Visitors from afar

Without wishing to give the impression I am an anti-social cuss, I try to encourage friends and family to avoid visiting me during the months of May and October, as these represent two of my favourite months for wildlife photography. I could of course expand this to cover the bird migration seasons of 'spring' (Feb-June) and 'autumn' (July-November) but that would seem unreasonable. In any case, as often as not they ignore this advice, in which case I am forced to fall back on the small print in the visitors contract which states that if they insist on coming (i) I can't promise I will be there and (ii) I can't promise to appear to be enjoying myself if I would rather be somewhere else.

This Bank Holiday weekend friends from Cornwall (Debbie and Alec) retaliated to my frequent visits to their house at convenient times of year for rare bird migration by arriving at mine. They were of course made very welcome, and a bit of birding had to be squeezed in on Friday night before their arrival, and Monday evening after their departure. And on the Saturday, when we took them to Arne. And a bit on Sunday when I dragged Alec to Portland for an early morning shift. Well it's not my fault if they didn't read the small print.

On Friday there was just time between plumping up the pillows in the spare room and rolling out the red carpet to nip up to Longham Lakes to see a Bonaparte's Gull which had spent a few days in the area, one of a number of this wanderer from the Americas to turn up in southern England in recent days. That was easy enough to find on the North Lake, either hawking insects or sitting out on a man-made island near the shore.

With our guests arriving late on Friday, the household succumbed to the temptation of a lie in on Saturday and after lunch at the Arne café, we took the long route around the reserve which took us away from the busiest areas. Highlights were a couple of Sand Lizards, one of which, to our surprise, sat out on the heather next to the path and didn't scarper as we made our way past. This was closely followed by an exquisite Small Copper and an equally exquisite male Siskin by the café.

Dragging Alec down to Portland early on Sunday morning proved to be a bit of a disappointment bird-wise - a strong wind was blowing from the south east, migrants were thin on the ground (restricted to a few Yellow Wagtails, a couple of Turtle Doves and an Arctic Skua past the Bill) and we failed to see an Eastern Subalpine Warbler present at Cheyne Weares despite a near two hour vigil. Fortunately in view of the lack of birds, as a former Naval officer, Alex was happy to revisit former haunts around Portland.

Bank Holiday Monday saw us bidding farewell to our guests, and me heading back to Portland shortly afterwards for another crack at the Eastern Subalpine Warbler. In much more clement weather, this was successful, and it showed about as well as any Subalpine Warbler I have seen, feeding actively and singing in the late afternoon. Wheatears and Linnets at the Bill capped a thoroughly enjoyable weekend for visitors - avian and human. With apologies to my guests if my body language ever suggested otherwise!

Rank opportunism

It's a phrase often uttered by politicians, except perhaps Roy Jenkins, but rank opportunism also describes my approach to wildlife photography over the half-term break, as it had to take second place to other responsibilities.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Castle Drogo NT, Devon

Pearl-bordered Fritillary underside: red (as opposed to black) chevrons around the border of pearls help separate this species from the similar Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Chief among these was to attend the first birthday party of my strategically placed, Cornwall-based God-daughter Tilly, whose parents were unwise enough to entrust a third of her spiritual wellbeing to me late last year. Fortunately, she is turning out to be pretty angelic under her own steam, which is just as well as this was the first time I'd seen her since the Christening, and the moral guidance I have offered her over the phone since then has been met with nothing more than nonsensical gurgling.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Bluebell was the preferred foodplant though the Fritillary also fed on Buttercup and Dandelion

I have referred to my feelings about children's parties before in this blog, and I'm afraid they don't improve with age. This one was in an indoor swimming pool, on a pretty warm day, and went on for four hours. I would rather have been waterboarded for the same time than stay for all of it. So it was fortunate that I was let off the first couple of hours to go look for Marsh Fritillaries on nearby Berney Common (which hadn't emerged yet, as it happened, but dipping on these was still better than the alternative). Getting back in good time to officiate (i.e. light the single candle), and clean up after the kids (i.e. eat the remaining party food), saved me from being smote down by the man upstairs.

The display of Bluebells at Castle Drogo was impressive for the end of May - another sign of the late spring

Rabbit at Castle Drogo

More successful on the butterfly front was a brief stop at the National Trust's Castle Drogo in Devon on the way down. It's just off the A30 so a good place for a breather, and also an NT tick for the whole family. I hadn't really considered looking for butterflies, despite the good weather, having written the trip off in terms of wildlife watching, but a shimmer of orange flitting around the base of the castle had me immediately thinking 'fritillary'.

Juvenile Dipper, North Devon

Juvenile Dipper

It took a few minutes to get a better view and realise I was looking at one of the rarest - Pearl-bordered, now extinct in neighbouring Dorset, but still hanging on in Devon. Having done a bit more research on my return, Castle Drogo would appear to be one of the best sites for them.

Dipper

Swallow near Barnstaple

The second major responsibility of the trip came on the way back from Cornwall, and involved a detour to visit the parents in North Devon - just in time to deliver gifts for Mother's birthday (73), and get well cards for Father (69). He's just been discharged from hospital after an Achilles operation which will surely end his Premier League career hopes once and for all. After a fish supper I went for a short stroll, peeked over the edge of an unpromising looking culvert under the road and found myself face to face with a juvenile Dipper. This has been high on my photographic hitlist since one left the frame just before I pressed the shutter on another Devon stream a few years ago.

Wood Pigeon, Portland

House Sparrow, Portland

The third major responsibility was completing the dissertation which has become an (untickable) Albatross hanging around my neck, and which has also prevented me from keeping binoculars there. Having spent all day Sunday staring at the laptop not making much progress with it, by late afternoon I cracked and went to Portland to see an Eastern Subalpine Warbler, my first of this race. On arrival a dip felt on the cards, so there was at least time for a pleasant chat in the afternoon sun with a few other latecomers who had yet to see the bird. Then a shout from the other side of the Obs got us all some brief but conclusive views before the Warbler dropped into deep cover never to be see again.

Best I could manage of the Eastern Subalpine Warbler at Portland Bill

This shot gives a slightly better view of the red eye-ring - and the leg ring fitted earlier at the Obs

All in all then, not a bad few days for an opportunist. It would have been even better if I'd completed that dissertation. Not to worry, as I've said before, there's no time like mañana.