Birds of quality wot I have recorded locally. This post is a work in progress, and will be added to as I find the time. Once completed it will probably wind up on this blog as a separate page.
The inclusion - or otherwise - of a species will mainly be down to what I
think of as local 'quality' rather than its county status, or some other
logical metric. In other words, entirely subjective!
Pink-footed Goose
A Dorset rarity; not annual.
2019 - October 12th. West Bay, one in the field behind Rise Restaurant at dusk. Found by Nick Senior a couple of days earlier.
2020 - October 9th. One flew W with Canada Geese at East Bexington. Almost certainly the same bird had previously been on the Axe Estuary at Seaton from September 28th until October 8th, when it turned up at two locations in the Chard area, Somerset. Following its fly-by at East Bex, what was presumably the same individual reappeared on the Axe Estuary.
2022 - September 17th. One recorded on nocmig around 01:55; almost certainly
the same bird had been at Abbotsbury Swannery the previous day.
|
|
Pink-footed Goose with Canadas, almost getting away, East
Bexington 9/10/2020 |
|
|
Pink-footed Goose spectrogram, Bridport 17/9/2022 |
Scarce in Dorset.
2020 - October 5th. Two flew W at Cogden; picked up earlier past West Bex by Mike Morse. Probably the same two had previously been at Abbotsbury Swannery.
|
|
Whooper Swans, Cogden 5/10/2020 |
Garganey
Aside from the West Bexington Mere, I cannot think of many likely spots to find a settled Garganey hereabouts. A spring seawatch is always going to be a good bet though.
2019 - April 15th. Flock of nine E during a seawatch at Burton Bradstock, including five drakes; photographed a little later by Joe Stockwell off Chesil.
2023 - August 19th. One on Brit Estuary, West Bay; juv or female.
|
|
Screenshot of Joe's triumphant tweet, 15/4/2019 |
|
|
Garganey (juv or female) with Mallard, Brit Estuary, West
Bay 19/8/2023 |
Lesser Scaup
Rare. This one was Dorset's fifth.
2022 - January 14th. First-winter female on Big Pond, West Bex, found by Mike Morse and Alan Barrett. Previously at Abbotsbury Swannery, it turned up there again at the end of January and stayed into March.
|
|
First-winter female Lesser Scaup, Big Pond, West Bex 14/1/2022 |
Eider
A scarce bird in this part of Lyme Bay; usually encountered during spring
seawatches.
2020 - March 21st. Single drake E during afternoon seawatch from Burton Bradstock.
2020 - December. A drake Eider took up residence at Lyme Regis for a few years, and I finally made the effort to see it during a brief stay there in December 2020. A youngster when it arrived, by now it was in immaculate adult plumage.
2021 - March 26th. Four on the sea briefly off Cogden Beach - three drakes (two adults) and a female - later seen from other seawatching points east of there.
2022 - April 11th. Flock of 15 (11 drakes) E past West Bay. Photographed by Mike Morse as they went past West Bex.
2022 - April 12th. A female on the sea off West Bay.
2023 - March 13th. Pair flew E past West Bay.
|
|
15 Eiders past West Bex 11/4/2022 (photo © Mike Morse) |
|
| Immaculate drake Eider, Lyme Regis Harbour 7/12/2020 |
|
|
Female Eider in the rain, West Bay 12/4/2022 |
Velvet Scoter
Scarce locally; thus far only encountered on seawatches. April 10th/11th seems
a good time to try.
2016 - April 11th. Two E past Burton Bradstock during an excellent movement of Common Scoters (235 E in 2.5 hrs); both as singles in a flock of Commons (four and 28 respectively).
2022 - April 11th. Nine E past West Bay; flock of seven, plus two together.
2022 - October 31st. Two E past West Bay. Result of a 'heads-up' WhatsApp message from Ian McLean, who had seen them at Seaton.
2023 - April 10th. Single female E past West Bay.
|
|
Two Velvet Scoters, West Bay 31/10/2022 |
|
|
Two Velvet Scoters, West Bay 11/4/2022 |
Long-tailed Duck
Definitely a very scarce bird in Lyme Bay.
2021 - March 26th. Female/immature W past Cogden Beach at 07:40 with three Common Scoters, initially identified as a 'probable'. Approximately 35 minutes later it flew past seawatchers at Seaton, where its ID was nailed. Nice example of digital comms in action.
Quail
Very scarce locally. I have yet to see one, but have sound-recorded the
species twice as nocmig and once in the field.
2020 - July 11th. Bridport; nocmig record at 03:05.
2022 - May 28th. One in song at Cogden during the evening.
2022 - July 14th. Bridport; nocmig record at 03:35.
|
|
Quail, nocmig spectrogram 14/7/2022 |
Above video of singing Quail at Cogden 28/5/2022
Nightjar
No local breeders that I am aware of, so Nightjar probably rates as an infrequent passage migrant. Despite never having clapped eyes on one locally, three nocmig records suggest the species probably occurs more regularly than I might imagine.
2020 - April 24th. Bridport; nocmig record at 21:29. Also heard live, much to my surprise!
2020 - May 17th. Bridport; nocmig record at 22:41.
2022 - May 15th. Bridport; nocmig record at 23:43.
|
| Nightjar, nocmig spectrogram 24/4/2020. |
And this is what it sounded like...
Above 'spectrovid' of nocmig Nightjar recorded 24/4/2020.
Stone-curlew
A Dorset rarity, so three records (including two nocmig) is pretty good
going.
2020 - April 22nd. Bridport; nocmig record at 01:13.
2021 - April 22nd. Cogden; one on the beach and adjacent fields for about an hour early morning, before heading N over coastal ridge.
2021 - April 24th. Bridport; nocmig record at 00:54
|
|
Stone-curlew, Cogden 22/4/2021. Not the 'best' photo but
certainly the most evocative, with West Dorset's Golden Cap in the
background. |
|
|
Stone-curlew, Cogden 22/4/2021 |
Above 'spectrovid' of nocmig Stone-curlew recorded at 01:13 on
22/4/2020
Avocet
Scarce locally. With limited wader habitat here, a seawatch fly-by is as likely a scenario as any. Except nocmig maybe.
2022 - March 24th. Bridport; nocmig record at 20:52
2022 - April 14th. Bridport; nocmig record at 22:28
2023 - May 3rd. West Bay; one E at 06:35, landed several times on the sea.
Little Ringed Plover
Regular locally, but I've only seen two. However, seven nocmig records indicates that a number pass through each year. Sightings only listed...
2021 - April 2nd. West Bexington; one on the Mere.
2022 - August 3rd. West Bexington; one on Big Pond.
 |
| Little Ringed Plover, West Bexington Mere 2/4/2021 |
 |
| Little Ringed Plover juv, West Bexington Big Pond 3/8/2022 |
Dreading the lengthy gull section already! ;-)
ReplyDeleteCol
Ha ha! Be thankful this post isn't about East Devon and the Axe!
DeleteI regard the story behind those Garganey as a triumph of modern tech and social media.
ReplyDeleteTrue. There will be several more examples that highlight the advantages of digital comms.
Delete