Sun & Rain

Not all coast is equal. Certainly it is a blessing to have a beautiful stretch of the West Dorset coast at my disposal, but it is no good expecting it to produce even a fraction of the birds making landfall in, say, Yorkshire right now. True enough, reading about the Red-breasted Flycatchers, Barred Warblers and hatfuls of Yellow-browed currently entertaining East Coast birders is motivating, but 20+ years of experience here has ensured I remain a realist. In that time I have seen one each of the first two species, and just a handful of the third. Of course, that doesn't stop me trying.

Yesterday afternoon was gorgeous. Sunny, warm, a moderate SE breeze. Around 3pm I arrived at Cogden, intending to work as much of the sheltered hedge lines as I reasonably could. Three hours later the tally was 28 Chiffs, 3 Blackcaps, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Skylark, 3 Clouded Yellows, 4 Painted Ladies and a Small Tortoiseshell.

Chiffchaff in a sunny, autumnal hedge.

Chiffchaff again.

The habitat looks awesome, and just walking though it is a pleasure...

Heading east. Lots of butterflies in the flower-rich meadows.

Enjoyable though it was, apart from that modest count of Chiffs there wasn't a lot to show for three hours. However, the weather was forecast to deteriorate overnight, with heavy rain moving in from the south. Might that result in a few birds dropping in?

Frankly the rain first thing was a bit too uncompromising for my taste, so I waited for it to ease a little and arrived around 08:00. One very soggy walk later the tally was 42 Chiffs, 8 Blackcaps, 6 Whitethroats, and singles of Lesser Whitethroat and Reed Warbler. And on the beach were 12 Wheatears and 5 Ringed Plovers. So, though numbers were up a bit, on the passerine front it was more or less a case of 'as you were'. No cherry.

And then, working my way up the final hedge I spied a small bird flying along it towards me. In flight I could see it was a Firecrest, which then proceeded to plonk down right in front of me. Yay!

Uncropped, shortly after arrival. Spot the Firecrest.

At this point the rain was merely spitting, so I spent some time trying to get a photo...

I am a big fan of Firecrests anyway, but even more so when they are as obliging as this one. Funny, isn't it? Just that one tiny bird elevated the morning's birding to another level.

Well worth getting soaked for.