DORCHESTER MEADOWS - MAIDEN CASTLE FROM POUNDBURY- SILVERLAKE - AFFPUDDLE PINE FOREST AT CULPEPPERS BASIN - STOBOROUGH HEATH - RSPB RADIPOLE LAKE
WEATHER; dry all day, no sign of any 'hurricanes' but it was windy. Top temp 4C
The weather improved immensly but the birding went downhill! We had five major target species to look for and we dipped on most of them.
Our first stop was the Water Meadows just north of Dorchester near Charminster, we looked for Tundra Bean Geese, in vain. Two were supposedly present a couple of days ago but all we saw was six Canada Geese and three Egyptian Geese flew off as we arrived. A large flock of Lapwings danced about in the sky before landing, only to take to the air immediately afterwards. We saw Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallard, Little Egret and Mute Swan. So we dipped on the Beans!
Just off the main traffic island near Poundbury we parked the car and took a track towards Maiden Castle, from the track we had panoramic views of the meadows down to the Castle and all the hedges that surround them. Our target birds here were Corn Bunting and Yellowhammer. We scanned using our scopes and came up with: Lapwing, Rook, Crow, Jackdaw, Wood Pigeon, Black-headed and Herring Gulls, Common Gulls and a Buzzard.
In the hedgerow next to us we found a dozen Fieldfares, a Mistle Thrush, Blackbird, Robin, Dunnock, Blue and Great Tit. At least three Brown Hares were out in the fields, but ther was not a sniff of a Bunting. Dipped two species.
a Fieldfare, one of a dozen or so along the hedge at Maiden Castle
Next came our second visit to Silverlake, our target species was, once again, the Dartford Warbler. We walked the track to the l;arge mound where the view point is situated and spent at least an hour walking around the general area. We never had sight nor sound of a Darty. We saw Stonechats, Meadow Pipits, Robins, Wrens, Dunnocks and Blackbirds.
At one point we watched a Kestrel and soon after a Peregrine circled above, then a Common Buzzard drifted along the horizon. Out on the lake were over 50 Canada Geese, lots of Tufted Duck, Common Pochard, Great Crested Grebe, Coots, Shoveler, Gadwall, Teal and Wigeon.
Next came a visit to the Affpuddle Pine Forests, at Culpeppers Basin to be precise. We walked the trails in search of Common Crossbills. We found Coal Tits, we heard a Green Woodpecker and eventually we found a flock (7 or 8) of Crossbills!! Yeah, one of our targets birds was actually found.
a young male Crossbill aten at Affpuddle Forest
A couple of stops to search farmland for Yerllowhammers, struck a blankin fact we hardly saw anything. Meadow Pipits and a couple more Hares, was all!
After a light lunch in the town centre at Wareham we drove down to Hartland Moor and Stoborough Heath were we spent another hour searching for Dartford Warblers. We were quite optimistic becuase the light had improved, with some sunny episodes. However, the wind had increased somewhat and made things more difficult. We saw lots of Ravens, heard another Green Woodpecker in the distance and found two Goldcrest along the track.
It was getting late now so we drove back to Dorchester and had quick look in the water meadows, there were even fewer birds there now! A message pinged up on WhatsApp about a Scaup being seen at Radipole Lake Weymouth, it wasn't confirmed but we went anyway.
Dorchester Water Meadow practically devoid of birds
From the tennis courts car park in Radipole Park Drive we scanned the main lagoon and quickly found the male Scaup sitting in the middle of a flock of Tufted Ducks. The Scaup showed very well even though we were looking west into the setting sun. The last half an hour of daylight was spent in the visitor's centre at Radipole Lake, we enoyed the activity out on the lagoon whilst sheltering behind a plate glass window in a heated room, luxury!
Greater Scaup (male) with a pair of Gadwall and a Coot
its a shame that the light was so bad - this could have been a nice picture
We added a few species to our day list such as: Little Grebe, Water Rail, Grey Heron, Mediterranean Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Moorhen and Cormorant.
it started to rain at Radipole Visitor's Centre
We ended the day a little early at 4:30pm, it was still windy and cold, it was nice to get back to the guesthouse for a nice hot chocolate.