Another quiet day bird wise, but another great walk around Radipole, Lodmoor and the Bill end of Portland. Lodmoor produced the most interest with 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 19 Dunlin, 3 Ringed Plover, a dozen Lapwing, 3 Sandwich Tern, 5 Little Egret, a Willow Warbler, 3 Common Sandpiper, several (maybe 4) most vocal Water Rail, an equally noisy Green Woodpecker and a Common Buzzard. At the Obs, settling down to my now 'trademark' corned beef bun, I located a Curlew, on call, which was seen shortly afterwards circling the East Cliff before disappearing out to sea.

Black-tailed Godwits at Lodmoor today.

Lazy Sunday - Gulls of the World (Part 8) Return to the Home Front

After a relatively busy week, today I'll take it easy and finalise some plans for my next trip. It is intended to be a 'long one' so much to be done, details to follow.

Little Gull - Christchurch Harbour, Dorset

Black-headed Gull - Weymouth, Dorset

Mediterranean Gull - Ferry Bridge, Portland, Dorset

Black-legged Kittiwake - Buchan Alpha, 120 miles NE of Aberdeen

Common Gull - Radipole Nature Reserve, Weymouth, Dorset

From the Mouths of Babes and Black-headed Gulls

Black-headed Gull with hapless Brambling

Notes on yesterday's video clip.
During a large 'fall' of migrant birds onboard Buchan Alpha on 13th October 2005, a seemingly healthy Brambling was caught by the Black-headed Gull, shaken by the neck until dead, then swallowed whole. With some photography restrictions on Oil Rigs, this was the final opportunity to capture a 'still' of this strange event.

Convolvulus Hawk-moth

Tachina grossa

An early morning walk around Radipole only produced over-flying Sparrowhawk and Greenshank, and with a 2.4 metre spring tide Ferry Bridge was bye-passed. The wander from Tout Quarry to the Bill proved equally fruitless, but at the Observatory it was insects that brightened my day. A Convolvulus Hawk-moth dallying after capture last night was a welcome sight despite visiting my own trap on a number of occasions. This insect can reach a length of about 120mm, so is something of a monster among moths in the UK. It should be noted that since moving from a very productive mothing site in Wyke Regis, I no longer trap here in the heart of suburbia.

Next, I reported to those around me, what I described as a strange looking 'bee' only to be put right very quickly by a 9 year old boy. He told me that it was in fact Tachina grossa the largest of the European Diptera (Flies). He went on to say that it is parasitic on the caterpillars of Oak Eggar Moths, where the female injects her eggs into their body cavity, with the newly hatched gaining nourishment as they eat their way through the caterpillar's living body. A little gruesome for a young lad you may feel, but I got such a kick out of being educated by one so young. This was by no means a 'one off' as he went on to tell me that among many other things he has already seen all of the resident British butterflies. I got a feeling that the future is in good hands.

After the Ordeal

Andy and Glen headed back to Derby this morning, but not before visiting Weyfish to purchase even more fish to take home with them. We made our goodbyes about midday, and they asked me to send their 'best wishes' to all of you out there who have met them. I was left with the mundane task of clearing up behind them, which was mammoth but well worth it to see those 2 reprobates again. At the time of writing I'm still wading through the cleaning so will draw today's post to a close with a little video footage taken on Buchan Alpha some years ago. It will scotch any ideas that Black-headed Gulls are gentle little fellas content picking up odd scraps of food from the sea.

Gulls of the World (Part 7) Out of Africa

Cape Gull on nest - Strandfontein, South Africa.

Cape Gull's nest - Strandfontein, South Africa.

Hartlaub's Gull Simon's Town, South Africa.

Gulls of the World (Part 6) Another Look at the Yanks

Bonapartes Gull - Toad River, mile 422 Alaska Highway, British Columbia, Canada.

Mew Gull - Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada.

Laughing Gull (with Black Skimmer) - Cape May, New Jersey.

Ring-billed Gull - Cape May, New Jersey.

As predicted, the weather put paid to any further fishing, but undetered by the early morning rain we ate a hearty breakfast of Makerel (those beautiful Silver Darlings) and headed for Portland Bill. At the bird observatory Martin Cade, the Warden, was clearing one of the ponds, ably assisted by his wife Sharon, while Peter Morgan stedfastly kept an eye on the mist nets despite hardly any avian action at all. The 3 of us enjoyed a cup of coffee before climbing to the top of the tower, then after a short walk headed home to ready ourselves for dinner at Rossini's.

Planes & Boats & Fish

The Red Arrows,

It was amusing to note that on a poster in the town announcing "Weymouth Carnival, Red Arrows 16-30 Today, some wag had written underneath; "If Wet in the Pavillion".

People crowding the vantage point of the Nothe.

The Stavros S Niachos