So anyway, let's take a look at the new bird I saw this week.
Turnstone
The place was Poole Quay. I'd taken a wrong turn going into the park, and instead ended up a short distance from Poole Quay. As I was wandering around I saw a small group of waders that I first thought were Purple Sandpipers. Upon closer inspection I realised they were Turnstones.
Interestingly, these birds were actually scavenging on the ground, which I didn't expect to see. This tiny dumpy wader has mottled plumage with a white underside and is easy to mistake with many other waders. It gets its name as it likes to shift small pebbles and stones with its beak as it searches for food along the UK's rocky coasts. It's on the RSPB's amber list and around 51,000 birds winter here each year. None appear to breed here though.
These birds were incredibly tame, allowing me to get within 17 foot of them.
Here's another having a forage.
So that's it for another week. I'm now up to 127 photographed birds, with another 145 to find.
I'll leave you with some of the other birds I saw around the Quay and Poole Park. While I did see a Fieldfare, it flew by to fast to get a shot.
A selection of Black-Headed Gulls. One in a car park.
One admiring it's reflection.
Perched on a post.
There was a group of Brent Geese in the fields.
And one flew overhead.
Egrets were out and about as well.
Pleased with these flight shots.
Light was a little harsh though :(
I got very very close to a Black Tailed Godwit.
I caught the back end of a Carrion Crow.
Who hooked up with a friend.
A feeding Oystercatcher.
One playing hide and seek.
Another flying by.
Blackbird in the undergrowth.
Moorhen is hungry.
A blurry Rock Pipit.
A Mallard.
A perched Egret.
A very heavy crop of a Buzzard, which hopefully proves my lens isn't broke like I first thought.
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