Dorset last Sunday

The two Martin's and myself had planned to go to the Forest of Dean to try and not dip Great Grey Shrike again this year and have a good search for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

However in the early hours of Sunday morning we were on the road to Dorset, the lure of the Ross's Gull being too much for us. We arrived at Weymouth just after first light and went straight to Radipole. There were some gulls there but nothing of note so we went over to Lodmoor. We parked at the far end of the reserve and had a nice walk in freezing conditions (I had five layers of clothes on) over to the scrapes. We could see a nice group of gulls as we approached but unfortunately they took off and came down further on. On reaching these Mr Bell quickly found the Ross's and we were treated to some great views of our third Ross's Gull. We phoned the news in and within minutes there were birders everywhere. The bird flew around a few times, landed closer but then flew off about 15 minutes later.

We decided to walk back where close to the entrance we met another birder who asked us if the bird was still there. We gave him the bad news and he told us he had dipped the bird yesterday and had drove back again today from Essex, 400 miles round trip each day!!. We sincerely hope that he picked the bird up at Radipole later on that day.

Plan B was to go to Standpit Marsh to try for the Stilt Sandpiper. This was another 40 miles away but well worth the effort as not long after we got there Mr Bell found the bird and our second British Stilt Sandpiper was in the bag. Mr Bell and myself had not been to this site before but we were well impressed.

There was a Great Grey Shrike on the way back at Morden Bog so we thought we would try for that. Parking was a big issue here. I was waiting for someone to pull out of a space on the side of the road but someone drove up and went straight in the space. I was not amused at all but had to drive a few hundred yards up the road where luckily we managed to get in a small space near a gate. This proved fortuitous has we only went a couple of hundred yards into the reserve through the gate and Mr Bell yet again found the Shrike straight away. Big relief has this was unusually for us turning into a bogey bird.

Next on the list was Arne which was only a few miles away, another new reserve for Mr Bell and myself. Dartford Warbler was the target here but our luck changed and none were seen, probably due to the strong wind. We did however pick up Sika Deer a new species for me.

We decided to split the journey home up by going to Marshfield in Gloucestershire to look for some farmland birds. This proved to be a good idea has we picked up Corn Bunting, Yellowhammers and Red-Legged Partridges.

From there it was to Aust for our usual dip of the Short Eared Owls on our way home.

Mr Bevan and myself had 5 year ticks and Mr Bell six so a very good day all round.