First stop was a couple of days in Dorset. With no news on the Ross's gull on the whole journey from Norfolk we skipped a detour to Weymouth and headed straight for Poole.
With nothing reported after lunch we headed to the churchyard in Lychett Matravers on the search for hawfinch.
We never got very good views again but I did manage one record shot from underneath in the end.
It was interesting to visit the church as my grandad was the vicar there many moons ago. Although I didn't recognise the church, I did remember the walk to it and the house they lived in.
The next day we had to head across to the Weymouth area in the hope the Ross's gull would turn up. Sadly there was no sign of it at Lodmoor but despite the biting cold wind there was plenty to see in the circular walk around the site. 2 spoonbill, 2 marsh harrier, 2 summer plumage med gull and several Cetti's warbler were the highlights.
Onto Radipole with fingers crossed for the gull. The reserve was pretty quiet but I am finding that if you have a camera with you there is plenty to see. Common birds, nice an close make ideal subjects.
Still no gull so we decided to grab lunch and spend the rest of our time left on the parking ticket in the visitor centre praying. With about 30mins left there was a call of 'there it is' and the bird appeared over the pool in front of the centre. Everyone rushed outside to see the bird land at the end of the pool with the black headed gulls. For the next 20mins is spent its time bathing, preening and snoozing before heading out over Weymouth town centre!
Although I had seen the juv at Cley a few years ago, to see an adult was something else. The necklace was just starting to moult through and in the winter sunshine you could see a hint of pink starting to show.
Perfect timing as our ticket ran out of time and we headed back to Poole.
Wednesday was change over time but before going we had a quick walk around Canford Heath. A biting wind made the -4 air temperature feel much colder and the birds were keeping low as a consequence. We did manage a pair of dartford warblers but everything else was staying out of the wind.
By now, the Beast from the East was making itself known back home and we were happy that we were out of the way as be drove between Dorset and Somerset in the sun. A brief detour near the county boundary for some more hawfinch at Cattistock with another 8 birds feeing in the churchyard.
With a change in the weather predictions and the Beast meeting Storm Emma we headed out around the village for a stomp before things got any worse. Light overnight snow meant a lot of the birds were feeding in the shelter of the large trees that still had uncovered ground. Loads of thrushes and finches, marsh tit and a grey wagtail on the ponds were the highlights.
With the weather getting worse, the patio windows were the best place to sit and watch the birds in the garden. With freezing rain and snow overnight we were going nowhere on the Friday so I set myself up with plenty of coffee and the camera to see what shots I could get.
The garden was full of thrushes and going though the apples and pears that were being thrown out for them. At one stage, 50 fieldfare filled the garden all fighting over the fruit. Added to that were 20 blackbird, 2 mistle thrush and several redwing. Over the 2 days we recorded 30 species in the garden including snipe, lesser redpoll, siskin, 3 pied wagtails, male bullfinch, blackcap and a female reed
bunting.
Thankfully the weather eased a bit on the Saturday allowing us to visit the last part of the family before heading home a day later than expected.
The rare sight of a snowplough working through the village showed that despite thinking we'd escaped, Mother Nature managed to catch up with us in the end.
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