A Dowitcher and a Monarch (Friday 7/09/12)

With Dungeness being so very quiet an offer of a trip to Dorset to see a Short-billed Dowitcher was very appealing. Sometime around 13.00 GH,DW,DB and myself found ourselves at Lodmoor staring way into the distance through a terrible heat haze at 2 clumps of reeds, waiting for a brown smudge to walk between them. The smudge duly did this on several occasions. After a couple of hours and with news of Monarch Butterfly at Weston, we decided to go on to Portland and admire this beauty (which must have struggled gazillions of miles over land and sea?) for our viewing delight.

After viewing this beauty and stopping for GH to have her photo taken with a golden post box, we made our way back to Lodmoor. Where we once again looked at a brown smudge occasionally appearing between 2 clumps of reeds though the heat haze had lessened considerably. About 19.00 as we were preparing to leave, the brown smudge suddenly appeared much closer to us. After viewing the bird for a few minutes confirming its identity, we made the decision to dash about half a mile so that we could get 50 yds closer. This was successful and allowed me to get some record pictures of it just before the sun went down. Another great day out in good company and many thanks to GH for driving.