Dorset Days.

Struck it lucky again with the weather last week with a trip to Dorset.  RSPB Arne on Friday and back there again on the Tuesday.

Possible highlight was watching a fishing osprey, amazing views through the binoculars but in the excitement photos not so good.

A wide variety of birds seen including, distant spoonbills, avocets,

black-tailed godwits, marsh harrier, sandwich terns and closer views of redshank, spotted redshank and large numbers of curlews with their wonderful babbling calls.

On the open heathland stonechat,

whinchat, wheatear and redstart.

We also found sand lizards.

Common lizards basking in the warm sunshine.

The warm weather also brought out large numbers of dragonfly, darters and a few of a very dainty damselfly which as yet I can't ID.

A good place for sika deer too.

Sunday visited Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens and beside all the amazing plants watched hummingbird hawkmoths.

More lizards here aswell, but this time introduced common wall lizards. 
Monday Portland Bill; found many more wheatear.

A few rock pipits.

White wagtail.

Young kestrel so focused on looking for prey from a holiday hut rooftop  we passed. 
Also called into RSPB reserve Lodmoor and Radipole and at Radipole had good close views of more  black tailed godwits and distant views of great white and little egrets. The next few days stuck to the coast paths where many hundreds of swallows and martins continuously throughout the days were heading east towards Portland. Many more stonechats and whinchats seen most flycatching from the tops of gorse.

Good numbers of clouded yellow butterflies about and red admirals feeding on the blackberries.

Another highlight, found two cattle egrets feeding with cattle at the Swannery at Abbotsbury.

 

It was good to see early every morning large numbers of swallows and house martins on and around the cottage where we were staying, but none seen on the day we left so wonder if they had also set off on their long migration south.

Stewart. 
Images Copyright: Stewart Dennis.