31^st December. With snow and the freezing cold temperatures of December, I’d done no birding other than looking out of the window at the feeders on weekends (finally spotting a Brambling at home!) and also having been laid low by a virus for over a fortnight, including a week staying down in Hampshire. My only chance to reach 270 website species was on the final day of the year when I felt a little better. Wrapped up like a Michelin man, I set off west into Dorset and to Weymouth. The weather was exceptionally grey, just as it had been for most of the month but regardless I was determined to get out there and try my luck. I parked up and walked to the RSPB reserve of Lodmoor just behind the seawall. Scanning over the reserve the standard winter fare was on display with Lapwing, Wigeon and Teal visible alongside the resident species. Shelduck, Redshank, Snipe and a few Black-Tailed Godwits were present as were a small flock of Dunlin but it was a scarcer American wader I was on the lookout for. I bumped into a few birders and then finally some obviously local birders to whom I asked if their local star species was about. It was and it was only about 100 yards away from where I was standing. We all reached a better viewpoint and lo and behold there was the Long-Billed Dowitcher feeding away happily in the shallow water not too far from the path. I fired off some very grey and grainy record shots and after watching for 5 minutes looked for a closer vantage point. I eventually found a decent spot peering over a hawthorn hedge from where I could see that the bird was comfortable with the trickle of passers by. Again I got some closer images but not having a tripod on me, wanted a vantage point with some support. I found it as there was a gap in the nearby hedge which allowed me access to a fence post. From here I had a good view of the bird and could plonk the camera on the post allowing for better pictures, with the only down points being the vegetation near the bird periodically obscuring the view and the continuing appalling light situation. Regardless I stayed in my spot for a couple of hours watching the bird go about its business, with it only disturbed by the small flock of jittery Lapwings moving off. It flew off a short distance but soon returned to the same spot as before. The bird fed much like a Snipe or Godwit with fast and vigorous probing of the mud. It fed almost constantly, making photographs difficult as its head was hardly ever still and often slightly submerged. Still the views were excellent and the streaky body pattern was obvious as was the prominent “V” eye-stripe marking. In flight, a Redshank like white pattern on the back was clearly seen but there was no light to photograph this feature! After watching the Dowitcher, I carried along the path to see what else was around, finding more of the same resident species with a decent view of a motionless Snipe, lovely views of some very obliging Teal and some very tame Dunnocks. Rather than heading into the reedbed paths to try and find myself a Bittern I decided to head back stopping off again at my Dowitcher spot where I watched for another 20 minutes before heading back to the car. A brief distraction en route was a failed Firecrest hunt with another birder as one had been seen 5 minutes before. Back at the car, I thawed out a bit and set off towards Langton Herring to try and get my 270th website species. This one was going to be a real hunt as it had only been seen for two days and was a mobile beast! Still, after a navigation error or two I parked near the Moonfleet Manor and set off towards the coastal path in the now worsening gloom. I headed towards Hartbury Gore, a small cove on the landward side of Chesil Beach. It’s the first time I’d seen Chesil and it’s quite a sight to see this huge bank with the inland lagoon. On the lagoon good numbers of Wigeon and Teal were present along with a single Pintail and large herd of Mute Swans. Again Redshank and Dunlin were present but I was looking for a terra firma feeder. I was a bit disappointed to see all the swans on the lagoon as the bird had been associating with them in the beet fields so I walked around the beet field at the Gore looking for any large birds on the ground. Only a Buzzard and a flock of Long-Tailed Tits were noted other than Skylarks springing into the air every 50 yards or so. Heading back to the main path I noted another chap with optics and then saw him looking at the big field I’d been scanning earlier. A closer examination revealed a grey blob near the top of the field. I quickened my pace to catch him up which was difficult with the heavy clay soil which clung to my boots. After a breathless few minutes I finally caught him up and got sight of both our quarries, a first winter male Great Bustard which I learned had been released on Salisbury Plain in September. The chap turned out to be Allan from the Great Bustard project and he’d been tracking this bird and wanted to see what state it was in. “Pink 1” was doing well and we watched him feeding from a distance while impending chaos was nearing in the form of an organised shoot. Men with flags and men with guns were quartering the fields, we guessed, looking for Partridge. Certainly it was pretty loud with shotguns going off every few seconds and a dozen or so men constantly shouting. Our attention was focussed on the Bustard and as we watched Allan told me about the project and also that this bird was hatched from a Russian egg and had only headed to Dorset a few days earlier having spent most of its time with other adult birds on Salisbury Plain. We ascended the hill to get a better view but were foxed by the topography which resulted in the bird disappearing from view over a crest as we got nearer. Still it was great to see such a bird seemingly doing well in the UK, hopefully it will go on to survive and re-establish the species in the UK. After Allan had left I had another look for the bird from the top of the field, and after looking with no luck to locate the bird uttered an obscenity as it suddenly sprang into the air from where I’d been looking and took flight. I managed a passable flight shot in the conditions, showing the distinctive wing markings as the bird headed off towards Langton Herring, presumably to roost. By the time I got back to the car the light was officially awful but I’d done it. I’d managed to get to 270 species for the year, with only 9 hours of the year remaining!