Great Spotted Cuckoo on Dorset Holiday

Great Spotted Cuckoo

Great Spotted Cuckoo

Great Spotted Cuckoo

The Satnav destination

Pied Flycatcher

Common Redstart

After such a fantastic long weekend in Mull, next destination would be Dorset to spend a few days with my parents in a holiday cottage in Lyme Regis. I couldn't quite believe my luck when a first summer Great Spotted Cuckoo had been found on Portland, just 40 minutes from the cottage. 

I set out at 5am hoping the bird would be around for another day. As I swung past Yeovil news emerged it was still present. The rest of the 3 1/2 hour journey went very well and with added motivation. Quickly parked up, I soon had the African migrant in my scope but in fairly deep cover. Fantastic, a third record for Dorset. It was just a game of patience to wait until a good view was granted. There was two Spotted Flycatcher & a Redstart in the same field.

After about 45 minutes the bird took flight to land in the hedgeline where I took the opportunity to take a few record shots. The bird keen to feed on a wealth of newly emerged caterpillers however a couple of the dogs were over keen and the bird flew into the housing estate.

For this reason I headed off to the Bill as I knew I could return later. This tactic paid off as I got prolonged views of the bird feeding on the bushes and on the ground.