Leach's Petrel off Sandy Point.

Saturday 26th November 2022.

One of at least two juvenile Little Gulls off Sandy Point this morning.

There were no moths in or around Andy’s moth box this morning when I checked this morning, which was disappointing, although somewhat expected. End of the year ‘moth-ing’ is really a bit of a hit or miss affair and mostly the latter, hence why I don't put my moth box on all that often at this time of year. Rain was forecast for later this afternoon and so I was deciding to either go to Selsey Bill and Medmerry over in West Sussex or Hayling Island for the Little Gulls off Sandy Point?

Above, one of the adult Little Gulls and below, one of the adult Kittiwakes off Sandy Point. 

I went to the latter site and was so glad I did after the super array of quality birds we saw this morning and into the early afternoon! I knew Andy had not seen a Little Gull this year and with these dainty little birds hanging around in the harbour entrance by the Lifeboat Station most of the week, he stood a good chance of adding this species to his year list, which currently stood at 193 species for the year. Parking in Seafarers Walk, we walked down the muddy track to Sandy Point, picking up a calling Firecrest along the way. On exiting the footpath, a quick scan into the harbour entrance and we were soon onto our first Little Gulls of the day!

Above, adult Kittiwake with the juvenile Little Gull. Below, the juvenile Little Gull with an adult Little Gull.

The sea was racing into the harbour and though a bit choppy, I counted at least 5 Little Gulls (4 adults and a juvenile bird) flying out of the harbour towards the Solent. These were joined by an adult Kittiwake with them and at least two Razorbills on the water, which added to the excitement. Within a few minutes, we were joined by fellow ‘Lazee Birders’ Andy Friend and Simon as I pointed out the birds within the harbour entrance. It was a bit of a job to keep up with all the excitement, though there were just the two Little Gulls left to enjoy along with Kittiwake and even a juvenile Mediterranean Gull came in with the birds to make a very interesting photograph! 

Above, an extraordinary photo from left to right: Black-headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, adult Little Gull, juvenile Little Gull and an adult Kittiwake. Below, a Sandwich Tern flying out into the Solent from the Harbour entrance.

Happy with our sightings, we all made our way to the Lifeboat Station where it was safe to say, out of the wind! From here, more ‘Lazee Birders’, Becky Ladd and Gary Fennemore, were sitting on the benches enjoying the bird fest. They kindly put us onto a Slavonian Grebe within the swell and white waves within the harbour entrance, with the bird showing very well at times. I picked out a Diver species flying over Chichester Harbour and we all agreed, once it landed, that it was a Great Northern Diver and I believe I might have had a second bird further to the west near Thorney Island.

Adult Little Gull flying out towards the Solent.

It was all go for a while when an immature Shag was picked up by one of the tall posts within the harbour entrance and then at least two Sandwich Terns flew south close in. The Little Gulls, both an adult and juvenile bird, were now joined by a second juvenile bird and we even found another two more much further to the north within the harbour and a second Kittiwake. All told, we think there were 3 Kittiwakes present and with the news of at least 5 Little Gulls over at Fishbourne Creek this morning, how many Little Gulls were actually in the area? Pete Gammage and Keith Turner joined us when we were at the Lifeboat Station and later in the afternoon, they notched up another 5 more Little Gulls and 3 Kittiwakes by the Inn on the Beach pub on the seafront!

Above, one of the juvenile Little Gulls and below, a pair of Stonechats were on brambles by the beach, including this lovely male.

By now, both Andy Friend and Simon had left to go for the Great Grey Shrike in the New Forest, when news of a Sooty Shearwater had flown west through the Solent off Hill Head! What the ………!!! So we all 'bee-lined' to the seafront and set up a scope hoping to get a view of this rare bird for Hampshire. I have never seen any Shearwater species in Hampshire so I was never going to be dipping out on this opportunity. Though braving the windy conditions from a blustery southerly wind, unfortunately, we had no sightings of the Shearwater, but at least a Leach’s Petrel made up for that! 

One of the two Great Northern Divers within the north area of Langstone Harbour.

While carefully scanning the sea, I saw something interesting, small and dark, rise up above the waves through my scope and I was in no doubt that it was Leach's Petrel and Gary was on the same bird as the shout of Petrel went up. Both Becky and myself were on the bird and although I only got two glimpses of the bird, I was in no doubt that it was my first Leach’s Petrel for many a year and my 223rd species for the year. Unfortunately, Andy did not get on the bird at all, but it was really a scope job and the bird simply vanished and was not to be seen again. Apart from another adult Kittiwake flying in over our heads and over the nature reserve behind us plus a flock of around 50+ Sanderling belting along the shoreline, nothing else of note was seen and so we made our way back to the car.

