if your from the UK was a Baird’s Sandpiper that had dropped into Ferrybridge during the Friday evening. Peter Coe was photographing birds on the mud and secured some excellent pictures of the bird which would have been lost if I had relied on my photographic skills! I am very grateful for his presence and permission to use his photos on my websites. Summary of trip report here at Dorset Bird Tours .

I returned to Portland yesterday following a movement of around 700 Great Shearwaters off the bill in an hour the previous day! The birds are known to return along the channel on the French or the English side! Having staked out Portland Bill with Roly we could only muster a couple of Arctic Skua with Manx and a couple of Balearic Shearwater during our vigil.

I returned to the Portland Bird Observatory noting a small gathering outside the entrance and it transpired a Pallid Harrier had been seen earlier in the morning. The bird having been spotted by Charlie over Chesil Cove! The observers were increased by two with Roly soon called out “Ive got it!”. The bird flew low over the houses and down towards The Pulpit Inn and was not seen again! There are many better pictures out there which indicate the bird is a second calendar year male!

An Ortolan Bunting put in a brief appearance perched up on a bush by the small pond in the Crown Estate field. The bird was heard in the field during the afternoon but did not put in another appearance despite a search of the area.

Autumn migration is definitely gaining speed! I wonder what will be next on Portland! I will be back soon!

Dorset - Bardolf Farm - Birding Bonanza!

The weather today was overcast with rain that varied from mizzle to showers. It was a perfect day to be out in the field. The morning started with a couple of individual low flying calling Yellow Wagtails. 

These birds were followed by a couple of Green Sandpiper and a single accompanying Snipe. These birds appeared to be navigating south using the Devil’s Brook as their compass!

I covered the regular areas before departing to sort out “other business”. This was completed at lightning speed as I had a good feeling the Farm would have more to offer particularly as the weather had deteriorated!

The plan for the afternoon was to re visit the pools at Mill Mead where bird of the day was located. A Wood Sandpiper which was confirmed by Hugo as the second record for Bardolf Farm. The bird seemed attached to a couple of Green Sandpiper all of which were commuting between pools.

Just prior to my stake out I bumped into a Wheatear on the open fields another bird that had been pushed down by the conditions.

I have a good vantage point which overlooks the pools and I remained until dusk. A Common Sandpiper was the only shorebird addition with Canada Geese which are growing in number and a Little Egret adding to the species tally.

There are many non-descript days on the Farm which don’t get mentioned but this was not one of them! Days like this are few and far between therefore have to be taken advantage of!

The day ended with three species year ticks, two new species for my farm list and a second record for the farm. 

Not a bad day at all!!

Hampshire - Keyhaven (Pennington) Marshes - A Stint on The Marshes!

I was up and out at stupid o clock yesterday morning for a birding and soccer bonanza. Keyhaven Marshes was the venue for a variety of shorebirds including Grey Plover in various stages of breeding to non breeding plumage.

The tide was on the rise and more birds were seeking refuge on the pools. First target species a Little Stint was noted being chased off by Dunlin on one of the small islands close to the sea wall! The Little Stint soon settled and was left to feed at its leisure along the shoreline!

I met up with Peter Moore (the cycling birder) at the top of the far pool and at this point the Curlew Sandpiper had not been re-located. A Wheatear put in an appearance along the fence-post line close to the path!

The Curlew Sandpiper did not disappoint the two Dorset birders, dropping onto a nearby island before joining the Little Stint for a short time. A low flying Sparrowhawk shuffled the pack giving good views of the white rump on the Sandpiper!

The morning was moving on and it was time to join the traffic up to the smoke for a family visit and the evening kick off Sutton Utd v Forest Green Rovers! It was good to catch up with Frank and the boys! Sutton lost the game having got back on level terms near the end of the game! They are a new young side which will hold their own in the National League having been relegated from League 2 last season!