Rodden Hive & Abbotsbury - Sun 27 Oct

After a successful morning we set off to take a look at The Fleet, walking down to Rodden Hive where there were loads of birds, mainly Wigeon but some good numbers of Teal and a few Pintail. A sub-adult Marsh Harrier caused a bit of a stir and a few Stonechat were knocking around. A Cetti's Warbler was heard singing but didn't show itself whilst a single Curlew was noted as well as a few Lapwing and a handful of Redshank.
Walking back round to the car we saw half a dozen Red-legged Partridge whilst in Langton Herring village we added Coal Tit, Nuthatch and Chiffchaff to the day list. From Langton Herring we drive round to Abbotsbury seeing both Moorhen and Sparrowhawk whilst driving along. We parked up about a kilometre east of the Swannery and 'scoped The Fleet and found a female Common Scoter.
Our final stop of the day was overlooking the Swannery where a few more species were added to the day list, which for me ended up on 82 species.
NB: After dropping everyone else off I was able to twitch a Yellow-browed Warbler that a friend had found in his allotment in my village...a bonus at the end of a brilliant day out.

Portland Bill & Ferrybridge - Sun 27 Oct

A day out with friends today and a visit to Portland Bill and Ferrybridge in the morning, starting at Portland Bird Observatory where we saw a total of three Firecrest feeding in the garden. A walk down to the Bill produced three Black Redstart, and although a got a reasonably decent photo, the bird was facing away from me.

A late Wheatear was on East Cliffs with several Rock Pipit and a lone Purple Sandpiper. Out to see it was pretty quiet but a few Gannet and Mediterranean Gull were passing through with a handful of Razorbill and a couple of Guillemot. One of two distant Kittiwake went through heading west.
Leaving the island we stopped off at Ferrybridge to check out the Brent Goose flock, but unfortunately a chap with a massive camera decided he would try and get in the flock and flushed them all. Despite his poor fieldcraft we did see two Knot, a dozen Turnstone and several Dunlin and Ringed Plover. A lone Red-breasted Merganser was on the water and around five hundred Mediterranean Gull were present. A single Bar-tailed Godwit rounded off a decent morning.

Leaving Weymouth we then headed west to explore further up The Fleet.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 24 Oct

A flying visit this afternoon turned up a real surprise in the form of a drake Garganey on West Pool.

Light was dire and the bird was fairly mobile and distant, but you can at least see what it is. Moulting out of eclipse plumage this was a pretty decent October record.

Lyme Regis - Wed 23 Oct

An afternoon at the Lyme Regis fossil hunted did produce a rather fine drake Eider.

Other than that, a first-winter Mediterranean Gull, seven Turnstone and several Rock Pipit were the only birds of note.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 20 Oct

A lot of effort for little reward today. Three Snipe were flushed from the southern end where a Marsh Tit was heard calling and three Bullfinch were seen as well as my first Redwing of the winter.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 17 Oct

Yesterday's female Stonechat was in the company of a male today (though it's possible he was present yesterday and I simply didn't see him).

Other than that, a single adult Great Black-backed Gull and fifteen Wigeon were all I could manage.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 16 Oct

A female Stonechat was a most welcome addition to the patch year list this afternoon. Not much else about other than a fly-over Skylark and Meadow Pipit plus the small flock of eleven Wigeon and a single Tufted Duck.
Sutton Bingham year list 2019 now at 112 species.

Sutton Bingham - Wed 13 Oct

A Common Sandpiper was seen today, presumably the same bird I had seen earlier in the month, though I guess it could be another late migrant passing through. Three Swallow passed through early morning.
A return visit later in the day was slightly more productive, with eleven Wigeon in the north-east corner with a single Teal. Two Shoveler flew in from the east with Mallards and headed north and Canada Goose numbers were up to ninety birds. Eight Meadow Pipit and around seventy Pied Wagtail were milling about on and around the dam.

Longham Lakes - Thu 10 Oct

An afternoon twitch, my first for nearly a year, and I got lucky with some great views of an American Black Tern that had been present at Longham Lakes for a few days. The bird afforded some wonderful views as it hawked for insects over the water just a few metres from the shore. Always mobile getting a phot was going to be difficult with a hand-held mobile against my 'scope, but I managed a few...one even shows the characteristic "dirty" sides diagnostic of American Black Tern in this plumage.

No time to really look around the lakes as I needed to get back, but the target bird was safely ticked off!

Sutton Bingham - Thu 3 Oct

Surprisingly the Great White Egret was still present, having been at the reservoir for three months now (as it happens this would be the last day I was to see it). Like recent visits over the past week or so there was not a lot of note with six Mandarin at the southern end, three Wigeon, a Kingfisher and a single Common Sandpiper still. A few Meadow Pipit flew through as did three Linnet. A Raven was near the water treatment works.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 26 Sep

Not much to report over the last week or so, more of the same in actual fact, though a flock of eight Collared Dove on Sunday 22 September was notable.

With lots of rain over the past few days it was hardly surprising that water levels had shot up, leaving no mud for any late passage waders. That being said there were still four Common Sandpiper on site and the Great White Egret was still present. The southern end held six Teal and two Mandarin and a Lesser Whitethroat was a nice find.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 20 Sep

The first Wigeon of the autumn were present today, with three at the southern end. A single Tufted Duck was also new in whilst three Common Sandpiper and a Green Sandpiper were also noted.

Sutton Bingham - Thu 19 Sep

A Wheatear on the dam wall was the pick of the birds today. A flock of thirty or so Pied Wagtail and four Grey Wagtail were in the same area with four Linnet.

The long-staying Great White Egret was still present and four Common Sandpiper were noted as well as a single Snipe. At least a hundred Swallow were over the reservoir and two Mandarin were seen.