'Are you that bloke...'

Several times last year I would arrive breathelss and sweaty at the site of a target bird to be greeted by a complete stranger with the question 'Are you that bloke who cycles everywhere to see birds?' At one level it's nice to be recognised, at another it's a bid sad that there are so few of us that the answer is 'probably, yes'! One of these new friends went on to ask if I was Nick Moran, a Thetford-based velo-birder who really would have been going some to turn up in Dorset, and I had to explain that, no, I was one of the other ones.

Sanderling, Studland, 2nd January

I suppose it's become an important part of my identity, and I guess it's better to be recognised for making a bit of an effort to reduce my birding carbon footprint and stay fit than for some of the other reasons why birders have become better known recently. 'I think you're mad' was another common greeting, often uttered by someone who had driven much further than I had cycled to see the same bird!

Sanderling

But it was poor physical rather than mental health which meant that the bike stayed in the shed for the final week of 2022 and the lingering sniffles even threatened to impinge on the usual New Year's Day effort to get the yearlist off to a good start. In the end I managed to flog around Swineham on foot, and whilst the birding was not exactly stellar, 53 species were logged, the best of which was a Firecrest brightening up an otherwise gloomy hedgerow. 

A ringed bird in full clockwork toy mode

Monday 2nd January would be my last day's holiday before returning to work and, determined to make something of it, I settled on Studland. Three years ago Studland by bike would have felt like a major adventure, but these days is considered sufficiently close to represent a gentle reintroduction to cycling after over a week up on blocks, even when not fully recovered. It was lunchtime before I left though so I eschewed the meandering off-road route taken by National Cycle Route 2 and followed the quicker route by road via the A351 to Corfe Castle, hanging a left towards Studland at the foot of the ruin, then left again onto Meadus's Lane to join route 2 in the middle of Rempstone Forest. 

Sandwich Tern, Studland, 2nd January

Just over an hour after leaving home I was approaching Jerry's Point, a good vantage point for scanning the inner harbour only to bump into my Wareham neighbour, Trevor Warwick in a rare foray outside of his 10km habo. Trevor was just leaving having searched unsuccessfully for a lingering Velvet Scoter but decided to stick around for another look when I arrived. We were joined by another Wareham birder, Hilary Jordan, and despite picking up Great Northern Diver, Black-necked and Slavonian Grebe without difficulty, the Scoter continued to elude us. 

Sandwich Tern emerging after an unsuccessful dive

Just when we were all thinking of giving up I managed to locate the Velvet very distantly off Furzey Island and we all enjoyed reasonable views. This was a good bird for the yearlist as it's easy to go a year without seeing one in this part of Dorset. A January Sandwich Tern overhead is not unheard of in these parts but still felt like a bit of a New Year bonus. A few other coastal species - Shag, Merganser and Sanderling - plus a selection of Brand's Bay waders were all firsts for the year, and a pleasant afternoon was completed when the family turned up for a stroll down the beach where two Sandwich Terns entertained us by fishing close in.

Just clipped the wingtip in this diving shot

Dusk was approaching so I bid farewell to wife and son to head back through the forest. I made the mistake of sticking to Route 2 only to find as I reached the point of no return that the Corfe stream had burst its banks and I had to negotiate a flooded area about 30 feet across and between 6-12 inches deep, and pass through three partially submerged gates. I somehow managed to get through it with only one wet boot, and had to part-squelch the last 4 miles home in darkness.

Studland is a reliable site for Mediterranean Gull

So a steady rather than a spectacular start to the year, but as the only hard-core velo-birder that I know of in Dorset I still fancy my chances of a top 4 finish! 

A busy Bank Holiday on Studland Beach (wife and son just right of the dog. I mean the left hand dog in the foreground. There are a lot.)