Dorset Walks
Monday February 25th Cogden Beach
A very cold afternoon with, initially, very few birds about.
But we persevered and eventually found a reasonable selection.
Walking east between Burton Mere and Chesil Beach we saw a couple of Snipe and heard a Little Grebe calling intermittently.
Out at sea there were very few birds apart from a few Great Crested Grebes very close inshore.
A movement on the beach revealed a group of four Ringed Plovers, presumably resting on migration as there were no suitable feeding areas nearby.
The shingle beach was covered in emerging vegetation, mostly Sea Campion and Scurvy Grass with patches of Sea Kale and Yellow Horned-poppy.
Amongst these were scattered many Queen Scallop shells.
On the return leg a caterpillar was found amongst the vegetation, long dead but nonetheless very interesting.
Reaching a line of stunted bushes, we were amazed to see a tiny Goldcrest fly between us and land in a ploughed field right next to the path.
Our final sighting was of a very pale Song Thrush feeding in a field near the car park.
This bird showed none of the rich brown colours that we are used to seeing on this species but instead was largely grey and white.
These colours are typical amongst the European population of Song Thrushes, no doubt the recent bout of easterly winds had pushed it westwards.
Birds
Great Crested Grebe
Little Grebe (heard)
Great Black-backed Gull
Common Gull
Black-headed Gull
Herring Gull
Ringed Plover
Snipe
Coot
Wood Pigeon
Pied Wagtail
Song Thrush
Blackbird
Robin
Goldcrest
Carrion Crow
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
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