My sightings in 2023.

Sunday 31st December 2023.

As another year draws to a close, I had a look back at some of the most exciting sightings I had throughout the year on a month to month basis. I ended up with a good total of 211 bird species seen in the UK and 203 in Hampshire (which put me in 8th place in the Hampshire listers). I was more than happy with that as I spent most of this year birding in Hampshire only. Something I have never done, I might add. The weather has been very erratic all year with plenty of storms and heatwaves and no snow whatsoever here on the south coast. So I shall go through my year month by month as follows:

Tree Sparrow at Chilling Barns.

January was a busy month, especially starting off by getting to a 100 species first to win the Pye/Fly cup (a birdrace between Mr Andrew Fisher and myself of which Andy won this year). Arguably, I think my bird of the year was seen in January; the superb adult Sabine’s Gull seen at Southmoor, north of Langstone Harbour. Other nice sightings included scarce Hampshire birds that included White-fronted Goose, Red-crested Pochard, Long-tailed Duck (after many attempts!), Velvet Scoter, Glossy Ibis, White-tailed Eagle, a glorious male Hen-harrier in the New Forest, the Southsea Purple Sandpipers, Little Gull off Eastney, Barn Owl, Black Redstart at Sandy Point and a superb male Tree Sparrow at Chilling Barns, which is a real Hampshire rarity now.

The adult Sabine's Gull off Southmoor.

February produced my first Iceland Gull at Redbridge Wharf and Andy and myself managed to see both the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a very distant Great Grey Shrike in the New Forest.

The immature Iceland Gull at Redbridge Wharf.

March’s highlights were my first Scaup; a female on Ibsley Water, Blashford Lakes and a Merlin hunting over Cheesefoot Head.

This Gem moth was a nice surprise in March.

April was always going to be a busy month with spring passage of birds and it didn't disappoint with some really good birds in the mix. There was an influx of Night Herons in the UK and a superb showy adult popped up Stockbridge Common Marsh. A sea-watch from Southsea produced my first Arctic Skua and Arctic Tern of the year while good migrants included a Pied Flycatcher and Redstart at Woolmer Pond, a pair of Stone-curlews at their usual site in the north of the County and a singing Willow Tit, though this bird was seen in North Yorkshire while spending a weeks family holiday up there.

This Night Heron at Stockbridge Common Marsh showed superbly in the sunshine and with a fine supporting cast of birds there too including our first Cuckoo of the year.

May is also considered one of the best months for rare birds, but the rarest bird for me personally, was the Hooded Crow on Gosport seafront, which was only my second of this species I have seen in Hampshire. The New Forest produced a good number of Goshawk sightings this month and I finally saw my first Nightjar for several years in Creech Wood one evening. Wood Warbler was also picked up in the New Forest, but the news of this species is dire as territories held by this lovely warbler have fallen dramatically. A nice summer plumaged Curlew Sandpiper graced Farlington Marshes this month too.

The Hooded Crow at Gosport seafront.

June took in our annual pilgrimage to see the Puffins at Durlston with John Goodall and John Cronin, however, though we never saw any Puffins (the first time I have dipped on them since going to this site), we flushed a Quail by the top fields! Only my second ever sighting of this very elusive species. The only Lesser Whitethroat of the year for me was also seen at Durlston Head and I think this the first year ever I have not seen one of these in Hampshire. Black Terns were seen off Hill Head and the Turtle Dove was also seen in its regular haunt in Hampshire.

A male Turtle Dove seen 'purring' at this secret location. Lets hope their numbers improve.

July can be a quiet month, but we were treated to good views of the Ospreys at Fishlake Meadows and some young Tawny Owls along the Canal Path at Titchfield Haven.

This Osprey at Fishlake Meadows was my first of the year.

August signalled the return leg of the migrant birds as I finally caught up with my first Garganey of the year at Titchfield Haven. Both Manx Shearwater and Storm Petrels were seen off Dawlish Warren while spending a week's family holiday here. Good waders included Little Stints and Wood Sandpipers along with Yellow Wagtail, Whinchat, Little Owl and at last, a Water Rail.

My first Little Stint of the year was at Titchfield Haven.

September was particularly special with both Red-necked and Grey Phalarope seen, the former at Pennington Marshes and the latter on the same day off Hill Head. Cracking birds.

The Grey Phalarope off Hill Head was a very showy bird. Photo by Mark Francis.

October is well known for the month for returning Ring Ouzels and although I never saw one in the spring, we saw several at a good site over at Butser Hill as well as a host of migrant birds on the move. I missed the spring Short-eared Owls at Farlington Marshes earlier in the year, but I finally got onto a gorgeous bird on Farlington Marshes this month; my fourth Owl species for the year.

