Way to go! Weymouth, 10th October 2018

Another October and another eagerly looked forward to trip to the far west of Cornwall! But first a couple of days travelling along the south coast and a couple of nights spent, hopefully, staying in nice hotels and partaking in some good food and a little drink (or two). This year we decided to head to the Weymouth area and, if the opportunity arose, anywhere close by if a twitchable bird was present.

Weymouth boasts a pair of fine RSPB reserves in Radipole Lake and Lodmoor which usually hold some interesting birds. Unless we visit of course when all the good birds disappear and hide until we've left! A Lesser Yellowlegs, a species of wader that I'd only seen three times before, had been gracing Lodmoor for over a fortnight so we could be sure of catching up with that and I was also pretty certain that we'd see Bearded Tits and Mediterranean Gulls, both scarce birds in Oxfordshire. As hinted already, our track record at both of these reserves isn't very good and we've managed to dip a few rare birds in the general Weymouth area in the past including Stilt Sandpiper and Richard's Pipit. After a pretty torrid drive southwards, requiring a big diversion around the South Oxon and Berkshire downs in order to avoid a nasty accident and massive holdup on the A34, a decent breakfast sandwich and coffee at a nearby cafe settled us down a bit and we arrived at Radipole around mid-morning. It had turned quite breezy so any chance of decent views and photographic opportunities at the Beardies were vastly diminished since they'd be keeping low in the reeds in such conditions. 

My first target however was easy to find with 5 adult Mediterranean Gulls loafing amongst the more numerous Black-headed Gulls on the muddy scrape right in front of the visitor centre. I had never taken a decent image of a Med Gull before so I set about capturing some shots. No complaints, I do try not to (!),  from me about the conditions either since the strong sunshine was slightly behind me. The Gulls were all asleep but occasionally one would stir and look mildly interested in the goings on before returning to its slumber.

adult Mediterranean Gull

The Med Gulls shared the scrape, actually part of the vast network of waterways that make up this part of Weymouth, with a few Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls. A lone Dunlin and a Black-tailed Godwit were also patrolling the shallows.

Black-tailed Godwit 

Dunlin

Great Black-backed Gulls

We walked out into the reserve and it was immediately evident that this wouldn't be a Bearded Tit day since the reeds were blowing wildly in the strengthening breeze. I caught a brief snippet of their "pinging" calls but couldn't see any of the long tailed birds clinging to any reed stems. They would have had to hold on tightly in any case. Radipole is a terrific place to see Cetti's Warblers too but they would also be keeping low on a day such as this. But at least it was a beautiful sunny day! We chose to study the open waterways instead and noted several species of the more common duck species, Teal, Gadwall, Shoveler, Tufted Duck and Mallard all being present. The famous drake Hooded Merganser, a resident of Radipole for nearly 7 years, has now sadly disappeared.

Herring Gull

female Teal

A cleared area in the reed bed held a gathering of herons with 8 Grey Herons and 2 Little Egrets either stood idle or intently watching the shallow edges to the pools. Partially hidden by the reeds, a Great (White) Egret was also furtively watching for a meal. It was on the way back from Cornwall some years ago that we made a "twitch" stop at Chard to see our first ever Great Egret. Nowadays they are relatively common in the south west and we even get a few up in Oxfordshire and shamefully hardly get given a second look! 

We stood on a bridge which gives views in all directions over the reserve and a place where we've seen Kingfishers and Bearded Tits (not giving up!) in the past but none showed. A young Mute Swan came swimming towards us and when I showed no intention of giving out some free handouts of bread gave me a rather puzzled and indignant look before passing under the bridge to rejoin the rest of its family on the other side.

