Dorchester 28 May

I had a bit of a bird of prey spectacle today, firstly 3 peregrines and a sparrowhawk that flew over Dorchester, then remarkably a great pair of red kites between Dorchester and Sherborne.

Hilfield 26th and 27th May

An absolutely remarkable dawn chorus here at Hilfield.... I briefly saw a cuckoo on the 26th. I had a walk on the 27th and saw roe deer, fox, stock dove, linnet, jay and kestrel, as well as two new birds for me at Hilfield, two whitethroats and a lesser black backed gull. The number of gulls spending the day here at Hilfield has been increasing rapidly, particularly in winter, over the last two years and there must be at least 500-1000 present on some days, with up to five species being possible.
Just to add to that, cuckoos have been calling all day, good numbers of spotted flycatchers, chiffchaffs, blackcaps, mistle and song thrushes, greater spotted woodpeckers and treecreepers are present in the woods and lots of buzzards are around as well. There is also a quite stunning number of newts in the pond. An absolutely stunning weekend helped by some great weather!

I also saw my first green woodpecker of the year down in Devon on the 26th.

Wiltshire

Incredibly, while driving back from Marlborough today, I saw four hares on Salisbury Plain and two red kites just outside of Marlborough.

Hilfield May 15th

I saw several spotted flycatchers and a very distant pair of cuckoos in the woods early this morning. There appears to be at least five pairs of spotted flycatchers nesting in the woods and a further pair nesting in a grill in our house, which is an astonishingly high number.

Hilfield Sunday 13th

I had an afternoon walk through the woods at Hilfield today and was rewarded with the magnificent sight of 4 spotted flycatchers, a blackcap, great spotted woodpeckers, a song thrush and I heard several chiffchaffs. I also heard a cuckoo and saw plenty of buzzards, as well as house martins and swifts flying over. The swallows have now all returned to their nests, which is a great relief!

May 7

I went down to West Bexington for a morning's fishing in absolutely atrocious weather. With the wind howling, rain pounding down and huge waves soaking us, it was a rather miserable experience. We did manage to catch 8 mackerel and I saw common and little terns, gannets, cormorants, turnstones and the usual gulls flying past. After one and a half miserable hours, we decided to abandon and headed over to Portland. Driving past Radipole, I spotted little and great crested grebes, mute swans, tufted ducks and gadwalls. As we got to Portland, the rain slowed and the sun appeared. We found whitethroat, willow warbler and chiffchaff heading down to the quarry. We then strolled down the headland and saw a flock of linnets and a single wheatear flying among the holiday huts. From the headland we hoped to see shearwaters and skuas, but could only see kittiwakes, razorbill, guillemots and fulmar.

Back at Hilfield a cuckoo was calling and there were several french partridges and buzzards around.

Hilfield May 6

Very good day at Hilfield today, heard Tawny and Barn Owl last night, swallows and house martins around in good numbers today. A first spotted flycatcher of the year appeared in the woods, where there were also blackcaps, chiffchaffs and buzzards. I also saw great spotted woodpecker, greenfinch, stock dove and a new bird for me at Hilfield, two linnets.

Sherborne and Hilfield 1st May

Good numbers of house martins and swifts appearing in Sherborne. Back at Hilfield, the swallows have definitely now returned. I went on a short walk around Hilfield, and found lots of swallows, a willow warbler, two chiffchaffs, two blackcaps, eight stock doves, a jay, a kestrel, several treecreepers and nuthatches, a pair of french partridges and a greater spotted woodpecker.