Yorkshire Rosy

Yesterday's Yellow Warbler was considerate enough to wait until my family holiday in Yorkshire was over before appearing in Dorset - we got back on Saturday after an enjoyable week in God's Own County. While birding wasn't really the main objective of the trip north so much as enjoying the varied landscapes and loafing on sofas and cinema seats to indulge our shared family passion for Marvel and DC Comics movies, a few opportunities to enjoy the birdlife of the area were inevitably worked into the itinerary. A couple of trips to the seabird colony at Bempton were among them (more on those later), and there was even time to shoehorn in a mini-twitch when a Rose-Coloured Starling was conveniently discovered in a Scarborough garden when we were just a few miles away. My ever tolerant family agreed to wait in the car while I squeezed into the small suburban front yard to which the homeowner had kindly allowed birders access so they could view the Starling at the rear of the property. After a short wait and it gave a couple of extended views - the smartest adult I think I have seen of this species in Britain. Pictures and a few other highlights of the trip north below.

Rose-coloured Starling, Scarborough, 13th August

The bird was attracted to feeders in the backyards of the town

An appropriate perch for a bird

Rose-coloured Starling breeds in the eastern-most parts of Europe and across Southern Asia

An attractive bird in a typical setting for the species in Britain

On the subject of colourful birds, a two mile detour off the M1 on our way north was all it took to catch up with the East Midlands celebrated flock of Bee-eaters, which, following an unsuccessful breeding attempt in neighbouring Notts, had skipped across the border to Leicestershire to further extended their stay. A shame they weren't able to produce any young successfully, though with another continental European visitor associated with warmer climes, the Black-winged Stilt, making a good fist of colonising the UK this year, it seems likely there will be further attempts by the Bee-eater to do so.

The Bee-eaters were a bit distant but telescope views were very good

Here one comes in to land after a feeding sally

All seven birds can be seen in this picture (click to enlarge)

I was just about within range to hear their 'blooping' calls

A riot of colour in flight.

Man about town

Urban birding has become something of a habit lately, and we are fortunate in Dorset to have a number of good options in this regard. Last weekend saw me pottering around a few more of the county's birding hotspots between Portland and Dorchester. First stop was Fortuneswell and Chesil Cove at the southern end of Chesil Beach, where a pair of Black Redstarts were flitting on the rocks - same time, same place as a pair last year. A trio of Eider Duck were the highlight of a quick scan of Portland Harbour before lunch with the ducks and gulls at Radipole Lake in Weymouth. There was just time to twitch a first winter male Rose-Coloured Starling on the rooftops of suburban Dorchester before heading back to Purbeck to see about 10,000 of its more familiar cousin, the Common Starling, come in to a spectacular roost at Studland's South Haven.

Male Black Redstart, Chesil Cove

Black Redstart, Chesil Cove

Female Black Redstart, Chesil Cove

Rock Pipit, Chesil Cove

Meadow Pipit, Ferrybridge

Eiders in Portland Harbour

Bearded Tit, Radipole Lake

Blackbird, Radipole Lake

Carrion Crow, Chesil Cove

Dunnock, Radipole Lake

Shelduck, Radipole Lake

Black-headed Gull, Radipole Lake

Common Gull, Radipole Lake

Mediterranean Gull, Radipole Lake

Med Gull with Black-headed Gull above

The drake Hooded Merganser still displaying at Radipole

Always a show-off



Male Marsh Harrier at Radipole

Moorhen, Radipole Lake

Feral Pigeon, Radiploe Lake

Rose-coloured Starling, Dorchester

Not looking so good after a bath

Starling murmuration at Studland

September...

Good things seemed to come in twos in September, the latest month to be given the drive-by review treatment in my look back at 2016. Starting with two tickets to the Isles of Scilly for my youngest son and I to twitch a Cliff Swallow, with a point blank Lesser Yellowlegs making up a high quality American double for the day.

Cliff Swallow, St Mary's. Incredibly another was found in Suffolk later in the year but this was the smarter of the two ;-). Suffolk would have been cheaper of course - but not nearly as much fun! Bird of the month for September

Lesser Yellowlegs, St Mary's - my photo of the month for September

Seeing one Shrike always means it's a red-letter day, but two rarer members of the family in the same month was something to celebrate - especially when both the Woodchat (at Pirate's Cove near Weymouth) and the Lesser Grey Shrike (at Mountbatten near Plymouth) were so confiding.

Woodchat Shrike, Pirate's Cove

Lesser Grey Shrike, Jennycliff Beach

September produced some fine weather as well as some fine birds, and I made a few journeys to Portland during the month to look for migrants - the island can usually be relied on for seasonal scarcities like Rose-coloured Starling and Wryneck.

Rose-coloured Starling, Portland



Wryneck, Portland

Even Swineham had something to offer in September - an overdue patch tick in the form of a Great White Egret, and an approachable Kingfisher - common enough along the River Frome, but only rarely do they perch long enough for a photograph.

Great White Egret, Swineham



Kingfisher, Swineham

The final duo from September was extra special - my own sons, each seemingly taking an interest in wildlife photography. Rowan joined me on the trip to Scilly while they both tooled up with long lenses for a visit to Brownsea. I'm sad to report the passion for photography hasn't really lasted with either, but it was fun while it did, and may have sown the seeds of some future interest in this most absorbing of pastimes.

It's that time of year again

It's that time of year again: the Dorset Youth League Football Season is underway. Eldest son George is now Wareham Rangers' under-14s utility right-back/midfield/whatever-the-team-commands-guy, on account of us having no subs due to transfer window defections and drop-outs. Another change this season has been the move to a far more parent-friendly regime of weeknight training, freeing up Saturday mornings, and earlier kick-offs on match days, freeing up Sunday afternoons. The start of the football season coincides, of course, with the autumn bird migration season, so I have been enjoying these new-found weekend freedoms by checking out some favourite hotspots around Dorset. Some highlights from a joyous middle-age reclaimed below:

Wryneck at Portland Bill

Wryneck appears regularly on Portland at this time of year

This one was in the Bill Quarry

A half-decent flight shot

Rose-coloured Starling is another regular autumn migrant on Portland

This one took a shine to a rooftop solar panel, alternating between lying down under it and loafing alongside it

It had hooked up with local Starlings on a housing estate near Weston

Middlebere is another good location for migrants at this time of year: Green Sandpipers have been on the pools in front of the hide

An attractive wader

Migrant Ospreys have also been showing some interest in the false nest platforms erected for them

The hope is they can be persuaded to stay and breed one day. Well, unlike Wareham Rangers, who have yet to win a game this season, we can dream, can't we?

I have had the pleasure of the company of Wareham Rangers right-back on several post-match jaunts - here he is practising one of the essential skills of digital photography: chimping