14th – 16th November 2009 – Dip, Dip, Dowitcher…

‘Hexham Ray’ had found a Long-billed Dowitcher at Port Carlisle the previous day and Darren had located it again on the 14th. Chris arrived at mine just after lunch and we made our way to Port Carlisle in the hope of seeing the dowitcher. On arrival we learnt that the bird had not been seen for some time, things did not get better and we didn’t manage to see the bird. However a couple of Little Egrets and a Spotted Redshank made the trip worthwhile.

The following day I attempted (and failed) to see the Long-billed Dowitcher during the afternoon.

As can be seen by the really crappy second half (even crapper than the first half) of the above video clip; thanks to an early morning call from Darren, I finally saw the bird on the morning of the 16th! This was superb bird to see, and my first sighting of this species since 2005!