Farnboro John
Well-known member
No lie in for me yesterday, though I did get up at my normal work time rather than setting the alarm to get to Weymouth for dawn - must be getting old....
It's a very long time since I saw a Little Auk, and even longer since I photographed four of them on Snettisham pits: it was a gap in my digital picture library altogether. The late Autumn rush of Little Auks on the East coast seems to be less reliable and less long lasting, with few stoppers on accessible waters - its quite a decision to drive that far for perhaps blip views of passing birds. So a lingering bird in Weymouth harbour sounded just the ticket and after an easy run down on quiet roads I parked in the Nothe car park (bad choice, put three hours on the ticket and walked, as it turned out, all the way back up the harbour to join a crowd at the slipway by Cineworld and The Range - where there was a multi-storey car park.)
The bird was initially out of sight among the millionaires' playthings moored up in serried ranks to prevent any kind of easy surveillance but fortunately the bird reappeared quickly in front of the nearest row of yachts and cruisers. I got some record shots while those who had got up early enlarged on the views they had had earlier. The Little Auk loafed around the end boat of the row and then decided it was time to go fishing.
This transformed it into a high-speed highly elusive torpedo, making long underwater flights (wing powered, not feet) to pop up almost anywhere - for about two seconds. It made two sorties right up to the slipway but photos got I none as it popped up, flicked back down and finally disappeared without trace from right in front of us. All that was missing was the puff of smoke.
It was some twenty minutes later when I spotted it even further up the harbour at the sluices that mark the limit of navigation. Naturally there was a concerted rush, but by now I was watching the clock as well as the bird, and despite getting nice close views I didn't get those killer pix before having to leg it back to the Nothe to avoid the depredations of the Weymouth traffic vultures. Overheated and out of breath from the steps, I decided to move to the multi-storey and continue my pursuit.
This turned out to be the right move because in the intervening period the Little Auk had rocketed back down to the lifting bridge (Town Bridge on maps) where it was loafing mid-stream. However almost as soon as I arrived, it swam to our side of the channel and recommenced fishing close to - and frequently under - moored boats and the pontoons they were alongside. Finally the close photos rattled onto the CF cards and I was both elated and free to head home.
Which I did, with a stop at Blashford Lakes in the hope of finding a Water Pipit outside the hide you can park next to. No such luck, but a pass from a male Marsh Harrier, a pair of Pintail, three Goldeneye and a couple of Green Sandpipers as well as the mass of Lesser Black-backs and assorted common wildfowl topped off a decent day out.
So a prolonged Little Auk drought was broken.
John
It's a very long time since I saw a Little Auk, and even longer since I photographed four of them on Snettisham pits: it was a gap in my digital picture library altogether. The late Autumn rush of Little Auks on the East coast seems to be less reliable and less long lasting, with few stoppers on accessible waters - its quite a decision to drive that far for perhaps blip views of passing birds. So a lingering bird in Weymouth harbour sounded just the ticket and after an easy run down on quiet roads I parked in the Nothe car park (bad choice, put three hours on the ticket and walked, as it turned out, all the way back up the harbour to join a crowd at the slipway by Cineworld and The Range - where there was a multi-storey car park.)
The bird was initially out of sight among the millionaires' playthings moored up in serried ranks to prevent any kind of easy surveillance but fortunately the bird reappeared quickly in front of the nearest row of yachts and cruisers. I got some record shots while those who had got up early enlarged on the views they had had earlier. The Little Auk loafed around the end boat of the row and then decided it was time to go fishing.
This transformed it into a high-speed highly elusive torpedo, making long underwater flights (wing powered, not feet) to pop up almost anywhere - for about two seconds. It made two sorties right up to the slipway but photos got I none as it popped up, flicked back down and finally disappeared without trace from right in front of us. All that was missing was the puff of smoke.
It was some twenty minutes later when I spotted it even further up the harbour at the sluices that mark the limit of navigation. Naturally there was a concerted rush, but by now I was watching the clock as well as the bird, and despite getting nice close views I didn't get those killer pix before having to leg it back to the Nothe to avoid the depredations of the Weymouth traffic vultures. Overheated and out of breath from the steps, I decided to move to the multi-storey and continue my pursuit.
This turned out to be the right move because in the intervening period the Little Auk had rocketed back down to the lifting bridge (Town Bridge on maps) where it was loafing mid-stream. However almost as soon as I arrived, it swam to our side of the channel and recommenced fishing close to - and frequently under - moored boats and the pontoons they were alongside. Finally the close photos rattled onto the CF cards and I was both elated and free to head home.
Which I did, with a stop at Blashford Lakes in the hope of finding a Water Pipit outside the hide you can park next to. No such luck, but a pass from a male Marsh Harrier, a pair of Pintail, three Goldeneye and a couple of Green Sandpipers as well as the mass of Lesser Black-backs and assorted common wildfowl topped off a decent day out.
So a prolonged Little Auk drought was broken.
John
Last edited:
