The Bagsy Blog: Lazarus - Porcupine Tree

Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Lazarus - Porcupine Tree

The temperature took a bit of a downward turn last night so more in hope than anticipation only one trap was activated. -2°C this morning and not an Insect let alone a Moth, but the Barn Owl continued to make its presence felt and a couple of

GOLDCREST

were foraging in the vicinity.

Continuing on the 'small bird' theme, yesterday's (yes still a day behind) project was to witness a rather strange occurrence in the Purbeck Hills little more than a one hour drive from here. The route would take me through familiar territory, passing Sandbanks where the tide was at a low ebb and the foreshore covered with Wading Birds. Certainly worth a stop as most were within camera range.

First and certainly most numerous

OYSTERCATCHER

with among them just a single

BAR-TAILED GODWIT

Also in good numbers, c27 to be precise

SANDERLING

and of course the seemingly ever present (at this location at least)

CURLEW (left).

Again it would be via the Ferry running across the

Poole Harbour Entrance

which at time of arrival was at the other side. Time then to take a look around but no Turnstone or Purple Sandpiper in fact nothing of interest at all. Passing vessels included the

SHORELINE ENGINEERING WORK BOAT

and the

POOLE HARBOUR PILOT CUTTER

No further stopping then until reaching the village of

WORTH MATRAVERS

perched on the very southern end of the Purbeck Peninsula.

Over the years the occasional visits to the pub here

THE SQUARE AND COMPASS

have been memorable for the music and Beer Festivals.

A walk through the village was necessary to reach

Lazarus
As the cheerless towns pass my window
I can see a washed out moon through the fog
And then a voice inside my head, breaks the analogue
And says "Follow me down to the valley below You know
Moonlight is bleeding from out of your soul"

WINSPIT VALLEY

an area not visited since the visit of a

RED-FLANKED BLUETAIL

there in October 1993.

This image, also from the archive, taken in Taiwan in 2012

shows the full splendour of this bird on its breeding ground.

No Bluetail today unfortunately and almost the same number of birders, except for one that did direct me further down the valley and to the Winspit Cottage where he had seen the Yellow-browed Warbler. On arrival a probable 4

COMMON CHIFFCHAFF

were located along with a much 'paler' bird a

SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF

a sub species.

It wasn't long before the

YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER

was also seen but it must be pointed out that the four images above

are all from the archive, the birds themselves being uncooperative.

MUCK SPREADING

was attracting a lot of Gulls and Corvides (Crows) among them

RAVEN

The target bird was always going to be a 'shot in the dark' and with only a small amount of help from others, 2 more birders did spend a short time looking, after a full 3 hours I was ready to call it a day although there had been a few things, Goldcrest, Bullfinch, Blackcap, Song Thrush, Wrens, Peregrine etc, to keep the interest up! It was then I was joined by a young man from Surrey, who had been searching further up the valley, and within 30 minutes of our meeting claimed he had 'heard' the

MELODIOUS WARBLER

another seemingly endless wait did produce just fleeting glimpses.

(archive photos again)

The 'strange occurrance' mentioned earlier would be best described by Green, 'The Birds of Dorset'. A scarce passage migrant, mainly in Autumn the first county record being from Portland Bill (PB) in 1954. Apart from an early bird at PB during the first week of July '97, all records extend from late July to mid-October. There are relatively few reports for October, the latest involving long staying individuals 1st - 19th '90 and 13th - 18th '94 both on Portland. This bird has now been here for 6 days - STRANGE INDEED!