Hudsonian Whimbrel in Cornwall

A short break in Cornwall saw me heading to Boat Cove at the first opportunity yesterday morning for the long-staying Hudsonian Whimbrel. The Pagham Harbour bird last year was the first I had seen of this species but my pictures of it were a bit distant and hazy so I was keen to have another crack at the smart looking Cornish specimen. I arrived soon after the first dog walkers and just as the sun was rising, but the only birds visible on the beach were Curlews. Then the piping call of a Whimbrel gave away its presence, and a dark rump as it flew away confirmed it was of the Hudosnian variety. My hopes of getting close views fell, however, as it flew out of view around the Cove. Fortunately it hadn't gone far and I relocated it on a rocky promontory.

As the sun rose, I was getting decent photos with the aid of a teleconverter, although the bird was distant from my position on the path. Eventually it flew back east and when I approached my original vantage point at the end of the Cove I found it playing peek-a-boo with me from the top of a high, spray-soaked rock. The views were excellent from here, but when flushed by a wave, it flew east again and was lost to view. This time I thought it had gone for good, but approaching the cliff edge slowly, I looked back west to find it well above the tide-line, almost at eye-level on a high cliff feeding among the lichen, less than 30 yards away. It wandered out of view and I changed my vantage point to refind it, hailing another birder along the coast who appeared to be looking for the bird but who would not have been able to see it from where he stood.

I headed for the car but a phone call to the family suggested that I wouldn't be missed for another half-hour so I went back to the cliff edge, and the same birder returned the favour a few minutes later, rejoining me to point out that the Whimbrel had moved, unseen by me, to just below where I had been standing. From here we enjoyed even closer views as the bird fed unperturbed, other than by the crashing surf which caused it to flap its wings and reveal the cinnamon barring on the underwing. It posed superbly against the rocks, showing off the diversity of Cornish coastal geology in the process. A selection of photos from an exhilarating couple of hours spent with this major rarity below. As the final photo shows, it was using its long bill to access the deepest crevices on the rock face.

 

The Bond films in bird photos

It's a reasonably well known fact that Ian Fleming was a keen birdwatcher and got the name 'James Bond' from an American ornithologist of the same name who wrote a field guide to the birds of the West Indies, a copy of which was in Fleming's possession. So here's my tribute: the Bond films in bird photos taken around Dorset in the last couple of weeks.

Goldeneye

Goldeneye II

Goldfincher

The Man with the Golden Plover

From Russia With Love: Russian Dark-bellied Brent Goose

Smew Only Live Twice

Skylarkfall

And finally, a cameo appearance by Roger Moorhen

Grey Sunday

It was a bit of a Grey Sunday around Portland and Weymouth yesterday weather wise. Fortunately it was brightened up by some smart birds, the memory of which was enough to cheer me along on the way into work this morning on Blue Monday - the most depressing day of the year, apparently. As well as a handsome male Black Redstart at Chesil Cove, a female type was also present. A few pictures of this and some other highlights of the day below.

Black Redstart, Chesil Cove

Just as confiding as the male

Always a pleasure to bump into this species

It's been a good winter for approachable Great Northern Divers

This one was close in off Portland Castle

A Kestrel at Portland Bill was a bit bedraggled

The Bill quarry Little Owls have a bit more shelter

 

Male Red-breasted Merganser near Portland Castle

Wren, Portland Bill

I was able to photograph this Dartford Warbler at Portland Bill out of the car window

On the way home, a Goldcrest was singing over the traffic noise in downtown Weymouth

Med Gull is virtually guaranteed in the Radipole Lake car park at this time of year

Best looking bird in Dorset?

A matter of opinion, obviously, but if there is a better looking bird in Dorset at the moment, I would like to see it. I set out hoping this cracking male Black Redstart would still be at Chesil Cove this morning, and while on arrival only a female was present, by the time I had walked a few hundred yards south under the west cliffs of Portland and back, he was feeding around, and at one point under, my car. I couldn't quite get the bird in shot with the old banger, but no matter.

Time with the extended family

There are five species of 'true' tit on the Dorset list - Willow is sadly now lost to the County as a breeding bird, leaving Blue, Great, Coal and Marsh as the most likely to be seen these days. (Long-tailed, Bearded and Penduline Tit are all from closely related families, but are not considered 'true' tits). After Willow, Marsh Tit is the least likely of the 'true' tits to be encountered, but there are a few sites in Purbeck where they may come to feeders in winter, including Arne and, this winter, Corfe Castle. I popped along there yesterday, in the half-hour of daylight which remained after watching table-topping Wareham Rangers U-13s drop three points at home to the Parkstone Falcons. A result, since you ask, which leaves them just three points ahead of second-placed Swanage, who they play in their next fixture - making it a real six-pointer of a Purbeck derby. The light was going as I arrived, and had I known the boys were going to get mugged in a last minute counter-attack I might have invested the 60 minutes I spent before that, watching them spurn a hatful of chances, getting better photos of Marsh Tit!

Marsh Tit, Corfe Castle

The much commoner Blue Tit at Corfe Castle

This Coal Tit was seen earlier in the day at Bestwall

Great Tit among the pines at Swineham earlier in the day

Long-tailed Tit, from the family Aegithalidae, at Swineham

Quantity v quality

Well my 2015 photo year list finally ended on 240 species, the final addition being some colourful Crossbills in Wareham Forest photographed on 29th December. While I never set a target exactly, I said earlier in the year that I would be disappointed not to get to 200 and delighted to get to 250; so just short of delighted will have to do. 250 was definitely within reach, but would have meant doing things like going to Hampshire for Ferruginous and Ring-necked Ducks, and to be honest I wasn't that committed! The real value of the exercise was undoubtedly the extra impetus it provided to get out and about, and it certainly helped achieve that when motivation was lacking.

The down side of the photo yearlist was the compulsion to post even lower quality pictures than normal, and I haven't exactly been too precious about photographic quality over the years! Even so, I don't think I'll try to repeat the exercise in 2016, and will try to raise the quality of the offerings above last year's level. Starting with a few subjects from the first days of 2016 around the north shore of Poole Harbour. In the effort to raise quality over quantity, some light would help, but there hasn't been much of that yet this year in Dorset, so high ISO ratings have had to come to the rescue.

A pair of Purple Sandpipers bathing in the surf at North Haven this afternoon

As long as you are patient and don't mind risking wet feet, close views can be had

This Great Northern Diver was very close in off Baiter Park on New Year's Day

Water off a diver's back

Brent Geese have also been feeding close to the Baiter Park car park

Bad weather suppressed the disturbance from dog walkers yesterday but they were back out in force today

Rock Pipit on the beach at Baiter

The same bird on the flooded playing fields

The distinctive wing pattern of Turnstone in flight

Turnstone feeding on the beach at Baiter