The pair of Mandarins on Eyeworth Pond. Visibility was poor throughout the day and therefore the quality of the photos are somewhat darker than normal.
Let us set the scene. I am currently on 85 UK bird species for the year while my compatriot, Mr Andrew Fisher is on 87 UK bird species for the year and so the race was on to see who would get to 100 species for the year first? It was always going to be close on who would get the Fly/Pye cup (our respective nicknames if you're wondering?!) and poor Andy had to settle for second place again (ha ha!) when I found a Chiffchaff outside the Ivy North Hide at Blashford Lakes.
A drake Pochard in front of the Tern Hide.
The weather was always going to be awful, with heavy rain forecast throughout the day, but we did get a few breaks in the weather and at least we had the Hides at Blashford Lakes to take shelter and view the superb birds from. Our first stop was to be Eyeworth Pond for both Mandarin Duck and Goosander and while we took the slow drive down to the Pond through Fritham, I finally saw my first Redwing of the year by the side of the road, while Andy quickly got onto his first Song Thrush! On entering the car park, the rain was still falling down, but undeterred, I grabbed my binoculars and it didn't take long to get onto our first Mandarin Ducks of the year; a pair feeding on the opposite side of the Pond with Mallard. There was no sign of any Goosander, which was disappointing, but a small flock of Siskins flew over (another year-tick for both of us). Standing by the bush next to the gate, it didn't take long to attract a lot of Titmice for they probably thought we were going to feed them. Photographers regularly put out food for the birds here, hoping to grab some decent photos. Us being here attracted my first Marsh Tit of the year and therefore I had clawed one species back from Andy.
A female Goldeneye on Ibsley Water.
We spent long enough here not getting a soak and so took a drive first to the Shell Garage at Blashford to stock up with our lunch. Our first stop was to be the Tern Hide and we quickly got onto some nice birds. A pair of Goosander were seen over on the west side among the many Shoveler, Mallard, Gadwall and Teal and at least 10 Goldeneye were seen, including at least four drakes. My second ‘year tick’ was quickly followed by a third with Pochard added and Andy quickly got onto a Kingfisher passing the Hide at speed! Finally, we both added Linnet to our year list when a single bird flew close past the Hide and landed on the ground in front of us. Sadly, there were no Geese present on Ibsley Water. Andy already had an Egyptian Goose on his year list, but there were no sightings of any today.
The female Brambling kindly climbed onboard our year list (bottom right) with Siskins and a Goldfinch.
To show you how heavy the rain was, I took a photo of this poor soaked Chaffinch from the Woodland Hide.
Though the weather was poor, we made our way next to the Woodland Hide for Brambling. And we were in luck! A chap by the open window (the only one in this particular Hide) who was taking photos kindly told us that two Bramblings had been present only minutes ago and it didn't take too long for a female bird to show on one of the feeders. Also present were a good number of Siskins, Chaffinches and Goldfinches; that was until something flushed them and it all went quiet except for the constant dripping of rain coming through the roof of the Hide!
The Great White Egret looking quite displeased with the heavy rain. A second bird was seen flying over Ibsley Water from the Tern Hide.
A female Goosander in front of the Ivy South Hide among the Wigeon.
Recently, there has been a female Red-crested Pochard seen from the Ivy North Hide, but first, we made our way to Ivy South Hide and it turned out to be a good decision to go there first. It was virtually neck and neck between us to get to the 100 species for the year as we picked up a superb Great White Egret in the reeds and a pair of Green Sandpipers flying over the water. I scanned the many wildfowl present for the rare Pochard but there was no sign, though I did find a female Goosander among the many Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall and Mallard. When we left the Hide, I heard a Treecreeper calling and I was extremely lucky enough to find the bird climbing a small tree by the footpath. I had now taken the lead! I was on 98 species and Andy was on 87. Minutes later, a female Bullfinch flew up from a bramble and now I only needed just one species! Apparently, yesterday, the Bittern had been seen and photographed from the Ivy North Hide and so should we see this bird, that would be a superb 100th species to be seen.
Andy walking along the soggy main footpath to the Ivy South Hide.
Sadly, there was no sighting of any Bitterns, Water Rails or even the Red-crested Pochard from the Ivy North Hide, but, wait for it……………..up popped my 100th species for the year! Yay! Andy popped outside the Hide for a smoke as I spotted a small bird on the Phragmites and it was a Chiffchaff! The Fly/Pye cup was retained for another year, but that's the closest race for many a year between us. Now I could relax. I called Andy in to view the bird and another couple more Chiffchaffs were seen, but nothing else new for us.
The tiny Candlesnuff Fungus was growing on the trunk of this small bush (left). You can just about see it in this photos.
Andy was still on 99 species and so we went back to the Tern Hide to hopefully pick up something else and it didn't take long for me to point out a flying Lesser Black-back Gull flying over Ibsley Water. There were a lot of Herring Gulls on the small islands over on the west side of various ages, but I could not find a Yellow-legged Gull among them, even though there had been quite a few reported among the Gull roost late in the afternoon. Both Kestrel and Common Buzzard drifted over the lake and a flock of Meadow Pipits were seen to the east of the Hide, but no sign of any Water Pipits today.
Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Wigeon and Herring Gulls in front of the Ivy South Hide.
The New Forest in Winter has a lot to offer so hopefully I shall be back again here soon. We rounded off our trip here in the Forest by parking up in a small car park along Furzley Lane, which paid off when I spotted my first Mistle Thrush of the year. The rain was soon coming in again and so we made our way back home after a very exciting day.
Wildfowl and Gulls in front of the Ivy South Hide in the rain.
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