[alex berryman]

Wheres the best place to park and walk etc at morden bog to see dartfords and cuckoo - id be going early afternoon.

[pooleparrot]

Alex, the best parking is at Sherford Bridge on the B3075, if you are coming from the A35 the parking area is on the left about a mile down the road straight after a sharp bend. Morden Bog is through the large gates on the opposite side of the road, once through the gates walk across the field for about 300metres until you get to another couple of gates , the smaller gate will take you along the bridleway through the trees(popular with dog walkers) you need to take the larger gate on the left which will take you onto the Bog. Once through the gate take the worn path to the left which will take you up on to the heath area and enjoy.

Best area for Cuckoos will be round the Decoy Pond, you will see the pond when you get to the higher area of the heath, Dartfords could be anywhere.

Hope this helps.

Ian

[scary-canary]

Two swallows and 2 blackcaps plus singing whitethroat at Longham Lakes this morning, though the wind was too cold to make the trip much fun.
Chris

[pooleparrot]

Extra effort today with a 5 and a half hour session at Morden, this did result in 50 species being noted, a Patch day record.

Pretty normal fare with the more interesting records being 2 L. Redpoll(New for Patch), 2 Peregines 1 circling and 1 on the pylon, a pair of Crossbill, 1 Dartford Warbler, a pair of Grey Wagtail on MPL.

I also saw the "jessied Buzzard" again that I mentioned in an earlier post, it was in exactly the same area as last time, unfortunately the views were no better than last time so it is still a bit of a mystery. Also saw a Buzzard with alot of missing feathers in its tail. No Cuckoos today.

Photos below , normal Buzzard, notched Buzzard, Circling Peregine, Pylon Peregrine and 1 of the Wagtails

Ian

[pooleparrot]

In between the showers , a Wheatear on the field between the heath and the B3075 and a single Peregrine the only notewothy sightings this morning.

[scary-canary]

11 white wagtails and 3 wheatears on ploughed field north of small lake this morning. Also coming to puddles on track.

2 med gulls on lake and breeding plumage little grebe.

Several swallows and house martins

[hover]

Coughed up lots of splendid cash to not see a Black-winged Stilt at Abbotsbury yesterday avo, in the rain. There was however a male Scaup present, I didn't rule out Lesser cos I'm a shocking amateur. Perhaps worth a peek if someone's local (and knows where to hop the fence). Cheers

[pooleparrot]

Morden Bog . This morning, plenty of Swallow heading through, 2 Dartford Warbler, ! peregine on Pylon, 2 Woodlark, 3 Grey Wagtail on MPL,3 RL Partridge ,1 Lapwing around Decoy Pond and 1 Marsh Harrier around Decoy Pond at 11:05am.

Ian

[scary-canary]

Flock of seven common sandpipers at Longham this morning. No sign of yesterdays wagtails or wheatears
Chris

[pooleparrot]

Morden Bog this morning, lots of Woodlark activity, a total count of 8 birds. 2 Peregrines and nearing the end of my walk heard my 2nd Cuckoo of the year.

Ian

[scary-canary]

Nice walk but apart from three herons and lots of blackcaps very little going on this morning.
Chris

[m o bell]

White Stork at Tadnol Heath today at 16.00,flew in and landed in the water meadows. No rings on him. Nearly a year ago today i found a Black Stork flying over the Sandford road!

[pooleparrot]

Any news on the White Stork today, I see on the bird map, it is marked near Wool. Anybody confirm this, if it is moving on Morden would be nice.IF IT STOPS RAINING!!!!

Ian

[James Lowther]

"on Bindon Farm Fields, Bindon Lane East of Wool. SY 857"

cheers,
James

[pooleparrot]

Thanks, James

[pooleparrot]

Morden Bog 4pm til 5pm in between the rain.

A female Pied Flycatcher was an unexpected surprise, 2 Dartford Warblers but no Stork!!!!

[scary-canary]

First swifts at the lake today with house martins. Also 2 common sandpipers and 2 med gulls. One drake pochard too.
Lots of blackcaps and whitethroats singing.

Something of the visit was spoiled when i met another birder who told me he'd seen black-tailed godwit and a CURLEW fly over when I was at the other side of the lake. Looked for them in the horse fields but no luck. Curlew would have been a patch tick! (He told me it was definitely not a whimbrel)

Chris

[pooleparrot]

Highlights today were a party of 10 crossbills feeding in a pine tree, 2 Peregrine, 2 Dartford Warbler, 4 Woodlark, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Cuckoo calling from the same area on and off for most of the day.