November was busy with many winter birds returning, including many Redwing and a few Fieldfare coming in. But for me, the best bird of this month had to be the superb showy Black-throated Diver off Redbridge Wharf (where we saw the Iceland Gull earlier this year) in company with a Great Northern Diver.

This Black-throated Diver graced Redbridge Wharf.

December produced probably my second most favourite bird of the year, the Waxwing. Huge numbers arrived in Scotland and finally, they got to Hampshire by the month's end and I was lucky to see them yesterday in the village of Easton and as I write, the two birds present have now increased to 7 birds! The drake Ring-necked Duck at Blashford Lakes also was added to my year total.      

 

And finally, to end another year, this beauty. 

On the Moth front, I saw a total of 276 species for the year that included three macro moth ‘lifers’ : Dwarf Pug, Small Dotted Buff and a Small Grass Emerald. Lifer micro moths included Sallow Button, Marbled Knot-horn, The Forester, Breckland Plume, Dingy Flat-body, Dark Pine Knot-horn, Sycamore-seed Pygmy, White-barred Knot-horn, Square-barred Bell, Saltmarsh Bell, Twin-barred Knot-horn, Crescent Plume, Rosy-striped Knot-horn, Ringed China-mark, Hook-tipped Grass Veneer and finally, Pointed Groundling.

One of my best moths caught this year in my garden, a Gold Spot.

Can 2024 follow that or even beat it? We shall see. Have a Happy New Year to all my readers.

Waxwings in the village of Easton.

Saturday 30th December 2023.

The star bird today. One of the two Waxwings present in the village of Easton.

It looks as though 2023 is going to finish with a flourish as we took full advantage of grabbing another superb Hampshire ‘year-tick’ by adding Waxwing to our respective lists. Reported yesterday in the gorgeous little village of Easton, near Winchester; two Waxwings were seen on a TV aerial and although it was tempting to go for the ones in nearby Surrey, I took a chance and drove through the very wet Hampshire countryside to a village I have never been before. Birding pal, Geoff Farwell, had full knowledge of the area which was very handy as we eventually got to the village, parked up, grabbed our gear and took a walk around the village to hopefully find the birds.

Above, the northern entrance to the village. Below, a Great Tit sharing a tree with a Redwing.

Above, it looks like something out of the Wicker Man! I don't think I will be walking around this village at night with that thing there! Below, a turbulent River Itchen looking west from the road bridge.

Despite the inclement weather, which the rain was squally at times, we noticed a lot of berry-laden bushes around the village, which gave us hope in finding the Waxwings. There was a lot of Redwing around too; obviously taking full advantage of the abundant berries available. Geoff knew the village and eventually, we headed north up Easton Road to the bridge overlooking the River Itchen. From here, we had more sightings of Redwing as well as a Chiffchaff, up to three Little Grebes on the river and a Common Buzzard drifting over the nearby fields. Geoff had seen a Grey Wagtail earlier which settled somewhere on the river bank, but promptly disappeared.

Above and below, Andy found this gorgeous Fieldfare in a small orchard along a footpath, enjoying the many berries present.

Our first views of the Waxwings this morning. Andy ran back to tell us he had seen them and we soon got reasonable views of these amazing birds before they flew off and didn't return for another two hours.

We made our way back into the village via a footpath that took us past an orchard where Andy spotted a superb Fieldfare in one of the small trees. Luckily, it hung around and I managed to grab a few nice photos of the bird in one of the trees. More Redwing flew over as we made our way to the end of the footpath, enjoying a close Goldcrest  on the way. Andy got to the end of the footpath before us, adjacent to the Chestnut Horse Pub and then came running back saying he had seen the Waxwings. It didn't take us long to find the two Waxwings perched in a bush adjacent to a berry-laden bush in someone's front garden. Both birds were calling to one another as I got some record photos of the birds and although not great, one could clearly see they were Waxwings. I quickly put the info out on the ‘Lazee Birders’ App while Andy put the info on Hants Birding website and it didn't take too long for the first excited birders to turn up. However, the birds had disappeared up into a tall tree behind and flew off.

Above, some of the many Waxwing photos I took and also a steady stream of 'toggers' (photographers) getting their fill! A local resident passed us by and asked me if we were paparazzi or twitchers? Neither, I said, We are 'Lazee's'!!!

It took nearly two hours for the birds to reappear and this time, they showed superbly feeding on berries in a front garden opposite the pub. You really couldn't wish for better views as they occasionally got their fill and perched up on the neighbouring TV aerial and then went back down again for another feed. By now, some fellow ‘Lazee’s’ turned up including Pete Appleton and Trevor Griffith and during the birds 20 minute stay here, I think everyone present got to see one of the bird worlds true beauties. The birds eventually flew off and so we made our way back to the car and decided to try our luck at Beacon Hill (another good spot where I have never been before). Speaking to one of the birders present, he said that someone had seen a Hawfinch perched up in a tree behind the pub!

