Saturday 7th January 2023.
After congratulating and presenting Andy with the Pye / Fly cup first thing this morning at his house, we made our way to the New Forest and hopefully caught up with many more bird ‘year-ticks’ for our year list. Though the weather was very wet and windy at times (thank God for the Hides!)I smashed the 100 species for the year with 21 species added to my year list, which put me on 105 for the year. Andy notched up 5 new species, putting him on 110 for the year and that's just the first week of the year!
We had some cracking birds today that included Andy’s first White-tailed Eagle in Hampshire and yes, they are from the Isle of Wight re-introduction scheme, but they are good enough to be classed as wild now in my books. Also, our superb day was rounded off with a superb male Hen-Harrier hunting over the heathland at Black Gutter Bottom, which showed reasonably well although a bit distant. As well as the birds, we both had our first Fallow Deer of the year, with a sighting of two individuals on the outskirts of Eyeworth Wood.
We kicked off Eyeworth Pond where we knew Mandarin Ducks would be lurking about somewhere on or near the Pond and sure enough, I found two drakes over on the far side. The clouds overhead were dark and menacing and the camera struggled a bit to focus in the gloom. Then, in a space of three minutes, three more ‘year-ticks’ were added: Treecreeper, Nuthatch and Marsh Tit, which were all showing relatively well by the edge of the woodland near the Pond. In fact, there were at least 4 Marsh Tits seen when we took a walk through the woodland, though there was very little else of note apart from the two Fallow Deer we saw as we got to the end of the footpath through the wood.
Getting back to the car within the car park, I was quickly onto a Raven that flew high over the woods and just as quickly, it was out of sight, but it was on our year list. Our next stop was to be the car park at Blashford Lakes by the Information Centre. After a quick chat with some of the Volunteer wardens, we made our way to what sounded like Siskins calling in the nearby trees and bushes as we found at least a dozen or so birds among several Goldfinch. Another ‘year-tick’. I also picked up my first Long-tailed Tits while walking to the Woodland Hide, but the Hide itself was fairly quiet and most disappointing was the lack of any Great Spotted Woodpeckers on the near empty feeders.
Sadly, not a great deal of note from the Woodland Hide, so we hotfooted it to the Ivy South Hide where we were a lot more fortunate. From here, we were most fortunate with the weather as the heavens simply opened. That didn't put off the many wildfowl here that consisted of Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck and a few Pintail and we were all entertained by a very obliging Great Crested Grebe that swam very close to the Hide. However, it was ‘year-ticks’ we craved for and a flock of Grey Lag Geese duly obliged, with a large flock flying high over the lake and headed off east.
It got even better when a Great White Egret flew in from somewhere and landed to the west of the lake. Andy popped out of the Hide for a cigarette, while I enjoyed my first Egyptian Geese flying past to add to my ever growing year list. When he returned, a Kingfisher quickly shot past and disappeared from view; but it was another ‘year-tick’ nonetheless. I found an odd female duck among the many Wigeon present and as I did not have my scope with me, I asked the two other birders present if they could check the bird using their scopes. It certainly looked a bit odd as it busied preening itself and it was eventually confirmed as a female Mandarin. Before driving off to the Tern Hide, I gave a donation to the Centre for the bird feed. If you are reading this, when you do visit Blashford Lakes, remember how much goes into keeping the feeders topped up and the maintenance of the reserve. Most of the guys here are Volunteers and if I didn't live so far away, I would most certainly offer my services. And again, just pop a £5 or whatever you can afford to help towards feeding the birds.
The rain had now relented and so we made our way back to the car to take a drive to the Tern Hide. Driving into the car park, a Bullfinch flew low overhead and it was Andy who saw the white rump and confirmed it was most definitely this species. Excellent. I was now on 98 species for the year already! From here, we picked out our first Goosanders of the year, with at least three pairs present among the many wildfowl. One of the birders present picked out the female Red-crested Pochard at the northern end of the lake and quickly got onto the bird through the scope. I got Andy to view the bird and punched the air to claim my 100th species for the year. Huzzah!
Suddenly, all the Coots flew up and scattered across the water, signalling that something exciting had flushed them. Sure enough, the shout went up by one of the two other birders present that the White-tailed Eagle was flying over and Andy and I quickly got onto the bird as it flapped slowly south over the east side of the lake. We all rushed out of the Hide to get a better view as I managed to grab a few photos and some film footage of the bird. This was only my second sighting of one in Hampshire, but it was Andy’s first. Despite checking through all the wildfowl present, the only other birds of note were a few female Goldeneye and at least 40+ Lapwing flying over and landing on the small islands. A Red Kite drifted south low over the reserve, but we both ‘dipped’ on the Peregrine one of the other birders present had picked up.
Very happy with our sightings so far, I suggested to Andy we check out the flooded fields by Ibsley Bridge. From here, we noticed that the River Avon had flooded and in times past, the Bewick Swans used to reside here in the winter, guaranteeing a good ‘year-tick’ for many birders. But this species is getting rarer in the UK and global warming is now being blamed for the birds not travelling as far as the UK in the numbers that used to in the past. On a positive note, both Stonechat (a male) and a Chiffchaff climbed aboard my year list and although there was a large gathering of Gulls out in the fields to the south, nothing of note among them. A Common Buzzard, my first of the day, was seen hovering in the wind north of the road and a male Kestrel was also seen hunting nearby.
Our last stop was to be Blackgutter Bottom before we made our way home and parking up by the side of the road, both Mistle Thrush and Fieldfare flew over the main road and landed in a nearby bush. Both species were ‘year-ticks’ for me, but it was going to get even better. We walked down the hill by the Gorse bushes and got some shelter from the wind using a large bush. Almost immediately, I saw the pale shape of something very interesting on the heath some distance away and it turned out to be a pristine male Hen-Harrier hunting over the heath. What a way to round off our day with another superb ‘year-tick’. When we got back to the car, I spotted the same bird over on the other side of the road and watched it fly south very low over the main road and back over the heath where we discovered it first. Fantastic. Both Andy and myself were in awe in watching one of our most beautiful raptors gliding over the heath. It was simply mesmerising and I was glad I caught some of it on film. It was also my 105th species of the year. We saw a female bird here in February last year and this area is one of the most reliable sites in the New Forest.
The long drive back produced another Great White Egret sighting when I spotted it in a flooded field with a gathering of Little Egrets seen near the bird. Another Kestrel and a Common Buzzard were also seen from a rather quiet M27 (makes a nice change!). Yes, a cracking day's birding, though I had to get home reasonably early for more household chores from the Boss! I read on the Hants Birding site that an adult Ring-billed Gull was found in the Gull roost on Ibsley Water later in the afternoon along with a single Mediterranean Gull.
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