Wood Warbler

A text from Dave Chown, alerting me to the presence of a Wood Warbler at Radipole Park, was enough to distract my attention from going to Littlesea, The Fleet. I was soon in the company of Dave, who's sharp eyes picked it up in a bush close to us.

A truly stunning creature.

And here's a few more photos of it.

Did manage to go to Littlesea in the end, but it was very quiet.

A couple of photos of common birds from Littlesea for you to enjoy.

Male Kestrel.

Male Stonechat.

Red-rumped Swallow

Highlight of the day, thanks to Daragh, was the appearance of a Red-rumped Swallow at Lodmoor.

The Red-rumped Swallow with a Swallow for a comparison.

Also on Lodmoor....

Was this drake Garganey. 

This Red Kite flew past my bedroom window today.

Like the last one that flew over my house, this was also a 2nd-calendar year bird.

On Monday, I visited Abbotsbury Swannery for a confiding Turtle Dove.

The light was pretty bad when I took these shots. Sadly this species has become an increasingly rare sight and we only have the hand of man to blame for that. For God's sake you foreign idiots, will you please stop shooting them out of the sky.

A Hideous Beast

A rather uneventful weekend for me when it comes to birds, but I have been busy doing other things, so I'll just show you a few photos that I took.

Sandwich Tern on The Fleet at Littlesea.

One of my first Whitethroats of the year at Littlesea.

Male Chaffinch at Littlesea. Sorry, liked the bird against the background on these images.

A Red Kite that flew over my house today.

The title of today's post. Now, people who know me, know that I like me ducks and geese. Egyptian Goose on the other hand, is a right munter. It even sounds horrible. Anyway, this very tame and unringed bird on Lodmoor today was a welcome 10km square year tick though.

The Siberian Chiffchaff in my garden this evening.

And here is a Common Chiffchaff that was in my garden the other day for comparison.

It's Still Here

The Siberian Chiffchaff in my garden this evening.

How Tame Can Scaup Get?

The Scaup at Abbotsbury Swannery are coming into the feed put out for the swans at the moment, providing unbelievable views of this seaduck.

Also.....

This drake Garganey was on the meadow pool.

Spotted Redshank

After texts from Daragh and Dick, a break in the weather tempted me to go to Lodmoor and see today's Spotted Redshank.

Spotted Redshank is a scarce visitor to the Weymouth area.

Also, on Lodmoor this evening...

An Avocet.

And this Red-breasted Merganser on the tern islands was unusual.

A few more 10km square year ticks from Friday on Lodmoor.

Male Chaffinch.

Male Shoveler.

Male Shelduck.

My 10km square year list is now 112.

Long-eared Owl

The day started with seeing that the Siberian Chiffchaff was still in residence on my housing estate. I then went up to Portland and had a walk around Barleycrates and Reap Lane. It was very quiet, with just a single Black Redstart and 1 Willow Warbler being the highlights. Lodmoor was the next port of call, with singles of Spoonbill and Green Sandpiper being the best I could manage.

This Green Sandpiper chose the less than salubrious surroundings of the old tip at Lodmoor.

This Water Rail was also on the old tip.

In the afternoon I took Fred up to Portland Bill to see a roosting Long-eared Owl.

It was a case of looking through bushes to view this delightful owl.

Not too far away in the Obs Quarry, a Little Owl was also on view.

Popped into Abbotsbury Swannery the last couple of days, where a Nuthatch has been showing well.

Nuthatch is a scarce resident on The Fleet.