Out for a duck

New year, new list! We are now into the third week of the year so its time to get the year list really moving. I've already had a couple of good ticks (dusky and yellow-browed warblers) as well as a good selection of commoner birds. It had left me just over 100 species and a target for the end of the month is 150 so I needed to get a shift on. Yesterday was southern Norfolk yielding a good list including Taiga and barnacle geese, marsh and willow tit, hawfinch and common crossbill. Most of the birds were a long way off and not photographable but I did run into a nice flock of about 50 brambling at Lynford arboretum. It left me on 123 species for the year.

Today was set to be an even bigger day down in Dorset. A very early start got me ahead of the traffic to Portland Bill just as a very grey day was dawning. As ever when a new year starts you have to look at every bird as it might be new. So, before I had even reached the cliffs I had raven and rock pipit to add! The sea was relatively flat for Portland but there was a lot moving. Large flocks of gulls were feeding offshore and in amongst them were a few gannets. Shags were also feeding closer inshore and both razorbills and guillemots were going to and fro. Six new species within about 10 minutes! Not much else and with a busy agenda ahead I didn't bother trying to find fulmars and kittiwakes but moved off up the island to Church Ope Cove. This has had a pair of overwintering black redstarts. It was a steep walk down to the beach huts but when I got there one of the birds, the female, was pottering about on the hut roofs. Smart bird but I couldn't find the even smarter male. No time to rest and look for it though!

The next stop was Portland Harbour, specifically Sandsfoot Castle. The harbour is known as a good place for overwintering grebes and divers. Recently the numbers have been dropping though, possibly as it is now so popular with water sports enthusiasts. Initially all I got were the mergansers which are quite common. Together with two other birders we finally managed to get onto one great northern diver, one Slavonian grebe and 4 black-necked grebes. All were a long way off so no photos. I also added a few Med gulls at Ferrybridge.
All of the birds so far were nice to get but were not "good" birds which I had left till last as I headed back into Weymouth. The first of these was a ring-necked duck which has been present at Radipole since before Xmas. Rather than being near the visitor centre it has been lurking in a channel along the side of the reserve opposite the tennis courts. This can make it hard to find as there are large dead areas it can feed in. Viewing is from a series of fishermen platforms which do not jut out far into the channel. The first three yielded nothing rare, just tufties and pochards. The fourth though gave a very different, smart duck lurking in the reeds.

Some birds are really well named but this one is not. It is a duck for sure but it does not have ring on its neck! It has one on its bill instead. They are uncommon rather than rare over here, with a number present in the UK at the moment but still a very good bird to get.

The photos are not brilliant as most are through the reeds but you can see it is really smart male with pale flanks, glossy domed head and that well-marked beak.

It finally started to come towards me but just as it was pulling round the reed edge a little grebe came out and spooked it back away from me! With time going on and one bird still to see before I had to go and visit my mother-in-law for lunch I headed off.
Last stop was at Lodmoor for another long staying bird. This one is a Yankie wader, a lesser yellowlegs. They are uncommon but regular over here and one you really want to get on your list. A short walk along the path by the side of the reserve got me to its favoured area. It was not there but its friend, another long-stayer was.

This is the much commoner ruff. A reasonably common bird but still another year tick for me. Apparently it and the lesser legs normally hang about together. Sure enough within a few minutes a long-legged wader dropped onto the far side of the pool.

They are really smart looking birds, with long yellow legs, a dagger-like beak and a mottled back. It only rested there a minute or so before it flew a bit closer to me.

This shows off its plumage a lot better together with its clearly defined white-rump. It fed on the pool for a few minutes before disappearing off behind some reeds leaving the pool to the other birds there - snipe, lapwings and dunlin.

A really good day as I headed off to do my duty with my mother-in-law. 14 new species to the year taking me to 137 but with a whole load of common birds still to get. A lifer or two would be nice or is that getting greedy.