Also met another birder who said he had heard a Redstart earlier in the day.

[pooleparrot]

A BIT wet and blowing a HOOLIE, however target species acquired with 1 Whimbrel infront of the Upton House Hide with Blackwits and BH Gulls.

Not much else about on what was a very High Tide.

156 on the Yearlist.

[DaveJones]

Tried taking advantage of a break in the torrential rain at Lodmoor around midday, but still managed to get drenched!

The rain did drop some in interesting birds in though, proving that migration is not a mythical bygone concept. Yes, its been that bad down here over the last few days.

A rather neat looking summer plumaged Greenshank was on the saltmarsh alongside three Whimbrel, a 1st summer Barwit and a Common Sandpiper. Still no sign of any Common Terns, and where are the Sedge Warblers and Lesser Whitethroats?

Dog Poo lane (Overcombe) held several common migrants that included a few Willow Warblers,Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, with an obliging Garden Warbler giving most satisfaction.

A few Swifts and Swallows were hanging around, and the now resident Marsh Harrier was seen high over the northern reedbed. Pride and place though, goes to the Hobby that put in a rather fleeting appearance.

Looked for the Divers in Weymouth Bay, but had no luck due to the choppy and wet conditions, although a single Fulmar was a surprise, though windsurfers were not ( are they bloody insane, or what?)

Due to internet connection problems, i have not been able to post many sightings, so a brief highlight is below.

Osprey over Weymouth Bay 22-4-12
3 GN Divers Weymouth Bay 24-4-12
2 Skua Sp.(prob Arctic) high and heading inland over Lodmoor 23-4-12
Glossy Ibis at Radipole yesterday afternoon.
Dartford Warbler at a site im supressing.
White Wagtail at Lodmoor 22-4-12


More to follow!

[DaveJones]

Skua passage at the Bill has been quite good this morning, so decided to head off there and get in on the action. Besides the odd few Manx Shearwaters and Gannets trickling by, we had to wait a couple of hours before our first Skua. And it was worth it, with a Bonxie coming in fairly close!

Birds were now moving, seemingly following a weather front passing up the channel, and we shortly had another couple of Bonxies and an Arctic.


The land was quiet, with a brisk South-westerly meaning Birds were keeping in cover. Still got a splendid looking male Redstart, and a few Wheatears were around.

A female Stonechat had several Brown Tail larva in its beak for her young, which was nice to see.

Peregrines were on one of their traditional sites, and a couple of Buzzards, a Sparrowhawk, and two Kestrels were also spotted.

[scary-canary]

Longham Lake

Got to the lakes just before the real rain started.
River very flooded.
Good numbers of swift, swallow house martin and sand martin. One little gull,
briefly, which probably went out over the floods.
Green woodpecker, little egret very few gulls or ducks.
Rarest of all was only my second site record of nuthatch, with a beak full of
flies which probably indicates it's breeding nearby.
Then the rain started!
Chris

[scary-canary]

Three immature little gulls at longham this morning. One developing a hood. Also two common tern, one common sandpiper and amazing numbers of house martins, certainly outnumbering swallows and sand martins by at least 4 to one. Lots of swifts too

Chris Parnell

[pooleparrot]

52 species recorded today.

A Whinchat and 1 Swift over Morden Lake new for the year.

3 Cuckoo, 3 Woodlark, 5 Dartford Warbler, 1 Peregrine, 1 Hobby the best of the rest.

Also 1 Snake, which I think is a Smooth Snake.

Area was very soggy today, with the Sherford river over its bank in many places and Morden Park Lake as full as it has ever been, this has caused a couple of unfortunate events with the Coot nest being washed away although the GC Grebes nest is still ok. Even more disappointing is that the old dead tree at MPL that is the favourite perch of the Autumn Ospreys has come down and is now laying in the lake.

Ian

[pooleparrot]

Walked the coastal path from Durlston to Dancing Ledge today with the hope of seeing Puffins, unfortunately there were no Puffins but there were plenty of other birds to see. By far the most prolific were Whitethroats, which I would guestimate at between 50 and 60 if not more along the clifftop. I also picked out 2 Lesser Whitethroats and 1 Garden Warbler. There were also plenty of Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers.

Other birds of note were a female Black Redstart still at Tilly Whim, 1 Dartford Warbler, 6 Wheatears(1 female on stone wall on coastal path and other 5 males around Lighthouse), 3 Raven, 1 Peregrine, 1 Kestrel and 1 Sparrowhawk.

I also counted the incoming Swallows in an hour period at Durlston which totalled 57, only 1 House Martin but no Swifts.