I spent the afternoon trawling the Farm looking for migrants. Blackcap have arrived in small numbers and I have had a female visiting my feeders for a while now. Most of the winter wildfowl have departed to pastures new but I did find a small flock of Teal and a lone Lapwing and Wigeon today!
The afternoon pressed on with one eye to the skies as Osprey’s are on the move and one was reported over Portland and at the Fleet which fueled my fire to add one to my Farm tally!
The day was drawing in and I was at Athelhampton checking the sodden fields when a flock of Egrets dropped in on the most southern most field from Athelhampton Road. My initial count was 6 Cattle and a handful of Little, but the Cattle Egrets decided to move on as a group and 8 was the tally!
Cattle Egrets have been noted on the Farm earlier this year and there have been sightings of various numbers from Affpuddle and Tolpuddle (I had 6 there recently) which is further east along the Piddle valley. This suggests the valley is being used by Egrets (and Red Kite) to navigate between feeding grounds!
This species is becoming more common in Dorset with good numbers that roost at Abbotsbury. Records on the Farm are naturally increasing along with Goosander. This could also be a result of the high water levels in the area!
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