Dorset Birds: Sightings - Tuesday 15th May 2018

Scaup - 1 Abbotsbury Swannery
Red Kite - good numbers reported from coastal and some inland sites: highest
count 58 over Abbotsbury
Whimbrel - 6 Christchurch Harbour
Sanderling - 9 Hengistbury Head
Purple Sandpiper - 14 on the Cobb at Lyme Regis
Greenshank - 1 Lytchett Fields RSPB
Pomarine Skua - 1 Weymouth Bay
Garden Warbler - 1 Stanpit
Spotted Flycatcher - 1 Hengistbury
Nightingale - 1 Reap Lane (Portland)

Sanderling and Dunlin at Hengistbury Head © Clive Hargrave

Skylark at Hengistbury Head © David Wareham

Purple Sandpiper - The Cobb, Lyme Regis on 12th May © Roger Boswell

RARE BREEDING BIRDS

Dorset Bird Club and the Rare Breeding Birds Panel advocate special caution when reporting rare breeding birds as they are vulnerable to persecution and disturbance.

Please consider the birds welfare and do not share details of any rare breeding species on X/Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp groups, personal websites, blogs, or local birdwatching message boards.

We urge all finders of rare birds to consider whether they may be breeding before sharing the news.

Sightings should always be submitted, in confidence, to the county recorder to contribute to long-term national monitoring.

DORSET BIRD REPORT 2023

The Dorset Bird Report 2023, produced by Dorset Bird Club, is now available for purchase by non-members via the DBC website (click on the report cover image below). Featuring a review of the year, a comprehensive systematic list of all species recorded in 2023, rarity finder accounts including the first Moltoni's Warbler and Isabelline Wheatear for Dorset, articles on Baltic Gull, the Alpine Swift influx, Cory's and Great Shearwaters, and the return of the Cirl Bunting. Illustrated throughout with images taken by Dorset's leading photographers. £16 (+ £3 shipping).