Birding at Hilfield has been mainly rather quiet, though I had a fantastic new garden bird on the 2nd, in the form of FOUR Kingfishers that briefly perched in the reeds next to our pond (since then another has flown over the garden- perhaps they are colonising???), while a Hobby and a Tree Pipit have added some interest to the numerous hirundines, Meadow Pipits, Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, Blackcaps and the regular resident birds. I have been out birding three times- with minimal success. The first trip was to Portland Bill on the 2nd September, when 100+ Wheatears, several Yellow Wagtails, a number of Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps as well as my first Portland Spotted Flycatcher were the only migrants seen. The second trip was to Steart on the Somerset coast, where a Long-eared Owl (the bird I most want to see in Britain) had been reported earlier in the day. Inevitably, there was no sign of it by the time we arrived, though another birder present felt certain that a strange noise emanating from the dense coastal thicket where the Owl had been seen was a Barred Warbler, a species reported from the area the previous day. Sadly, the bird was not seen, but I did not feel confident that it was a Barred Warbler- it was certainly an odd call, but very much unlike this species's calls I listened to on the internet. The best birds seen here were Little Egrets, Shelducks, a Sparrowhawk and a number of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps.
I was up in London for Thursday, and as I had the morning free, I decided to pay a visit to Hampstead Heath. I lived in London until I was almost ten (which is still more than half my life!) and the heath was one of the first areas where I went birdwatching. I used to love spending time identifying the numerous waterfowl found on the area's numerous ponds and finding other such species as Jay and Green Woodpecker in its woods. This was my first revisit to the area since leaving London to go travelling for a year and a half, before settling in Dorset, over eight years ago, and it really did bring back some fond memories. It took me some time to find the ponds, though as I wandered across the heath, I did find my first Green Woodpecker of 2014, along with numerous Jays, Kestrels, Chiffchaffs, Robins and the four common tit species (Long-tailed, Blue, Great and Coal). Eventually I found the ponds, though being summer it wasn't exactly the optimum time to find waterfowl. On the pond were many Mallards, Tufted Ducks, Coots and Moorhens, along with a single Mute Swans, two Great Crested Grebes and (best of all?) an Egyptian Goose, a species I had not seen here before.
Egyptian Goose, Hampstead Heath, This introduced species seems to be spreading rapidly across London, and indeed across Britain as a whole (though they are still rather uncommon in Dorset).
From near the ponds came a familiar shrieking- Rose-ringed Parakeets. This bird also appears to have spread through London, and it was another species I had not seen previously at Hampstead Heath, though they were always a regular sight during my London days (but most definitely not in Dorset...).
Rose-ringed Parakeets, Hampstead Heath. This species also seems to have become more common around London in recent years, though a spread into Dorset does not seem imminent.
