26 Aug 22 - 22 Spots

I have seen a number of the lovely 22 Spot Ladybirds over the years, but this is the time I've taken a photo.

22 Spot Ladybird

26 Aug 22 - The Makings Of A Good Day On The St Aldhelms Patch

I am not going to win any photographic prizes with this Pied Flycatcher photo, but it always is a good day when I find a Pied Flycatcher on one of my Isle on Purbeck patches.

Pied Flycatcher

24 Aug 22 - An Ambitious Plan To Improve Bournemouth

This photo taken in one of the DWT Brownsea lagoon hides, shows how good the views could be if Bournemouth was replaced with a homage to Mount Fuji.

Brownsea

17 Aug 22 - A Brownsea Shoveler

A late visit to the Tern Hide (formally the Mac Hide) on the DWT lagoon produced a close view of this female Shoveler. The nice thing about Brownsea, is I often get closer views than I do on the mainland locally and the chance for some better photos.

Shoveler: Female

17 Aug 22 - A Brownsea Second Brood Brimstone

During a lunchbreak at the DWT villa, it was good to see this second brood male Brimstone fly into the courtyard, land & pose for some IPhone photos.

Brimstone: Male

17 Aug 22 - Brownsea's Colour-ringed Spoonbills

Spoonbills are continuing to build up on Brownsea with increases to the population occurring several times a week. There are now three colour-ringed Spoonbills in the current flock of twenty Spoonbills.

Fifteen of the Spoonbills

Spoonbill: These Spoonbills are NC6U which has been present since 10 Aug at least and NB2V which I've seen for the first time this week (back individual)

I've had an update on Spoonbill NB2V which was ringed as a pullus on 7 Jun 20 at Ouwerkerk, Ouwerkerkse inlagen, Holland and present until 9 Aug 20, after which it was seen at:

• Wolphaartsdijk, Kwistenburg, Holland on 12 Aug 20

Middlebere, Poole Harbour, Dorset, UK on 1 Jan 21

• Long Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset, UK on 13 Feb 21

• Rye Harbour, Sussex, UK on 1 May 21

• Walberswick, Suffolk, UK on 6 May 21

• Holme-next-the-sea, Norfolk, UK on 7 May 21

• Frampton Marsh Lincs, UK on 4, 6 & 11 Sep 21

• Middlebere, Poole Harbour, Dorset, UK on 31 Oct 21

• Brownsea, Poole Harbour, Dorset, UK on 17 Aug 22

The travels of Spoonbill NB2V

Spoonbill: This Spoonbill has been present since 10 Aug at least. The rings are left leg yellow over metal over green and right leg yellow over green over yellow flag

17 Aug 22 - A Brownsea Hummingbird Hawk Moth

This Hummingbird Hawk Moth was found on these flowers right next to the DWT villa steps by one of the other volunteers, Vanessa.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth

Hummingbird Hawk Moth

10 Aug 22 - A Brownsea Silver-washed Fritillary

One of the highlights of my regular volunteering Wednesday on Brownsea was this Silver-washed Fritillary around the DWT villa garden which I found as myself & the other volunteers were about to head back for the boat off the island.

Silver-washed Fritillary: Unfortunately, it was a bit worn, but still nice to see given it's only the second one I've seen on Brownsea this Summer

10 Aug 22 - A Brownsea Southern Hawker

One of the highlights of my regular volunteering Wednesday on Brownsea was this Southern Hawker which perched briefly over the main reserve track. There was just enough time for a few photos before it was off hunting again.

Southern Hawker

8 Aug 22 - Brownsea's "Roseate" Spoonbills

There was a private boat trip this evening as an excuse for a number of local Poole Birders to catch up with ex-Poole birder James Lidster while he was in town. We started with a trip up the Wareham Channel & the Frome & we finished off with a late evening visit to overlook the Brownsea lagoon. Five of the Spoonbills decided to cooperate & move to the Castle end of the lagoon for a quick snack before returning for a final pre-roost preen. This provided some nice opportunities for some sunset photos. Like the two private boat trips in July, it was a very enjoyable evening with even better weather than July.

Spoonbills: Enjoying a last snack

Spoonbills: A sunset shot posing for the camera. I've not played around with any of the colour settings on these final two photos

Spoonbill

The Birds of Poole Harbour team will be running a lot of their Bird Boats in Aug & early Sep into the Wareham Channel in the expectation of multiple Osprey sightings & the hope of other sightings including White-tailed Sea-eagles. Obviously, the birds seen & the views are always going to be a matter of luck of the day, but hopefully they will get some good sightings on those boats. A full list of the boat trips they will be running & how to book a trip is on their website.

8 Aug 22 - Osprey Taster

There was a private boat trip this evening as an excuse for a number of local Poole Birders to catch up with ex-Poole birder James Lidster while he was in town. We started with a trip up the Wareham Channel & the Frome & we finished off with a late evening visit to overlook the Brownsea lagoon.

