Little Sea & Brand's Bay

Had a great afternoon birding at Little Sea and Brand’s Bay then back again to Little Sea on the way back to the car.

I started at Little Sea to look for the GWE but he was not there so after counting the Little Egrets that were roosting in some dead trees I moved off to Brand’s Bay Hide.

At Little Sea

Little Egrets – 10

Grey Heron – 1

Cormorants – 5

Great Black-backed Gull -2

Over at the hide I got myself settled and started scanning the many Little Egrets that were about for the GWE. Then over at the back of the bay to the left a little I spotted what I thought was the bird in a creek (there was a large gorse bush left of the creek and what looked like what was left of a rotten boat) So I watched the bird and sure enough I saw its yellowish/orange bill then it flew a bit closer to the middle island/ marshy grass area were the Little Egrets were and this really confirmed that it was the GWE.

At this point someone in a canoe paddle past the hide and up the creek to the left, I tried to get on to Yahoo but was not getting a very good signal then the canoeist came back down the creek but a lot closer to this Island/ marshy grass area the bird flew off to the back of the bay near some dead trees and what looked like some brown reed/rush. At this point because I was struggling with a signal I went out the hide and texted Paul to see if he would put the news out on O&A,  but on going back in to the hide the bird had disappeared.

So the birds seen from the Hide were

Little Egrets – 18

Great White Egret #

Great Crested Grebes - 20

Curlew

Black-tailed Godwits

Wigeon – 20+

Redshank- 2

Pintail -2

Hen Harrier- Ring tail #

Osprey

And best of all for me was watching the Hen Harrier quartering the marsh and fields at the back of the bay. Then watching an Osprey flying over the top of Goathorn Plantation with a fish in it talons and land in one of the almost dead trees at back of the bay and tearing in to its super pure magic.

But the magic was not over after all this I made the decision to go back to Little Sea as I heard that the GWE was in the dead trees. And sure enough it was there, though I am going to name this bird Houdini (if it has not been already) as once again I texted Paul to let him know it was on Little Sea at 16.00 hrs.  But once again the gulls and others birds took to the air though the GWE stayed put so I began to look for what had put the bird ups and there it was a Osprey mostly likely the one from Brand’s as it had very pale fringing to its mantle and coverts just like the one I had seen earlier I watched plunge dive in to the lake and it seemed ages before it reappeared and flew round the lake before land in a dead tree and in this time the GWE disappeared again.

The GWE and the Hen Harrier put my Dorset list now up to a 136

The year list is up to 137 as I have seen one more in Hampshire I have not seen yet in Dorset and that is a Pochard