A late micro moth at Portchester Crem.

Friday 19th November 2021.

The micro moth Eudonia angustea at the South Chapel at Portchester Crematorium today.

A rather cool overcast day where the sun rarely broke through. A very busy day at work which took me over to Portchester, Waterlooville and Chichester and with a late finish, a nice drive home in the dark! I was keeping an eye on Birdguides throughout the day, hoping to find a decent bird to go for tomorrow. A showy Little Auk, a species I have not seen for many years, is showing well in Weymouth and is very,very tempting, but I really want to see the Short-eared Owls on Thorney Island and so will play it safe and stay local.

A pair of Opiliones species of Harvestman at Portchester Crematorium this morning.  

Despite being quite a grey day, I saw a superb male Merlin flying across the road on top of Portsdown Hill, clutching prey as it flew south right in front of my vehicle before disappearing over the fields. It was a very brief view, but no mistaking this tiny falcon. Two Sparrowhawks were also seen with a male over Portchester and a second bird at dusk, flying out of a tree right by Chichester Crematorium. Also at the latter site, as dusk fell, I could hear a Ring-necked Parakeet calling somewhere in the distance, but no sighting of the bird.

Sanderling roosting at Hill Head. Photo by Christine Whiffen. 

A Grey Wagtail was seen twice while at our Waterlooville branch, flying over the rooftops behind our branch, calling in doing so. Portchester Crematorium was relatively quiet, though I did find the micro moth, Eudonia angustea, by the exit of the South Chapel along with a few Common and Beautiful Plumes. A pair of the Opiliones species of Harvestmen was also present along with good numbers of Lacewing still by the main lights.

Spiders and Hoverflies.

Wednesday 19th November 2021.

A beautiful late Autumn's day over The Oaks Crematorium today.

Finally, I have time to update my blog for a midweek update. We are currently experiencing a very mild period of weather on the south coast with hardly any wind and pretty much, dry and sunny. However, I still have to work and so I shall update my observations I have had this week so far on my travels. I have foregone the moth box so far this week due to the very cold temperatures overnight, though I just might give it a try tonight. I would like to start by mentioning one of the most important events in our lifetime. Please remember, I am not all that interested in politicians, but sadly, they run our world and are currently making a damn crap job of it for sure; hence my rant.

The male Noble False Widow spider at The Oaks Crematorium yesterday.

Sorry, not the best photo, but this Garden Spider took us by surprise at the Chichester Crematorium yesterday.

I did listen to Chris Packham's account of the COP26 World Summit about the Climate Change and he was not impressed. I have to say, he simply echoed what I have been saying all along. We are in serious danger of destroying ourselves and our planet due to the ongoing use of fossil fuels and though SOME of the ‘super powers’ agreed to decrease the use of them, Chris and along with myself, feel it is too little too late. Sorry to be pessimistic, but I think the damage is done. Mankind is simply too greedy and probably two-thirds of the population live in this world of want, want, want and not put anything back. When the earth gets too hot to live in, I shall most likely be long gone, but it's our children and grandchildren who will suffer. I will fight, kill or destroy anything that harms my grandchild, but I cannot defeat these greedy bastards on this planet who just want to live for today!

One of several Drone Flies enjoying the warm sunshine, nectaring on the ornamental plants at The Oaks Crematorium.

Even locally, Southern Water is pumping tons of raw sewage into Langstone Harbour and probably most of our rivers and a lot of it has gone unnoticed until now. Even our local disgusting politicians are also turning a blind eye, so thank God it has been brought to the people’s attention by huge campaigns from the likes of Facebook etc., and hopefully, this dreadful Government, which is run by a complete moron, is facing up to the fact that we are in trouble! What the hell is going on???

Up to FIVE Short-eared Owls are currently hunting over the west side of Thorney Island. Photo by Richard Tucker.

A lovely portrait of one of the Snow Buntings on Hayling Island yesterday. Photo by Richard Tucker.

On a much lighter note, I have been keeping an eye out for anything interesting where on Monday, there was the usual Common Buzzard perched on the lamp post beside the M275 and while driving down the A259 Bognor Road, I saw a Stonechat climb the sky, chasing an insect from a hedgerow by the side of the road. A female Peregrine was also seen shortly afterwards, soaring low over a field near Chalcraft Lane as we made our way to Rose Green in West Sussex. On Tuesday, it was very quiet with the only birds of note being 3 Jays flying over The Oaks Crematorium while I was working there. A couple of rather large spiders were noted with a male Noble False Widow at The Oaks Crematorium and while working over Chichester Crematorium in the afternoon, a rather large Garden Spider was seen dangling from its silk from a roof until it glided down to the ground, much to the disgust of one of my work colleagues. I was well impressed with the red abdomen which I was told by an expert on spiders that the spider had recently laid eggs and therefore they go red in colour and look deflated. See, you learn something every time! 

Sanderling flocking up on Hayling Beach. Photo by Richard Curtis. 

