Weymouth 2-6 Feb. Wind and Rain.

I needed to be in Weymouth for the week 2-6 Feb, but was free most of the days. Yippee! Unfortunately the gale force SE wind and lashings of rain did diminish the birding opportunities somewhat. Particularly inland where the lush and beautiful county of Dorset is either flooded or mud-sodden and impassable.

I visited Portland Harbour several times, in several places, but the pounding waves meant bird-totals were low, and it wasn't until the morning of 6th when the shift of the wind and a rare break in the clouds delivered excellent viewing across a mill-pond flat harbour. Red-Necked Grebe can be a difficult bird to get on the list and I'd missed them previously in the week so was delighted to get the one off Castle Cove. To my eye, winter plumage birds are just dull, featureless, lacking the personality that seems to be present in the other grebes. But a very welcome year-tick none the less. I got 3 Black-Necked Grebes, their distinctive head-shape being visible at distance, and a total of 7 Great-Northern Divers. The other birds were mainly Shags, Red-Breasted Mergansers, Great-Crested Grebes,and a couple of Razorbills. 

Further afield I visited the fleet west of the bridging camp and got the immature male Long-Tailed Duck and a Slavonian Grebe, and a trip to Abbotsbury to investigate the feasibility of walking down the beach to the tank-traps to view the swannery, which I declined leaving that for hardier souls, produced a bonus Barn Owl. 

Wednesday was bright so I went to Studland and Jerry's Point, which was easily reachable and had local birders. 3 Slavonian Grebes, 6 Black-Necked Grebes, and 3 Great-Northern Divers were nice. But the highlight for me was the White-Tailed Eagle that flew slowly over the opposite forest. Huge, dwarfing the Buzzard that harrassed it, with a bright white tail! My first this century. My excitement was not shared by my fellow watchers, who appear to view this as practically a garden bird, conversation drifting into the many places these birds are now regularly seen. 

Finally a trip to a flooded Lodmoor on 6th. The first winter Little Gull was bounding back and forth on the pools by the beach road, and 68 Golden Plover sat just off the bench. A distant Marsh Harrier flew around. A nice end to the week,