Gripped by the excellent photos from various
Scilly pelagics, and cursing my spindly sea-legs which have discouraged me from going on one, I was starting to wonder if I would get any of the more exotic seabirds on my Dorset list without a greater comm
itment to
seawatching than I have the time and patience to make. The slim chance to see the Cory's
Shearwater off Portland Harbour was missed due to holidays, but news of a Sabine's Gull in the Avon Valley this week looked more promising. With no car it proved a complicated journey but after a missed train, a short railway journey from
Wareham and a vigorous 4 mile cycle from Christchurch station I was on site to give it a go. While not present immediately, the bird eventually fle
w over the Avon Causeway, landing briefly (on the Dorset side of the river) before heading off north again. Rain set in and most birders headed off but on the bike I would have just got wetter so stuck around for a few hours. The sun came out, the Red Arrows performed at nearby Bournemouth Airport - tragically as it turned out - and the Sabine's returned, allowing these distant flight shots to be taken.
Gripped by the excellent photos from various Scilly pelagics, and cursing my spindly sea-legs which have discouraged me from going on one, I was starting to wonder if I would get any of the more exotic seabirds on my Dorset list without a greater comm
itment to seawatching than I have the time and patience to make. The slim chance to see the Cory's Shearwater off Portland Harbour was missed due to holidays, but news of a Sabine's Gull in the Avon Valley this week looked more promising. With no car it proved a complicated journey but after a missed train, a short railway journey from Wareham and a vigorous 4 mile cycle from Christchurch station I was on site to give it a go. While not present immediately, the bird eventually fle
w over the Avon Causeway, landing briefly (on the Dorset side of the river) before heading off north again. Rain set in and most birders headed off but on the bike I would have just got wetter so stuck around for a few hours. The sun came out, the Red Arrows performed at nearby Bournemouth Airport - tragically as it turned out - and the Sabine's returned, allowing these distant flight shots to be taken.
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