The juvenile Little Gull (left) and adult Little Gull within the harbour entrance.

We bumped into Andy Tew on the way back, who was sporting his new Canon R7 Camera, along the beach after he successfully got his Little Gull for the year from the Lifeboat Station and after a brief chat, he headed off to join Gary, as Andy and myself made our way back to the car, enjoying 3 Goldcrests along the pathway to the car. We took a quick look on Sinah Warren to see if there was anything of note on the water there, but apart from three Tufted Duck, all was quiet. So we popped into 'Greggs' on the way to Southmoor to try our luck with the Long-tailed Duck that was seen this morning.

Another photo of the Black-headed Gull, immature Mediterranean Gull, adult Little Gull, juvenile Little Gull and the adult Kittiwake. 

From the car park at Southmoor, a few birders were there and one chap told us that he had seen it earlier heading towards the Broadmarsh area and despite a lengthy search for around an hour over a high tide, there was no sign of the bird whatsoever. That's the fourth time Andy had tried and failed to see this very elusive duck! Despite being a bit choppy, I did pick out two Great Northern Divers off the Broadmarsh & Slipway area along with a Little Grebe, a pair of Goldeneye and several Great Crested Grebes and Mergansers. Several Rock Pipits were seen flying round the seaweed area and the sea wall and one of the Harbour Seals popped his head out of the water every so often which was quite entertaining. 

The Harbour Seal popping its head out of the water viewed from Southmoor Car Park.

That was one incredible morning’s birding and although the Sooty Shearwater would have been fantastic to see, I was more than happy with the contents of our morning’s trip to Hayling Island and Southmoor. Selsey Bill boasted another Little Auk going west this early this morning; the second one this week! 

An update on this week's superb birding.

Friday 25th November 2022.

The Great Grey Shrike at Pig Bush, New Forest. Photo by Andy Tew.

As the weekend draws near, this week has not been a bad one at all with some superb birds putting on a great show for all the ‘Lazee Birders’ and other birders as well and some superb photos have been taken by the guys too. The wet, stormy weather has not helped much for viewing, but it has most certainly brought in some superb birds with it.

Above, one of the juvenile Little Gulls of Sandy Point earlier this week. Photo by Andy Friend. 

The Great Grey Shrike in the Pig Bush area of the New Forest has been putting on quite a show for the ‘Lazee’s’ ,with a back up support of both a ringtail Hen-harrier and Jack Snipe seen in the same vicinity! The stormy weather certainly brought in the seabirds with good numbers of Little Gulls seen along the coast, along with large numbers of Kittiwakes and a Leach's Petrels off Milford Haven again yesterday. 

The obliging Snow Bunting at Milford-on-sea today. Photo by Andy Tew.

Yesterday, a Snow Bunting was discovered in front of a Cafe at Milford-on-Sea and attracted a few of the ‘Lazee Birders’ to make their way to the destination. There has been another long staying individual Snow Bunting and that is residing over at Pagham Harbour, on the spit and showing very well again today. 

The Modest Sphinx Moth caterpillar in my friends garden. Photo by Alta Hancock.

Not only birds have been noted this week, but a friend of mine who resides in South Africa, kindly sent me a photo of a Caterpillar that she had found in her garden in Mbombela, within the district of Mpumalanga, which turned out to be a Modest Sphinx Moth caterpillar; one from the Hawk-moth family. Her neighbour, who is a keen naturalist, also found a superb moth, a Cabbage Tree Emperor Moth. You might think why have foreign moths on my blog; well, if someone is happy to send photos of any form of nature, I don’t see why not. Not only that, but I find some of these foreign moths amazing to look at. 

The Cabbage Tree Emperor Moth that was filmed by Alta's neighbour in his garden.

Birding pal, Geoff Farwell had yesterday off work and took a visit to the Boarhunt area for a spot of Birding and found 2 Firecrest, 3 Stonechat, Red Kite, 2 Common Buzzards and a Woodcock! Lets see what this weekend has to offer?

The Snow Bunting at Milford-on-Sea today. Film footage taken by James Cutting.

Long-tailed Duck at Southmoor.

Friday 25th November 2022.

This Common Buzzard showed well behind the pools at Budds Farm.

