Up and down

With Cirl Bunting and Shorelark already on the non-motorised yearlist for 2023, last weekend offered the chance of another rarity, a Richard's Pipit, which was discovered the previous weekend near Pirate's Cove, just west of Weymouth. I've seen a couple of wintering Richard's Pipits in Dorset over the years but never by bike, so it was the obvious target for the weekend. During the week reports also emerged of a very obliging Water Pipit the other side of Weymouth at Bowleaze Cove, offering the tantalising prospect of a quality Pipit double. 

Water Pipit, Bowleaze Cove

Water Pipit, Bowleaze Cove

I confess to being initially sceptical on hearing that a Water Pipit was giving walkaway views on a busy beach - surely Scandanavian Rock Pipit was the more likely given how notoriously flighty Water Pipits can be? But increasingly good photos were posted online showing all the key features - a paler, browner bird than Rock Pipit, with whiter underparts, more distinct streaking, pure white outer tail feathers, and a warmer brown rump. So kudos to whoever first worked it out!

Water Pipit

Water Pipit

As the weekend approached it was time to hatch a plan, and it seemed to make sense to go early and drop by the Water Pipit first before the beach at Bowleaze Cove got too busy, and then devote the rest of the day if needed to the Richard's Pipit which, by all accounts, could go missing for long spells. 

Water Pipit with Rock Pipit behind

The Water Pipit often sat up alert - it was generally alone apart from this brief encounter with a greyer Rock Pipit

Saturday's forecast looked grey but windless, fine for a bike ride, and I hit the road at 0630 to get ahead of the traffic and, I hoped, beachgoers. I was only partially successful with the latter as even on arrival at 0800 the beach had its fair share of dog walkers, and they all seemed magnetically attracted to the area of seaweed which I knew the Water Pipit had been frequenting. 

Water Pipit

Water Pipit

I covered a fair bit of the beach and after almost an hour of dodging pooches with no sign of the Water Pipit, I concluded that perhaps it was a late riser and started to think about moving on as the Richard's Pipit seemed to be more reliably seen in the early morning and late afternoon. Pausing for an indecently brief view of Golden Plover at Lodmoor, I was delayed slightly by dodgy satnav directions which took me along Granby Way and up the punishingly steep Lanehouse Rocks Road rather than the more direct route up Wyke Road. This cost me about 15 minutes in the end but positive news that the Richard's Pipit was still there at 0930 spurred me on. 

Close up of the Water Pipit's warm brown rump and white outer tail feather

Water Pipit

I arrived at the western end of the horse field frequented by the Pipit and it became clear this was no ordinary horse field - it was huge, spanning a deep valley and reaching half way between Camp Road and Pirate's Cove. Bordered by an even larger field frequented by locals, apparently for the sole purpose of emptying their dogs, every step carried a high risk of standing in something unpleasant. 

Water Pipit

Water Pipit

Treading carefully through this minefield of shite, I could see birders below me at the other end of the field so rolled the bike down to meet them. Rob and Steph Murphy, up from Devon, were among them and Rob broke the news that the Richard's Pipit had walked out of view about 15 minutes before my arrival. He kindly kept searching whilst I changed into a fresh top and even let me borrow his scope to scan the far corners of the field. We felt sure it was only a matter of time before it returned. But, to cut a long and tedious story short, over seven hours later I was still staring at the same empty field as what passed for Saturday's sun went down. 

Water Pipit

Water Pipit

It was a grim day but, having seen neither of my main targets, I at least had the option of getting the train home from Weymouth. Although this meant chalking Golden Plover off the yearlist, as the journey home would not be completed under my own steam, it was a small price to pay to save my 54-year old knees a 22 mile ride home. Solace was sought that evening in a Nepalese meal with the family, including the prodigal son back from Uni for a flying visit.

Stonechat, Bowleaze Cove

Grey Wagtail, Bowleaze Cove

The family meal theme continued into Sunday with Dad's Sunday roast, wolfed down by the prodigal before his train back to Uni. His mum agreed to drop him off leaving me free for the afternoon and, feeling surprisingly fresh after a good night's sleep and a couple of good meals, I made a somewhat rash decision to return to Weymouth for the Water Pipit - by bike. Sunday was much sunnier than Saturday but still windless, perfect for cycling, and travelling light I was able to up Saturday's sluggish average speed from 11 mph to a monster 12.5 mph, hitting Bowleaze Cove just before 1500. 

Stonechat at the Richard's Pipit site

Golden Plover at Lodmoor

I located the Water Pipit almost immediately, feeding with Pied Wagtails under the balcony of the Bowleaze 'Fantasy Island Fun Palace'. A less appropriately named establishment you will be lucky to find, being as it is neither an island nor a palace, and offering little in the way of either fun or fantasy. Although a bit flighty with so many punters on the beach it allowed a reasonably close approach and I filled my boots with photos. Having done so, the sensible thing would have been to head home with the sun on my back. But sensible wasn't going to add Richard's Pipit to my bike list so, flushed with success, I packed up the bike and continued west.

There had been no reported sightings of the Richard's Pipit since 0930 the previous day, but I figured there was a high chance it was still around, and possible that no-one was looking. As I arrived at the top of the horse field for the second time in as many days, the bottom of the valley was already in shade, but the sun was lighting up the higher slopes where Rob had been watching the Pipit the day before. I raised my bins and a pale bird catching the light immediately caught my eye. It could only be the Richard's Pipit and although at this distance views with bins were poor, zooming in on a photo was enough to clinch it. 

Richard's Pipit, Pirate's Cove

A bird I was very glad to see

At this point a previously unseen flock of Meadow Pipits took flight taking the Richard's with them. Visibly larger and with a more powerful flight, its hoarse call was clearly discernible. It dropped down near Pirate's Cove so I made my way down on the bike, approaching slowly as I approached the spot where it appeared to land. To my amazement the Pipit then walked out on the path in front of me and posed for a couple of photos before heading back to the horse field with a loud 'shreep'.

The gamble had paid off with both Pipits showing immediately, and the afternoon had been a complete contrast to the previous day with over 9 hours in the field seeing neither bird. I headed back towards Weymouth with a spring in my step, pausing only to add a female Goldeneye at Radipole Lake and Golden Plover at Lodmoor to the year list. The last hour of the journey home was completed by moonlight and I was back in Wareham before 1900. It had been an up and down 36 hours but, with over 70 miles on the clock, ultimately a triumphant one.   

Water Pipit - my best views of this species by some distance