Unlikely Bird, Even Less Likely Location

Sunny, fine, warm, a light breeze that had backed into the west and as ever a fair chance of a bird or two. With little of note in the cemetery, it was across the bye-pass to Radipole which once served as my favourite few acres on earth, but the RSPB have put paid to that. There were a few Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers along with the odd Sedge Warbler, but most of the action was at the bridge close to the Visitor's Centre. Kingfisher and Common Snipe were feeding along the margins as a pair of Common Terns continues to tend the needs of their offspring, while a

Water Rail scurried in and out of the reed-bed. That being all I walked, via the sea front, to Lodmoor where yesterday's grand collection of Waders remained pretty much as before, except for the addition of a Black-tailed Godwit that appeared newly arrived, and more

Common Snipe.

Additionally, and of interest were the vast number of Canada Geese that flew in, I don't remember seeing quite that many here before, and as they came to land

each corkscrewed in a maneuver known as 'whiffling' effectively loosing air from under the wings to allow rapid decent.

Greenshank, likely one of the c4 seen yesterday.

It is also good to see so many berries on the bushes, like this Hawthorn, which should the weather get severe like last winter, could be the savior of many a northern Thrush such as Redwing and Fieldfare.

I had timed my visit to the moor to coincide with the daily opening of the Sealife Park from where I have recently received a complimentary invitation, but as I reached the furthest point of my walk there was a text from fellow birder John Down announcing "Pec Sand at Fancy's Close, Portland"! Roughly translated, it was to tell me that a rare vagrant Wader had been found in the village of Easton at the Top of Portland, and the invitation was put on hold.

Fancy's Close is next to the road I used to live in and is a recent addition of very nice town houses, surrounding what might be described as a small 'village green', but not at all likely a place to host a 'rare yank'. I think if you magnify this photo you can just see the bird close to the sapling in front of the dark coloured car, central! But don't worry, here are a few better shots.

When I arrived, after a second 'twitchy' bus ride from the other side of the Borough, the

Pectoral Sandpiper was resting, head under wing, and certainly not showing any concerns about the human activity around it.

In fact it was soon made clear that this was the second day that it had been here with the residents putting the news out today.

During this time, children had been playing football and other games on the grassy area, and each time the ball went near the bird it simply hopped out of the way.

The Pectoral Sandpiper (showing the band where the lower breast meets the belly, giving it this name) breeds across Northern Siberia, Arctic Canada & Alaska with most spending the winter in South America.

Some do however visit south eastern Australia & New Zealand during the freeze,

with the odd one, luckily, popping into the UK en-route.

It should also be noted that this couldn't have been a better location for a minor twitch, as the grassy area is fenced off ('most' birders keeping outside of this I am told), there is more than adequate car parking, the light & weather were good and even the locals friendly and enjoying the moment. Birding mates Peter & Debbie Saunders told me that one lady came out of her house and asked if anyone would like a cup of coffee or tea, which one or two observers took up, including themselves.

This visit then tied in perfectly with the 'turn of the tide', so Ferry Bridge was the next stop. Unfortunately, nearly a total disappointment with very few birds save the usual Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Turnstone and Mediterranean Gulls. However, this is a hobby where things are rarely still and there's usually 'something' to be seen, as this sequence of photographs show.

Walking over the bridge, I stopped to watch this

Shag hunting and had decided to take a few shots anyway.

Big bonus then when it surfaced with this Blenny.

On size alone, the fish is though to be a Tompot Blenny, as its smaller cousin the Common Blenny only grow up to about 30mm.

Either way it made a tasty snack for the Shag, and it can be seen from these 'details' it had

no intention of letting it go with a pincer like grip in the eye sockets. It did swallow it, as Shags do, in one easy gulp.

and finally, this Army 'work boat' passed by on its way back to the Bridging Camp further down the Fleet.

PS - c5 Ravens flew overhead as I arrived home.

Another Good Day At The Office

Glossy Ibis, Radipole Lake, September 2006

Under a more or less blue sky and sunny conditions, the plan today was to skip the cemetery and head straight for the 'turn of the tide' at Ferry Bridge. On the way to the Rodwell Trail there seemed to be an inordinate number of Wood Pigeons which my herald the onset of the huge migrations of this species we have witnessed in recent years. There had obviously been a 'fall' of migrants in the night as the trees and bushes along the trail had more than the usual number of Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, but apart from these the only other sighting of note was a pair of Mallard flying across Portland Harbour. Almost reaching my goal at the southern end of the pathway, there was a phone call from Daragh who had just discovered a Glossy Ibis on Lodmoor which spurred a snap decision to go for a diversion. There have been a number of records in Dorset but this is by no means even an annual bird, the last I saw in the county was the one posted above.

Rarely, if ever, do I berate the local bus service as it serves me so well and, after 09-30 on a week day (no restrictions at week-ends), is free. However, this morning I have to admit to getting an immediate 'twitch' at the prospect of the Ibis and even though I was adjacent to the bus stop it was a full 25 minutes before one arrived. Reaching Weymouth, there was then a short walk of about quarter of a mile and another 20 minute wait for the ongoing bus. All of this is a walk I do on almost a daily basis, but it takes on a whole different aspect when there is a good bird in the frame. On arrival, the news from the local birders in attendance was not good and the upshot was that it had flown away. I did consider returning immediately to FB but having heard of several Waders on the reserve decided to suss them out.

