Weymouth Sandwich Terns

 After a couple of days of no Terns (a little unusual), three Sandwich Terns appeared in front of our holiday apartment in Weymouth Bay.

One of the three Sandwich Terns close inshore.

Lodmoor Waders

 An evening visit to Lodmoor RSPB on the first day of a week long holiday in Weymouth was quite productive for three species of migrating waders.

Bar-tailed Godwits - approaching full summer plumage.

Whimbrel - Three were present when I arrived but took off calling loudly and
flew north into a fairly stiff breeze.

Wood Sandpiper - Busy feeding.

Above is a short video of the three wader species at Lodmoor.

Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls - a few hundred were present
including a few Common Gulls.

Also seen on the reserve but not photographed were Redshanks, Oystercatchers, Little Egrets, and various Geese and Mute Swans.

Firecrest Surprise

 While carrying out my breeding bird survey at Burnham Beeches I came across a pair of Firecrests.  One of them decided to have an extended preen in view which I managed to video.  This species is no longer a rare bird in this part of the country and other birds have been located in the area.

Photographing the preening bird was not easy with rather poor light.

Firecrest preening.  Another can be heard singing.

Lapwings at LMGP

 A decent number of Lapwings were at Little Marlow GP today.

I counted 514 in this photo after something had flushed the whole flock.

Great Hampden Crossbills

Crossbills had been reported at Great Hampden for some weeks.  I decided to take my U3A group there on 17th Jan and we saw several birds.  I went back the following day but failed to get any better photos as they remained high in the trees.  Fantastic to see these scarce Bucks birds.

Crossbills - High in Larchs - Digiscoped photo

The same two Crossbills taken with my Sony RX10

Crossbills - Four of the flock of about ten

Glossy Ibis at Little Marlow

 This Glossy Ibis was found about 13:30 on 13th January 2024.  With only eight previous county records for this species and a new one for my local patch list, I was keen to see it.  I was on site by about 14:15 and after wading through some remaining floodwater and the bird was still present. about 70 metres away.  The bird was disturbed a but came back to the same area of flooded meadow.  However a dog walker eventually flushed the bird and it flew across the river into Berkshire where it remained for some time.

The bird remained until 15th January at least, when I managed to get these better quality photos below.

Glossy Ibis - On the riverside meadow

A short video clip of te Glossy Ibis

Waxwings at Hazlemere

 First seen in nearby Widmer End on 27th December 2023, the flock apparently moved to Hazlemere where the moved around in the Elder Way area.  The flock frequently moved around, often breaking up.  By 11th January the maximum count was 75.  I visited on 9th January and saw at least 53 birds together.

The flock waiting to descend on a berry covered tree.

At one point a small group of Waxwings dropped down just above my head and I managed these closer images.