Superb Stone-Curlews in the north of the County.

Saturday 26th March 2022.

One of the 6 Stone-Curlews seen this morning at this undisclosed location. 

I had already made up my mind last night that I was going for the Stone-Curlews in the north of the County of Hampshire and meet up with a lot of the ‘Lazee Birders’ gang there. Though the Bonaparte’s Gull over at Chichester Gravel Pits (still present today, sob!) was a very close second. If it wasn't for the fact that I have not seen a Stone-Curlew for many years, the last being the solitary bird at Martin Down, I would have easily gone into West Sussex today; but our journey to the beautiful countryside of Stockbridge most certainly paid off.

Above, my first Buff Ermine moth of the year by my moth box. Below, my first Hebrew Character of the year, seen by Andy's moth trap. 

Yet again, it was cold overnight, but I put my moth box on nonetheless and was rewarded with a total of 30 moths! Most of which (21) were Common Plume moths, but there was my first Buff Ermine of the year perched nicely on the box and also, an Early Grey, an Angle Shades, two Double-striped Pugs and 3 Beautiful Plume moths. When I got to Andy’s house, his moth box had attracted my first Hebrew Characters and a Small Quaker of the year plus 4 Early Grey and 1 Common Plume.

Above, my first Small Quaker of the year, a species I do not encounter very often and photographed at Andy's house. Below, two Early Grey's in Andy's back garden. 

The drive from Andy’s house in Cowplain to our destination took just a little over an hour (we did pick up some supplies from a nearby garage) and eventually parked up along with a few cars already present. I checked in with Andy House if we were walking in the right direction and then he rang me to say he could see us and so waved out to us. Along this muddy track, we had sightings of Yellowhammer, a pair of Bullfinch, several Long-tailed Tits and at least 2 singing Chiffchaffs. I could hear the distinctive ‘chacking’ of Fieldfares and I think some were in a nearby tree that soon flew out before we could get a proper view. Overhead, both Common Buzzard and Red Kite were abundant in the clear blue sky. The drive up to this neck of the woods produced sightings of Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and a Red-legged Partridge and also a Yellowhammer, which was Andy’s first of the year (Dude!).

Above, a male Yellowhammer in full song and below, our first Corn Bunting of the year seen along the muddy track.

The walk along the dirt track also produced a lot of butterflies which included a Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshells and a few Peacocks, the latter my first of the year and all looking beautiful in the bright sunshine. On the way back to the car, I also saw my first Bee Fly of the year and plants along this path included carpets of Lesser Celandine. Out in the fields, good numbers of Skylarks were fluttering over the fields and I then heard the ‘jangling’ of a singing Corn Bunting somewhere in the distance and I was pretty sure we found the bird perched on a wooden fence over the far side of the field. We needn't be worried as we saw at least two more birds this morning, perching nicely in the sunshine on top of brambles.

Photos of the Stone-Curlews this morning.

We eventually joined all the ‘Lazee’s’ who kindly got us on to the Stone Curlews immediately. Looking through Andy House’s amazing telescope, I could clearly see the bird sat down behind some dark looking scrub roughly about half a mile away, but as the morning wore on, another 5 more birds appeared as if from nowhere and through Andy’s scope, the birds plumage could clearly be seen and even the yellow eye was visible. During our stay here, the birds called occasionally (another first for Andy), though I have heard them call the last time I was in the area many years ago one evening with Mike Wearing and Doug Yelland. We stayed in the same place to view the birds, always keeping a good distance away from the birds so as not to disturb this Schedule 1 species, but we all got good views of the birds while enjoying lots of Kites, Buzzards, Skylarks and Corn Buntings in the area.  

A couple of photos of the 'Lazee's at the site.

While checking the Stone Curlews, Andy House picked up a pair of Grey Partridge that had just flown in and landed in the scrubby area. He quickly got onto the birds through his scope and Andy Fisher had grabbed his fourth ‘year-tick’ of the year! Time was now against me as I had to be home before 2pm and therefore we said our Goodbye’s, however, all the ‘Lazee’s’ decided to call it a day too and so followed us back to the car. As we got back to the muddy path, we checked the field to the north and unbelievably, we found another Stone Curlew sitting on the opposite side of the field! Our sixth bird of the morning. Also in the same field, a Hare was also sat in the field and a single Grey Partridge briefly was walking along the edge of the field before disappearing into the vegetation.

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly enjoying the Dandelion.

Peacock butterfly.

