Peter Moore's Wildlife Blog: May flies (part 1)

Wednesday 7 June 2023

May flies (part 1)

It was a barn-storming April for the non-motorised yearlist, during which I added rarities (Forster's Tern, Hoopoe, Night Heron, Woodchat Shrike, Dotterel), scarcities (Dipper, Nightingale, Scaup, Ring Ouzel, Pied Flycatcher, Great White Egret, Grasshopper Warbler) plus 23 other species to the tally. May also got off to a reasonable start with a May Day Hobby, but my first twitch of any distance on the bike was for a Little Gull at Longham Lakes. It took two attempts to see it with a successful 28 mile round trip on the 7th.

Little Gull, Longham Lakes, 7th May

Great Egret, Swineham, 1st May

Recently fledged Chaffinch, Swineham, 1st May

In both 2021 and 2022 I cycled to Portland early in May for a seawatch but it took until 13th before I managed to get there this year. In any previous year, a couple of hours at the Bill would probably have been enough to see the two commoner skuas, Arctic and Great, but Skua passage had been pretty poor, a function at least in part of the avian flu which has decimated Great Skua populations in particular. Conditions were also sub-optimal on 13th with no sign of an onshore breeze, and whilst plenty of Auks, Kittiwakes and Gannets were bombing around, Manx Shearwater proved to be the only addition to the year list.

Reed Bunting, Swineham, 2nd May

Drake Garganey and Gadwall, Swineham, 6th May

Reed Warbler, Longham Lakes, 6th May

Swift, Swineham, 11th May

A report of a possible Purple Heron at Lodmoor made me wonder whether to bale out on the seawatch but having come this far I was determined to stick it out at the Bill a bit longer. The next report of the Purple Heron mid-morning implied it had left Lodmoor, but a third report soon after suggested it had been pinned down again. At this point I had been watching an uneventful sea for three hours and decided it was time to go in search of what would be a quality bike tick. Arriving shortly after midday at the Lodmoor 'hump', I bumped into Steve Carey running in the opposite direction. It turned out John Wall, who I had passed but who was hidden from my view from the cycle path, had seen the Heron a few minutes previously. I returned to where John was stationed and set up my scope. Surely it was only a matter of time before it appeared?

Wheatear, Portland Bill, 13th May

Manx Shearwater, Portland Bill, 13th May

Little Owl, Portland, 13th May

Common Dolphin, Portland Bill, 13th May

We were joined by Phil Saunders and entertained by an acrobatic Hobby whilst waiting patiently in the shade. Four hours later, Phil had gone, I was preparing to leave as we were hosting a Euro-vision (!) party at home, and there had been no further sign of the Heron. It eventually emerged to be photographed flying high east by Dorset's finest bird papparazzi three hours after I left. My first significant dip of the year, but it would be no fun if everything was there, would it!

Little Terns, Ferrybridge, 13th May

Kittiwake, Portland Bill, 13th May

Hobby, Lodmoor, 13th May

Melee of gulls at Portland Bill, 13th May

By mid-month things had started to calm down a bit migration wise but there was still time to find my best bird of the year to date at Swineham - a smart male Blue-headed Wagtail. Not a year tick, as it is 'just' a species of Yellow Wagtail but a very nice bird all the same, and the month wasn't over yet.