It was a Warbler that first put in an appearance by way of this

Whitethroat which was most obliging, and as it lingered c2 Bearded Tits flew across my line of sight landing in the reeds close by. Staying on this theme, one of several

Sedge Warblers was next and although I did also get a shot of a Reed Warbler it was no good for publication. Beachdown Way, a footpath, intersects the moor and at its south western root is a pile of spoil locally referred to as 'The Hump'. Here, in the margins, were quiet a good number of Waders with Dunlin being most numerous and in company with c4 Greenshank,

this, one of c3 Ruff,

a single Spotted Redshank, which

unlike their close relative the Common Redshank seem to favour deeper water to feed in. There was also a single Curlew Sandpiper, c5 Common Sandpipers, about a dozen Lapwing and probably as many as 8 Ringed Plover. Unfortunately, all of the latter were at some distance and with just binoculars as a visual aid I was unable to decide if any were Little Ringed Plover. Turning to leave, the sky was suddenly filled with many Sand Martin, while there was a real bonus in the shape of a

Kingfisher, the first I have seen in Dorset this year. Add to that c7 Sandwich Terns, a single Common Buzzard plus

c9 Little Egrets it could already be called a decent days birding!

I did return to FB where there was little more than a last hour of the ebb, but worth the journey nonetheless.

The number of Bar-tailed Godwit had increased from the single of the past few days to c4 which

in between bouts of feeding found time for a little high jinx and

aerial displays. There were of course the usual contenders with

Ringed Plover outnumbering

Dunlin by about two to one, along with

c25 Turnstone. Finally, just as I was about to leave another small flock of Dunlin arrived, with a much whiter Wader among them.

A Sanderling, fed for about 20 minutes

during which time it was a bit flighty and elusive

but then settled to

rest and

preen. With the arrival of an Oystercatcher, that took the Wader tally to 12 for the day.

The last 'bird' of the day took a much larger form than those seen previously,

The 'Pelican of London' is a regular visitor to the port of Weymouth, and complete with her compliment of young 'sail trainers' always makes for a great harbour-side attraction.

Alright Mi Duck

Today, the wind had 'backed' into the south making for a much warmer airstream but the chance of rain seemed far more likely. The cemetery was by and large the same as in recent days with most species vocal, while along the Rodwell Trail all of note was a single Whitethroat.

This male Blackbird however was so close, engrossed in leaf flipping, that a shot was all too tempting. From that point the whole of Portland Harbour opens up to view, with the only new arrival being

the Finnish registered Ocean Tug / Supply Vessel Nordica, recently involved with the Wave Power Hub in and around the Hayle Estuary, Cornwall. I did see her in Lyme Bay yesterday, but only able to view her from Wyke Regis and over the top of the Chesil Beach a photograph was not possible. However, what I did notice was her 'tow deck' stowed with all manner of large navigation buoys such asIsolated Danger & Special Marks plus Cardinal (directional) Buoys. My assumption was that she had been chartered by Trinity House the General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales, The Channel Islands and Gibraltar who are responsible for a range of aids to navigation, to augment their own fleet in changing out these buoys. This morning she was secured alongside the Outer Coaling Pier in Portland Dockyard, seemingly mobbing orde-mobbing with her huge crane in action. Now that's what you call a Tug!

The tides are once again entering their 'springs' phase, with the New Moon occurring this Saturday, which I always consider a fine time to be on the foreshore one hour after 'high water' to watch the ebb for feeding Waders. Today there was the reward of the Bar-tailedGodwit once again, plus a

small group of Dunlin plus a single Turnstone also waiting for 'the turn' and this fine

Curlew Sandpiper

which could well be the one that has also been around for a few days?

Having initially and inadvertently labelled yesterday's Mandarins as Harlequins, I would attempt to redress the balance by publishing this today.

A male Harlequin Duck photographed a few years ago off the sea wall at Wakkanai, the most northerly city in Japan, and for accompaniment these shots of

Long-tailed Duck

in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Barrow, Alaska

a claimant as the most northerly town in the world.

Mike Edwards 1948 - 2010

Unusually, we have to start with bad news as we learn of the death of Mike Edwards, founder members and eccentric Cellist of the Electric Light Orchestra. In a freak accident when a 50 stone hay bale rolled onto his van in Devon, Mike died instantly he was 62. He is pictured here (right) with the original ELO line up including Mick Kaminski, Kelly Groucutt, Bev Beven, Jeff Lynn, Richard Tandy and Hugh McDowell.

To describe the day as 'quiet' would be a huge understatement! With the wind remaining easterly, sky overcast and more than a good chance of rain there had to be the prospect of at least a scarce migrant, and indeed there was. Up to and including Ferry Bridge there was nothing in addition to what has been reported over the past few days, so for a while I resorted to ship watching.

The 'bulk carrier' Stena Perros lay at anchor in Portland Harbour which was of great interest to me having work for Stena Line for 5 years. On the fore-shore Waders predominated but the best of these was the

Bar-tailed Godwit which has been there for a few days now.

Venturing on to the Bill early news (for me anyway) was the presence of a Wryneck (a small mottled brown Woodpecker) in the Observatory quarry. A half hour wait for it to show itself was enough, but then lightning struck for a second time as news of another (or maybe the same one?) came from Barleycrates Lane. A similar amount of time was spent there without success so I headed back to Weymouth where I had arranged to have a lunch time pint with a few friends, that being the highlight of my day.

Just to keep the interest stimulated here are a few photographs of Ducks from the archive - enjoy!

Eider (male)

Eider (female)

Mandarin (male)

Mandarin (female)

and a pair of Wigeon (male fore-ground)