A cracking morning again and with great company too. I am so looking forward to the rest of the year as my year list is now 160 species and we are still only in March! Chiffchaffs, nest-building Long-tailed Tits and plenty more butterflies were seen on the way back to the car as we made our way home. 

Blackcap and a few good moths.

Friday 25th March 2022.

From left to right, Double-striped Pug, Early Grey and Angle Shades on top of my moth box.

The fine weather continues to dominate with a very warm day and a cloudless sky to entice many a birder out in the field; though unless you are retired or on holiday, then its good old work for the likes of me, but I did have a good day while out doing my job, including some nice moths and my first Blackcap of the year.

The cold temperatures overnight continue and this morning, I was rudely awakened by a couple of Foxes screaming at each other in the back gardens, much to the annoyance of some of my neighbours who shouted at them to stop at some unearthly hour this morning! So, half an hour before my alarm went off, I made my way downstairs and put the kettle on. I then went outside to check the moth box and a grand total of 20 moths were counted, by far the most I have had this year!

One of two Double-striped Pugs this morning.

My first Angle Shades of the year was present, sitting on the white sheet and also TWO Early Greys were also by the sheet. Two Double-striped Pugs and three Light Brown Apple Moths rested on top of the box and a good count of 11 Common Plumes were near the box. Finally, a lone Beautiful Plume was hiding behind the sheet. I was well pleased with this total as a small herd of Mute Swans flew south low over the houses as I made my way back indoors for breakfast!

Light Brown Apple Moth.

On my travels today in the works car, I was making my way this morning to our Fareham branch and taking the back country roads through Denmead, I picked out a pair of Red Kites soaring high over the Chairmakers Pub. Back over The Oaks Crematorium, I had a quick check for moths around by the Book of Remembrance building and found only a Common Plume resting on one of the windows. However, in the distance in the wood behind me, I heard the distinctive song of a male Blackcap and so I hastily made my way to the edge of the woodland and waited patiently for the bird to fly out of cover and dive on board my year list, of which it duly obliged. Even without binoculars, there was no mistaking this gorgeous Warbler.

Other notable sightings here included a Grey Wagtail that took a liking for the roof  of the Crematorium (its covered in grass and plants as its an eco friendly building). A Nuthatch was singing deep within the woodland nearby and a lone Brimstone butterfly flew south along the edge of the woodland. My last job of the day was a drive across Portsdown Hill to get to our Fareham Branch once again for a job at Portchester Crematorium. While driving across the Hill, a Red Kite circled overhead and then flew south, while a pale headed Common Buzzard stood motionless on a fence post near the side of the road. A male Kestrel was seen hovering overhead near the main road as I made my west.  Earlier today, back at Portchester Crematorium, I checked the back of the Crem for moths and came up with just two moths. The first was a Common Plume, but the second was a superb Early Thorn moth, a species I have only encountered a few times, the last was many years ago too. So, I was pretty pleased in finding this moth.

The Early Thorn moth residing on the South Chapel exit of Portchester Crematorium.

Tomorrow should be exciting for I hope to take a trip to the north west corner of the County in search of Stone Curlews. I have the exact location and I understand, we should be meeting some of the 'Lazee Birders' there tomorrow morning. The weather is set to be fine once more and so fingers crossed, we just might get lucky. On Farlington Marshes today, a pair of Spoonbills took up residence on the pool behind the main reedbed while over at Chichester Gravel Pits, the Bonaparte’s Gull was still present this morning along with the pair of Red-crested Pochards. The pair of Garganey were on the Severals still by Pagham Harbour and a couple of Black Redstarts were on the rubble still around Greenlease Farm behind Church Norton. And as I write, a couple of the 'Lazee' gang are watching a Short-eared Owl on Farlington Marshes this evening.

A busy midweek update.

Wednesday 23rd March 2022.

I finally got my first Early Grey moth of the year by my moth box.

We have reached midweek already and although I am back at work, it has been a bit tough with getting over Covid over the past ten days. I cannot believe how many people have actually got it and the chances of getting it again is pretty high as well. I am still feeling the effects of it and have what seems like a ‘head cold’, but I am putting up with it and hope to get much better soon. The southern half of the UK has been basking in a bit of sunshine of late with today's temperatures climbing up to around 18 degrees, though it is quite cold overnight. This has encouraged me to put on my moth box again and finally, I got my first ‘noctuid’ moth of the year!  

