One of the small comforts of my job is a flexi-time system which makes the odd twitch possible without eating into precious family holidays. So a Daurian Shrike on Portland was all the justification I needed to book a couple of hours off this afternoon. The bird had been on the Bill Road yesterday, but as I walked down from Southwell it was ominously quiet, save for a bloody-billed Kestrel. Hopefully not Shrike-blood, I thought...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwYqdOqWisFteKyOhkoCNWmbbD3VlQbma7sBTPRu0XBWxVLQhutCw7iVj36zKHgk_bPDDDV-QUkXcDcfsk6AXx3pvA0BEwLH_fZVzxSm7-unpqG_oxTBDyEsyi7mEoR5z1NFD-Fo82CAI/s400/Blog+Kes+2.JPG) |
Kestrel on the Bill Road |
Turning off the road past Culverwell, I eventually caught up with the Shrike at the far end of a large paddock. A photographer who was packing to go advised me to keep an eye on a nearby bush to which the bird had returned on several occasions.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4zNOYN8NFO7ttSMuxbe6b9jTV4LFju9PwoGwKoK4EDKMbF2oN0aFZwDDuz7tiYdJtA808Hle3fG4CHL6KIfu3m-GF50_zIZgCzWY5_nor38z6qHJyjMDs6gBPK3aJbzBhkKwrKquLKEI/s400/Blog+daurian+3.JPG) |
Daurian Shrike |
Sure enough, within ten minutes it did just that to give superb views of a very attractive rarity. October has been pretty quiet for me so far, but with a week on the Isles of Scilly coming up (note: this is one of those 'precious family holidays' of which I spoke earlier), a Dorset tick of such quality was a good way to whet the appetite.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi63JLdWumWSUl47Nl2SEUGySxnniSyTIUv4DEfptot3AOuK4UJr5n_OzBBwCovAguLzyjt_hvjYc9b0Tj-vYfrHHkP2o30Z-mrthHE5_DjFV8Es8NyFuZ4ijvHbshkOYoH4ZD9Ta2S4_I/s400/Blog+Daurian.JPG) |
The Shrike heads off to hunt... |
After an hour or so the Shrike appeared to go to roost in a bush right next to the path. I had to pass this on the way back to the car so my last view of it was a badly obscured one as it moved around low in the bush, but only about 6 feet away. Talk about close to greatness.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqOIW_Z7H97RREZzGa82a7IddlyCf2f-3BBcvOVYydoRpPd8AAo9xVKyGDb8SfexBwMqWdMgm2HL_fXFFHpaOsbpBCsAWvgMtwWPXDC3IHMWfszCHUu1WpKHQxmz5jPfr9AL46R-JKfus/s400/Blog+Daurian+2.JPG) |
...successfully! |
Lower hanging fruit for my County list was also available this evening in the form of a Ring Ouzel, which I have somehow managed to avoid in Dorset despite almost five years of residency. This is obviously not a bird you are going to twitch, and I was sure I would just stumble across one one day, but it just hadn't happened until today. 'Too much twitching' chided Hamish Murray - Dorset birding's Gandalf to my Peregrine Took - when I confessed this to him recently. He's got a point, but I'd like to think that bad luck, habitual over-sleeping and sheer incompetence have also played their part.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWnDjWtsGx95_8kXIIWvbiRybysaaed9CPl04E-gI5vxm6OSfUnBsb1IdkbDkcYynfEyMerj_lLGgtUri4HNeas8wetfPqGc9A2H1FW8UXlB8lnGbFdtkDz-MYpBactVhHw-Ed4E2pC4/s400/Blog+SEO.JPG) |
Short-eared Owl: one of eight reported on Portland today |
Anyway, as if to prove what a bogey bird this had become, I didn't even
see my first Dorset Ring Ouzel - as the picture below shows, one was captured just in the frame when I took my initial very distant record shot of the Shrike. The one I actually saw came from a different angle a few minutes later. Doh!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_6CrqTf5UYAd6BjP9mD0949YKmwhtS7ObWoDNgjhxUjHnuRjZ0afwsZTE7-C9G-2HyC2acNNGi-buvmcM0X60ZxZ4keM0CTAwSYT0NwphnKkHoQqVxgaR6EuLMA5VymvWf5ngvMR2YnE/s400/Blog+Daurian+5.JPG) |
First view of the Shrike on the green post. Unlike me, you can no doubt spot the Ouzel... |
No comments:
Post a Comment