Today, it was a bit busier at The Oaks Crematorium. A new roof is being laid on the Crematorium itself and with scaffolding decorating the perimeter of the building, it certainly did not look glamorous at all. However, this did not distract the local Wagtails with both Pied and Grey Wagtails searching for food on the roof. Jays were seen often flying over the open space between the woodland and overhead, a couple of Meadow Pipits and a pair of Mistle Thrushes were noted. In the woodland, I heard calling Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers as well as a Nuthatch. A pair of Long-tailed Tits were seen to fly by over on the east side of the Crematorium while both Great and Blue tits showed well throughout the day. Not just birds were seen, but I kept an eye out for the insects too which made the most of the warm sunshine. Twelve degrees centigrade for mid-November only goes to prove my point regarding global warming! Some of the flowering plants within the ornamental hedgerows were attracting Drone Flies and Buff-tailed Bumblebees still and even a Common Darter dragonfly landed close to my vehicle as well! Finally today, while driving out of the village of Hambledon, a Red Kite was seen soaring over the countryside close to the road.

Christine Whiffen got this superb photo of the Jack Snipe from the Spurgin Hide, Titchfield Haven, recently. Notice the well barred dark flanks and also the much shorter bill; very much unlike my bird I mistook one for.

I would like to thank both Christine Whiffen and Richard Tucker for the use of their superb photos today, especially for the Short-eared Owl photo where, including today, five birds have been quartering the fields over on the west side of the island, just south of the Little Deeps. The weather looks good for Saturday and therefore, there is a very good chance that we shall be making a trip down there to view the birds. The Great Grey Shrike is yet again still present at Backley Common in the New Forest, but there was no report at all on the Snow Buntings on Hayling today. 

A few moths still coming through.

Sunday 14th November 2021.

The Angle Shades moth this morning.

The moth box got put on overnight, hoping for something new for the year, but it was the regular moths that greeted me this morning. I even put the white sheet by the box as well, but the best I could muster was an Angle Shades, 3 Double-striped Pugs and 6 Light Brown Apple Moths…..though it's better than a complete blank.

One version of the Light Brown Apple Moth.

A Chiffchaff was calling close by in my neighbours garden, but there was no sighting of the bird. I took our Isabelle out this morning to spend some quality time with my granddaughter at Clarence Pier after my wife and I had a lovely breakfast in the Parade Tea Rooms. Even while enjoying my breakfast, two pairs of Pied Wagtails were chasing insects on the field opposite. You see, I just cannot take my eyes off the wildlife.

Another version on the Light Brown Apple Moth this morning in my moth box. 

In Hampshire this morning, the Snow Buntings we saw yesterday has now increased to EIGHT birds, which begs the questions, where are they coming from and how on earth do they find each other? I have always considered that birds are telepathic, though it has never been proved; but in my eyes, it makes sense. Up to 4 soaring White-tailed Eagles were seen off Hill Head over the Solent this morning with a nearby Slavonian Grebe and Red-throated Diver on the sea. The Red-necked Grebe was yet again in the same area as yesterday, viewed opposite Shearwater Court, Hayling Island.

Andy doing his best Robert de Nero impersonation! 

The 200 species for the year has been achieved.

Saturday 13th November 2021.

One of the 7 Snow Buntings on Hayling Island this morning. 

Now I can celebrate! A superb day's birding on Hayling Island secured the 200th species to finally be added to my year list - a distant, but most welcome, Red-necked Grebe swimming out in the Solent. Andy grabbed another 4 ‘year-ticks’ today, which put him on 182 for the year and a very fine list of nice birds seen today on both Hayling and Thorney Island.

Sanderling on the beach at Gunner Point, Hayling Island.

Skylarks on the beach at Gunner Point.

We kicked off the trip for the seven Snow Buntings (the largest flock in Hampshire for many a year and easily my highest in Hampshire) down the east side of Hayling Island. Parking up in the car park south of the Ferry Boat Inn, we paid the small fee to park and then made our way south to the upturned blue boat, catching a glimpse of a pair of Sandwich Terns flying into Langstone Harbour. We met up with some of the ‘Lazee Birders’ who drew a blank in finding the birds, though we did get good views of the Sanderling on the incoming tide. Also, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were feeding on the seeds of beach plants along with a large mixed flock of both Goldfinch and Greenfinch.

Above and below, Dunlin, with a lone Oystercatcher feeding on the foreshore at the Kench, along with Oystercatchers. 

There was a false alarm as Birdguides told us that they had been seen behind the car park and a hasty walk to see the birds proved fruitless! Grumble! So, I had a quick look around the Kench, after pulling the car over in a lay-by and checked out the birds here. Good numbers of Dunlin, Oystercatcher and Ringed Plovers were on the foreshore, while out in the harbour, I found a distant small group of Red-breasted Mergansers swimming near a small island. A male Sparrowhawk flew over, putting up all the local Starlings into flight and as it turned out today, it was going to be a very good day for raptors.

Yellow-horned Poppy still growing abundantly at Sandy Point.

