Temptation and penance

I do almost all my local birding by bike these days but there is still the odd occasion - a new bird for the county list, for example - when time is of the essence and I succumb to the temptations of a twitch by car. The finding of an American Golden Plover by Daragh Croxson on Saturday 25th November was one such occasion and the chance of a lift with Phil Saunders was not to be missed. It was a glorious sunny day, perfect for a bike ride, but I had been on a long walk around Swineham first thing and didn't really have the energy for the 17 mile journey to Weymouth. Besides, I also had designs on a short range bike twitch too add Short-eared Owl to the year-list that evening, a mission accomplished successfully at 1650 when one appeared just before it got too dark to see.

American Golden Plover, Lodmoor, 25th November 

American Golden Plover, Lodmoor, 25th November 

American Golden Plover (right), Lodmoor, 25th November 

American Golden Plover (right), Lodmoor, 25th November 

After the indulgence of a car trip to Weymouth I figured penance could be paid the next morning with a bike ride there: if I got an early night I could head down to Lodmoor avoiding the worst of the traffic, and, if the bird was still there, be back before the weather turned as bad as the forecast suggested it might. Leaving in the dark, the first 45 minutes were mercifully dry but then the heavens opened, and what would normally have been the last 45 minutes of the journey became 55 when a flat tyre 5 miles out of Weymouth required re-inflation. Fortunately my self-sealing inner tubes did their job and I didn't need to accept the kind offer of help from Garry Hayman who passed me at this point on his way to Lodmoor, in a much more sensible mode of transport given the conditions.  

American Golden Plover (rear, showing grey axillaries), Lodmoor, 25th November 

American Golden Plover (left, showing grey axillaries), Lodmoor, 25th November 

American Golden Plover (left), Lodmoor, 25th November 

American Golden Plover (right front)

Once I had crested the hill above Osmington, the worst was behind me and I could sashay down to Weymouth with the spray flying behind me at a top speed of 29mph. By the time Garry had walked around the reserve I had caught him up and we met with Daragh before heading up the western path where the Golden Plover flock appeared to be hanging out. We scanned several hundred birds for half an hour without success and I consoled myself with the thought that I could at least accept Garry's offer of a lift home if we couldn't find the bird.

Golden Plover, Lodmoor, 25th November

Golden Plover, Lodmoor, 25th November

Hen Harrier, Piddle Valley, 25th November

White-tailed Eagle, Piddle Valley, 25th November

Daragh commented that the flock looked smaller than the day before, at which point we noticed some small groups of Golden Plover still dropping in. This gave us the incentive to keep looking and after ruling out a couple of 'possibles', Garry and I both locked simultaneously onto a bird which looked the part and sure enough we were able to confirm the features of American Golden Plover. Like the day before, its slighter build, darker cap, paler breast and habit of aggressively chasing European Golden Plovers around on the mud helped us pick it out from the crowd.

Mute Swan, Swineham, 25th November

Kingfisher, Swineham, 25th November

Bestwall, 25th November

River Frome, 15th November

In my last post I wondered how many more species I might add to the non-motorised yearlist - since then I've managed to add a bit of the remaining low hanging fruit in the form of the Owl and a local Black-throated Diver, bringing the year-list to a respectable 217 as November approaches its end, just 2 behind last year's total on the same date, but 2 ahead of my record breaking year of 2021. I will still need an incredibly good December to beat that year's tally of 224, but with Jack Snipe, Bittern and Whooper Swan still to see, you never know.

American Golden Plover, Lodmoor, 26th November - a wet day with poorer light than the previous day

Black-throated Diver at Swineham

Black-throated Diver showing white flank patch

The Black-throated Diver was my first of 2023 and also a Swineham patch tick

Shetland: part the second

To say there have been complaints about the absence of fresh content in this space would be overstating it. But a few loyal readers have passed comment to this effect, so I have been stung into action by these gluttons for punishment. And where better to resume than with a follow-up to the almost popular Shetland: part the first post.

River Warbler on Unst

Probably the bird of the trip, and only my second in the UK

After proving initially skulky, it eventually gave us extended views

In this post I will canter through the rarity highlights. The first couple of days had produced very little on this front but the discovery of a River Warbler in a small iris bed on Unst changed things. We arrived at the site to find what would become a familiar Shetland scene that week: sheeting rain and no sign of the sought after bird! Both problems were fleeting though and within a short while we had enjoyed good views of this ultimate skulker as it walked between stands of iris. Returning later in the day in better weather we enjoyed extended views and photo opportunities as it bathed lower down the burn. A summer plumaged American Golden Plover was a bonus on our first visit to Unst, and our only rare wader of the trip.


Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Unst

A very grey and white individual with just a hint of a buffy chin and vent

An elongated hindclaw is a feature of Eastern Yellow Wagtail

During the middle of the week Shetland went wagtail crazy - first turning up a presumed Eastern Yellow Wagtail on Unst (consolation for dipping a Pechora Pipit, the less said about which the better). This was a tick for all of us since the split from common or garden Yellow Wagtail. The monochrome vagrant looked and sounded the part, and turned up at a place, at a time of year and with avian company which suggested an eastern origin, though it remains to be seen whether it passes muster with the rarities committee.

Citrine Wagtail, Bressay

An approachable individual

Note the complete white ear-surrounds

Having made a couple of long-distance excursions to Unst earlier in the week, on the Thursday of our stay we elected for a shorter island hop to Bressay, where a Citrine Wagtail had reportedly been showing well. We couldn't have known just how well: after a careful approach it walked towards us for a remarkably close encounter.

Common Rosefinch, Mainland

Barred Warbler, Mainland

American Golden Plover, Unst

Other minor rarities kept us entertained - a few Barred Warblers, including the one pictured here, found at Busta House Hotel by our own Bradders, a Marsh Warbler at Sumburgh and a Common Rosefinch on a mainland beach. Remarkably, Yellow-browed Warblers were notable by their absence, and we scraped just a handful in contrast to the daily sightings of the previous year.

Marsh Warbler, Sumburgh Quarry

Yellow-browed Warbler, Unst

Yellow-browed Warbler, Unst

Not a bumper year by Shetland's high standards, perhaps, but some quality all the same. I can probably wrap up Shetland in just one more post - so come back soon(ish) for the final instalment.

Runway View

Most people run a mile to avoid living near airports. Some spend their lives campaigning against their expansion. Not our friend Doris, though, she loves the big planes so much she bought a house right next to one in Oxfordshire. It was even called 'Runway View', an inspired name which I feel sure the local estate agents counselled against.

Disused airfields are, of course, a bit more benign from a conveyancing point of view, and the one at Davidstow in North Cornwall, now free of disturbance from aircraft, has attracted its fair share of rare birds over the years, particularly waders who favour the short, grazed sward which dominates the areas between the runways.

The latest visitor is an American Golden Plover, not a major rarity, but reportedly approachable and therefore, I felt, worth a look on the way to visit friends in Bodmin. Arriving at the airfield we could see a lone Nissan Micra parked in the middle of the vast expanse of the airfield. So we headed for that, on the edge of the crumbling runway which served during World War II as a base for Wellington bombers conducting anti-submarine patrols over the Channel and Bay of Biscay. Pulling up alongside we asked if there was any sign of the plover and a finger pointed not, as we expected, to some distant horizon, but just a few yards in front of our bumpers.

Retreating to a safe distance to retrieve the camera from the boot, we re-positioned the car alongside and spent a happy hour, albeit in terrible light, photographing the AGP, which stayed put despite the high pitched, persistent sound of children squabbling in the back seat. Well worth a detour if you are on the way to Cornwall or back.