Half-term list

February isn't anyone's favourite month in which to spend one's birding vouchers. But its half term and I'm in Weymouth. And we have a dog, so now I have to take it for a walk first thing, so its a new challenge and a new list- Birds I've Seen Whilst Walking The Dog!

Friday am I took Elvis (yes that is his name) round Radipole; a trip noteable for being the least number of interesting bird I've ever seen at Weymouth, not even a peep from a Cetti's Wabler. Then Friday mid-day we hit the beach, and a scan over the perfectly flat Weymouth Bay produced a few Great-Crested Grebes, a distant Great Northern Diver, and an even more distant pair of Mute Swans.

Saturday morning I took Elvis to the Nothe. Again, the sea was perfectly flat. This is a mixed blessing; you can see further, but the birds have often disappeared out to sea. About a mile away in the habour by Sandsfoot Castle was a small flock of Black-Necked Grebes. Of course, I couldn't positively eliminate confusion species such as Slav Grebe, Little Grebe, Razorbill, any duck, GBBG, but they were in a small flock, and Slav Grebes don't flock like that in my experience. Slightly nearer was a Black-Throated Diver, which turned to show off a nice white thigh patch - birding made easy! Other birds were some Shags out to sea, a couple of Chiffchaffs, a Turnstone, and a few Redwings.

Finally, took D#2,3,4 and Elvis to the play park and then a homeward trip round Radipole. The RSPB is about to spend pots of money "improving" Radipole. Cleaning of ditches and dykes prevents silt build up and makes for better habitat, and better hunting for Bitterns and Marsh Harriers. A Sand Martin Bank, a field cleared of scrub for waders such as Snipe, Lapwing, etc. I'd like more scrapes for passing waders, but they feel Lodmoor does that better. The plan makes sense I guess, and is already paying dividends with a few Bitterns this winter and breeding Marsh Harriers. And where else do you get the chance to walk out of your front door and see three male Bearded Tits just twenty yards away, sat out in the sun devouring seeds on the heads of Rushes, as we did on the way back?

Close up #2

... and then we went to the beach where the usual group of Carrion Crows was present.

Ready for your close up pt I

D#4 is still young enough to enjoy throwing bread at birds. First we went to the Boating Lake ...

Unlikely Birders No 1

Mrs D mentioned she'd seen something in an Obituary of the fashion designer Alexander McQueen. so I googled and found an old article from The Guardian

"McQueen is the son of an East End cab driver; as a teenager, he joined the Young Ornithologists' Club and whiled away the after-school hours birdwatching from the roof of his block of flats. He retains to this day the mentality of an outsider."

So there we have it. He was a birdwatcher, therefore he was an outsider.

Garden Birds

A couple of Long-tailed Tits drew my attention. The Male Blackcap appeared, and the usual House Sparrows. I got the camera and, of course, the birds disappeared as soon as I went into the garden. I snapped the Sparrows, and then a Coal Tit which appeared.

I always make the same mistake

Rainham RSPB has been having a purple patch. I turned up at 10 ish and whizzed round the reserve. It was a case of "should have been here yesterday" for the absent Bean Geese and Whooper Swan, and "should have been here two minutes ago" for the juv Glaucous Gull that had flown back from the Target Pools and was now invisible. I got distant Peregrine and some nice Pintail but it wasn't quite what I'd hoped for.

I left the reserve and started west on the river-side path, and immediately my luck changed. Some locals pointed out a distant Ruff. I got as far as the Mound at the West end and had distant but clear views of a stonking 1st winter Glaucous Gull, resplendent in luminous pale cinnamon plumage. It stretched, it waddled off to a pool to drink, it flew, pretending to be chased by a Herring Gull, it did all you'd hope for. The Glaucous Gull is the King of the gulls, and it was a real joy to see one again.

There was a distant Common Buzzard, then back to the centre and miraculously the two Bean Geese had been found in the centre of the reserve. The clear white feather edges were a give-away, and we had the cracking views as they fed, looked around, and fed again. I clocked a Black-Tailed Godwit and then left.

My mistake was, again, to go onto the actual reserve itself. Its great for close-ups of birds, but the undulating terrain means your field of view is limited. You don't see too many locals on the reserve; they all stand on the sea wall or the mound, where you get extended clear view over the Thames and the reserve and environs.

Ferrybridge

I stopped off at Ferrybridge (on 17th). The tide was going out but still high, and with the sun behind me and a clear blue sky the birds were looking at their best.

About 500 Brent Geese, tens of Med Gulls, Ringed Plovers and Dunlin.

Weymouth/Portland 17

With just the morning free I started at the Obs. The clear skies had a predictable consequence; no-one was sure where any birds were except for the Firecrest that has been doing a circuit of the obs garden for the last few days. I saw a few small green birds flitting through the trees, but the only ones I could identify were Willow Chiffs, and a Goldcrest. With just a couple of Swallows overhead and a pair of Common Buzzards I decided to cut my losses and headed off for Ferrybridge - more of that later - and Lodmoor.

Lodmoor had: pinging Bearded Tits, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Barwit, 11 Blackwits, 8 Dunlin, a few Snipe and Lapwings, a Wigeon, a couple of Wheatears, two pairs of Stonechat, a Reed Bunting and a Willow Chiff.

Portland 16 Oct

Business in Weymouth was over by 3 leaving me some time to go Portland as the sun set. Just a quick dash round the hut area. A couple of flighty Black Redstarts the stars.

28,982

thats the number of Redwings that had flown over the Pinnacles in Sandy by 11:25. Not 28,981, or 28,983. The mind boggles at the effort involved in getting the number down to the individual bird.

SLRS Sept 09

Something happened to SLRS in the summer. It lost all its water, and has become grown over. I don't know whether this is temporary or some permanent change. But without the water, there's not much reason to come here.

Today just a couple of parties of long-tailed tits, 3 Willow Chiffs, a few Yellowhammers, 2 Jays, and c50 Carrion Crows, one of which had white wing feathers.