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Tawny Pipit

Tawny Pipit profile

Tawny Pipit
 

Cogden Beach
 

Record of attendance

Beach birders

As we drove home from the Whiskered Tern on Wednesday we hadn't seriously considered we would be returning to the same Chessil Beach just three days later. Tawny Pipit is one of those annual birds but you need to be in the right place at right time. There was a really showy one on Scilly last year but it departed a few days before our arrival.

With rain set in for day in the Midlands and what looked better weather on the coast we left the Midlands at around 10am for what was a trouble free drive despite the awful weather. Given the excellent photos on social media & reports this looked like it was going to be an easy bird to see until there was an update saying the bird had flown and was unable to relocate. We were only twenty minutes away and were determined not to be disappointed. £2 was quickly entered in the pay & display, boots on and we were off. We weren't sure why birders had been walking the half a mile down the shingle when there was a grass path on the other and a small bridge to cross over where the bird was last seen. On arrival there were a few gloomy faces including a couple that had given up and were heading back. After a quick scan of the field we thought we would try the original part of the beach where first found. Within a couple of minutes a Wheatear flew across in front of us and then slightly further back was the Tawny Pipit! We waved the other birders over who looked exceedingly pleased and we all enjoyed some amazing views sometimes coming within 20 feet of us. The wind made it difficult to get any video but I got a couple of pleasing record shots. What a few days.........

Whiskered Tern at the Swannery

Whiskered Tern

Whiskered Tern resting (@ajordanwildlife)

Flying towards us

Whiskered Tern in flight (@ajordanwildlife)

View from teeth back towards path

View of Swannery

Happiness when a plan comes together

Feeding over sand bar

Chesil Beach

Dorset has been very kind to me over the last few years especially in May as I tend to always spend a few days away with parents in Lyme Regis. Birds observed include Great Spotted Cuckoo, Short-toed Lark, Golden Oriole, Nightjar & also saw Subapline Warbler in east Devon. No holiday this year with restrictions in place but I was not surprised when another great bird was discovered on Sunday at the Abbotsbury Swannery. 

A Whiskered Tern was seen feeding and flying around the Fleet which backs onto the Swannery. In all honesty I never considered the bird sticking around as they rarely do so I duly made other plans. And yet the bird was reported all day Monday & Tuesday, and with bad weather coming in on Saturday it was time to put a plan together for Wednesday morning.

The tactic would be to wait for postitive news then head south, for a journey around 3 hours 20 mins. We left as planned as soon as the first report hit BirdGuides. The journey was pretty smooth however with 90 minutes to go we received negative news from birders at site, we remained hopeful and carried on regardless although slighly less hopeful.

Parked up safely, £2 for 2 hours, on the beach car park a birder approached us to show us where to go and informed us "the bird is showing really well" ! I had to ask him to repeat himself before we set off on a fifteen minutes shingle beach walk. We must have passed half a dozen happy birders who had all duly seen the bird. Shingle is always a tough walk but the prize was in sight. 

At the end of the walk there were a number of tank teeth which everyone stood on to get views of the lake in front of the Swannery. Within a few seconds we picked up the Whiskered Tern flying and feeding low above the water. The bird was small & had a distinctive shallow tail fork and was very dark. It never once stopped flying during our visit and gave us one incredible fly past when being chased by a local Common Tern. The Whiskered Tern is classed as a marsh tern and breeds in southern europe.

Many thanks to Andrew Jordan (@ajordanwildlife) for sending me a couple of fantastic images to use on the blog.

Annual Dorset & Devon birding

RSPB Ham Wall

Marsh Harrier

Common Redstart

Little Tern

Dartford Warbler

Common & Sandwich Tern

Male Stonechat

Female Stonechat

Love a good donkey

Sedge Warbler

Purple Sandpiper & Dunlin

Purple Sandpiper

Spotted Flycatcher

Black Hole Marsh

Black Hole Marsh

Swallow

Gold Cap views

Dunlin on the Cobb

Coffee & cake time

Shelduck (Black Hole Marsh)

My annual spring migration break delivered it's normal great selection of birds in Dorset & East Devon. No lifers to reports but quality birds netherless & some super habitats.

I called in Ham Wall on the way down south where the sightings included Great White Egret, Bittern, Garden Warbler, Hobby & Marsh Harrier. On entering Dorset I headed to Lamberts Castle to check in on the returning Common Redstarts.

The Dartford Warblers took longer than normal to find at Aylesbeare Common unlike the Stonechats that were very vocal. I called in for my annual visit to the Donkey Santuary on the way back to Lyme Regis. 

Despite unfavourable winds I tried Portland for a day. Starting with a session of sea watching which the highlight was an Arctic Skua & 26 Common Scoter. Up at Ferrybridge, the Litte Terns showed very well & I also recorded a flock of Barnacle Goose, Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin & Knot. I then headed to Lodmoor where there was excellent birds including a Ring-necked Duck, Sandwich & Common Tern, Little Gull & a Bearded Tit.

At least two Nightjar were back on Trinity Hill although it was disappointing to see another car park closed. It didn't feel partiucally safe there in all honesty. The local Dippers could be observed at close quarters in Lyme Regis and the first juveniles had been seen.

A quiet wood in East Devon provided me with my first two Spotted Flycatchers of the year & a high tide visit to Black Hole Marsh returned a Whimbrel, 12 Blacl-tailed Godwits, a Little Egret & some very teritorial Shelduck.

My final day was spent around Lyme Regis where I had some great views of the Purple Sandpipers on the Cobb. A Dunlin & Turnstone were also present. A Fulmer & 2 Common Scoter passed also. I then headed to Gold Cap where I've wanted to walk for many years. There were many amazing views of the Jurassic coastline whilst sightings were limited to Whitethroats and Linnets.

Autumn Dorset getaway

 Lulworth Cove 

Durdle Door

Spoonbill galore

RSPB Arne Cafe

Arne

Arne

Poole Harbour

Avoid the memberships sales 

Fly Agaric ?

Oystercatcher

Ring-necked Parakeet

Just a short blog to round up a terrific autumn break, ending with two fantastic days in Dorset. We hadn't explored this area before and we were not disappointed. The weather was very kind and it felt like mid August rather than October. 

Durdle Door & Lulworth Cove was our first port of call. Durdle Door is a limestone arch that is part of the amazing jurassic coastline. Bird wise we were restricted in Skylarks, Stonechats and plenty of Rooks after scraps on the car park.

We then made the 25 minute journey to RSPB Arne, host of BBC's Winterwatch. The car park was full and it took a while to realise that Arne was more than just a nature reserve. There were families, couples & a few birders on the reserve enjoying the fantastic habitat. 

The reserve overlooked Poole Harbour where we got great views of 25+ Spoonbill, 5 Swallows, Sandwich Terns, Little Egret, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Wigeon & a single Spotted Redshank. Of the 25 Spoonbills we observed a Poole Harbour record was declared at 75 birds ( 40 at Arne & 35 at Brownsea Island)

We did use the cafe which I can recommend. Both our meals were excellent and served in good time despite the staff being run off their feet.

After an evening of over indulgence we headed into the New Forest for a couple of hours ride on mixed terrain, only notable sighting was a couple of Redwing passing over.