After all the early starts during the week this was my day to do some relaxing while my parents went for a beach day at Lulworth Cove with my brother. I spent the morning emptying my camera's memory card of the week's photographs and sorting them out, mostly deleting them; I was also writing my trip reports for the first few days (part 1). However boredom always creeps in when I'm trying to write anything so I decided to head up to the white horse on the hills near the house to see if there were any birds about.
Unfortunately I had misjudged the timings of setting off and it was just after midday with the temperature at a scintillating 27 degrees Celsius. With virtually no shade for most of the walk it wasn't the happiest of birding experiences but nevertheless there were some birds being moderately active to make it worthwhile. Butterflies were immediately evident with lots of Common Blue all along the path in small groups, also lesser numbers of Small Heath patrolling the grassy edges. At least 3 Chiffchaffs were singing from a small area of trees by the track up the hill although they proved difficult to see. The yaffling call of a Green Woodpecker drifted across the hillside and I obtained brief views of it disappearing behind a large area of trees. It was disappointingly quiet after this so I headed back with a family party of 9 Long Tailed Tits the only birds of note seen. Friday 4th June
Another morning where my parents were off doing something of their choice so I repeated the previous day's excursion and walked up the hill again. It was cooler outside that day making the walk much more pleasant. A small stream running under the path seemed to be attracting lots of birds so I had a look around there for a while which produced some unexpected birds. A female Blackcap was scuttling around the hawthorn bushes bordering the stream and a large flock of 30+ Goldfinch and Linnets were coming to drink from the water. Further up the hill the call of the Green Woodpecker once again rung around the hillside. However on that day there were a pair of them flying around and making quite a racket. One of them gave good views as it sat perched on a tree next to the track.
A small bird flitting about the trees near the woodpeckers caught my attention as being very pale, much more so than the chaffinch I had assumed it was. Getting it in my binoculars I could see that it was one of my favourite birds, a Spotted Flycatcher. I watched it for the next 10 minutes as it demonstrated perfectly why it got it's name, perching on a branch before flying down and catching a fly in mid air before returning to the same perch. A pair of Grey Partridges flew out of the field near to the flycatcher adding to trip list and taking me up to 107.
Earlier in the week I had been tipped off by a local birder that an area of wood near to where I was staying held Nightingales, a bird that I had always wanted to see. Since it was my mum's birthday we had a meal at the Smugglers Inn near the beach at Osmington Mills and afterwards we were planning to head down to the beach. Over tea I gently slipped in the idea that I could go and look for these birds while the rest of them went down to the beach, my dad said he would come with me so after the meal was over (which was delicious and I would highly recommend the restaurant) we headed off along the coastal path. A pair of Sandwich Terns were fishing on the sea at the base of the cliffs below us and a male Kestrel was hunting the fields in the evening light. A Goldfinch provided a good photo opportunity as it sat by the path singing its heart out.
We reached the woods and followed the signs that lead us to a track through the first band of trees; the wood was alive with the sounds of the resident birds going about their business. A large flock of Long Tailed Tits chattered above out heads as they moved along the bushes by the path, with a family party of Willow Warbler close by, the parents frantically feeding the recently fledged young, their bright yellow plumage enhanced by the light from the evening sun. Chiffchaffs were very much evident with singing birds every fifty metres or so. The wood was in a M shape with 3 wide lines of trees and bushes extending vertically down from a large horizontal band. We reached the top of the first line of trees and headed along to the second, stopping briefly to watch an adult Nuthatch as it zipped through the trees, almost reminiscent of a Kingfisher flashing past over a river. Down the second band of trees another Green Woodpecker was calling and a male Cuckoo was making it's famous call in the distance, making the local dog walkers stop and listen, completely helpless as they were encapsulated by this magic birds sound, well how couldn't they be. So far the nightingales had proved hard to get and since the light was fading my dad suggested we started to head back. However as we passed by the bottom of the first band of trees I persuaded him to let me head back up for 20 minutes or so for one last look. I managed to find part of the path which gave a good view through a large area of the wood under the trees. A pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were making regular visits to a hole in a tree where they obviously had young. It was only then that I picked up a melodical song from somewhere in the woods. After watching for another 5 minutes I was rewarded with an all to brief view of a bird perched on a nearby branch, slightly larger than a Robin with beautiful brown plumage meant it could only be 1 thing, Nightingale (lifer 246). Over the next 10 minutes I got 3 more views, all as brief as the first but all confirmation that it was a Nightingale. The light really was going after this do I headed for home very happy. This brought my holiday list to 110 species.
Saturday 5th June
The last day and the last chance to visit Portland so it was up at 6 for a few hours at the bird observatory before we had to go home. 6 Manx Shearwaters were the only birds of note from the obs so I decided to take a look at the east cliffs in the hope of seeing Puffins. Hundreds of Guillemots with smaller numbers of Razorbills, Kittiwakes and Fulmars were flying around the cliffs providing some spectacular views but unfortunately the Puffins decided to stay hidden. Since the time was limited we set off home but an adult Yellow Legged Gull in Weymouth added some final interest and brought the final trip list to an impressive 112 species.
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