So, ‘dipping’ on the Buntings, we tried our luck down at Sandy Point and parking up near one of the big car parks off Southdown Road, we took a walk along the promenade, via the shingle beach, and scanned for both anything on the calm sea or a possible Black Redstart on the adjacent houses. All was very quiet except for the usual Gulls and so we got back into the car and headed to Sandy Point itself. From here, we walked to the beach and scanned the harbour entrance. A Razorbill was a nice surprise, seen flying into the harbour low over the water and then settled on the breakwater. It then flew up again and headed towards us and then settled back out on the sea. Shortly afterwards, I managed to get onto the distant female Velvet Scoters by picking out two flying large ducks, with flashing white wing-bars. I quickly got Andy onto the birds through the scope. His first ‘year-tick’ of the day.

Not the best photo of the Peregrine I'm afraid, but still it was a fine sight as it flew overhead. 

I picked up a male Peregrine chasing a Wood Pigeon over the harbour, but the Peregrine gave up the chase and flew off towards us and then out to sea. It was a shame my camera never got a clear enough photo of the bird. But a great addition to our raptor list today. The news then came up on Birdguides that the Red-necked Grebe that had been seen here earlier this week, had been found again and sitting nicely out in the Solent. 

The Razorbill in the harbour entrance.  

Viewing from the Shearwater Court building along Southwood Road, we joined several other birders present who were viewing the Grebe. They very kindly put us onto the bird, although it was very distant and trying to pick the bird up with Binoculars would have been near impossible and so through the scope, I eventually found the Red-necked Grebe, though it was busy fishing most of the time and only stayed up on the surface for a few seconds. Still, it was my 200th species for the year and a fist pump into the air had to be done. It was nice to meet a few more of the ‘Lazee Birders’ present in this small group, which included Andy Dickety and a lady called Becky (who found the bird earlier this week). Andy also picked out a flying duck going across the sea while he was looking at the Grebe through my scope, which turned out to be a female Common Scoter, which flew off east.

Andy spotted this Small White butterfly caterpillar on the footpath in front of Shearwater Court. I quickly picked it up and placed it in some nearby vegetation.

Very happy with the Red-necked Grebe, I wanted now to concentrate on these Snow Buntings and from the info on the Going Birding website, they had been seen just east of the big car park near the Golf Course. Parking up and ignoring the broken parking meters, we walked around 50 yards west and joined several other birders studying an area of rough ground and sure enough, there were the Snow Buntings - all seven of them! They performed superbly for all of us there and allowed us very close photos.  This was Andy’s third ‘year-tick’ of the day (I had my first Snow Bunting over at East Head) as we enjoyed these delightful birds and carefully and politely asking dog walkers and alike, to keep their distance from the birds. True, they did get flushed a few times during the week by dogs mostly, but the general public were most helpful I believe. 

Some of the many photos I took of these superb Snow Buntings in the early afternoon. 

Our next stop was to be Hayling Oysterbeds for the Black-necked Grebes, for two had been seen here earlier today. However, a trip to Greggs was on the cards and as there is one very close to the Oyster Beds, good old Andy treated me to a nice warm meal and coffee. Pulling up within the car park, I spotted a couple of lady Birders looking out into the harbour and quickly getting their attention (for I had seen them at the Red-necked Grebe site), they gave us the ‘gen’ on where to look for the Grebes and it didn’t take long for me to pick them up within the harbour. 

Video footage of the Snow Buntings on Hayling Island this afternoon.

Andy now had his fourth ‘year-tick’ of the day in the bag as I checked out the rest of the harbour from the car park, picking up at least a dozen Great Crested Grebes and several Mergansers on the water. I really did not fancy walking the trek along to the Beds after getting the ‘Black-necks’ and so suggested a trip to the east side of Thorney Island to round off the day for a possible Short-eared Owl. Off we went!

The female Marsh Harrier quartering over the reedbeds on Thorney Island.

We parked up in the Marina car park and headed off east along the footpath to view the fields to the south overlooking the Landing Lights. From here, we spent the next 90 minutes studying the fields and the big pool near Security Checkpoint. A female Marsh Harrier was quartering the reedbeds there and showed several times during our stay, while Common Buzzard, two Kestrels and another female Sparrowhawk was also seen. A Cattle Egret was seen sitting in the reeds and then flew over to the other side of the pool which held good numbers of both Wigeon and Pintail. I counted at least 7 Little Grebes in the same pool. A Grey Wagtail flew over several times and over the nearby Chichester Harbour, a mixed flock of Golden Plover and Bar-tailed Godwit flew high over until splitting into two and going their separate ways. A Cetti’s Warbler was calling all the time we were there in the bushes in front of us, but no sightings of the bird during our trip here. 

Curlews flying over the Landing Lights field.

Sadly, no sign of any Short-eared Owls but I later learnt that up to FIVE birds were seen later in the afternoon on the west side of Thorney Island! Incredible! I am more than tempted to take a look tomorrow to see for myself. There ended yet another superb day’s birding with some memorable sightings and I would like to thank the superb co-operation of all those birders we met today.