Autumn and winter are my favourite times of year to birdwatch at Chesil, with plenty of different species to see, including the dark-bellied brent geese having returned in their hundreds, red-breasted mergansers diving in the Fleet, and not forgetting the waders pottering around on the mudflats.
One of the best parts of bird watching here is that you never know what you’re going to see. As The Wild Chesil Centre is a coastal site, we occasionally get exciting rarities. For example, the grey phalarope, which is a small wader that spends most of its time out at sea. But for me, it’s the more common species that are just as entertaining to watch and shouldn’t be overlooked. I was recently watching a little egret within the channel outside the Centre and had some great views of it hunting – displaying its “foot-trembling” technique for disturbing its prey, then successfully catching the small fish with laser point precision.
If you are interested in seeing some of these species for yourself (no guarantees are made as we are at the mercy of nature), I will be hosting bird watches on the bird viewing platform at The Wild Chesil Centre every Monday and Wednesday (please see timings below).
- Mondays – 11am to 1pm
- Wednesdays – 2pm to 4pm
These bird-watching sessions are drop-in events, so you are welcome to come along at any point during the sessions and stay for as long as you would like. No booking is required, but these sessions will be weather dependent. If you are unsure as to whether it will be going ahead, please contact The Wild Chesil Centre on 01305 206191.
