I had enjoyed a lovely long morning walking around the St Aldhelms patch. The weather was perhaps a bit too good for a decent fall, but I had managed to find five Wheatears, two Whinchats and a male Redstart. However, I hadn't seen any migrant Warblers, ignoring the reasonable numbers of Whitethroats and a Chiffchaff that are on territory. Additionally, there was a trickle of all three Hirundines species. By early-afternoon I was back at the car and heading home. However, there were still a few other sites that I've been keeping an eye on where I pull the car over to have a quick scan. One of them is the trees at the top of the Seacombe Valley, where I was surprised to see what looked like a couple of Flycatchers feeding in the trees. I got the scope out to have a better look. They turned out to be two male and one female Pied Flycatcher. It's quite ironic that after walking for over five miles around the St Aldhelms patch, that I found the best Bird whilst sitting in the car.
Pied Flycatcher: A different male. This individual looks to be a first Summer male give the number of brown feathers in the wing
Pied Flycatcher: Male. The second male
I popped some news out to the local Birders, before heading home for a late lunch. Later that afternoon, I returned with the camera. The Pied Flycatchers were very approachable, especially the males. I then realised there was a second female present.
Pied Flycatcher: Female. They spend a lot of time looking for their next snack
Spring Pied Flycatchers are always erratic in the Isle of Purbeck and I would have been happy finding one. So, finding four was a real treat, especially, as I've not heard of any other Dorset locations this Spring, where there has been more than one seen at a time.
