Fair Weather Birder

After a lengthy period of gross inactivity I was finally lured out yesterday by the glorious weather and the imminent onset of spring. A trip across the harbour to Studland was the order of the day and turned out to be very pleasant indeed.
With a total lack of wind, the bay was mirror calm and produced decent counts of 18 Black-necked and 4 Slavonian Grebes, along with a Common Seal, which I think might be a Dorset mammal tick for me.


Slavonian Grebe

Black-necked Grebe

I should have been getting angry at this beast scaring the grebes but I was too busy drooling with jealousy and trying to work out a way I could get my hands on one. I'm still thinking.

One of five Purple Sands on the rocks at Sandbanks, typically confiding.

My first proper spring migrant came earlier this afternoon as I took a run along Poole seafront and spotted a Sandwich Tern roosting with the block-headed gulls on Baiter Park, spring truly is on!!!!

I've got plenty to look forward to at the moment, first up being a ski trip to France next week with the my university TA unit which should be cool, hopefully i'll find time to digibin a few snowfiches and alpine accentors.

Most exciting however, is that I've got a job on Blakeney Point, Norfolk, for the summer. I'll be starting early April and that will see me returning to a more pro-active state of birding, and hopefully i'll manage to find a few goodies during my time there. I really can't wait to get properly 'back in the game' again, once you've lived on site at some migrant hotspot like that, its impossible to be totally happy when you're not!!!