As Jackie and I don't really twitch very much, though we will try for rarities that turn up locally particularly if we haven't seen them before or perhaps not seen them for a year or two. Generally we set ourselves a target of beating 200 species without travelling more than an hour from home. Though we usually do make the odd trip to the Somerset Levels and venture into the New Forest and we have our autumn East Yorkshire migration which will add one of two species to our year list, but our general birding is around Poole Harbour the Isle of Purbeck and an odd trip to the Weymouth area and with a little targeted birding we usually are able to break that 200 target which is a fairly modest figure but keeps it fun. Looking back my best was 225 for Dorset but I have to admit that was a few years back.
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| Boat-tailed Grackle - Calshot © Nick Hull |
This year I injured myself back in April first with pulling a calf muscle and then cracking a rib so it put me out of action for the beginning of spring which effected our year listing. So as we reached November we were still one or two short of reaching our target, so we looked at what was around and thought we should aim to see a few specie that were outstanding that we had missed. We were also hopeful that one or two scarcities could still turn up.
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| Boat-tailed Grackle giving me "the look"- Calshot © Nick Hull |
Well on the 2nd November news broke about a Boat-tailed Grackle at Calshot in Hampshire a species found in the Southern United States a species Jackie and I have seen before on holidays in Texas. This bird is fairly sedentary so the likelihood of it arriving on its own was unlikely it had to been ship assisted. Also Jackie and I already had arrangements, but the next morning the weather was good and without anything booked for the day we decided on going to Calshot just to say we had seen it. We arrived and noticed a number of birders near the lighthouse obviously watching the bird. We soon joined them and the grackle was very confiding, so much so that at one point it walk right up to me so close less than a metre then walked off and sat on another photographers leg.
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| Boat-tailed Grackle - on the birders leg - Calshot © Nick Hull |
Fortunately not a life tick but certainly a nice start to November. We also saw a nice close Red-throated Diver just off the beach which is always nice to see.
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| Red-throated Diver off Calshot Beach © Nick Hull |
A visit to Hengistbury head on the 5th hoping to turn up something new didn't produce any new species though we had a good mornings birding.
Then on the 11th we had a walk around Wareham Lady St. Mary's Church as a Black Redstart had been seen around the area a day or two before. It appeared to be fairly quiet a few House Sparrow a Robin and a Dunnock. We had a wander around the church yard and came across a number of war graves and Jackie suddenly said look there's a Black Redstart. It just popped up from nowhere on to the top of a grave stone and gave us wonderful views alas I had no camera but it was a nice addition to the year list.
Visits to Lodmoor on the 17th and Middlebere on the 18th produced the usual expected species though Jackie managed a catchup with two Knot which were out in the channel which flew off and turned past the hide towards the harbour.
On the 19th Jackie and I decided to have a few days away in Somerset as a pre Christmas treat to ourselves, so on our way down to Somerset we went via Blackhole Marsh and the Seaton Wetlands reserve in Devon. From there we had a quick visit to Chard Reservoir a site we haven't visited before. Both sites were pretty quiet, mind the weather didn't help being overcast and cold. We booked into our hotel at Cricket St Thomas where we planned our next days birding deciding to start at Greylake then on to the Shapwick Heath and finishing at Ham Wall in the afternoon.
We arrived at Greylake and it was a clear but cold frosty morning and the RSPB were carrying out conservation work on the reserve so there was a little disturbance and it was fairly frozen so there was little water and wildfowl numbers were low. So we move on to Shapwick with a quick coffee break at the Avalon Centre cafe we headed out to the Decoy Lake hide where it had been reported there were a couple of Ring-necked Duck present. We hadn't visited this hide before and I think the mile and a half walk through the woodland would be very good in the spring and summer. When we arrived at the hide, we were the only ones and we set about trying to find the two drake Ring-necked Ducks. I eventually picked up one very busy diving across the far side of the lake, then I realised that it was two different ducks it was just they were on the surface at different times. We put the scope on them and they gave great views though somewhat distant for good photographs, very nice to see and add to the year list after not being able to find the Yorkshire bird back in October.
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| Two drake Ring-necked Duck Decoy Lake Somerset Levels © Nick Hull |
We lunched at the Avalon Marsh Centre cafe before moving on to Ham Wall RSPB we were hoping that we might get lucky and see a Bittern but unfortunately the Avalon hide was closed. By late afternoon people were arriving for the Starling roost and Jackie started to flag a little so we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel.
Next Morning we left for home via Chard Reservoir and headed to the hide and we must have spent best part of an hour watching over the lake trying to find a Goosander without luck, but there were ten Mardarin Duck and a mix of common wildfowl and Grebes to be seen.
On the 23rd Brett Spenser found a female Desert Wheatear on the Bridging Camp at Wyke Regis it was a bit late so the next day we decided to pop down to see if we could add another species to our year list. Also the chance of seeing a female as our previous Desert Wheatear had all been male. When we arrived there were only a handful of birders around and we were told it had disappeared into the camp somewhere.
Walking down the footpath we came across Pete Coe patently waiting for the bird to return. After a while one of the camp security guys came over and said I've just flushed from down near the Fleet and it's flown up here and over the fence the other side of this building. So off we went to investigate and as we turn the corner of the camps parameter fence we found it on a manure heap close to the footpath. We all took a few shots and it flew out into the field so we moved around the path and stood near to the manure heaps and the wheatear flew back and sat on the heaps right in front of us no more than 2m away and stayed flitting around up and down the side of the field giving us mega views, I just wish all twitches could be like that
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| Female Desert Wheatear - Bridging Camp Wyke Regis © Nick Hull |
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| Female Desert Wheatear - Bridging Camp Wyke Regis © Nick Hull |
