I've been showing decidedly 'twitchy' behaviour recently having chased after and photographed the squacco heron at Blagdon, the great reed warbler at Weston-super-Mare and the white stork at Curry Moor.  I got even more extreme today and discovered a free trial of the Rare Bird Alert iPhone software and identified a black-winged stilt in Weymouth that I felt I couldn't live without.  All these birds have been lifers for me and have been swelling my total number of birds photographed towards 190 which of course is pretty darn close to 200...  (Before anyone else chooses to point it out, my bird photograph list is a slightly dodgy one with things like eiders and flamingos from Slimbridge on it - LOL.)

Anyway, I shot off down to RSPB Lodmoor after lunch and immediately failed to connect with the stilt which was hidden on the far side of the reserve.  After a bit of fun photographing terns and adding another lifer to my list in the form of a very poor shot of an arctic tern, I walked around the Weymouth side of the pools.  There it was on the far side of the pool adjacent to the path so I squeezed off a couple of record shots before joining the photographer who was standing rather closer to the bird.  Unfortunately, at this point, the excitement was too much for the stilt which flew off to a pool in the middle of the reserve!

Not one to dwell on adversity, I spent some time photographing a confiding whimbrel before spending more time with the terns and finishing off with a fruitless visit to RSPB Radipole.  Well, not entirely fruitless as the new visitor centre serves great Dorset Apple Cake... :)

Black-winged Stilt - Himantopus himantopus