DORCHESTER - SILVER LAKE - WAREHAM FOREST - RSPB ARNE
WEATHER: anice sunny day spoilt only by the strong winds, they pertered out late afternoon but it was too late then!
My second day out David and Sallie was another enjoyable birding adventure and we were joined by the Birding Guru of Yeovil, Guy Campbell. Apart from the windy conditions outside the car we had to contend with Guru's windy conditions inside the car!!
Near Chickerell, Weymouth, where David and Sallie were staying we stopped to check the Fishing Lakes where another Hoopoe had been seen recently, we dipped on that one, but found our first Common Whitethroat of the year!
Raven - we saw one today in flight but Sallie took this one at portland yesterday
News of a Hoopoe sighting in a city park in the middle of Dorchester has us walking around Borough Gardens at 8:30am. It was a bit chilly, windy and it rained most of the time during our short visit. There was no sign of a Hoopoe, or many other birds come to think of it.
Silverlake, just outside of Dorchester, has been home to a few pairs of Woodlarks in recent years. The habitat has rapidly changed and I am pretty sure that the Larks have gone elsewhere. We saw a few species out on the Lake, including a Yellow-legged Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Gadwall, Teal, Tufted Duck, Oystercatcher, Shelduck, Canada Geese, Moorhen, Coot and Cormorant. A a Little Ringed Plover dashed about on one of the islands, Linnets and Godlfinches flitted around scrub areas with a Meadow Pipit or two. We gave up on the Woodlark after a very windy short-stay.
Next we stopped near a farm just south of the A35 near Bere Regis, we scanned the sky above a large pine woods looking for a posiible Goshawk. We saw Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and Common Buzzard, lots of Wood Pigeons but not a Gos. The Guru found a Tree Pipit nearby, it was singing and not hard to find, we also saw Goldfinches, Meadow Pipits, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Yellowhammers and a Mistle Thrush.
Tree Pipit taken by David Jones
We spent a very windy hour on the Heathland in Wareham Forest looking for Woodlark, it was fruitless, pointless even? But we tried anyway. A brief glimpse of a Dartford Warbler brightened our spirirts we had good views of Stonechats and Linnets and a few Siskin flitted about the tall pines.
After stopping in the centre of Wareham Town for lunch supplies and coffee we headed on down to RSPB Arne. Making good use of the picnic tables at the cafe we ate our lunches and watched the bird feeders which were atrtracting Siskins, Blue, Long-tailed and Great Tits, Dunnocks, Robins and Goldfinches.
A walk into the woodlands and around the car park area was quite rewarding, we managed to find a lovely Firecrest after hearing at least three singing! More Siskins came to the feeders at the entrance way and David saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker.
a male Siskin taken by David at Arne
Our last look on the heath was made about a mile for the RSPB Car park as we headed back towards Wareham. The wind has subsided a little but it was still blustery and pretty hopeless for birding really. A lovely Male Dartford Warbler made our day by showing extremely well alongside a apir of Stobncats. Siskins zipped over us and both Kestrel and Common Buzzard hung in the wind above the distant hill.
David done very well to capture this Darty
We took to watching Wood Ants, that's how good the birding was! At 3:30pm we gave up and headed back towards Weymouth. At Bere Regis we stopped off to view the watercress beds. Most of them had been cleared ready for a new crop, we added Stock Dove to the day list and David & Sallie added Grey Wagtail to thier 2025 sightings list which now stands at 190! Not abad effort so far for this year!
I said goodbye to them around 5pm back at their accommodation in Chickerell it was lovely to see them again, hopefully we shall meet up next year.
I drove back to Yeovil with the Guru in the car, the wind had died down outside but unfortunately not inside!!