Black redstart

Apologies for another bird after yesterday's. I couldn't resist posting this gorgeous black redstart that was hopping about on the rocks at Lyme Regis. The red 'start' is its tail, which is continually quivered and flicked, and which glows fiery red when they fly.

I went there to see a spotted sandpiper - follow the link if you don't mind useless pictures - which may have been there for a while but was only identified yesterday. It's an American bird that normally winters in Central and South America. Because it looks very like our common sandpiper it can easily be overlooked.

Also at the end of the Cobb with the spotted sandpiper were some purple sandpipers - this is better. I haven't seen a purple sandpiper for years, so that was a bonus.

One of the joys of watching exciting birds in popular tourist places is explaining what you're looking at every five minutes: "a spotted sandpiper".. "is it one of those black ones at the end?".. "no, those are cormorants. The bird we're looking at is a small bird bobbing about in the rocks. It's come from America".... "Is it lost?" ..."Yes"..."Oh look it's right down here"... "No, that's a purple sandpiper?"... "Are they rare?"... "not as rare as a spotted sandpiper".....

Everything we say is relayed to other members of the family standing on top of the Cobb pretending to be Meryl Streep while they have their photos taken. Eventually they thin out and a couple of us who've stuck it out get down to the serious business of enjoying the bird - my 309th species in Dorset, if anyone's interested.