It was another shopping trip to Weymouth today, and this time an opportunity to have a walk around Radipole Reserve in the sunshine.
My goal today was to see if I could find any hirundines and so I visited the North Hide first where there is an artificial Sand Martins nest site. My hunch paid off as there were at least 5 Sand Martins flying over and close to last years nest sites,
Other highlights were 20+ Chiffchaff feeding in the Sallows and a bonus bird was a Willow Warbler that broke into song, albeit a fragmented effort.
Birds Recorded:
1 Great Crested Grebe
Cormorant
1 Little Egret
1 Grey Heron
Mute Swan
Canada Goose
Shelduck
Mallard
Gadwall
Teal
Shoveler
Tufted Duck
Pochard
Water Rail
Moorhen
Coot
Black-headed Gull
Herring Gull
1 Common Gull
Wood Pigeon
5 Sand Martin
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Cetti's Warbler
20+ Chiffchaff
1 Willow Warbler
Bearded Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Reed Bunting
Ted:
Mallard
Gadwall
Teal
Shoveler
Tufted Duck
Pochard
Water Rail
Moorhen
Coot
Black-headed Gull
Herring Gull
1 Common Gull
Wood Pigeon
5 Sand Martin
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Cetti's Warbler
20+ Chiffchaff
1 Willow Warbler
Bearded Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Reed Bunting
A Great Crested Grebe
A Little Egret
A Grey Heron coming into land.
A pair of Shelduck on the water, while the Black-headed Gulls keep their feet dry
Two drake Shoveler
A pair of Tufted Duck
The duck has an unusually large white patch at the base of her bill.
A drake Pochard
And my first Sand Martin of the year.
One of the many Robins on the reserve
Below are a few Chiffchaff photos
A male Reed Bunting
And another male Reed Bunting
And hiding in a bush was this female Reed Bunting
Ted:
And a rather disgruntled Ted as he has to wear his lead and collar on the reserve