That I'm off work and Mrs PB isn't, and I STILL Have No Chores (I think Mrs PB has forgotten I'm off!!)
So the forecast was fine and still so I thought I'll trundle to Arne for the Dartford Warblers. They like a nice calm day, and 8 were spotted yesterday.
I scraped the ice from the windscreen (1st time this winter!) and wondered if the rush hour traffic would let me beat the sunrise to the hide. Nahhhh, 20 minutes later I'd done about 5 miles
Anyhow, got to Arne, still, a nice crisp but misty morning, I got out the car and heard a horrendous, shrieking, bellowing screaming noise.... who was being murdered?? No one.... it's the rut innit!! i've not seen deer there for a while, so my hopes were raised.
1st up though, the artistry of our eight legged friends caught my eye
I then saw the first of the deer
A flash of movement caught my eye
A second was further up the tree, but in shadow. Then down the slope a bit I spied
As I walked along to where I've seen the Dartfords before I saw some Lollipops
I got to the top of the rise overlooking the channel (Wareham not English) and saw one of my staples
Flying towards the massed ranks of gulls and waders
I wandered along to the hide and found wader city, Avocets
Curlew and Redshank (I think)
Black Tailed Godwits
I moved on, disappointed not to have seen the Dartford, and decided
a) it was early...they may be having a lie in, and
b) it was chilly, they may be snuggled in the duvets knowing their brekkie wouldn't be up and about yet, so I went around again
I saw more deer, these separated by both yardage and time!
I heard a distinctive Warbler "tune", and CLICK... a loverly Stonechat
But then possibly (maybe) a Juvenile Dartford popped up
I decided to head down to Lodmoor in Weymouth to continue my morning out, and was greeted with Gadwall
And a serious looking rook
And a Tufty
and Teal
Twitter is saying there's Jack Snipe at Lodmoor (iffy pics, sorry) not sure if this is it
Imagine my surprise, after the cold night, seeing Ruddy? Darter
Another Gadwall
Lapwing
Now the other side
My Gosh, I'm beautiful
Starling
It can't have been as cold as I thought..
Last time I was here there were lots and lots and lots and lots of geese..... this time it was just lots
PimperneBloke said:
Thanks Mike.... don't let bad light stop you, someone on here will almost always work out what it is :o)
You're welcome.
I never let bad light stop me, I'm a bit naughty in that I will push the cameras features past sensible, and then, if the photo is worth keeping, I'll either edit the exposure using Canon's editing suite or Photoshop, depending which gives the better results for that photo.
Unknown said:Jack Snipe tend to bounce along on springs much like a grey wagtail moves !
I've only seen one but I believe another characteristic is that even when sitting in one spot they tend to bob up and down every now and again.
PimperneBloke said:Any thoughts on the 2nd dragonfly? Had a closer look this morning (Mrs PB came in from work before I'd finished post yesterday....how dare she!) and am thinking could be migrant hawker?
I think that is by far most likely but I can't be absolutely sure as some relevant characteristics aren't shown in the photo.