Has Anybody Seen The HUNT - ref Porky's

Bright and sunny from the off today and coupled with a rise in temperature it was feeling more like early spring, but that's Weymouth & Portland for you! You could have been forgiven for thinking this may have encouraged more to take advantage of thawed food, but by the time I reached the Radipole car park all of note was a handful of Redwing, c13 Bearded Tit (seen well) and most unexpected c2 Redpoll (presumed Lesser) most likely. The only record for me in the county this year, but they are always common and numerous at Blashford Lakes, across the border into Hampshire, where this photo was taken in January 2009.

Lesser Redpoll

Some readers may recall the item of 30 August this year, when the refurbishment of Blacknor Fort on the West Cliff of Portland was first noticed. As then, I still have no idea what it will eventually become (a private dwelling or part of a TV documentary as previously suggested) but

this photograph of that date compared to

today's image shows work as progressed apace!

Barleycrates Lane, neglected since mid-autumn, was visited today with literally a single Meadow Pipit being noted but what a therapeutic walk out onto the cliff, which gave me lots of time to muse. Even there nothing was of note, but where else would I have wanted to be? Further along towards the Bill a few Guillemots and Shags clung to the lip of the cliff, as a few Rock Pipit and Jackdaw also showed.

It was while looking for yesterday's reported c4 Purple Sandpiper that I noticed this lone Golden Plover, also on the edge of the cliff while looking back saw

saw this Dunlin where the Purps should have been. Seems I was a little too hasty describing the

Golden Plover as 'alone', as there were a further c30 on the Bill Common taking to the air on occasion and flying as far as the Observatory before returning to the grassy area.

At the Obs, coinciding with finishing both sandwich and coffee and Edwin Welland returning home via Weymouth, a report came through of a number of Waxwing in Dorchester. Long awaited by just about every 'birder' locally, it would seem Dorset is the only county not to have had its share of these beautiful creatures from northern Europe. Ed's kind offer of a lift allowed me to rendezvous with Bowie and Sheila and head off in search of the birds. On arrival, it was plainly obvious that they were no longer there, as the throng of 'birders' were simply milling around and chatting to one another, they had flown of just a few minutes earlier - where have I heard that before? A search by several of us, driving around the local housing estate looking for berry barring bushes where they might be feeding was in vain, so we decided to return home via the scenic route. We must have looked in every tree along the way for the Waxwings but all of note were

c8 Roe Deer in a field close to Martinstown, while on the back road through Rodden much of the road was taken up by a large number of horse boxes.

In days gone by this would undoubtedly have been a 'fox hunt', but as this is now outlawed in England you have to give the riders the benefit of carrying out a lawful pastime . To be fair, there were no hounds, although we did think we heard some, but you still get a very strange look when you start pointing a camera in what might be described as a 'sensitive' direction!

As there has been little in the way of bird-life locally, a return to Colombia was needed to bring you what will likely be the LAST of the images from the December 2009 trip there.

Rufous-breasted Chat-Tyrant

Santa Marta Parakeet

Steely-vented Hummingbird

Stygian Owl

Tody Motmot

White-tailed Starfrontlet

White-tipped Quetzal

The 'Feelgood' Factor

Joy, my next door neighbour, and I spent a full hour last night looking at Saturn. While my 60x magnification Swarovski telescope ain't 'Hubble' we feel sure the planets 'rings' could be seen as it passes fairly close to earth during this phase. Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter and if you listen to The Manfred Mann Earth Band you know Jupiter is the 'Joy Bringer' - she was already there!

This morning it was touch and go as to exactly what I was going to do. eventually deciding on a few hours in the Warehan Forest. Redwing and Song Thrush still held centre stage both in the cemetery and at Radipole, but once again the Hooded merganser had no intention of being videoed. A small party of Bearded Tits were performing well outside the Radipole Visitor's Centre but the light was bad and although they struck a pose the images were poor.

Awaiting the X53 to Wareham the rain clouds seemed to be forming, and 5 minutes before departure I 'bottled it' opting for a morning of sorting myself out. Shopping, banking, washing up and dhobying have all been neglected of late, for far more important pursuits, but by noon most of these had been redressed. That's when, as light rain fell, I opted for a bottle of wine and Dr Feelgood albeit a bastardised version of the original Les Brilleaux (vox & Harp), Wilko Johnson (axe), John B Sparks (bass) and 'The Big Figure' aka John Martin (drums). Overtaken by strains of their first offering Roxette / Route 66, Brilleaux is still shaking 'like the proverbial leaf on a tree' and offering harp as good as Musslewhite , while the 'genre police' attempt to label them, they are nothing short of a 'pub band'. It has to be said, despite courting an argument from the likes of Brinsley Shwartz, Kilburn and the Highroads, Echo and the Bunnymen et al, they are 'the best' pub band?

Some headway has been made into finding out the origin of the 'colour ringed' Pied Wagtail feature a couple of days ago. RSPB Warden Luke Phillips tells me it could have been he who ringed the bird and that it is local, apart from which I still await the fine detail.