Mute Swan

It was quiet elsewhere on the reserve so we drove over to Lodmoor and looked out for the shallow scrapes where the wading birds congregate in the hope of seeing the Lesser Yellowlegs. Immediately obvious was a good size group of Black-tailed Godwits all of which were feeding in the ankle deep (to a Godwit) water. A few Lapwing patrolled the rather striking "red coloured" weed that lays of the marshes (must find out what type of plant it is). There were Redshanks present, the species that the Lesser Yellowlegs would be most likely to associate with but despite much scrutinising I couldn't find the rarer bird.

Black-tailed Godwit

Lapwing

A fine male Ruff was stood on a patch of dry ground quite close to the path. It was still sporting mostly white head feathers giving an indication of how splendid its ceremonial headdress would have been back in the breeding season. We were lucky to have seen it since after just a few seconds it flew away and into a hidden part of the reed beds. Maybe the Yellowlegs was in the same place?

male Ruff

A trio of fine Greenshanks came flying in, tootling as they did so, and landed in the same place where the Ruff had been moments before. I'm a big fan of Greenshank, elegant but at the same time sturdy waders and always quite vocal. In short they have attitude! The three birds kept very close company as they walked, ran and fed in the shallows.

Greenshanks

A Grey Heron approached looking quite striking, framed by the expanse of "red weed". Its presence though disturbed the Greenshanks and they fled to another part of the lagoon, pausing only momentarily before flying off and disappearing into the same hidden place that the Ruff had gone to.

Grey Heron

Greenshank

There were more Mediterranean Gulls and, in keeping with the ones seen earlier, they too were mostly asleep or just idling the afternoon away. It was warm in the sunshine so maybe it was siesta time?! Very helpfully the 3 different ages of the species were all lined up together, making comparison between them convenient.

L_R, adult, 2nd calendar year and 1st calendar year Mediterranean Gulls

The Grey Heron was now stalking through the water only a few feet from the footpath, maybe it too was used to the free lunches given out. Our own local Herons back at home would never venture this close to people so these birds had obviously become very accustomed to folk. At one point the bird was so close that I had to back away in order to get the whole of it in the frame.

Grey Heron

A large flock of noisy Canada geese rested on the mudbanks that interweave through the water and a few Teal swam around. A fabulous Little Egret flew low overhead looking positively radiant in the bright sunlight.

Little Egret

male Teal

With no sign of the Lesser Yellowlegs we decided to head off and spend a couple of hours at Portland Bill. As we left a Black-tailed Godwit was feeding in slightly deeper water close inshore and just had to be photographed.

Black-tailed Godwit

Small passerines were difficult to see in the swaying branches but we noted Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. We'd be spending a lot of time and effort staring into trees and bushes over the coming week or so trying to find something scarce or rare, but no doubt, and bearing our track record, we'd fail though!

Portland was even windier and the waves were crashing into the rocks at the southern end with some viciousness. The area has been slightly kinder to us than Weymouth in the past since we'd successfully twitched a Great Spotted Cuckoo and a Pallas's Warbler nearby two years ago. I was hoping to see some Purple Sandpipers but it's probably still a bit early in the year for them. A fine Rock Pipit posed neatly on the roof of one of the many beach huts that adorn the cliff edge here. No beach as such but a fine view out over the sea. Must be nice to own one of those!

Rock Pipit

We checked out the observatory quarry where a pair of Little Owls are reputed to have a territory but there was no sign. Around 50 Swallows were hawking busily about the lighthouse fuelling up before leaving for their winter home in sub-saharan Africa but I felt that the keen southerly winds and the approaching storm Callum would hold them at bay for at least a few days. The only birds we could find in the scrubby tangle of brambles and weedy shrubs were common birds such as Robins and Song Thrushes. A single Blackbird (wearing some bling) was feasting on some late season Blackberries.

Blackbird

So we had failed in our mission to see the Lesser Yellowlegs and Bearded Tits but had still had a good day. Our overnight stay was at the highly recommended Masons Arms in the delightful village of Branscombe on the Dorset/Devon border. We'd stayed here before and will stay again, the accommodation is comfortable and the food and drink in the pub is excellent!