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RSPB SOUTH DORSET LOCAL GROUP NEWSLETTER No 71 September 2017

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RSPB SOUTH DORSET LOCAL GROUP NEWSLETTER No 71 September 2017 RSPB SOUTH DORSET LOCAL GROUP NEWSLETTER No 71 September 2017 The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no.SC037654 The RSPB is the country’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home. Together with our partners, we protect threatened birds and wildlife so our towns, coast and countryside will teem with life once again. We also play a leading role in a worldwide partnership of nature conservation organisations. The RSPB is a member of BirdLife International, a partnership of conservation organisations working to give nature a home around the world. http://www.rspb.org.uk/groups/southdorset 1 MESSAGE FROM THE GROUP COMMITTEE Thank you to all our local group members for supporting the committee through the last year, with a special thank you to those who attended indoor and outdoor events and the Annual General Meeting. We have had an interesting and wide ranging series of talks this season with virtual visits to Australia, France, Islay, Zimbabwe and reviews of English wildlife and bird adaptations. Luckily in this part of the country the mostly successful Outdoor meetings are only sometimes affected by challenging weather; and some favourite sightings have been a group of determined goosanders being mobbed by gulls as they tried to fish at Ferrybridge, and a colourful crossbill at Wareham Forest being lit up by a fleeting ray of sunshine, a definite “wow” moment. If you miss a meeting or outing then a report is quickly posted on the group website. There are currently 147 RSPB local groups acting as the face of the organisation in the community, helping to promote their work and giving a reason to be members of the society. The RSPB’s overarching strategy is to Give Nature a Home, all of us can contribute to this in even very small ways, perhaps by thinking of wildlife when you are gardening, or encouraging younger family members and friends to love nature. One activity organised for families is the Big Wild Sleepout held this year in July, details for future such events are on the main RSPB website. A recent local news item describes a plan to introduce osprey chicks to Arne, we will aim to keep you up to date with the progress of this initiative. The programme of talks for this season is in this newsletter, we still like to pay for interesting speakers and we manage to make a small profit which is boosted by fundraising events such as the Plant Sale and Weymouth Esplanade stall, so we are able to send funds to the RSPB for their valuable work supporting wildlife and habitats. Your help and donations for these events are welcomed. For the next December meeting we plan another social event and we would like to present a display of some of your natural history photographs for all to admire: a short description of venue and subject would be useful. Hopefully you have enjoyed and recorded your outings and holidays this summer! If you have any ideas for fundraising or group activities do let the committee know, and we are very pleased to receive nature related articles for the newsletters. Please continue to enjoy and nurture our wildlife and wild places . Cover Picture : ©Allan Neilson All other pictures ©RSPB Images 2 FIELD TRIP REPORTS 22nd February 2017 - Middlebere and Arne For our annual trip to Middlebere we were lucky to have a dry day prior to Storm Doris; however it was rather windy, keeping the smaller birds under cover. 16 members set off from the cars and were first given excellent views of a male Bullfinch displaying its full breeding plumage, for such a bright bird they can be remarkably difficult to see well. From the viewpoint overlooking Wych Lake we picked out Shelduck, Wigeon, Teal and several gulls, but the most pleasing sight was a large group of Curlew foraging in long grass. These are reported to be drastically dropping in numbers so it was good to see so many. We walked past the barns scanning for potential Barn Owls, the box we saw had no evidence of a resident. The hide was a welcome shelter from the wind and we spent a long time looking for the Yellow-legged Gulls which we had seen on previous visits, but sometimes you have to admit defeat. There was a distant Avocet to add to the list and in the field next to the hide was a large flock of Brent Geese, all were the dark-bellied race and they looked rather unsettled, perhaps they are thinking about the summer in northern parts. A Marsh Harrier floated past on the wind and as we were getting ready to leave Rob found a Spotted Redshank. It kept disappearing as it walked along a deep gully but eventually everyone saw it, an elegant bird with paler plumage and longer bill than the Redshank. After lunch we gathered again for a walk around Coombe Heath and almost immediately had good views of a Gold- crest. Had the conditions been more benign we might have found a Dartford Warbler, but no sooner than we were settled in the hide than Glynis had found the Spoonbills from a different direction, we all had excellent if rather dis- tant views of the stars of Autumnwatch. From the shelter by the harbour we watched the rising tide bringing in flocks of Dunlin and Redshank, but not disturbing the Black-tailed Godwits. We finished fairly early and some of the group went home via Wareham Forest where they found a Great Grey Shrike and others enjoyed a group of 16 Waxwings in the new plantation at Bere Regis. In all about 42 species were recorded. Mary Robins 3 Tuesday, 22nd March 2017 Morden Bog The rain stopped just as the 15 members set off on what proved to be a lovely day out walking along the Sherford and around Morden Bog. Close to Sherford Bridge a singing Mistle Thrush was the first bird seen followed by a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldfinch, Great and Coal Tits. As we walked slowly parallel to the stream we saw a pair of Long-tailed Tits, a couple of Nuthatches and two Goldcrests feeding, a Green Woodpecker flew off through the trees, we heard a Chiffchaff and had a brief view of Siskin. We noticed a nest high up on a pylon and, whilst contemplating on the possible owners, a pair of Peregrines flew in, circled around the pylon calling to one another and landed close to their nest. Such great views allowed us to identify the larger female from her mate. We spotted a pair of Linnets and a smart male Stonechat before we crossed the stile and walked to Morden Park Lake. There a female Marsh Harrier was flying around at the back of the lake and four Greylag Geese, Coot, Moorhen, Little Grebe, a pair of Great Crested Grebes doing a bit of courtship displaying and various duck were on the water. Whilst watching the harrier a pair of Buzzards appeared and all three had an aerial raptor-fight. After leaving the lake we scanned the area for the Great Grey Shrike that had been reported a few days earlier, but without luck. However we saw a Kestel and, near to the derelict decoy house, we had great views of a small group of Crossbills. A brick-red adult male sitting on top of a pine tree looked particularly splendid against the blue sky. We also saw a Siskin in the same tree as the Crossbills. By now stomachs were rumbling so we had our lunch amongst the ruins of the house; very pleasant with a bright sky and surrounded by a host of daffodils, (with due acknowledgement to Wordsworth). After our lunch break we had a look for the shrike in the area south of the Old Decoy Pond, again without success, but we did see another Green Woodpecker, a couple of Canada Geese, more Stonechats and some Meadow Pipits were flying about. We heard a Woodlark singing in the distance and on the return some of the group saw a Dartford Warbler. Strangely there was a dearth of birds as we walked back through the heather to our cars until a pair of Ravens put in an appearance and did a bit of tumbling and calling above us. Lastly back at the car park some had a brief view of a Treecreeper making about 40 species recorded for the day. On the way home six of us stopped off at the gravel pits that were once West Knighton Heath to try and see Woodlark that had eluded us at Morden Bog. Rob turned out to be champion spotter here, first with a pair of Stonechats and a nearby Dartford Warbler, and then he saw a Woodlark flying over, which landed on a nearby fence post giving us great views through our telescopes. A very successful end to the day. Malcolm 4 25th April 2017 Cogden Beach The April visit to Cogden Beach near Burton Bradstock has become a popular regular outing. This year 16 members were greeted with a bitterly cold wind and some sunny spells. Our target birds are the incoming migrants mainly Lesser Whitethroat and Whimbrel. There was a Lesser Whitethroat rattling away at the car park, but well hidden and another further down the track towards the sea, again wisely sheltering. As were several other species, but at least the Skylarks were singing beautifully in full sight. At the beach the Thrift was in fine bloom but no seabirds were passing.
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