Hobby over The Oaks and Swifts arrive.

Thursday 12th May 2022.

A Speckled Wood butterfly at Portchester Crematorium this week. There has been a distinct lack of moths at Portchester Crematorium this week and most likely due to the cold nights we are currently experiencing.

Finally coming to the end of another working week and there have been a few interesting sightings along the way. The weather has been mostly indifferent this week, starting off mild and slowly warming up and there is supposed to be a heatwave on the way as well! However, the evenings and overnight have been quite cold (down to 4 degrees tonight), so whether that is going to be good for ‘Moth-ing’ is anyone’s guess. Fine if you're near woodland, but potentially crap if you live near the sea like I do!

I don't think Spring has lived up to its rarity status yet, but as I write this, a male Blue Rock Thrush has turned up at The Naze, Essex this morning and the Black-browed Albatross is still present at Bempton Cliffs, East Yorkshire. Sorry, I am not driving all the way up there. Maybe it might pass Selsey Bill or Gillkicker one day? Hampshire and West Sussex have had the usual migrants coming through with a few Roseate Terns being found and although both Arctic and Great Skua have been passing Selsey Bill, the Pomarine Skua activity has all but dried up for now.

On the subject of Swifts, this superb photo of one today over Romsey by Andy Tew.

This week, Monday bird sightings kicked off with 2 Red Kites over Portsdown Hill in separate locations and a hovering Kestrel by the roadside. I finally saw my 3rd Swift of the year flying over the Hill heading north and this was after a birding friend of mine, John Goodall, had texted me to say he had just seen one over Albert Road, Southsea, earlier this morning! On Tuesday, I saw my first Hobby of the year; a very brief, but stonking view of a bird flying north very low over the car park at The Oaks Crematorium. That was a nice surprise. Also at The Oaks, a Green Woodpecker flew over the road there and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was ‘drumming’ consistently within the woodland adjacent to the main car park. Swift numbers are now on the rise and I saw quite a few today including over The Oaks along with a singing Chiffchaff.

Wednesday produced another Red Kite sighting while driving over Portsdown Hill and also a Common Buzzard, a Kestrel and a pair of Skylarks were seen near Skew Road. A few Swallows were noted and again, good numbers of Swifts were present in various locations during my working day. Today, it was virtually the same as yesterday, with Red Kite, 2 Buzzards and 2 Skylarks were noted over Portsdown Hill and at least two Buzzards were noted over the A27 while driving to Chichester. Swifts are well and truly in now and I enjoyed tonight watching them zoom over my house.

I am hoping to pay a visit to Martin Down shortly, hoping to see the elusive Turtle Dove. I dipped last year when Andy and I visited this superb site, but we did get a good variety of birds and insects there. This bird was photographed by Pete Appleton on the 8th May.

My birding pal, John Goodall, had a sea-watch from our old Shelter on Southsea seafront this morning between the hours of 6 and 7.45am and notched up a Common Sandpiper, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Cormorant and a Shag all going west, while a pair of Oystercatchers were going east!    

A Swift and Pom day!

Monday 9th May 2022.

A Carrion Crow among the Starlings on the rooftop of a nearby house by the Cemetery yesterday.

It was back to work today and an early start meant I was making my way to our Rose Green branch around 7.15am this morning and hitting the horrible Chichester traffic en route. Not only do I hate early starts, but also getting through that damn Chichester traffic is a bloody nightmare. Sadly, the lovely town of Chichester has virtually become a car park and it can only get worse it seems. Anyway, enough ranting about the roads, I did keep an eye out for anything interesting, but my previous rant brings me to the huge queue I joined trying to get to the roundabout at the end of the A27. While traveling at approximately 5mph, one can see all the road kill on the side of the road and my heart dropped when I saw a male Kestrel in pristine condition, laying dead on the edge of the road. Foxes, Deer, Badgers and countless numbers of birds lay dead along the A27 and it is only going to get worse as mentioned before.

A Robin in full song within the Cemy.

Starlings searching for food with a Blackbird.

Yesterday, I took Isabelle for an afternoon stroll around Highland Road Cemetery and although she was riding her bike again, I did keep an eye out for anything interesting. There was nothing that spectacular to raise the pulse within the Cemy, with about 11 species being seen or heard during my walk round. I think the insects and plants were more interesting with both Small White and Holly Blue butterflies on the wing and good numbers of the Batman Hoverfly, Myathropa florea which were sunbathing either on some leaves or on the sunlit bough of a tree. Another cracking little Hoverfly, Epistrophe eligans, showed well too in the bright sunshine and one nearly landed on our Isabelle’s hand!

