Earning a crest

The Bufflehead on the Fleet for the last few weeks has brought a lot of birders to the area around Langton Herring, myself included, for the first time. So, having satisfied the morbid curiousity of a 6 year old son to see the exhibition of recently excavated decapitated Vikings in Weymouth, news of a Hoopoe near Rodden Hive provided a good excuse to go back again. The approach to Rodden Hive from Langton Herring forces you to appreciate the majesty of the Fleet and Chesil Beach - even the grumpy 6 year old, less keen on birds than long-dead Scandanavians, enjoyed the view. He was rewarded with a tick shortly after as the Hoopoe flew for a few yards. I was able to get closer and take some reasonable digi-scoped images in poor light. The bird was quite approachable, often feeding on the coast path. A new bird for Dorset for me, and hopefully a sign of good things to come this spring. More images here.