SILVERLAKE - RSPB ARNE - MIDDLEBERE BIRD HIDE
WEATHER: dark clouds all day, rain from 9am and windy later. Top temp 6C but felt like 0C at times.
What a washout! After five excellent days of birding in some glorious sunshine it was inevitable that the rain would catch up with us, and boy did it catch up with us today! It wasn't really heavy rain but a constant shower and it really got us wet including our optics.
We left the guesthouse in Weymouth at 8am and drove straight to Silverlake near Dorchester, it was dull and a little windy but the rain hadn't started by then. We searched the gorse areas for Dartford Warbler, but not a single one had the decency to show itself in the windy conditions. We did find: Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Blackbird and two Goldcrests that were fly-catching in a sheltered spot.
Out on the lake we listed a few duck species such as Tufted Duck, Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon and Common Pochard. There was also a large amount of Common Coots but no Geese were seen.
Moving on, we set off for Wareham intending to stop in a couple of places but the rain started and it put us off! We continued all the way to the car park at RSPB Arne and despite the rain we decided to walk all the way to Shipstal Point and then onto the hide that overlooks Arne Bay. We saw two Sika Deer near where we parked the car!
RSPB ARNE - Sika Deer in the car park hedge
Following the green trail or coastal track we found shelter in the woodland for most of the outward journey. We saw very little along the way, Mistle Thrush, Chaffinch, Blue and Great Tit, Robins and Wrens.
Once we had views of the vast Poole Harbour we noticed that it was high tide time, so most of the birds were huddled together in the reeds and along any piece of dry shoreline that they could fit on.
We quickly listed Curlew, a lot of them, also a few Avocets and a few Redshanks. Black-tailed Godwits were in good numbers and we found a single Grey Plover. Oystercatcher, Common Shelducks, Brent Geese, Great Crested Grebe and Red-breasted Mergansers made up the rest of our sightings at this point.
Eurasian Spoonb ills with a gang of Avocets behind them
Moving around to Shipstal Point and beyond we scanned the bay through our wet optics, which were constantly steaming up and blurring through rain drops, such fun!! We found a pair of Goldeneye in front of a long sandy island which was covered in sleeping Oystercatchers, not much much more was seen until we walked through the woodland to view Arne Bay.
Oystercatcher with a Redshank and a Red-breasted Merganser behind them
From a small view-point we found a lot more roosting Avocets at least 21 Eurasian Spoonbills, a few chocolate-headed Pintails swan around the islands. In smaller pools we found many Eurasian Teal, I went through them keeping an eye out for a Green-winged Teal which had been recorded yesterday! No Luck there!
Wigeon, Shoveler, Mallard and Gadwall joined more Black-tailed Godwits as we gained a little height when viewing from the raised hide. We had better views of the Spoonbills but they refused to wake up from their midday slumber.
Walking back to the cafe near the car park produced sigtings of several Bullfinches, also Goldfinches, Chaffinches and a party of Long-tailed Tits. It continued to rain during the whole walk!
my only picture of an Avocet that was awake
We finally made it to the warm cafe, we were the only customers there, I wonder why?? A nice hot chocolate and a deep filled mince pie went down a treat, our dripping coats were thrown over the back of the chairs.
Dragging ourselves back out into the rain we stood under a tented shelter to watch the feeders, which were alive with activity. Dozens of Blue Tits were joined by Great Tits, Coal Tits, Siskins and our first Greenfinches of the Tour! Back at the car we decided to visit Middlebere for the last hour or so of daylight.
We parked near the National Trust property and walked around the orchard which was alive with birds feeding on the abundant supply of rotting apples. Fieldfares, Redwings, Song Thrushes and Blackbirds were joined by a single Blackcap and a few Blue Tits which had also taken a liking for the apples. A Sparrowhawk dashed through the orchard in front of us and came out with nothing.
Dunlin, a single Black-tailed Godwit and a couple of Curlews taken from the hide at Middlebere
Our arrival at the hide was timed to perfection, we sat down and realised that the tide was just turning, ebbing away to exposed the mud which was packed with nutritious 'hydrobia' mud snails. A Shorebird feast was about to take place. First the Godwits and the Avocets started feeding in the shallow water followed by Curlews, Redshanks and Teal. Dunlin were the last to arrive and in good numbers. Common Shelduck sieved through the mud and Shoveler did likewise in the water. Rob Unwin found a Chiffchaff feeding in the leaf-litter just outside of the hide.
Godwits and Redshanks
We were hoping for a sighting of a Greenshank or a Spotted Redshank or even a Hen Harrier, none of which showed up. The light was pretty awful and rain began to increase in intensity, it was now past 3pm so we decided to call it a day!
The drive back to Weymouth was pretty hairy, many areas had partial flooding across the raod including the Dorchester by-pass. The rain intensified and the wind picked up, I was glad to get back and off the roads, the wind in Weymouth was quite blustery at 4:30pm wen we got back. It was most definitely our worse birding day but we still added 6 new species to our total which now stands at 125.