Mike Morse

Swung by West Bay on the way home where the Grey Phalarope, found by Will Taylor yesterday, was showing well on the mud in front of Rise. @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social

Two Little Gulls thru West Bex in last couple of hours...

Just happened to be in Lyme Regis with my wife this afternoon when I received a message from Paul Temple of a Grey Phalarope there. Managed to locate it on the sea close in to the Cobb wall about 50yrds off Monmouth beach. Phone pic...

Wryneck West Bexington along the coastal path below Long House...

Just to prove, not least to myself, that it's October and there are birds on the move through West Bex... just not that many! The Redstart was seen Friday.

Covulvulus Hawk-moth caterpillar on Cogden Beach this morning. Obsidentify insisted it was an Auger shell but we got there in the end...

You don't often see them like this...

Dark morph juv Long-tailed Skua off West Bex this morning. Very close in and not attempting to fly suggesting poor energy reserves or illness... it continued to drift east when we left it around 9.30am.

Lesser Emperor at Cogden this morning .... the first record for here. Patrolling along the coastal path east of the boardwalk although realistically it had little choice of habitat, all the ponds at Cogden and West Bex have completely dried out...

Dutch ringed Med (3.742.469) back at West Bex for at least its 4th year.

Bird interest this morning was confined to an early movement of six Goosanders west, the other two were just out of shot. Still quite a few Blue-eyed Hawkers around...I got lucky with this one.

There seems to have been a recent influx of Blue-eyed Hawkers.... at least three today quite well spread across the patch.

Great Northern Diver off West Bex coastguard cottages this morning....

Waders at West Bex today included a new juv LRP and the lingering Green Sandpiper. Additionally, Yellow Wags (3) made it onto the year list (scarce here in spring) and there was an unseasonal Common Gull on the beach although I guess they will be on the move soon enough...

Birds on the move this last week include 156 Sand Martins in and around Burton Mere on the 8th then Green Sand, Curlew, 8 Cattle Egrets and 2 Teal thru. 2 LRPs lingered this morning.

Blue (Scarce) Chaser in the nature reserve at West Bex this morning... first patch record.

Just shy of 2,000 Manx Shearwaters east past West Bex 6.00am – 7.45am. With unidentifiable birds further out, I thought I was undercounting and numbers at Portland suggest that was the case although the movement might have started before I arrived. A Curlew east the only other bird of note.

Great views of 6 Manx Shearwater off West Bex beach this morning, which meant I got them on my WeBS count too.

There was no sound let alone sight of a Cuckoo on patch this spring.... However, we usually do better when birds head back south again and that was the case this morning with this bird at Cogden.

Less exciting, but probably more important, we noticed a few Small Eggar tents this morning too....

Nice to join in with the current moth action down here... Crimson Speckled at West Bex this morning...

Five of the six Arctic Skuas that flew east past West Bex this morning.... other birds on the move included 89 Kittiwakes, 114 Gannets and singles of Whimbrel and Brent Goose.

You have to take your highs where you can this spring.... not able to trace a local release the two Grey Partridge, re-found this morning at West Bex, are getting the benefit of the doubt... 😉

A scattering of common migrants around this morning but also the shock of stumbling on two Grey Partridge at Cogden. Assume from a release, but who knows? I think conservation releases are more likely than shooting these days...anyway, makes a change from the bloody Red-legs.

Whilst it's great to have lingering Garganey on patch (2 still this morning, 3 on Friday) some variety wouldn't go amiss...

Male and female Garganey on West Bexington Mere this morning. Also decent arrival of Common Whitethroats and our first Reed Warbler of the year...

Wheatears on the move this morning with at least 35 across West Bex and Cogden. Also 4 Red Kites, Sand Martin, Red-t Diver and a passage of Gannets and auks just after dawn that fizzled out about an hour later...

Five days later than last spring, two Wheatears were new for the year at Cogden... a Sand Martin through too...

Well, a south coast patch and a lot of legwork is clearly no guarantee of an early Wheatear.... a female Garganey on West Bex Mere was decent compensation however....

Last day of a trip to Oman... Great views of my two most wanted amongst a list of some really great birds...

The White-fronts were still around at 11.00am, but were likely disturbed by a group of walkers that passed us heading towards the Mere. The party of Brents included this gorgeous juvenile.

Two Russian W-fronted Geese currently on and around West Bex Mere + 6 Brent's.

No grey geese for us sadly, but a couple of Sibe Chiffs showed well at West Bex.

Just found an Olive-tree Pearl on my front door... seems quite late Paul? @paulupwey.bsky.social

One of two Firecrests at Cogden this morning...

Sibe Chiff at West Bex this morning...

Given its size (50-60cm) and location (top of a fairly mature tree) we're assuming this is a Asian Hornet nest at West Bex. It's been reported and if confirmed is likely to be of significant concern to the local bee keepers...

A glorious morning with a Short-eared Owl out to sea at dawn the highlight. Other good birds included 5/6 Cirl Buntings, Firecrest and Black Redstart.

One of two Black Redstarts around West Bex village this morning.... our first of the autumn. More importantly, we have water in the Mere at long last with Gulls & wildfowl to search through. Happy days...

We've seen this Merlin at West Bex every day since Friday, but this morning was the first time we found it settled... a little cracker.

A Red-necked Grebe was a bit of a surprise off West Bex this morning. A little distant and crap light but still a smart bird...

An Arctic Skua west was the best of this morning's birds....

Six probable Whooper Swans just flown west past West Bex...

Might be of interest... European Storm Petrel carcass at West Bex this morning... very desiccated, so probably from last winter.

Earlish Red-throated Diver off West Bexington this morning...

A peach of 1w Casp at West Bex this morning along with Ring Ouzel, Spot Fly, 7 Wheatears and an exceptional flock of 120 Cormorants flying west at dawn... easily the highest single count we've witnessed here.. 99 in the picture