Above, a Beautiful Plume I found at Portchester Crematorium yesterday. Below, also by my moth box this morning were several Lacewings.

 

Kicking off with Mondays sightings, both male and female Sparrowhawks were seen while out on the road, both in different locations too: a female over the M275 as we were traveling northbound and a male bird over Portsdown Hill around 20 minutes later. Traveling along the Whichers Gate road (Rowlands Castle) leading to The Oaks, I spotted a Nuthatch flying adjacent to the vehicle we were in and then it landed in a tree. At the Oaks Crematorium, a flock of 8 Mediterranean Gulls flew over, all heading northbound and calling as they passed high overhead. I must have spotted at least a dozen Brimstone butterflies on the wing at various locations, including quite a few over Portsdown Hill. A spot of fine weather in March will bring this pretty butterfly out on the wing. Finally, up to four Common Buzzards were seen with two birds soaring over the woodland behind the Oaks Crematorium.

This drake Garganey was on Testwood Lakes today, one of several seen in the County. Photo by Andy Tew.

Monday also produced a phenomenal number of Garganey passing the south coast. Up to 30 in total passed Sandy Point at Hayling Island, with other sightings including 5 on Posbrook FLoods, 2 on Avington Lake plus a flock of 11 Ruff and 5 Little Gulls past Hil Head! 

This Water Pipit was on Pennington Marshes today. Photo by Andy Tew. 

Yesterday, the drive over Portsdown Hill produced up to 5 Kestrels hunting along the road and a single Common Buzzard that drifted south low over the road. Again, Brimstone butterflies seem to be everywhere with many seen along the top of Portsdown Hill, but also a few fluttering about around Portchester Crematorium. Also at this location, a Chiffchaff was heard singing in the trees down by the car park. The showy Fox put in an appearance down in the car park and only just avoided a moving car that did not notice the animal. This individual does not seem to bother with the humans passing by and walks past you sometimes within arms reach! I checked for moths at Portchester Crematorium and came across singles of Double-striped Pug, Beautiful Plume and Common Plume.

Ruff at Pennington Marshes. Photo by Andy Tew.

Today kicked off with a check of my moth box and at last, some decent to look at. There was an Early Grey moth sitting nicely on my white sheet behind the moth box first thing this morning, while nearby, up to 9 Common Plumes and a Light Brown Apple Moth were counted. I only worked the morning as I was to attend the funeral of my friend, John Langmaid at The Oaks Crematorium. There was a very good ‘turn out’ for his funeral and managing to get a seat, I listened to the kind words spoken about him by his friends and also enjoyed looking at the bird feeders outside the Crematorium through the window. I learnt a lot about John’s life, the vast majority of it, which was totally new to me and took me by surprise.

This Little Ringed Plover was photographed at Pennington Marshes. Photo by Andy Tew.

While listening to the service, a male Great Spotted Woodpecker flew down to feed on the fatballs, joining the many Great, Blue and Coal Tits also feeding on the bird food. Even a few Mediterranean Gulls flew past and nearby, a pair of Small Tortoiseshell butterflies danced about by the woodland edge. Even the Reverend who was taking the service, was a lifelong friend of John and got quite emotional talking about John's life, which brought a lump to my throat! I am glad I knew the man, who taught me so much about moths, but not only that, he was so kind with it and always welcomed me when I would bring round some micro moths for him to identify. 

This Common Quaker moth was found by Andy at the back of his house last week. 

Back over in West Sussex, Chichester Gravel Pits offered some really decent birds which included a Bonaparte's Gull (for its second day!), a pair of Red-crested Pochard and a drake Garganey, while a flock of 8 Garganey flew past Selsey Bill early in the morning. A singing Sedge Warbler was present at Titchfield Haven early this morning, the first of this species reported in Hampshire this year. I wonder when I shall see my first.  

The last word goes to this lovely man. You will be missed John.

A breezy morning on Farlington Marshes.

Saturday 19th March 2022.

This 'Light-belled' Brent Goose among the 'Dark-bellied' Brent was our first for the Winter.

I really did not want to go too far from home today as Becky and I were on Grandparent duties today and  so I decided Andy and myself would give Farlington Marshes a try this morning. The weather looked promising with a clear blue sky and virtually sunshine all day, however, we did not count on that nagging blustery cold easterly wind. Even when we were walking up to the viewing platform by the main Lake, two ladies passed us by and said it would have been a  beautiful morning if it wasn't for that wind!

Several Curlews were out in the harbour, west of the reserve.