Some readers have written to say they have experienced difficulty in accessing Bowie's Dorset Orchid Website, so it is hoped this link will rectify that.

http://www.ukwildorchids.org.uk/

While back in 'Dodgy' territory, this is his latest offering - 'click' and see!
http://vimeo.com/17605921

In the absence of any local bird reports, I resort, once again, to the Colombia trip of late 2009 in the hope of brightening a dull (only weather wise) day.

Black-backed Bush Tanager

Black-billed Mountain-Toucan

Blossomcrown

Bogota Rail

Buffy Hummingbird

Chauco Guan

Crimson-mantled Woodpecker

Dusky Starfrontlet

Golden-fronted Redstart

Golden-headed Quetzal

Munchique Wood-Wren

Purplish Tanager

As we go to press, the Jack Bruce (Cream, Graham Bond Organisation and many more), Robin Trower (Procol Harum) and Gary Husband (session) offering Seven Moons is on the DVD turntable - I'm predicting a 'late night' - Manana!

What's it all about
Anyone in doubt
I don't want to go until I've found it all out!
NSU - Cream

A Fleet-ing Glimpse

With the potential of a few good things in the area this morning it was a bit of a quandary as to which direction would be best, but an early call from Daragh had me heading for Radipole Park Drive (RPD). Having already recorded many singing birds in the cemetery, in complete contrast to yesterday, and a Common Buzzard overhead at Radipole it was good to find the

Red-crested Pochard (R-c P) among a large number of other wildfowl opposite the tennis courts at RPD. Also in attendance were Mallard, Gadwall, Teal, Shoveler. Tufted Duck and something of a surprise

this Pintail (along with many dozens of Pochard) a really elegant bird that visits the lake all too infrequently. It was just as I was getting in range when 2 other visitors arrived in the shape of a (the) Common Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk that cut along the line of reeds at breakneck speed. This had the effect of putting about 80% of the Ducks to flight, leaving only the brave or foolhardy,

including the Pintail and the R-cP. However, it wasn't long before most were back but unfortunately not the Pintail.

The initial report had been of just c2 R-cP but once the flock had settled there were seen to be c4,

a single male plus

c3 females. Before leaving the area, I checked out a familiar call coming from one of the large fir trees to find a Firecrest, which was not obliging enough to allow a photograph.

There had been a tentative plan to take a walk along part of The Fleet, a body of water that lies between the shingle bank of Chesil Beach and the mainland west of Weymouth, but there had also been another call from Daragh alerting me to c4 Woodlarks north of Lodmoor. Coincidentally, this was at the same time that the Chickerell bus arrived so taking this as an omen, it was the Fleet. A short walk from Chickerell Village is the old

Gateway to Fleet Road, and while I have no idea of the origin of the 'flag waving hands' on the wrought iron gateposts, think they look both ancient and novel. In turn the road leads to

and it's row of quaint cottages, and as if to add a little more drama a

Great Spotted Woodpecker landed, albeit briefly, in a nearby tree.

This is also the location, as regular readers may remember, of Moonfleet Church which features in the novel (and film) of the same name. Those wishing to read and see more of this fascinating place might like to use the 'search engine', on the Home Page and type in '12 June 2010' or 'Yesterday Once More' on this Blog to access the relevant page.

From here, you meet the Fleet at

Butter Street Cove where Mute Swans are ever present, the world famous Abbotsbury Swannery being only a mile or two to the west. Walking east you immediately gain the advantage of high ground to view a wide expanse of

the 'watercourse' with Chesil Beach in the background and the Dorset Coast stretching to the west as far as Golden Cap, the highest point on the south coast of England. Also viewable from here are just some of the 'thousands' of wildfowl which thrive on the Fleet during the winter months.

Heading east, East Fleet Coast-Guard Cottages soon hove into view, as can on a day like today:-

c2 Knot (known these days as Red Knot), c15 Little Egret, c5 Turnstone and probably 'thousands of Wigeon and Brent Geese.

Red Knot

Some of the c31 Oystercatcher that were feeding in fields close by, and on closer inspection you should be able to see a single Black-tailed Godwit (honest) second from right!

In addition a Greenshank plus at least c4

Redshank appeared, the photos, for illustration purposes, are from the archive. As I made my way up the Tidmoor path to Charlestown, a

Woodlark landed on the track just ahead

and the hedgerows suddenly became alive with Redwing.

It was only on arrival at home when it dawned on me just how 'over dressed' I had been today, hot as a freshly baked loaf I looked in the mirror to notice the 'plimsoll line' the sun had left across my forehead where my hat had been. In conclusion of this walk and the area, which I don't wander half as often as I should, it is plainly apparent why the likes of Brett Spencer, Ian Dodd et al love this place so much.

Finally, this run of photographs were sent to me a couple of days ago from my friend and Chief Engineer of the Technip 'deepwater pipelay vessel' Deep Constructor just off the coast of Recife, Brazil as they commenced their passage back to UK. They are said to be from the Cingino Dam, Italy and if authentic, are little short of amazing.

It is reported McDonald's intend building an outlet on the face of the dam wall in early 2011?