GoldenEye - The Name's Bond (Premium) Bond

 Still the rain arrives in pulses but leveled out by sunny periods and we are still 'catching'!

under clouded skies with firstly

a single

DARK CHESTNUT

En-route we had, as usual, stopped at the

PUDDLE of MUD
where our dreams of a Wader came true

with not one but 2

COMMON SANDPIPER
with this one looking to still have some 'juvenile' about it?
Returning to the Solarr Panel perimetre fence certainly paid dividens as close to Party Gate with the Heath firstly a

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER

was logged

followed within the hour by a far more scarce family member

in the shape of a

LESSER-SPOTTED WOODPECKER

only the second and highly likely the last of the year but

that's when the rain returned with just a hint of a 'double bow' but not to be out-done

also showing a complete arc and finally, we think it was Friday when we made an effort to see the

male
GOLDENEYE
at Longham Lakes, what a cracker, and while there was no female in attendance it was thought worthwhile to pluck an image from the archive

just for comparison - another beauty!

Away Day Part III

 A bit of a boon to have the compossition of the Triogy in the making as the rain on Sunday was sporadic to say the least and so to Ferrybridge but not for long! Having paid the £2.00 for the single hour in car park and placing the ticket in the window we reached for the camera and tripod only to find the former 

Absent From Place of Duty

The drive to and from the Bird Observatory took a full 50 minutes to recover it not to mention another 2 quid out of the purse, but leaning heavily on my favourite adage "if that is all that befalls me today I will be happy" we got on with the show" as we had timed the tide prefectly. with the

GULL FLOCK
mostly

BLACK-HEADED GULLs
with a sprinkling of

MEDITERRANEAN GULLs
and still in hope of the reported c2 minor 'goodies'?

while the few

TURNSTONE

were performing something of a ballet

of their own while continuing the Wader theme with

just a single

BAR-TAILED GODWIT

feeding voraciously flying from one location to another.
Heading across the sand-flats to Small-Mouth where the tidal flow runs under the main-road to and from Portland Harbour, we spotted a likely candidate for one of the so called 'Goodies' and found it to be just that

 a male

GOOSEANDER

plodding its way up the Fleet!

Taking time to watch the

Sails of the Kite-Surfers and another 'pass' by the Orange Chopper
then walking 'under' the very same road we fistly came across a few seemingly angry Cormorants and this

LITTLE EGRET
before locking onto the second goodie and object of our desire

the also previously reported

EIDER

not at any great distance but

evasive as frequently

choosing to hide behind the breakwater and will look like

this, from the archive, when reaching maturity!
and just moments before turning to retrace our tracks this

STONECHAT
took up perch on the boatyard fence.
Most unusual, given the time of year, it dawned on us that as yet we had seen no signs of a

BRENT GOOSE

at a location where there are often

HUNDREDS
but at that moment just c5 but maybe this

was the begining of the influx, but we didn't wait to find out!

Away Day - Part II

 Reaching the brow of the shallow incline

PORTLAND BILL
with 2 of its 3 lighthouses opened before us but it was decided to scan the sea from the

furthest point at the

TRINITY HOUSE OBALISK
before paying a visit with still a fresh breeze piping.

Small Boat Hoist

driving the Rollers in

and otherwise the clear blue sky contrasting with the
Active Lighthouse with first on parade unsurprisingly

a couple or 3

CORMORANTs

with just a single
KITTIWAKE

To emphasis Sea State the

CRABBER - PORTLAND ISLE

was making heavy weather of rounding the Bill and entering West Bay.
Not wishing to "over-egg the custard", which we are going to do anyway,

out of the corner of the eye

our much hoped for

Target Bird

PURPLE SANDPIPER

recently returned from their
Summer Quarters in Iceland

landed on the shelfing rock ledges directly below us - c9 in all!
Scanning again to seaward a short parade of common seabirds such as this lone

FULMAR
and equally singular

SHAG
were watched over from above by a few

GUILLEMOT
on the high ledges and also gazing down on a

small flotilla of

GANNETs

Through the light mist a distant and large
CONTAINER VESSEL

along with a couple of

RAZORBILLs

COASTGUARD STATION
on our way to the

LOWER LIGHT
which is the
PORTLAND BIRD OBSEVATORY
which by then we had given up on

ROCK PIPIT

but "the game ain't over 'til the fat lady sings"!
Before even entering the Lighthouse we met John Down and immediately within Ricky Lambert firm birding friends of many years standing who had not been seen for 5 years or more. Also there was
now well established Deputy Warden Jodie Mae Henderson firmly taking the helm while Warden Martin Cade was about his annual pilgimage to Kenya assisting with Bird Ringing there. Great to see you all and pleased you liked the

DECEMBER MOTH
which was something of a surprise to find is not caught on the Island.