After a wet start it eventually dried out and as I was in Weymouth late morning, it would have been a shame not to have a walk around Lodmoor RSPB Reserve.
It was quite obvious when I arrived that there had been a fair bit of rain of late, as the reserve was well under water, with only a handful of gravels bars showing.
Needless to say there were no Snipe, Little Egrets, Great White Egrets and small waders to be seen, but there were 21 Lapwing.
With so much water about, the majority of birds enjoying the "floods" were gulls and ducks. Most of the ducks noted were Teal, with a few Gadwall and Wigeon mixed in. Other ducks were a couple of Shelduck, Mallard, Shoveler and Tufted Duck.
Most of the 200+ gulls on the reserve were Mediterranean Gulls and Black-headed Gulls, with a few Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls and a couple of Common Gulls, making up the numbers.
An immature female Marsh Harrier put in a couple of appearances as I walked around the reserve, before disappearing into the reedbeds close to main path. I did wait to see if she would reappear, but no such luck.
Other birds of note were a Green Woodpecker calling from Teddy Bear Woods next to the northwest of the reserve, a fly-by Skylark, 3 Chiffchaffs, 10 Greenfinches (the most I have ever recorded here) and 3 Reed Buntings. The latter my first this year.
Birds Recorded:
10+ Cormorant
2 Grey Heron
6 Mute Swan
Canada Geese
2 Shelduck
Mallard
Gadwall
14+ Wigeon
40+ Teal
2 Shoveler
2 Tufted Duck
1 Marsh Harrier
Water Rail
Moorhen
Coot
21 Lapwing
Black-headed Gull
Mediterranean Gull
Herring Gull
2 Lesser Black-backed Gull
2 Great Black-backed Gull
2 Common Gull
Wood Pigeon
1 Green Woodpecker (heard)
1 Skylark
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
1 Song Thrush (singing)
6 Cetti's Warbler
3 Chiffchaff
Bearded Tit (heard)
2 Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
10 Greenfinch
3 Reed Bunting
Two adult Cormorants in breeding plumage, with a Grey Heron keeping very still behind them.
Another Grey Heron heads towards Teddy Bear Woods
And adult drake Gadwall and his........
............mate.
My first Wigeon of the year. This is a very colourful drake.
Another drake Wigeon with a drake Teal behind it.
In the centre of these two drake Teal is a female Wigeon.
A pair of Wigeon make their way to the grass bank, with a drake Gadwall heading in the opposite direction.
In the centre is a drake Shoveler, flanked by two duck Teal. Standing in front of them are two Lapwing.
This is a Marsh Harrier, and what I believe is an immature female.
And another Common Gull (centre) in amongst more Mediterranean and Black-headed Gulls.
General Shots:
