I'd been watching the news of the Tawny Pipit in Dorset recently with various accounts of how difficult it was and a few accounts of people dipping but with a constant stream of close up images I gave in and made the difficult call to travel and give the twitch a go fearing that the bird may even have moved on over night.
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| one of several Rock Pipits seen at Portland |
I stopped off at Longham lakes on the way down parking at the main road end of Green lanes and walking down the narrow lane to the lakes I found I was at the wrong end and had to walk the total length of the two lakes to connect with the bird but it was a decent view and only my second ever Whiskered Tern.
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| Longham Lakes |
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| Cogden beach |
Back in the car and I made the hours drive down to Cogden beach and started the walk down the steap hill from the car park. I walked that beach for about three hours on shingle for a good three miles or more and my reward was a Skylark, a Dunnock and a few Linnets on the actual shingle. A couple of Reed Buntings and a Cetti's Warbler the only other birds. I had again dipped Tawny Pipit!
A stop at Ferrybridge gave us a year tick with nineteen Little Terns and at Portland we jammed onto my first ever Dorset Chough and it was very pleasing to see so many Rock Pipits on territory singing and parachuting. On the sea we picked out a Fulmar and a Gannet along with large groups of Razorbill and Guillemot (remarkably my first of the year). A few Wheatears were noted around the lighthouse before we heard news of a Roseatte Tern at Lodmoor but sadly it had gone before we arrived.
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| Ferrybridge |
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| Chough |
A cracking day out by the sea and a refreshing reminder of the fabulous places this crazy hobby can take you to.
Year list ticking away and recovering to 187
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