Moores on moors

This year's summer family holiday was spent on Dartmoor - in an idyllic holiday cottage with no phone signal or wifi, a million miles from the heaving metropolis of Wareham. OK it's nearer 80 miles and we have precious little in the way of a phone signal or wifi in Wareham either, but you get my drift.

Spotted Flycatcher, Dartmoor

One of two or three birds present in a short stretch of hedgerow

Always an entertaining bird to watch

Wildlife photography was not a top priority on this trip, taking a poor fifth place to sleeping, dozing, loafing, and pigging out - not things I do readily or easily, and it took me the best part of a week to get the hang of it. Fortunately I have a patient family who taught me well in the ways of relaxation, sloth and gluttony.

Female Redstart in the same hedgerow

A male Redstart - there were three in total

Another male Redstart in conifers near Bellever Tor

When we did hit the great outdoors, riverside walks and scrambling up tors were the order of the day, but a good selection of wildlife was encountered on the way, most memorably along a hedgerow of a high moorland road which seemed to be dripping with migrant birds, even though we weren't really looking for them. Love it when that happens.

Coal Tit, Yarner Woods

Marsh Tit, Yarner Woods

Nuthatch, Yarner Woods

It wasn't really the best time of year to be visiting nearby Yarner Woods, but as we had never been before, we went anyway, and found that well-stocked feeders were attracting a fine selection of woodland birds to entertain the children and their parents alike.


We disturbed this Jersey Tiger moth from roadside vegetation

It took a shine to Geroge's shirt

A view of the colourful underside

Claire now works in the tourist trade so we were almost professionally obliged to review all sorts of attractions on our travels from that perspective, rather than just visit them like normal punters. The verdict on highly touted Becky Falls wasn't kind: a bit over-priced and over-sold, I felt, with an inexplicably random selection of petting zoo creatures littered around the place.


The Golden-ringed Dragonfly was on the wing in Dartmoor - an impressive green-eyed monster

Male Wheatear near Haytor

Photographed from the car window

If you must shell out your hard-earned dollars visiting a waterfall, better value can be obtained, IMHO, at Canonteign Falls - a man made folly of a cascade, but still impressive, with classier catering and a slightly less random, though still inexplicable, selection of petting zoo creatures.

Beautiful Demoiselle at Dartmeet, Dartmoor

Female Goosander on the river at Dartmeet

This is one of three offspring in a family party - note the stripy face compared to mum above

Better still, save your money and go to the ethereal Devon Wildlife Trust reserve at Dartmeet instead: more tranquil, beautiful and blessed with an entirely appropriate and not remotely random selection of creatures including Dippers, Goosanders, Silver-washed Fritillaries and Beautiful Demoiselles. All looking much more at home than the giant rabbits and miniature ponies at the pay-per-view waterfall freak-shows. For the price of a family ticket to the other two watery attractions, you could get yourself membership of your local Wildlife Trust for a year. And a much warmer feeling in your stomach.

This bat - Pipistrelle, we think - took up temporary residence in the bedroom of our holiday cottage

Spotted Flycather

Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker, Yarner Woods

The verdict on southern Dartmoor overall then: a great destination which met our needs perfectly - not too busy, not too far to travel, rich in wildlife, plenty to do, all set in a stunning landscape. Also, if you are in the area, superb food and ale at the Cridmoor Inn in Trusham, dating back to 852AD.

George at Dartmeet

The whole gang on the clapper bridge at Postbridge

The Moores on the moors at Bellever

Some different garden birds

When we left our tiny Wareham town centre garden behind on Friday, a Blackbird was tending to three newly hatched chicks, but apart from that there wasn't much to be seen in it by way of wildlife. Holidays mean a chance to see what turns up in someone else's garden and our lochside cottage on the west coast of Scotland this week is one of the better ones we've visited in that regard. As well as the moths, the birds are pretty good too.

Take this morning for example, when a goose-like call had me reaching for the telescope, through which two tiny dots in the distance materialised into a pair of Red-throated Divers, calling and displaying to each other. Black Guillemot, one of my favourite British birds, is also fairly common, along with Red-breasted Merganser, Eider and Goldeneye. We've stocked up the feeders, so tits and finches have been on the menu too. All very welcome, especially as it hasn't stopped raining since we arrived!

Male Bullfinch through the bedroom window

Female Bullfinch, ditto

Coal Tit in the garden

The Red-throated Divers were too far away to photograph until one was disturbed by a passing boat and gave a flypast

Black Guillemot - a pretty good garden bird

Woodland on the shore of Loch Creran

The view from the back garden

Time with the extended family

There are five species of 'true' tit on the Dorset list - Willow is sadly now lost to the County as a breeding bird, leaving Blue, Great, Coal and Marsh as the most likely to be seen these days. (Long-tailed, Bearded and Penduline Tit are all from closely related families, but are not considered 'true' tits). After Willow, Marsh Tit is the least likely of the 'true' tits to be encountered, but there are a few sites in Purbeck where they may come to feeders in winter, including Arne and, this winter, Corfe Castle. I popped along there yesterday, in the half-hour of daylight which remained after watching table-topping Wareham Rangers U-13s drop three points at home to the Parkstone Falcons. A result, since you ask, which leaves them just three points ahead of second-placed Swanage, who they play in their next fixture - making it a real six-pointer of a Purbeck derby. The light was going as I arrived, and had I known the boys were going to get mugged in a last minute counter-attack I might have invested the 60 minutes I spent before that, watching them spurn a hatful of chances, getting better photos of Marsh Tit!

Marsh Tit, Corfe Castle

The much commoner Blue Tit at Corfe Castle

This Coal Tit was seen earlier in the day at Bestwall

Great Tit among the pines at Swineham earlier in the day

Long-tailed Tit, from the family Aegithalidae, at Swineham

Binge birding continued...

This post is the final hangover from a weekend of binge birding around Poole Harbour. Holes Bay certainly provided the highlights on Sunday - as well as the Spoonbill, waiting patiently by the PC World drain outflow provided ample opportunity to get up close and personal with a variety of other good birds.

This Buzzard was one of two scanning for prey from lampposts on the dual carriageway around Holes Bay. Buzzard has already appeared on my blog this year but the photo was taken in 2014 so this is officially an addition to the photo year list (#79). I know, mad isn't it!

This Common Sandpiper was one of two present. I walked most of the length of the bay without seeing one but when I sat by the outflow both dropped in.

Another addition to the photo year list (#80). Bang it in!



Cormorant also graced the outflow (#81)...

...while I had to walk further up the drain to find Grey Wagtail (#82)...

...and Kingfisher (#83)

Spotted Redshank, one of my favourite birds, can give close views around the edge of the Bay

Spotted Redshank

On Sunday morning I also paid what felt like my first visit of the year to Swineham. Yes, my allegiance to patch has become that degenerate. I was rewarded for my efforts: as in, not much effort, not much reward. It did at least add a few ropey ticks to the photo year list:


Goldfinch, making its first appearance this year (#84)

Great Tit (#85) - singing like it was spring

Redwing in the shadows in Lady St Mary Churchyard, Wareham

Male Reed Bunting at Swineham

Robin at Swineham

Shelduck at Swineham (#86)

Several Common Snipe flushed from the wet grass around Swineham (#87)

Stock Dove (#88) with Lapwing in the paddocks at North Bestwall

Snowdrops added a spring-like feel to Sunday morning

My last photo year tick of the weekend was a Coal Tit seen on a family walk around Wareham Forest (#89)

The Fellowship of the Ging, Wareham Forest



Little Egret showing off its plumes in Holes Bay