White-wingers in Weymouth

I have often wondered whether the island outside the Radipole Lake visitor centre has hosted more rare birds per square metre than any other piece of real estate in the country. If it didn't before today it took a step in the right direction when an exquisite adult Ross's Gull, present in the area since Wednesday, paid a visit. This high arctic species is a great favourite amongst British birders, making very occasional appearances on these shores. The last one I saw was in neighbouring Devon, a tatty juvenile bird, a contrast to today's dapper adult.

Ross's Gull as it flew from Radipole Lake towards Weymouth Bay

Ross's Gull breeds in Siberia, Greenland and northern Canada

Only the 3rd occurrence in Dorset and the first since 1974

Son George and I had been dropped off in Weymouth by his mum and had planned to get the train home so thanks are due to the Mitchells for getting us back to Wareham, and to the kind chap from London who gave us a lift from Lodmoor to Radipole when the Ross's Gull was relocated there in the early afternoon. George is not a huge fan of birding, but he enjoyed the people watching. Desperate twitchers screeched to a halt in the Radipole Car Park wild-eyed and breathless, muscling their way to a good view like sharp-elbowed parents getting their kids into the best schools. Within minutes of seeing the bird, he observed, they were transformed into grinning idiots, generously offering new arrivals a look through their telescopes and slapping the backs of their travelling companions.

Wing-stretching in the harsh light of mid-afternoon...

...followed by a yawn revealing a Black Guillemot style gape

Note the short red legs

Earlier at Lodmoor, while we had been jogging on the spot to keep the cold at bay, hoping the Ross's Gull would drop in there, a couple of rather more substantial white-winged gulls had provided some good practice for finding the right exposure with the camera: not that I'm complaining, it was lovely crisp weather, but white birds in dark landscapes in the midday sun? Not easy.

The whiter of the two Glaucous Gulls at Lodmoor - note the pale iris

This is the more mottled of the two Glaucous Gulls - note the beadier dark eye

And here both Glaucous Gulls together - the one on the left a particularly fine specimen

With Thayer's, Ring-billed, Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls all being seen at Blashford Lakes just over the border into Hampshire, intrepid birders who left Weymouth in the early afternoon could have clocked up double figures in gull species in a single day. We were quite happy though to stick around Weymouth, enjoying a major Dorset rarity and a handsome selection of waders on display at Lodmoor.

Lapwing, Lodmoor

Common Snipe, Lodmoor

Spoonbills, including a Dutch-ringed Bird, Lodmoor

Ross's Gull, Radipole Lake



And breathe...

Dorset's Smooth Snakes and Sand Lizards could finally un-clench on Monday morning as it became apparent that the Short-toed Eagle had moved on. Although I saw the bird twice and only really had to wait a couple of hours between the initial sighting and my own, it still left me with a buzz which I took with me on my return to work on Monday. I always expect something mega-rare in the first week of June because (i) there always is (ii) I'm always busy after a half-term break, and tied up the following weekend with the start of the camping season, Claire's birthday etc etc. No surprise then that a Spectacled Warbler turned up in Norfolk. But not even that prediction being proved  correct could wipe the smile off this week as the Eagle had already got June off to a flying start.


Terrible photos of tiny waders #1: Little Ringed Plover at Swineham 24th May

Terrible photos of tiny waders #2: just a single bird present for the day

I had the whole week off, and, fortunately with hindsight, we decided not to go away. The downside of this was that the bills still rolled in through the letter box, and I was constantly reminded about the windows needing cleaning, gutters wanting fixing etc. The up-side was that I could get away with a lot more local birding and was a bit freer to twitch should something good turn up.

Terrible photos of tiny waders #3: Temminck's Stint at Lodmoor, 30th May

Terrible photos of tiny waders #4: here with a Ruff for size comparison.

It started with the best of intentions, flogging the patch in the hope of re-discovering the Black-winged Stilts which turned up last time I went away, or the Great White Egret which had been burning the candle at both ends, going out early and coming back late to roost and feed at mystery locations. The Stilts returned - but to nearby Lytchett Bay not Swineham, and, having dissed this site in a previous post I was too proud to beg it's guardians for access to the off-limits location. Several early/late shifts failed to turn up the Egret as well, so not a great start to the week.


Spotted Flycatcher at Morden Bog: taken just 3 days before the Eagle arrived

Treecreeper at Morden Bog with spider

But perseverance was rewarded with a patch tick in the form of a Turnstone. Not exactly a bird to get anyone else's pulse racing, except perhaps Marcus, but surprisingly rare at Swineham. By Wednesday, the Turnstone looked like it might be the highlight of the week: a poor return for my efforts by any standard. Then things picked up with a Serin at Durlston that morning, a Ross's Gull on the Exe Estuary in the afternoon, and the following day a Temminck's Stint at Lodmoor offered the chance of a Dorset tick which I duly snaffled up in a quick smash and grab.

