Even though the wind was in the west, with just a hint of south, it was chill and even the short breaks of sunshine early on were soon overtaken by an overcast sky making for a dull day. Blackcaps were singing at both the cemetery and Radipole but with the exception of 40+ Sand Martins that was all as far as migrants were concerned.
More localised fare included a very high flying
Marsh Harrier plus an undetermined number of Bearded Tits in at least 2 of the reed-beds, a single Common Buzzard and my first sighting of
Lady's Smock that seem to be springing up all over the reserve, but I'd hurry as they will soon have the 'strimmers' out! At Portland, things were deathly with just c5 Swallows recorded between Sweethill and the Observatory, but by the number of people congregating
on the Bill Road it was fairly obvious the
Short-toed Lark had stayed overnight. Regardless, it was no more confiding, staying at the same range as yesterday making for similar photographs. In view of the situation I mad for the Swan public house in Weymouth to say cheerio to a few mates before embarking on the Scotland adventure tomorrow. There are always a good number of birds in prospect up there, and as well as them I hope to renew a few old acquaintances as well.Probably best if you watch this site over the next week for all the Jockanese experiences. It's probably best to point out that posts may be a little later than usual, and on some days absent if Internet access cannot be made - but all the news will get through eventually.
So, to keep the interest going, I'll leave you today with a few images of some of the many Australian Honeyeaters.
Please 'tune in' tomorrow.
Blue-faced Honeyeater
Brown Honeyeater
Dusky Honeyeater
Macleay's Honeyeater
New Holland Honeyeater
Singing Honeyeater
Tawny-crowned Honeyeater
Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