The weather had finally changed for the better today with bright sunshine, a near clear blue sky  with just a light breeze blowing across Langstone Harbour over a fairly high tide. I thought I would try my luck again for the Long-tailed Duck and this time it was third time lucky. Though to be honest, it really took some finding. There was a good supporting cast of birds this morning as well, which made the trip here even more enjoyable.

Above, Teal and a Coot on one of the pools on Budds Farm and below, the distant Great Northern Diver off Southmoor Car Park. 

I parked up around 10.30am within the Southmoor car park, sharing the car park with a couple of guys sea angling by their van. A light breeze came across the harbour, but the visibility was good and the water was nowhere near as choppy as it was yesterday. A couple of flocks of Red-breasted Mergansers swam nearby along with good numbers of Great Crested Grebe dotted about the harbour, including a few close birds that needed their photograph to be taken! A little further out were at least 5 Goldeneye bobbing on the water that included three drakes and two females.

Above, another photo of the Great Northern Diver. Below, a pair of drake Red-breasted Mergansers swimming together. There were many Mergansers in the northern half of Langstone Harbour this morning.

I picked up a Diver species some distance out near Long Island and through the scope, I could clearly see it was a Great Northern Diver; a rather thick-set bird with a large dagger like bill and an immature bird judging by the upperparts. A little while later (I couldn't relocate the earlier bird seen), I saw three Great Northern Divers together, albeit distantly, swimming and fishing west towards Long Island and the island behind. A good number for Langstone Harbour I assume? While checking the Divers, something interesting popped up in front of them and sure enough, it was the immature / female type Long-tailed Duck at last. I had almost given up hope in finding the bird but it was a busy little blighter and never stayed above water for long. I saw the bird a total of three times during my stay here, but at last, it climbed aboard my year list. 222 species for the year now. 

Above, a few Great Crested Grebes were close in and below, were joined by good numbers of Wigeon.

Back nearer to shore, a large contingent of Wigeon came in from the west close in and among them I found two Little Grebes bouncing on the water. Regularly checking the islands to the south for any raptors, I noticed three guys walking across Long Island, which I assume were from the RSPB. I watched them intently for a while, but I am sure that they were there for good intentions. There were plenty of waders resting on the islands with large flocks of Curlew, Dunlin and Lapwing flying around over the islands. A Chiffchaff began calling behind me and I saw the bird perch up on a bush from the hill behind me and then flew off towards Southmoor.  

Above and below, a pair of drake Goldeneye swimming offshore.

I couldn't leave here without checking the pools by the Water Treatment works and on return to the car, I noticed a Grey Wagtail some distance away in the road, but the bird flew towards me and landed by a large puddle close to where I stood and so I took a few photos and some film footage of the gorgeous little bird. Then a Chiffchaff was heard calling nearby and I found it flying into the nearby tall grass near the Wagtail and then returning to the roadside bushes. Eventually, it flew over the road and into the bushes on the opposite side. 

Above, the Grey Wagtail within the car park and below, a Chiffchaff joined the Wagtail. 

Overlooking the pools, the usual wildfowl were present, though no sign of any Pochard this morning. A resting Grey Heron was joined by at least three Little Egrets by the Pools, all picked out nicely from the bright sunshine. A large gathering of Redshank (60+) were joined by at least 5 Greenshank among them and on the fence separating the Pools and the Water Treatment tanks, a Common Buzzard was perched. The local Crows and Gulls did not take too kindly to it being there and flushed the bird until it disappeared to the west. Where I stood, by the small trees overlooking the Pools, a flock of Long-tailed Tits came in and showed well and they were joined by another Chiffchaff, my third sighting of the morning (or was it the same individual?). Temperatures have dropped a lot over this week and so getting a bit cold, I decided to make my way back home, reflecting on a great morning's birding.

Above, the Common Buzzard soon flew off and below, the resting Grey Heron taking in the sunshine on the Pools.

There have been some very good sightings around Hampshire this morning that included yesterday’s Snow Bunting still foraging around on the short grass by the Needle Eye Cafe at Milford-on-sea. From Sandy Point this morning, a Grey Phalarope was found briefly by fellow ‘Lazee’, Becky Ladd, along with 3 Little Gulls, a Slavonian Grebe and a Great Northern Diver! What else will be found today?        

A couple of roosting Greenshank with a Redshank on the Pools at Budds Farm. Below, some film footage of the Grey Wagtail at Southmoor Car Park this morning.  

An hour at Budds Farm.

Thursday 24th November 2022.

Teal and Shoveler on the north side of the pools at Budds Farm.

