7th time lucky

A couple more attempts to get better pictures of the Short-billed Dowitcher at Lodmoor had come to nought earlier this week. It had been showing very well at the start of the week but by the time I went back on Wednesday evening heavy rain had raised water levels over some of its closer feeding areas. Although present, it was frustratingly distant.

Short-billed Dowitcher in the shadow of a Heron

Good light today tempted me back to Weymouth with the family, and with them playing crazy golf nearby I knew I would have a couple of hours with the bird (visiting birders with impatient families please note: drop them off at Lodmoor's Pirate Crazy Golf course as a diversionary tactic. It costs almost as much as a round at the Medinah Country Club, but takes them ages to do the 18 holes). The Dowitcher edged closer but I was still having to use a 2x converter with a 400mm lens - not an ideal combination - to get reasonable pictures.

I changed the angle, but couldn't quite get the Heron's reflection out of shot

After a couple of hours a Sparrowhawk flushed everything on the scrape including the Dowitcher, which called as it went. I lost sight of it in flight and was unable to relocate it. Shortly after I was joined by Brett Spencer, whose photo of this bird (when it was initially thought to be a Long-billed) first alerted the world to its presence when posted online. At about the same time the kids returned with their mum, who was punching the air after a 4-under-par trouncing of her offspring, so we prepared to leave while Brett headed towards the seaward end of the reserve.

A fortunate shot as the Dowitcher took flight

A moment later a shout from Brett had me heading back down the path where he had located the Dowitcher at what felt like point blank range. It wasn't, but it felt like it after two visits with no views and four more with only distant ones. It stood alert for a minute or so before taking flight again. Brett was back for his 8th visit, one more than me, so I was grateful for his shout, and we both felt we had earned our close-up.

A less tightly cropped shot showing more of the Heron's reflection

A glutton for punishment

I returned to Lodmoor this weekend in the hope of improving on my record shots of the Short-billed Dowitcher from the previous week. Well, it's not every day you get a major rarity within 20 miles of home is it? I'm not sure I succeeded, but I certainly got good telescope views and a variety of shots. Eventually.

A heavily cropped shot - the Dowitcher was just about at the limit of the range of my 400mm lens.

Probably the best shot of the day - digiscoped as the Dowitcher paused during half an hour of otherwise frenetic feeding.

Arriving some time before 0800, the Dowitcher was the closest I have seen it but directly against the light so photography was a dead loss. Then after only a few minutes on view something flushed it and it flew a short distance before walking behind its favoured patch of vegetation. Quite a lot of the largish crowd which was assembling on Saturday morning turned up soon after this, and they were in for a long wait.

A flight shot taken in the early morning light showing the 'more-white-than-black' tail and Spotshank-like white cigar shape reaching from the rump up the back

The next time it opened it's wings - about four hours later!

A bill and face were eventually spotted protruding from the reeds from an acute angle, and then it was only a matter of time before the rest of the bird revealed itself. Four hours worth of time in fact. Probably the longest I have had to wait for a rarity that I have already seen! With hindsight, I could have gone to Portland and back for a better view of the Monarch which I saw in poor light on Sunday and not missed anything. Still, the weather was fine, spirits were good and it was a chance to chat to others who had come from as far away as Brussels to see this bird.

Another view of the tail as the Dowitcher lands

While feeding among the vegetation in the shallows the Dowitcher occasionally waded into open, deeper water

The return of autumn twitching stress: hurrah!

A Stilt Sandpiper turned up at Lodmoor in Weymouth on the first day of my summer holiday last year, stayed for a few weeks and left the day before I got back. Talk about rude. This year a Long-billed Dowitcher was considerate enough to wait until I got back from my holiday before being found at the same site. It then showed extraordinary decency by allowing itself to be re-identified as a juvenile Short-billed Dowitcher, only the second record for Britain, a first for Dorset and a potential lifer for me. All I had to do was get to see it.

Short-billed Dowitcher: this photo shows the barring on the tertials which first raised suspicions about the initial identification as Long-billed

Today was the only day this week when I had access to the car, and a morning meeting in Devon meant that I could detour via Weymouth before work. With the coming weekend due to be spent in Cornwall, it was also now or never. Despite some early morning sightings, however, after an hour of searching, with a surprisingly small number of birders looking, I had seen nothing. It was a long and stressful day before I could have another look for it after work. It's amazing how the day crawls by when there is a good bird waiting at the end of it. The journey back to Weymouth was, objectively, uneventful, but twitch-stress paranoia made it feel like every tractor, bus and Nissan Micra owner in Dorset was part of a massive conspiracy to prevent me getting to see a Short-billed Dowitcher.

Spotting on the breast sides (as opposed to barring in Long-billed) could just about be seen.

Fortunately, after proving elusive all morning, the bird showed well in good light throughout this evening. I left as dusk approached with Bearded Tits pinging in the reedbed and a large flock of Yellow Wagtails moving over the reserve. A cracking start to the autumn, with big thanks due to local birders Daragh Croxson, who I understand first found the bird, and Brett Spencer, who posted the photos which provided the spark for a debate about its identity.

The bill looked as long as any Long-billed I had seen, but there is apparently significant overlap so this is not a reliable differentiator. I did not hear the bird call though it was heard to call this afternoon, adding confidence to the identification as Short-billed.