Bridport BirdFest

Yesterday could only be described as unusual. It began in fairly standard fashion, with a West Bay seawatch. And one of the very first birds through was an Oystercatcher. Again, normal enough, even if it was my first (non-nocmig) Oyc of the year. But, then...

Er...

I am fairly certain that no other birder in the northern hemisphere wrote in their notebook: 'Black Swan 2E at 06:35'.

Next on the oddness agenda was a local tick that I never in a million years would have predicted might fall in March. On Monday afternoon, a snippet of second-hand news from Kev Hale and Luke Phillips that a Yellow-browed Warbler had been seen by our local Co-op, a mere ten-minute walk from my home. I wasn't able do anything about it at the time, and mentally wrote it off. I could not imagine such a bizarrely unseasonal bird being so daft as to stop for another day. Well, it did...

Yellow-browed Warbler. It was close, but an absolute pig to photograph.

A 'nearly' shot...

...and another.

And it was still present today. Bonkers!

However, yesterday's most unusual event took place in the evening...

This blog doesn't often feature pics of actual people, but NQS readers may remember this photo from a few weeks back...

Inaugural meeting of the Bridport Bird Club

The Bridport Bird Club is the brainchild of Tom Brereton and Pete Forrest, and last night's presentation its very first gig. As the flyer indicates, the presentation showcased the Bridport area's bird life, principally as revealed by an extensive survey of its breeding birds, with additional data provided by a...er...Bridport-based nocmig site, as well as the casual records of local birders. The upshot of all this will be a proper bird report, out in April I think.

All credit to Tom, for arranging the event, inviting an interestingly eclectic audience, and persuading the likes of me to stand up in front of total strangers and talk about nocmig. Quite a night.

The following photos are all Tom's...

The Bridport area has very few Dippers, and they are among the most easterly in the UK. Luke Phillips enthused us all with his ideas about how our local population might be helped to grow.

The Tiger Inn's Alley Bar, and an awful lot of people.

Earnest bloke does his best, bless 'im.

Tom's talk about the census of Bridport's breeding birds was absolutely fascinating, but alas there is no photo. I have a feeling this might be the start of something...