'Reports of my death...

...have been greatly exaggerated'. The Christchurch Pallid Swift no doubt repeated Mark Twain's witticism at about 1100 on Friday when it was said to have been taken by a crow, only to rise again a few minutes later. If so, it spoke too soon, apparently falling to a Sparrowhawk a couple of hours later. I referred to the phenomenon of rare birds snuffing it in my last post, perhaps in the sub-conscious hope that pointing it out would prevent it happening it again any time soon. A winning formula, obviously.

I couldn't get over to Christchurch before lunchtime, and on arrival I met Brett who was just leaving, having filled a memory card with some great shots of the bird. He broke the news that while he couldn't be sure, it seemed likely that the Swift had been taken by a Sprawk. I'm ashamed to say I cursed that peckish raptor in similar terms to those which Brett normally reserves for the hunters of Brent Geese.

After Snipegate, I couldn't quite believe it had happened again and, sensing my disbelief, Brett encouraged me to keep looking as it was just possible the Swift had made an escape. The last sighting was about 1300, and my car park ticket said 1308, so it was a fine margin which prevented me adding this species to my Dorset list.

I hung around for another couple of hours, just in case there was a second resurrection - there wasn't - before heading off to Mudeford Quay where a Roseate Tern had been reported. Can you guess whether this (a) ended in disaster as a the tern was snaffled by a Bonxie just minutes before my arrival or (b) comprehensively rescued the afternoon as it fished just yards offshore in the evening light? That's right. The correct answer is (b).

Everything's coming up Roseate

The whole family fancied a trip to Poole yesterday but the only one that wanted to go to Brownsea was me. And so I trudged disconsolately to this squalid little island with its smelly, noisy tern colony and gazed reluctantly at the irascible inhabitants and their bug-ugly chicks. As you can imagine, I had a thoroughly miserable time. A couple of Roseate Terns had been reported the previous day and to compound my disappointment they were still there. I was so bored I tried to fritter the time away thinking up contrived puns for blog post titles. And taking the odd photo of the Roseates. Quite frankly it was a relief to get the last boat home, which I almost missed - imagine being stuck there with the terns, the Nightjars, the Med Gulls, the Red Squirrels...


Roseate Tern - a very elegant bird in flight with long tail streamers

The pure, wader like call was often a clue that the Roseate Tern was approaching 

A strikingly pale bird in flight, more so than on the ground it seemed

Roseate Tern against Poole's urban backdrop

A feisty bird which repeatedly knocked Black-headed Gulls off their perches

Both birds bore metal leg rings

One landed briefly on the unfenced island in front of the Macdonald hide

It walked a few paces...

...and turned around - still difficult to get the whole bird with streamers in shot among the other terns and paraphernalia

A cropped shot - the base of the bill, black in spring, should turn red as the breeding season progresses

More vocalising - this time as a Black-headed Gull flew overhead

Something of the night about Brownsea...

Nocturnal birds were on view in broad daylight on Brownsea today with two Nightjar outside the Lake Hide and a Tawny Owl near the Villa. I found the first Nightjar on the ground at about 11:00 by following the detailed instructions on where to look written in the hide's log book. It shuffled out of sight after an hour so I returned to my original mission of photographing terns form the Macdonald Hide. After a few minutes photographing Sandwich Tern on the island front left of the hide, I was just thinking about scoping the heat haze at the back of the lagoon where Roseate Terns bred last year, when through the lens I saw the all black bill and pink chest of a Roseate Tern (above and right). Sitting at the back of the same island, it preened for a while and eventually flew off, only to return a minute or two later, providing the opportunity for some good flight shots. Arriving birders informed me that a Nightjar had been sitting on a post outside Lake Hide so I returned to find this male (above) doing just that, calling and churring occassionally. It did so from at least 13:30 to 16:30 when I had to leave to catch the last boat. Photos would have ben sharper but for a vicious heat haze.