A male Epistrophe eligans Hoverfly.

The Batman Hoverfly, most certainly a name that stands out, but the experts would rather say Myathropa florea. 

Wild flowers are starting to be more prolific with the likes of Common Vetch, Cinquefoil, Birds-foot Trefoil and Creeping Buttercup all showing well. The lovely blues of Common Speedwell stood out well against the rich greens of the grass and I had a job to keep my eyes off the sky rather than checking the ground for plants and insects. We came across a group of foraging Starlings in search of food for their voracious youngsters. One of the nest boxes opposite my house has a hungry brood within it as does my next door but one neighbour; so I am glad the Starlings are doing well. On the subject of my near neighbours Starlings, I heard the distinctive alarm call of a Starling as a female Sparrowhawk sped low over the houses in search of prey. Unfortunately, no Sparrowhawks were heard or seen within the Cemy.

Creeping Cinquefoil starting to bloom along the footpaths.

Common Vetch.

Herb Bennet

It is about time the Swifts returned to Southsea, but there were none seen at all during the afternoon here, however, that was about to change today. Though I was working, occasionally I had the chance to check my mobile phone and though superb for some, it was a nightmare for me. As early as 7am, Pomarine Skua’s were being reported all along the south coast and would you believe it, at least three went past Gilkicker Point! Absolutely bugger all yesterday and today, the Solent was to be awash with decent seabirds going through including both Roseate and Black Terns. I think Selsey Bill got the cream of the crop with at least 35+ going through though Cut Bridge (Millford-on-sea) had a staggering 53 reported (plus 12 Arctic Skua, 3 Little Gull and a Roseate Tern! There is some superb video footage of the birds passing Selsey Bill on their website. Jealousy doesn’t even cover it.

Birds-foot Trefoil.

Creeping Buttercup.

Mind you, on my travels today, I experienced a decent Swift invasion and finally, Southsea has its Swifts back with at least 5 seen over my house this evening. My birding pal, John Goodall, who is working near where I live text me this morning to say that he had seen one over Albert Road, Southsea and literally half an hour later, I saw a bird flying over Portsdown Hill along with 2 Red Kites and a hovering Kestrel! Two more Swifts were seen flying over Chichester and once back in Southsea, they seem to be abundant. My day did not end too well, when a bird (I never saw it happen) landed on top of the bird feeder and knocked off the feeder on the newly laid paving slabs and broke the feeder! Bugger!  

This Charming Man. Isabelle took this photo of me holding her bike.

Too quiet off Gilkicker Point.

Sunday 8th May 2022.

A very calm and quiet sea off Gilkicker Point this morning.

With a promise of a good seawatch this morning from Gilkicker Point, I got permission from my wife to make my way, nice and early, down to the site this morning and to put it bluntly, I should have stayed at home! Some twat on the M27 decided to play ‘silly buggers’ on the road and nearly went into the back of my car and on arrival, I got a phone call from Andy House that he would not be making the trip to Gillkicker due to a Temminck's Stint being found at Pennington Marshes this morning.

One of a few Starlings coming down looking for food on the beach. 

So, I was all on my lonesome this morning, up until another ‘Lazee Birder’, JB turned up though soon got back into this car and made his way to Pennington too. Half an hour later, Andy Tew arrived and he was disappointed that no-one else was here and doubly disappointed by the lack of birds going through. Yes, there were a lot of Gulls out in the Solent, hundreds in fact, but very little else of note passing through. Just one Sandwich Tern and 5 Common Terns all heading east, was the sum total of a very quiet sea-watch; plus 1 Little Egret heading west, 2 Ringed Plover flying east and a pair of Oystercatchers (both still in winter plumage?) and finally, a single Swallow heading north off the sea.

Sea Kale was abundant on the beach here at Gilkicker.

A Common Seal was seen about half a mile out, attracting the attention of a small number of Herring Gulls and apart from a few Cormorants fishing offshore and a Great Black-backed Gull eating something on the surface of the water (fish or a dead bird?), it was too quiet and by 8.30am, it was time to drive back to Southsea. A few Starlings and House Sparrows came down to search for food among the flowering Sea Kale growing on the beach and behind the shelter, a Common Whitethroat was heard singing somewhere on the brambles.