Twitching the Temminck's provided an opportunity to catch up with the Arctic Tern which has summered with the Common Terns in recent years

Arctic Tern in the foreground - a slighter, shorter-legged and more blood-red billed bird than the Common Tern behind

Throughout the week my kit was packed for an emergency twitch - 'have leave, will travel' being my motto at times like this - and news of a Slender-billed Gull in Norfolk had me haring off in that direction on Monday in pursuit. Reason and mathematics fortunately intervened soon after as it dawned on me that (a) I wouldn't get there before dark (b) it was Bank Holiday Monday so I might be stuck on the M25 until Tuesday. I had got no further than Longham Lakes by this point, and the bird disappeared in any case, so a lucky escape there at least.

Arctic Tern on the left - not the long tail streamers and neat black line on the trailing edge of the primaries

Here quite a dark-billed Common Tern coming in to land...

Bee-eaters were appearing everywhere throughout the week: on the ringing nets at Portland Bill, on wires at Durlston, and chatting up the locals in bars with their smooth continental patter. I was up and down to the Portland and Purbeck coast like a quarry lorry but just couldn't get there fast enough to add one of these stunners to my Dorset list. Then the Eagle appeared to sweep all the best laid weekend plans away with one flap of its awesome wings. I spent the rest of the weekend resisting the massive temptation to write blog posts with Eagle-based puns in the title, figuring they would all be taken by other bloggers anyway. Andy Mears said he was looking forward to my post, so good to know it was eagley-awaited by one person at least. See what I did there?


...and a Sandwich Tern to complete the collection

And one more of the Ross's Gull - High Arctic wanderer and bird of the week until elbowed out of the way by a certain raptor from warmer climes.

Ups and downs

A day of contrasting fortunes today. I resolved not to get up early for another crack at the Great White Egret which has been summering in Poole Harbour. An enigmatic bird this, it gets seen only by early birds or night owls, either flying up, or sometimes down the River Frome. Or sometimes the River Piddle. Or sometimes both. But never when I'm watching, it seems.


First summer Ross's Gull, Bowling Green Marsh RSPB, Devon

Having promised myself a lie in, however, no 2 son had other ideas and woke me up at 0400 shuffling into bed between his mum and I. Waking up is the hard bit, so thus stirred, I thought I might as well go and have a look for the Egret. No joy.

As well as the white head with a hint of a neck-ring, the Ross's Gull was slightly larger, longer-winged and longer-tailed than the Little Gulls I've been watching at Swineham recently

I went back to bed and fell into a sufficiently deep sleep to miss several texts informing me that a Bee-eater was at Durslton, less than 20 minutes away. Getting dressed for the second time today, I scooted off for another dose of disappointment. Mitchells Senior and Junior, dipping on Bee-eater for the second time this week, were also there. Just after they headed home, vowing to jack in birding and have their tripods/scopes etc melted down for scrap, things started to look up, for me at least: a flyover Serin jangled north overhead.

Here in flight with Med Gull (above right) and Black-headed Gull for comparison

Just as I was about to give up on the Bee-eater, Steve Smith called with the offer of a lift to Bowling Green Marsh in Devon to twitch a first summer Ross's Gull present for 9 days (!) but identified only this morning. I saw an adult years ago but the chance of seeing this High Arctic vagrant close to home and in a new plumage was not to be missed. I thought my luck might have turned for the day after the Serin but on arrival the Ross's Gull had just flown, leaving a breathless and satiated group of photographers looking visibly stunned at the close views they had enjoyed minutes before. Another dip in morale threatened, but legging it to the nearby estuary I relocated the Gull distantly on the mud and took what can only be described as an insult to record shots - my 400mm lens was woefully inadequate even with 2x converter.

Another view of the diamond-shaped tail and wing pattern

With the pressure to see the bird now off, we figured waiting for high tide to bring it back in would be a good plan, and this gave us a few hours to relocate the Gull again off Exton Station further down the Exe, and check out the facilities at nearby Darts Farm (Cotswold Camping, RSPB shop, posh loos, basically retail heaven for dudes just getting kitted out for a new career in birdspotting).


Also at Bowling Green Marsh, but not attracting quite so much attention...

It was then time to sit and wait. We did so until 1800 when the Ross's Gull flew in from the north east and landed in front of the robust, breeze block hide at Bowling Green Marsh. We were glad of this as the rain set in, and we discussed our longing for a similar structure at Swineham. The Gull gave a few brief fly-arounds, allowing the photos above to be taken showing the diagnostic diamond-shaped tail. It was said to have been 'masquerading as a Little Gull' the previous day when views were partially obscured, but with clear views today it was less a masquerade, more of a wholly unconvincing impersonation of a Little Gull. Honestly, these birders who need their tricky rarities re-identified for them...

Barnacle Goose