Eastville Park
Late afternoon walk around the park. Nothing much of note other than a Grey Wagtail and a Chiffchaff. No ducklings on the lake – were they hiding on the island or had they met their fate?

Eastville Park
Late afternoon walk around the park. Nothing much of note other than a Grey Wagtail and a Chiffchaff. No ducklings on the lake – were they hiding on the island or had they met their fate?

Eastville Park
Too much chatting and not enough photography – but very enjoyable. First ducklings in the park. Lots of Lesser Black-Backed Gulls waiting in anticipation of an easy meal. Sometimes forget how beautiful Mallards are. Blue Tit and a Great Tit on the way home. Goldfinches too.

Eastville Park
Walks and bird watching opportunities have been very limited in recent weeks. Also struggling to get used to a new camera and lens but enjoying the challenge.
Grey Wagtails are looking quite bright now.
Took the easy option of photographing a Heron to get used to camera i.e. sitting on park bench and studying the menu options.
Long-tailed Tits, and Chiffchaffs nest building. No Kingfisher at all today!
Eastville Park
First walk for a fortnight due to Wendy’s broken leg.
Not really concentrating but lots of sightings of Kingfisher and a good view of this Willow Warbler (or is it a Chiffchaff?) on the island in the lake; however, only a very poor photo .

Shapwick Heath
We found Shapwick Heath disappointing compared with Ham Wall: the distances between each hide were quite considerable.
The highlights were Bitterns booming, a Marsh Harrier and a Sparrow Hawk (no photo though).

Portland Bill and Weymouth
On a bitterly cold day and, for the most part, in poor light we spent the morning at Portland Bill and the afternoon and early evening at the two RSPB sites in Weymouth. We were treated to well over 50 different species. The highlights on land at Portland Bill were Wheatears and Meadow Pipits (even a ChiffChaff in the net at the Ornithological Centre) and a Short-eared Owl and at sea Guillemots and Razorbills. At Weymouth of special interest were Sand Martins, Spoonbills and a Marsh Harrier.

Portesham, Dorset
On our way to Portland with friends we stopped off at Portesham in Dorset to see if we could see a Pallas’s Warbler that we had been told about. We weren’t disappointed as, with the help of some obliging twitchers, we soon spotted the Pallas’s Warbler and got a reasonable shot.
Not much else of note – I was too embarrassed to be photographing the Chaffinches, Long-tailed Tits and Great Tits on view in the company of experienced twitchers with huge lenses!.
The last shot was of a very distant shot of a Kingfisher on a fence as we walked behind Chesil Beach towards the Abbotsbury Swannery.

Snuff Mills
Several sightings of male and female Kingfisher but only one poor photo. Wonderful display of pair of Dippers preparing a nest and feeding.
Eastville Park
Morning walk; spent ages looking for Firecrest but to no avail. Blue Tits, Great Tits, Wrens, even Sparrow Hawk, but only photos of Robins, Mallard, Black-headed Gull, Heron and Grey Wagtail. Having difficulty getting used to new lens on Fuji camera – but good fun anyway.
Eastville Park
Great Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Blue Tits, Wrens, Robins, Heron, Moorhen on its nest, male and female Muscovy Ducks and a female Kingfisher.