I had the day off work and Ellie had a hair appointment booked so I set off with Tristan down to the coast and a quick visit to Abbotsbury. I was really after just one thing, an adult male Black-winged Stilt. Fortunately the bird was still present when we arrived just before midday and showed well if somewhat distantly on the flooded field by the Swannery.
I had about ninety minutes before I needed to get Tristan home so I drove in to Weymouth to visit the RSPB shop at Radipole as I needed some more bird seed. Having parked up and paid for a parking ticket I noticed that the shop was still closed for refurbishment, despite it apparently being open in the Spring! So as I had already paid for an hours parking I took Tristan on to the reserve where we walked around the Buddleia Loop and back to the car. I heard three singing Reed Warblers, though only saw the one, so another new tick for the year, and several Cetti's Warblers were singing away, one of which was extremely confiding and showed very well just a couple of metres away from us. The tell-tale "pinking" call of Bearded Tits could be heard, though I only had a typical flight view as one darted over the reeds. A small flock of Sand Martins and Swallows passed by overhead and several Willow Warblers were also seen.
With time up we headed back home after a pretty successful trip.Also today I saw my first Speckled Wood of the year and a few Peacock butterflies were also on the wing.
Year list for 2012 now at 165 species.
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