Durleston and Arne Purbeck Safari

The weather was clear, sunny and very warm. There were very few migrants today, but the highlights were 1 Wheatear at Arne and great views of the Sika Deer.

As the 14 of us met at Durleston Country Park a few Swallows zoomed over showing that there was a little migration, at least this morning. We walked along the track towards a scrubby valley seeing a Jay and some Goldfinches and Linnets on the way. In the scrub there were a few Goldcrests, Great Tits and a Blackbird and a Kestrel hovered overhead. The scrub had Travellers Joy scrambling over it, now covered in the fluffy seedheads, also clambering twigs of Black Bryony and Honeysuckle, with clusters of red berries and a few plants of Carline Thistle in the short grass.
Nick was the first to see a Clouded Yellow butterfly quickly flit by and we saw about 7 altogether. There were several Red Admirals about too.
There were a few Meadow Pipits and Stonechats in the open scrub nearer the cliffs. The sea and cliffs were quiet as all the auks and Fulmars leave for the ocean after breeding. We did see Cormorants, Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls.
Near the café Corinne and Alistair found a Common Darter dragonfly and a Small Copper butterfly. In the café itself I caught a Humming-bird Hawk moth that was bashing itself against the window trying to get out. It is always nice to see them close up and settled – usually you just see a blur of wings and the long tongue searching for nectar in flowers.
A short sea watch in the sunshine revealed nothing more than the Isle of Wight, so after lunch we drove off to Arne.
There were a few Robins singing by the car park. Before too long we passed an open field by the track. Here we saw our first Sika Deer of the day. Lots of hinds and a few stags with antlers. We saw many more Sika Deer throughout the rest of the afternoon – they seemed to be everywhere at Arne.
In the wooded areas there were small flocks of tits with several species in them. However they kept themselves pretty hidden and we only saw Blue Tit and a Goldcrest or two. Just before we got to the first hide we did see a small flock of Goldfinches and some Chaffinches.
The first hide overlooks a large area of reedy grassland with the water of Poole Harbour fairly distant. There were several Little Egret, Teal, Heron and Oystercatcher and lots of Curlew and Cormorant. In the water there were at least 2 Great-crested Grebe swimming about and a few Sandwich Tern fishing.
We walked to the second hide via the car park where Derek saw a few Marsh Tits on the bird feeders. The second hide overlooks a muddy channel with reedy fringes. The birds are closer here. There were several Shelduck and many Teal on the mud. Flocks of Canada Geese were feeding in a field and a Buzzard appeared over the woods being mobbed by several Rooks.
As we walked back to the car park across the heath Sofia flushed a Wheatear from the path. It gave close views on top of the heather and then a post before disappearing.
Simon Curson