On the penultimate day of the year, I headed down to Winterbourne Abbas in search of a Jack Snipe that had been reported from its watercress beds two days earlier. I found what turned out to be the cress beds- which bore far more of a resemblance to an overgrown river, owing to the fact that the beds have not been worked since the 1960s- right away. It was a very small area, sandwiched between a small crossroads and the A35 and with most of it frozen, I really had no confidence in finding the bird.
A small, unfrozen, patch of open water in the middle had at least 10 Mallards swimming around on it. Nearby, a Little Egret was feeding right by the roadside in a small stream. I was beginning to feel that it might not be worth staying, when our of the corner of my eye, I saw a species of Snipe take flight briefly and then immediately re-land. Sadly my view had been far too brief to identify which member of the Snipe family it had been. Then, another wader appeared, flying rapidly over the road and landing in amongst the Mallards. It was a Green Sandpiper, a really fantastic bird to find at this site so close to my home. It showed very well for a short time, before being spooked by a trio of Carrion Crows. The same Crows, however, also spooked another Snipe and fantastically my views of this bird during its short flight were sufficient to confirm its identity as a Jack Snipe, a noticeably smaller and much shorter-billed version of its Common cousin. Its flight bears far more resemblance to that of a Woodcock- unlike Common Snipe, it was not really in any way erratic. I was so pleased with seeing this species so close to home- it was a first for me and it leaves Lapland Bunting as the most common Dorset bird that I have seen nowhere in the world.
It was over yet, however. Soon, another Jack Snipe made a short flight towards the back of the cress beds, followed by another which bizarrely headed up high over the A35 and into the distance, allowing great views as it went. On top of that, a Common Snipe flew in the same direction, meaning that I was able to enjoy a great comparison between these two suprisingly-different-looking species. Another unidentified species of Snipe was also seen landing in the beds. To complete a very pleasing selection of birds on this small patch of overgrown river, a Kingfisher was also seen very well diving down from a perch into the area where the Snipe had landed. It was a fantastic trip to an area that seemed unlikely to hold any birds and I will be back on the second to see what I can find then. Seeing at least three- I wouldn't mind betting that there were more!- of a new species less than 15 miles from home along with a couple of other uncommon birds was absolutely brilliant and shows that there's a lot out there if you look!
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