As I had some time on my hands today, I thought I would try my luck back over Southmoor and have another bite at trying to see the Long-tailed Duck. Though I knew high tide was around midday and the harbour viewed from the Eastern Road looked quite promising, I didn't count on the strong southerly wind blowing over the harbour when I arrived at the car park at Southmoor around 10am. It was actually blowing a gale, with a few waves crashing over the harbour wall and though I had a quick scan through the binoculars over the harbour, I could see it was going to be a waste of time trying to locate that elusive duck!

Above, one of two drake Pochard (left) this morning along with a Coot. Below, Redshank roosting on the Pools.

Shame, as I was really looking forward to scanning the harbour through my scope, so I made a look at the pools at Budds Farm. I actually saw a Long-tailed Duck on here a few years back, but no such luck today. Though all the usual wildfowl were here again, there was a bit of variety during the hour spent there. It wasn't too windy here and almost immediately, a male Kestrel flew low over the pools heading west and a little while later, a male Sparrowhawk flew out of the nearby bushes and flew low to my right and promptly disappeared from view.

Above, a Little Grebe swimming along one of the pools and below, at least 6 Little Grebes within this photo.

Earlier, when I parked up at Southmoor, a flock of around 12 Greenshank flew high east towards the pools on Southmoor. They must have been on the Budd’s Farm pools earlier and now, replaced by at least a flock of 30+ Redshank instead over on the north side of the pools. Mallard, Shoveler, Teal, Gadwall and a few Tufted Ducks were present and again, good numbers of Little Grebes around the pools with at least 15 birds counted.

Above, a pair of Gadwall and below, a Little Egret flew in and landed among the Redshank. 

A Kingfisher was seen twice flying over the pools and settled very briefly on the north side, but too quick for me to grab a photo. Below me, within the scrubby bushes, at least two Chiffchaffs were calling, including one that flew up and then disappeared into the vegetation again. A Grey Wagtail flew low over the pools heading east until out of view and a Little Egret flew onto the pools and rested with the Redshank. Heavy rain is forecast for later today and so I gave it a good hour here before making my way back home.

The Great Grey Shrike at Pig Bush, New Forest. Photo by Pete Appleton.

There has been a Great Grey Shrike present at the Pig Bush site within the New Forest over the past 7 days and the ‘Lazee Birder’ Whatsapp site has been inundated with some superb photos and film footage of the bird (see photos) and is still present today. This morning, 3 Little Gulls, a Great Northern Diver and a Kittiwake have been seen around the Lifeboat Station area off Sandy Point, Hayling Island. Selsey Bill had a good sea-watch yesterday morning with a sighting of a Little Auk flying west and up to 15 Little Gulls & 23 Kittiwakes going through, heading west.    

Film footage of the same Great Grey Shrike at Pig Bush, New Forest by James Cutting.

A trip to the Oyster Beds and Budd's Farm.

Sunday 20th November 2022.

Waders, mostly Dunlin, Grey Plover and Turnstone resting on the Oyster Beds.  

There was no birding yesterday as I had the opportunity to move some garden furniture to my daughters house, courtesy of using our friend's van and therefore, I had to priortise what was most important. Hence, that is why I went birding this morning with Mr Andy Fisher today. As I had to abort birding at the last moment, Andy had put his moth box on overnight and sent me a photo of the only moth present, a Feathered Thorn. I told him to hold onto it for this morning.

Above, the Feathered Thorn moth at Andy's house and below, the Jasmine Moth that was by my moth box this morning. 

I, however, put my moth box on overnight and was well rewarded with a massive total of 3 moths again! At least one of them was a ‘year-tick’, a superb Palpitra vitrealis or commonly known as a Jasmine Moth! An immigrant moth, they are pretty much annual to my garden, but this was the first for the year, which I shall be releasing tonight. The other two moths were both Light Brown Apple Moth. I managed to get to Andy’s  house and the usual time and got to see my first Feathered Thorn of the year and then released the moribund individual back into this garden.   

Above, Red-breasted Mergansers on the Oyster Beds and below, an Oystercatcher totally outnumbered by Redshank also on the Oyster Beds.

The weather was looking good today, despite overnight rain and I had already decided to go to Hayling Oyster Beds to try for the Long-tailed Duck that had been seen here yesterday within Langstone Harbour. This species had eluded me this year so far and with this individual being seen over the past week around the northern half of the harbour, the game was afoot. Not only that, but Andy still needed Black-necked Grebe for his year list. He was over this neck of the woods yesterday and told me that the entrance to the car park was flooded, but, thankfully, the water had receded as we parked up and made our way to the Beds.

