Saturday 5th. May 2012 ( Dorset - Part 1. )

Back in the depths of last Winter , when it was cold and damp , I planned a Spring visit to the Purbeck Hills in Dorset , an area that I have always wanted to visit . With reptiles and migrant birds on the 'want list' , I booked a b&b for Carol and myself at Corfe Castle , not actually in the castle but in the village that bears the same name , right in the middle of the area . After last year's incredible Spring , I went for the beginning of May , envisaging wall to wall sunshine and Mediterranean temperatures . We all know what the second half of April was like , and as last weekend approached , my dreams seemed to be in tatters as wind , rain and cool temperatures were the order of the day . It came as some surprise as we prepared to set out that the sun was actually shining , but accompanied by a very cool wind , but at least it wasn't raining , but the forecast for our four days was not encouraging . We arrived in the area still in sunshine , so I decided to make the most of the conditions and headed for RSPB Arne . It was obvious straight away that the deluges of rain recently had not escaped the area , and although the reserve is on sand and well draining under usual conditions , large puddles of water covered many of the trails and heathland areas off the main trails were also flooded . Leaving Carol with her book in the car park , I set off for a look around , with Dartford Warbler on top of my list . One of the main centres of interest , the pond where Raft Spiders can usually be found , had burst it's banks and was now just part of a flooded heathland and unapproachable , unless you happened to be wearing waders . Looking over the area of the heathland trail , I couldn't see anyone else about , and when the trail opened out , the reason became apparent , as an almost bitter wind was blowing in off the sea , ensuring that any birds were sheltering . Every

now and again , the odd call or movement , especially in sheltered dips , but all of these turned out to

be pairs of Stonechats , warning each other of my presence , then quietening down once I had passed . A very distant sighting of a Hobby , one of a pair that have returned to the site again this year , a few Corvids and the odd Linnet and I was down by the viewing screen overlooking the saltings , half way round the trail . Lots of Shellduck , a few Black-tailed Godwit and a mix of Canada and Greylag Geese were all that was seen , surprising as the tide was out with plenty of mus revealed . As I started the second part of the trail back towards the car park a movement on top of some Gorse allowed a very quick sighting of a male Dartford Warbler , but before I could raise the camera , he was gone , not to be seen again . And that was just about as exciting as the return journey got , in fact there was more birdsong in the car park than on the way around the trail , with Blackcap , Chiffchaff , Willow Warbler , Blackbird , Wren and House Sparrow all chiming in , to say nothing

of a male Peacock who had wandered in from an adjoining property , and taken up station on one of the picnic tables . With Carol happy with her book , I set off on the woodland/farmland  trail leading out from the village church . I had only just started down the track , when I heard  the sound of calling Common Buzzards somewhere beyond the trees behind the church . Eventually four birds

showed , but I only managed to get any two in the viewfinder at any one time , before two drifted over the farmland and the other two back from where they came from . The expected woodland birds started to show up , but the trail went to a high area with plenty of fence posts , but not a sign of a migrant sitting on any of them . Almost at the saltmarshes on this trail , I came across a small herd of

Sika Deer , and probably wouldn't have spotted them had one not 'barked' as I approached . The saltmarshes produced another individual grazing , two snoozing Shellduck and two Black-headed Gulls , and that was it , really worth climbing to the top floor of the hide . A few Lesser Redpoll were seen high in a Pine and a 'rattling' Mistle Thrush flew over , before a much large herd of Sika Deer , sheltering out of the wind in a field . There must have been 30/40 that I could see , all watched over

by a white stag . I read later that he isn't a true albino as he doesn't have pink eyes , and is described as a white morph . And that was it for my first much anticipated visit to Arne , the only consolation being that if I had come the previous week , I would probably have got soaked as well as not seeing much . On our way down to the b&b , we would pass the turning to Studland , another area I wanted to visit , so just went down for a quick look . Another great heathland area and beautiful sandy beach on one side of the peninsular , and a good site for Sand Lizards I had been told , but the conditions were not conducive whilst we were there , so a look at the beach and a shot of a passing