Brent Geese and wildfowl on the Lake.

The tide was slowly rising within Langstone Harbour, but it wasn't for another couple of hours before high tide and so the exposed mudflats to the west of the reserve only held a handful of Curlews of note. Thankfully, there was a lot more activity on the main Lake where I counted at least 20 Avocets feeding in various areas of the Lake. Other waders present were a tight flock of resting Redshanks at the far end of the Lake, keeping close to the reedbed and out of the wind. More birds continued to fly on to the Lake to join them plus a small group of three Greenshank.

Redshank keeping out of the wind on the main Lake while an Avocet carries on feeding.  

My Swarovski telescope is still being mended and so I could not find any other waders hiding by the reeds and that included any possible Little Ringed Plovers on the north side of the Lake. While checking out the birds here, that included good numbers of Teal and Brent Geese, soon everything went up as a passing Common Buzzard flew high over, heading south west and hotly pursued by a Carrion Crow that would not leave it alone.

An Avocet, Redshank and Greenshank at the back of the Lake.

A passing Common Buzzard put up all the birds on the main Lake.

Eventually we made the decision to make our way anticlockwise around the reserve, but the ‘eye-watering’ wind was a real pain. I could clearly see the storm damage from Storm Eunice  around the southern part of the reserve, with vast amounts of seaweed strewn across the fields and even buckling one of the barbed wire fences. I honestly thought we would bump into a Wheatear or two, but despite checking the fields thoroughly and along the sea wall, we did not come across a single bird. In fact, there were hardly any reported today along the south coast and probably due to that wind putting them off crossing the Channel.

Sunny but cold around by the Point Field.

An adult Mediterranean Gull cruises over the Deeps.

Brent Geese numbers are reducing all the time as reports of large flocks passing Hayling and Selsey have been reported; though Farlington Marshes still held at least 4 to 500 birds at least grazing in various sized flocks throughout the reserve. It was when we took one of the small benches to have a coffee from Andy’s flask, that I picked up our first ‘Light-bellied’ Brent Goose among the ‘Dark-bellied’ birds. It really stood out like a sore thumb among the other Geese, with its much paler flanks ‘glowing’ in the bright sunshine. Also from here, a male Reed Bunting briefly perched on a nearby bramble and out on the Deeps area, vast numbers of Black-headed Gulls jostled for territory on the Tern rafts and around the Deeps itself. I checked the Shovelers, Wigeon and Mallard here for any early Garganey, but to no avail.

This 'ringed' male Reed Bunting showed well while we had a coffee by the Deeps.

We found the remains of this wing which we believe belonged to a Redshank.

After our refreshments, we carried on walking around the perimeter, but there was little of note until we reached the bench overlooking the top of the main Stream, near the Information Centre. Bearded Tits were our main quarry here as we had yet to add this species to our year list. From the bench, there were a further three Avocets asleep by the water and up to 9 Black-tailed Godwits close by. A pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls also rested by the water and a few Moorhens were busy swimming up and down on the water in front of us. At least we were out of that awful wind for a while and with the sun on our backs, it was simply nice to be out. A Cetti’s Warbler sang occasionally behind us and I think we even caught a glimpse of it as it flew overhead and into the reedbed.

Avocets roosting on the top of the Stream.

Some of the Black-tailed Godwits are going into summer plumage.

Walking between the Stream and the Bushes area, we soon came across a singing Chiffchaff within the ‘Double-ponds’ area, but the bird remained elusive and so we carried on towards the main Lake again. Despite the wind, I did hear a Bearded Tit called in the reedbed and eventually, I spotted a bird flying east low over the reeds, but Andy failed to get onto the bird. However, he soon spotted his own bird flying low over the reeds and so Bearded Tit happily climbed on board our year list; my 157th species for the year so far.

A large gathering of Starlings were seen throughout the day, feeding on insects, but had to be on their guard from raptors.

This female Shoveler posed nicely in the sunshine by the Deeps.

While checking the large number of Gulls on the Stream, suddenly everything flew up again and this time it was a superb and very close, male Peregrine coming into hunt. The bird flew some 20 metres away from us as it twisted and turned after some poor hapless bird, but it looked as though it came away fruitless as it hurried off eastbound and out of sight. That was to be our last notable sighting for our trip here today as we made our way along the seawall back to the car park. Another Chiffchaff was heard singing deep within the Bushes area again, to remind us once more that all those Spring migrants are on their way.