Some more photos of the Waxwings.

The drive to Beacon Hill was a pleasant one as it took us past Cheesefoot Head and Longwood Warren and across some of Hampshire's superb countryside. However, the car park at Beacon Hill is small and very muddy and so I had to be careful where to park, which was near full. There was a ‘yellow weather warning’ in place for the south coast and what with a very strong south-westerly blowing over the hill, it was a tad uncomfortable. Geoff knew the place well and so we went down into a gully that kept us out of the wind and then looked from a spot overlooking the superb countryside to the north. There was a small pond in the distance and another one further to the east, with also Old Winchester Hill in the distance.

My final photos of the gorgeous Waxwings.

From here, we had good numbers of raptors on the wing, despite the windy conditions, that included at least 7 Common Buzzards and four Red Kites. The local Wood Pigeons were in their hundreds and were scattered occasionally by an immature Peregrine flying around and even seen ‘stooping’ to grab a Pigeon. There were hundreds of Corvids down below over the fields and copses and among them, there were at least 7 or more Ravens seen. Four Little Egrets were searching for food in the damp grass in a Highland Cattle field, while passerines noted included a male Bullfinch and a couple of Yellowhammers passing over. There was a ‘shoot’ going on someone to the north as we heard the distant sound of gunshots and even a few ‘beaters’ were seen crossing the fields in the distance. An interesting statistic of around 60 million game birds are released for shooting each year in the UK and people wonder why the likes of Red Kite and Common Buzzard numbers are on the increase, although there are some ‘scumbags’ out there still shooting these superb raptors.

Above, from Beacon Hill, you can see Old Winchester Hill to the east and below, the view from Beacon Hill looking north. One could sit here all day and admire the amount of birdlife here.

Above, one of the small ponds seen from the hill. This pond held several Moorhens swimming on it. Below, one of several Red Kites drifting over the valley below.

We were trying to hang on till dusk for Woodcock are regularly recorded here in the winter, but the weather was getting worse and so we decided to make our way back. And it just so happens that three Woodcock were seen here late afternoon. There were two other ‘toggers/birders’ present while we were there too, so I wonder if it was these guys who saw the Woodcock. This is one species that has eluded me this year, but I still finished with a respectable 211 species for 2023 of which 203 were in Hampshire.

A spot of birding around the harbour entrance.

Friday 29th December 2023.

A hazy sunshine over the harbour entrance at Eastney early this morning.

I wanted to go somewhere different this morning with my dogs and so took them over to Eastney Harbour entrance for a walk up to the Hayling Ferry Terminal. Though a breezy south-westerly was going across the harbour on a rising tide, a possible rain shower quickly petered out as we made our way north. A good scan in the harbour entrance produced a few Black-headed and Herring Gulls, but it wasn't till we neared the Ferry Terminal, that a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers flew in and settled on the water nearby. Nearby, another drake of this species was seen in Lock Lake. Overhead, a pair of Ravens flew over heading high east. If it wasn't for the fact that they called, I would have easily missed them.

Above, one of two Ravens heading high east over the harbour entrance. Below, a Black-headed Gull perched on a lamp post by the RNLI Building.

Above, a clump of Oxford Ragwort growing by the University Building. Below, a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers that flew in and landed near the Ferry Terminal.

Below, the female Merganser came in closer to the shoreline.

Apart from the usual Brent Geese, it was rather quiet looking north from the spit, but on the way back to the car, I spotted something interesting flying south through the harbour entrance and it was in fact a Razorbill. The bird eventually settled on the water within the harbour entrance, but it quickly dived and was never seen again. It simply disappeared! A few mixed flocks of both Dunlin and Sanderling also headed south through the harbour entrance. I did check out the same area from the Ferry Road Car Park, but I was put off from birding from here as there were some rather big dogs in the car park. So, instead, I took a drive down Ferry Road to view the harbour from here and pulling the car over, I found a Greenshank standing nearby on the foreshore with a juvenile Brent Goose. Nearby, a couple of Oystercatchers were feeding along with a Redshank also on the foreshore which rounded off a nice hour's birding. This particular area of Eastney I have never done any birding, but I most certainly will not rule it out in the future.  

Above, a pair of Black-headed Gulls on the beach with a drake Merganser swimming behind them. Below, a colour-ringed Greenshank and juvenile Brent Goose opposite Ferry Road, Eastney.

Above, a Redshank with Oystercatchers also opposite Ferry Road. Below, the juvenile Brent Goose flying away.

It  was all systems go for the ‘Lazee’s’ this morning as some Waxwings were recorded in the north of the County at a place called Bradley, near Basingstoke and another two reported at Easton, near Winchester. Hopefully, these birds will still be around tomorrow, fingers crossed.