We arrived at 8am mostly due to a pit stop at the golden arches for coffee.
Parked up with three hours on the ticket we walk the 300yards to the pool and bang we're on the bird.
The visitor from the USA is showing well and we get great scope views as THE SB Dowitcher feeds.
This is offically only the second SBD to visit our shores so a Mega tick for all of us and one that's had me break my two hour twitch rule (eventually).
Also on the pool is a juvenile Med Gull, a couple of Sandwich Terns and a Snipe.
A Common Buzzard sat on the fence nearby and a Water Rail showed well as Cettis Warblers sang.
A Grey Heron dropped in to fish quite close so I grabbed a couple of pics......
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| Grey Heron |
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| Good catch |
By 9.30am we're back in the car heading for Portland where we find Wheatears and Rock Pipit.
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| Portland Bill Lighthouse |
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| Portland BTO |
After a short time looking around the rocks and checking the Gannets at sea we moved on to the BTO observatory where Moths were on the agenda. A raven flew noisily past and a couple of warblers flitted about in the shrubs but nothing of note.
Moths found in the trap were Beautiful Gothic, Brimstone, Feathered Ear and Black Rustic to name but a few. Lot's of Sataceous Hebrew Character and an Angle Shades were also noted.
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| Beautiful Gothic moth |
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| Some kind of Cicket? |
Lot's of Hawkers and Darters about too giving a couple of photo opportunities.
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| Migrant Hawker |
So with us having now seen the second ever Short Billed Dowitcher to be confirmed as having landed on our Island we head off home to add it to our lists. The journey home is much slower with local traffic in Weymouth very slow and an accident on the M3 making us leave the motorway detour through Farnborough and return to the M3. We refuelled at Burger King and made it home at 5.30pm
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| Portland |
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