A short drive took us to Little Sea, on the Studland Peninsula, Dorset. We walked through a woodland area and soon found a mixed flock of small birds. Always a thrill, and challenge, to try and identify each bird in the flock before they melt away in the wood. Nice to see Willow Warblers alongside Chiffchaffs, Long-tailed, Great, Blue, and Coal Tits all showed well, two Goldcrestes were lovely to see. Then a brighter bird flashed into a holly tree, wow, a Firecrest! This beautiful little gem of a bird showed off and head height in great light, and it got better, a second Firecrest joined the first. Both of these so special birds were visible in the same binocular view at times – what a thrill.
A short walk took us to the Little Sea, a freshwater lake on the narrow peninsula, but few birds on the water. A single Great Crested Grebe and a Great Cormorant, and that was it. A Grey Heron showed well on the shoreline and a Green Woodpecker was a nice surprise in the trees boardering the lake. An adult Mediterranean Gull flew over as we watched from the hide.
We then drove north and parked in the National Trust car park at Shell Bay. We left the car here and took the “chain ferry” across the mouth of Poole Harbour to Sandbanks. Only a few minutes crossing but we did manage to see Shag and Sandwich Terns from the ferry.
At Sandbanks we enjoyed a drink and cake before taking another ferry over to Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour. It was a tiny boat and water was pretty choppy, good job the crossing was only a few minutes! Once on the island we headed for the lagoon which has two hides overlooking it. The tide was high, so plenty of birds were roosting on the shallow lagoon. We spent a good time in the first hide, “Avocet Hide” and scanned to lagoon carefully. There were Avocets, just two, they are mainly a winter visitor here so good to see these beautiful waders. Sixteen Eurasian Spoonbills were loafing on a grassy island with lots of Cormorants, always fun to see these odd birds. Plenty of waders here with some 70 Dunlin, 11 Sanderling, 3 Ruddy Turnstones, 35 Common Ringed Plover, 2 Grey Plover, 22 Greenshank, 40 Common Redshank, four Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Common Sandpiper, and 2 Oystercatchers. Also here were six Mediterranean Gull, a Sandwich Tern, 8 Gadwall, a Moorhen and more. After lunch in the National Trust cafe we walked through the woodland area but little wildlife to see, perhaps just to many people? Back at the quayside we watched 8 Ruddy Turnstones feeding very close to us and Ruth spotted a Kingfisher on the seawall – a lovely bird to end our visit to Brownsea Island.
If you would like to join us on a tour in Dorset, or any of our other tours please drop us a line here and we can make all the arrangements…
We look forward to enjoying wonderful birds and wildlife with you soon!