The highlight in the Wareham Channel was sightings of the two local breeding Ospreys, CJ7 and later O22, both of whom dropped in briefly for dinner. They are both good at catching fish & didn't hang around. CJ7 came closer to our boat, but still not as close as we would have liked. Like the two private boat trips in July, it was a very enjoyable evening with even better weather than July.

Osprey: Female CJ7

Osprey: Female CJ7

The Birds of Poole Harbour team will be running a lot of their Bird Boats in Aug & early Sep into the Wareham Channel in the expectation of multiple Osprey sightings & the hope of other sightings including White-tailed Sea-eagles. Obviously, the birds seen & the views are always going to be a matter of luck of the day, but hopefully they will get some good sightings on those boats. A full list of the boat trips they will be running & how to book a trip is on their website.

7 Aug 22 - Seagull Surprise

The weather hadn't inspired me to get up early to head out to St Aldhelms & so I had had a lazier start, followed by a visit to Studland for the rising tide. But it was still early in the Autumn for Brands Bay to pick up a more interesting Autumnal wader. The highlight of the visit was seeing a Great White Egret flying over towards Littlesea as I was leaving Brands Bay. Ten years earlier & this would have resulted in a big twitch for the local Poole Harbour Birders. That happened when I chanced on one at Middlebere on 7 Sep 14: which was the first twitchable individual in Poole Harbour for about fifteen years. But it & later another were pinned down at Studland later that month. Since that time, they have been so regular from the Autumn to the Spring locally, that we rarely lift an eyebrow at the most recent sighting. I checked the news on RBA, as I got back to the car. There was nothing of note in Dorset.

Then I checked the rarity channel. News had just broke of a Kelp Gull at Graftham Water, Cambridgeshire: albeit RBA called it a Cape Gull which is a name for the South African subspecies. It was late morning. I wanted to give it time for other local Birders to arrive, see it & confirm the identification. If I'm going to be looking at a long drive, I would rather know that it correctly identified & also it is showing well. I felt there was a reasonable chance that it would be present for the day given it was at an inland reservoir, so I wasn't too worried by waiting for an hour for more news. That would give me the time to get home, grab some food & the camera before I left. I alerted my twitching buddies to ensure they knew. But I also said I will be travelling up on my own. C19 was still a particular concern at the time. It hadn't gone away & I still wasn't comfortable in sharing cars, even if my twitching buddies were also cautious. But there was also the thought of it I got there & it had left, then I will want to stay over, which wouldn't have been possible for my other mates.

By the time I had eaten a quick lunch, there had been a number of updates to say it was still present and showing. I left Dorset about an hour after seeing the first message. On paper, it was about four and a half hours. But it was a school holiday Sunday & it took me about five hours before I was pulling into the car park about 16:45. I could see a few Birders around in the car park & quickly got an update on the directions. I ended up taking the wrong route & ended up on at the top of the sloping bank of the reservoir. But there were about thirty other Birders there. The majority had taken a different path & were just above the wall behind us. I asked for directions & found it was on its own & trying to get some rest, but a party of Canada Geese were stopping that happening. That was easy. Twitches are always less stressful when you arrive & immediately see the Tick.

Kelp Gull: Initially, it wasn't giving a lot away to confirm its identification. A heavy dull-coloured bill with an obvious bulbous tip & with a low sloping forehead. It seemed about the size of the Herring Gulls further along the water's edge. Also, a very black back, that was too black for a Lesser Black-backed Gull & it too small for a Great Black-backed Gull. It looked promising, but I wanted to see the legs before I was happy

Kelp Gull with a Yellow-legged Gull: That's good it has stood up & shown off its very long pale greenish legs and it was a similar or slightly larger size than the Yellow-legged Gull

This is the dark eyed vetula subspecies that occurs in coastal South Africa & Namibia. The other Kelp Gull subspecies all have pale eyes & it has been suggested this might be a reason for splitting this subspecies from the other Kelp Gull subspecies.

Kelp Gull: There have been a number of Western Palearctic records in recent years along the Western Sahara/Moroccan coast and they are now breeding in small numbers at Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania. Additionally, there are a few Portuguese and Spanish records and two have occurred near Paris. It was more a case of when, not if, one would be found in the UK

After an hour of watching it sit and stand around I had seen enough. The heat haze didn't look like it was going to improve. I had a chat with a few mates before returning to the car park, to start the long journey home.

Yellow-legged Gull: Adult

1 Aug 22 - A Garden Wall

As I got back from a morning visit to Studland, I had brief views of an interesting-looking Butterfly in flight, that landed just outside my garden gate. Initially, I couldn't see it until I got closer, when I realised it had its wings closed. It was a Wall. When it opened its wings, it was a lot more obvious. Fortunately, it didn't flush & allowed me the opportunity to get some photos with the IPhone, as I couldn't get my Canon camera from the house without flushing the Wall.

They are an erratic species in the garden. I saw in Aug 21, but the one before that was May 15. It's good to know they are still around locally.

Wall

Wall