Oystercatcher , and it was off to the b&b , a meal in a local pub and fingers crossed for the weather for tomorrow , which wasn't looking too promising .
The morning dawned bright and not too windy , so after breakfast I couldn't wait to get to Durlston Country Park , on the cliffs near Swanage . Plenty of gulls about , a male Kestrel passed under me , no more than 5 metres away , but I wasn't ready for him and he was gone . Jackdaws seemed to be

nesting below and a few Carrion Crows passing by , then , a much larger Corvid flew in , a Raven . It soon became very apparent that it had not yet had it's breakfast , as it began searching the ledges that the Guillemots were nesting on , and it wasn't very long before it found what it was looking for , an

egg , which it took further along the cliffs and devoured the well formed embryo . Shortly after this , I met up with a local birder who told me that this was one of a pair that were nesting on the cliffs for the first time , which was good , but not good for the resident Guillemots , whose nests were being predated by the pair at an alarming rate . I personally saw three eggs being taken . The birder also showed me where the resident Kestrels were nesting on the cliffs , and sure enough , there was the

male I had seen earlier , on sentry duty outside the nest , and directly below him was a group of

Guillemots , no doubt discussing the thieving Ravens . Another chap came along and stopped to ask if there were any Orchids on the site , so whilst the local birder and this chap chatted , I left to look for Dartford Warbler in the thick Gorse above the cliff path , but I only found Linnets , Common Whitethroats and Chiffchaffs , but I did meet a couple of reptile enthusiasts from Derbyshire , who told me of a site that they had visited the day before , with good numbers of Sand Lizards present , a site that we had passed driving from Arne to Corfe Castle . I tried not to be too rude , but with the sun still shining , I couldn't wait to get back to the car and do some reptiling , in case it didn't last . We got there just after noon , and I set off searching , knowing that the best part of the day , the morning whilst things are warming up and the Sand Lizards do the same , was already passed . I found some good habitat for the species , sandy slopes with Gorse cover , but the lizards obviously hadn't read the script . Thinking back , yesterday was probably the first warmish day for the best part of a week , so it would have encouraged a lot of movement , but I carried on searching . Eventually

I did find a female , well camouflaged , basking just outside a rabbit hole . She allowed me a few shots before disappearing down the hole . Another half hour went by without finding any more animals , but I did see two teneral Large Red Damselflies , making their maiden flights after hatching . I decided to try my luck on the other side of the road , which was flatter and more Gorse covered . It soon became obvious that the Gorse was home to at least two pairs of Stonechats , the males noisily telling me to keep moving . I also put up a Roe Buck from a thick clump of Gorse , which barked at me as it bounded off . Then , within another stand of Gorse , I found a 3mtr. x 1 mtr.

corrugated sheet , and underneath was the first of three Smooth Snakes that I found on the site . The Smooth Snake is by far the scarcest of the three snakes in the UK , and although resembling an Adder , does not have the continuous zig-zag pattern along it's back , is not poisonous , and has a

round pupil , compared to the vertical pupil of the Adder . But , apart from a few Slow Worms , I didn't find any other reptiles on this side , so I returned back to the other side again . I must admit , I was starting to think that it was getting late in the afternoon , when , just like waiting for a bus ,

two males were found almost together , both looking very dapper in their green breeding colours . Before leaving the site as it clouded over , I found another two males and another female , I was well satisfied . We decided to head for Swanage to get an evening meal , which was a good choice as the sun was still out there , and we had a nice walk along the front and even managed to get a shot of one

of two Sandwich Terns that were noisily looking for food some way out in the bay . After the meal and heading back to the b&b , I stopped at some very good looking Barn Owl habitat . We didn't strike lucky with an Owl , but we did get two more Common Buzzards and a non-stop calling Cuckoo , which we never did get sight of .
The forecast wasn't good for the next two days , so it was back to finger crossing .
I'll write those two days up tomorrow / Monday .