A Couple of Hours at Lodmoor

17th July 2023

On holiday in Weymouth so time for a visit to Lodmoor. The site looked to be in good condition but with nowhere near the numbers of waders I was expecting. There was however plenty of butterflies, but nearly all Gatekeepers.

Passerines were also a bit thin on the ground and mainly Goldfinches, with just a few Reed Warblers churring in the reeds.

Herons and egrets were well represented with Grey Heron. Little Egret and Great White Egret.

This was a lot of effort for a tiny fish!!!

There were a few distant Redshank, Dunlin, Oystercatchers and Black-tailed Godwits but the only wader that ventured near the path was this lone Common Sandpiper.

When I first visited Lodmoor in 1994 there were no Mediterranean Gulls as they were only just starting to appear in the UK in tiny numbers, and even last year I only saw two birds. But this year there were 50. What a difference a year makes!!!! The birds were mostly adults with many starting their autumn moult.

This one looks like a 2CY bird

But I was surprised to see a number of Sandwich Terns amongst them. There is a sizeable colony of Common Terns at Lodmmor but this year the whole colony has been wiped out by Avian Flu. I am not sure where the Sandwich Terns had come from, but there were a couple of juveniles with them.

The juveniles are very photogenic.

Also plenty of action so time for some flight shots.

  

My favourite photo was this bird which decided it was better to shake off water in mid-air!!!

Well, that was a couple of hours well spent so my next stop will be Ferrybridge. Watch this space!!!!