Above, Grey Plover and Dunlin roosting on the Beds and below, one of many Great Crested Grebes present here.

The tide was high when we arrived, with small numbers of Brent Geese nearby and waders gathering on the spit to the west. On the Beds themselves, there was a good number of Mergansers on the water with up to around 12 birds present and showing relatively well. Rock Pipits were flying around near us, settling on the shoreline at times and as we neared the end of the footpath overlooking the harbour to the west, I then set up the scope. Unfortunately, there was a strong westerly blowing over the harbour, making viewing a tad difficult and despite a good search over the harbour, all I could find was about 12 Great Crested Grebes and a few more Mergansers. A large flock of Cormorants flew over and landed on the water of which I counted 53 birds in total!

Above, Dunlin and other waders whirling around the Oyster Beds at high tide. Below, another Great Crested Grebe showing well. 

Above, the old Hayling Billy Railway Line adjacent to Langstone Bridge. 

Andy suggested looking north towards Southmoor for the Long-tailed Duck and so we made our way to the northern  side of the reserve  where we had many more sightings of Great Crested Grebe and at least three Goldeneye (two gorgeous drakes and a female bird) not too far away from Langstone Bridge. We made our way to the Hayling Billy Trail and after Andy brought back a couple of coffees from the nearby Garage, we took a walk to the end of the old railway line. From here, a Sandwich Tern drifted past and headed east towards Emsworth Harbour and a Kingfisher briefly put in an appearance as it belted past us, calling in doing so. A quick check on the ‘Lazee Birders’ Whatsapp revealed that fellow ‘Lazee’, James Cutting, had a pair of female Goosander among the Mergs from nearby Southmoor. Checking through my scope, I could just make out a single bird swimming among the Brent Geese. 

Above, one of the drake Goldeneye within the northern harbour and below, the three Black-necked Grebes in the south part of the harbour. 

Above, two of the four Greenshank present on the pools by the Water Treatment Works.

By now, the overhead cloud had disappeared and the sun had reappeared and so we retraced our steps and viewed again from the south side of the Oyster Beds. Again, all the usual wildfowl were present within the harbour, but this time, I found the Black-necked Grebes with three birds swimming close together just to the south of where we stood (see photo). Andy was well pleased after adding this species to his year total and then found out that James Cutting had just found the Long-tailed Duck swimming close to Long Island, from Southmoor. 

Above, an interesting looking female Tufted Duck sporting a lot of white around the bill along with another female Tufted Duck on the Budds Farm pools. Below, some of the large flock of Cormorants flying overhead by the Oyster Beds.

Heading back to the car, all was fairly quiet on our journey there and we soon headed off to Southmoor to find this elusive Long-tailed Duck. We parked up on top of Budds Farm overlooking the harbour, but with the glare of the sun on the water plus the breeze blowing into our faces, viewing was not so easy. Again, plenty of Great Crested Grebes, Mergansers and Goldeneye, but no sign of the Duck. Grumble!

Above, there were not too many passerines around the Oyster Beds today, so these Goldfinch were nice to see. Below, some of the many Brent Geese over the harbour this morning.

So, we tried our luck from Southmoor itself and as the tide was now receding, I scanned the whole northern end of the harbour several times but to no avail. I got to see the female Goosander again, this time swimming very close to the shoreline, but you would have had to use a scope to get a reasonable view of it. There was nothing out of the ordinary here and so we finished off checking out the Water Treatment Works at Budd’s Farm instead. From here, there was a variety of wildfowl here, notably Teal, Gadwall, 2 drake Pochard, Mallard and several Tufted Ducks. I counted at least 14 Little Grebes on the water and around the reedbeds and over on the far side, four Greenshank were resting on the water's edge.

Above, a pair of roosting Oystercatchers on the Beds and below, a Little Egret doing exactly the same thing.

Above, the resplendent drake Red-breasted Merganser also on the Beds.

A Kingfisher, our second of the day, flew over the water and eventually settled within a Willow tree and a Water Rail was heard calling deep within the brambles below. It was now around 2pm and I decided to call it a day. Though frustrating on ‘dipping’ out on the Long-tailed Duck, I am sure we will eventually get to see one over the winter. Nevertheless, it was a good morning's birding with some lovely sightings, especially watching the aerial flights of the many Dunlin present around the Oyster Beds. Magical.

Another photo of the Black-necked Grebes off the Oyster Beds.