Sarah was in London with a friend today and so I used the opportunity to spend the day birding. With a Stilt Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper at Lodmoor and a Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Portland it was an easy decision to make. Unfortunately, the 15th bought news that both the Stilt Sandpiper and the Buff-breasted had departed but Least was a British tick so I decided to go for it. I was up at 04:30 and on the road by 05:15 after a few coffees. Arriving at Lodmoor at 06:45 I walked east along the path to the shelter where after a short scan I found the Least Sandpiper crouching on the mud around 100m away. After a while the bird started to feed showing its features, this was a subtle bird and I can easily see why the finder passed the bird off as a Little Stint. The pale legs were admittedly readily visible but the bird was as bright as a Little Stint with lovely rich buff edges to the mantle feathers, the pale mantle tramlines were perhaps a little less obvious than a Little Stint and with close inspection the virtual lack of a primary projection beyond the tertials could just be seen. The bill appears to be slightly longer and more decurved than Little Stint. After 10 minutes or so a Grey Heron flew over and flushed the bird to the far south-eastern corner of the reserve and after walking along the track the bird showed marginally better feeding with Dunlin. It was remarkably agressive towards the Dunlin and despite its smaller size always seemed to get the better.
Least Sandpiper - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset
Least Sandpiper - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset
Least Sandpiper - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset
After getting my fill of the Least Sandpiper I spent 30 minutes or so birding the southern area of Lodmoor recording Great Egret, seven Yellow Wagtail, 20 Black-tailed Godwit, four Bar-tailed Godwit, Green Sandpiper, 20 Dunlin, three Common Sandpiper, Marsh Harrier and a first-winter Mediterranean Gull.
Yellow Wagtail - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset
Black-tailed Godwit (juvenile) - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset
Bar-tailed Godwit - Lodmoor RSPB, Dorset
At just gone 10:00 I headed to Portland and parked in the main carpark at the Bill. After stomping around in the grassland to the west of the Pulpit Inn I decided to head for the Observatory Quarry where a Wryneck had been present since 6th September. When I arrived the bird was grubbing around in the grass feeding on ants and I was hoping that it would hop up onto the brambles but it remained very hidden as it fed mouse-like in the grass. After an hour or so I decided to go for a walk and wandered up over Top Fields and down to the main road via Sweet Hill. It was hot and slow-going, I recorded around 25 Wheatear, a Sedge Warbler, three Yellow Wagtail and a handful of Chiffchaff. Good numbers of Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin were feeding over the Crown Fields. Just as I got back to the Observatory the heavens opened and I took shelter in the bookshop. Once the rains had ceased I decided to head back for another look at the Wryneck and after a short wait it popped up into an Elder and showed brilliantly for 10 minutes as it dried itself in the sun. It was 15:00 and time to head for home after a good day in the field.
Wryneck feeding in the grassland where it was very inconspicuous - Observatory Quarry, Portland
Wryneck - Observatory Quarry, Portland
Wryneck - Observatory Quarry, Portland
Wryneck - Observatory Quarry, Portland
Wryneck - Observatory Quarry, Portland
Wryneck - Observatory Quarry, Portland
