Twitching on a school night

Building a non-motorised year list has involved three main types of birding for me in 2021: visiting local sites on foot or by bike for species which are expected to occur at some point, cycling to locations further afield where a wider range of species might be seen, and heading for a specific spot to see an individual bird of a rarer species - twitching, in common parlance. In the latter category, all of my long distance trips (Black-winged Stilt and Iceland Gull at Lodmoor, Glossy Ibis at Stanpit, Tawny Pipit at Cogden and Whiskered Tern at Longham) had been at the weekend or on days off when there was plenty of time to recover from the exertion.

Woodchat Shrike, Iford Golf Course, 18th May

This last week brought a new test of resolve - two in fact - in the form of distant rarities for which a snap decision was needed about whether to go or not given the possibility that neither would hang around (and spring migrants often don't). The first of these was on Tuesday, a bright male Woodchat Shrike on the 12th tee at Iford Golf Course the other side of Bournemouth, 18 miles to the east. When news broke earlier in the day I dismissed the idea of twitching on a weeknight, as with a holiday approaching at the end of the month work was backing up and I needed to be on top form the following day. But when the bird was still present late afternoon, I realised that with the lighter evenings I could probably get there and back by 2100 and still get an early night to be fresh for work the following day.

Bonaparte's Gull, Lodmoor, 20th May

The forecast suggested the evening would be dry with a westerly breeze - an aid to getting there and a potential barrier to a swift return, but having already prepared dinner in the slow cooker (a sumptuous venison casserole, since you ask), I didn't need to worry about getting back too early with that in hand. The cycle route as far as the Poole/Bournemouth boundary was very familiar, but after that I took a few wrong turns when following a google maps walking route (it doesn't do cycle maps for this part of the world yet). As a result the journey there took about 90 minutes, 15 longer than I had expected, but as I approached the golf course, two familiar faces from Purbeck, Rob Johnson and cousin James, assured me I was nearly there. I reached the 12th tee shortly afterwards. The shrike was out of view and I was concerned that it might have gone to roost early with the cold weather suppressing the availability of potential prey.

Bonaparte's Gull, Lodmoor, 20th May

Other birders present knew roughly where to look though and the Shrike soon perched up in view for a few photos. I didn't hang around too long in the cool of the evening, especially as the light was fading, and with the winds not as strong as I had feared, the journey home was smooth enough and completed comfortably before 2100. I was fine on the Wednesday, again probably underestimating my fitness level built up from the miles already under my belt this year.

Bonaparte's Gull, Lodmoor, 20th May

Thursday brought a sense of deja vu when a Bonaparte's Gull was located at Lodmoor during the day. Although the distance was about the same as for the shrike, one look at the forecast was enough to dismiss the idea as it would involve cycling directly into 50-60 mph south-westerly winds! With the experience of fighting into a gale at Cogden still fresh in mind, I shrugged my shoulders and tried to put it to the back of my mind. I finished work just after 1700 and the bird was reported as still present. It was obviously sheltering from the gale so unlikely to go anywhere, though who knows what it would do tomorrow?

Portland on a week night would be a bridge too far by bike - it would be dark by the time I arrived if leaving after work! So I indulged myself with a car journey to see this Chough on 11th May - a Dorset 'tick'.

This last thought was enough to tempt me into action against my better judgement, and within 10 minutes I was on the road again. In the end, whilst slightly hair-raising at times, the journey to Lodmoor never quite reached Cogden levels of terror - the headwinds slowed progress to a crawl at which very little damage could be done, and as they were hitting me head on the risk of being blown over by side-winds was greatly reduced. Which is not to say it wasn't an energy-sapping slog - on a scale of '0' to 'taxing' it was definitely at the 'taxing' end. But I pressed on through squalls and fallen tree debris and as I reached the edge of the Lodmoor reedbed I could see a few birders distantly on the west side where the Gull was last reported: a good sign that it was probably still there. Minutes later I was enjoying close views of the Bonaparte's and the efforts of the previous 95 minutes had all been worth it.

The Chough in flight over Dorset's version of machair!

The return journey was probably my most enjoyable bike ride to date. I stopped pedalling at one point on the steep hill up out of Weymouth and realised I was still being carried along by the wind. I clocked 20pmh on another uphill stretch out of Poxwell on which I had been reduced to a 5mph crawl during the journey down. 95 minutes on the way there was reduced to 80 on the way back, the psychological barrier of twitching on a school night had been broken, and more quality had been added to the year list, bringing the total to creditable 185.

I enjoyed a brief close view of the Chough but it would not look up! A shame it didn't stay until the weekend or a bike trip would definitely have been in order.