A good day for moths & birds.

Saturday 18th March 2023.

This Little Ringed Plover was one of a pair flying around the Tern Hide at Blashford Lakes this morning.

I think Spring has most definitely sprung today as temperatures climbed up to a balmy 16 degrees around midday when Andy and myself were birding over Blashford Lakes today. Not only did we have a plethora of bird ‘year-ticks’, but we also had a good selection of moths at both my house and Andy’s house too. You would not have believed it first thing this morning as it seemed too wet and miserable to check my moth box first thing this morning at 6.30am; but the wet weather eventually cleared up and it was a glorious day yet again in the New Forest region.

Above, my first Early Grey moth of the year by my moth box and below, a Beautiful Plume moth.

By my moth box, there were both Common Plume and a Beautiful Plume resting on the white sheet behind my box, but I left looking inside the box, because of the rain, till I got home from the New Forest later in the afternoon. There was nothing in the moth box again, but on the fence panel nearby, my first Early Grey moth of the year was perched, which most certainly put a big smile on my face.

Above, one of four Small Quaker and below, my first Twin-spot Quaker of the year was a nice surprise.

Above, one of two Chestnut moths.

Over at Andy’s house this morning, the egg trays around Andy’s moth box held up to 4 Small Quaker, 2 Chestnut, a Double-striped Pug and best of all, a Twin-spot Quaker. Nearby, perched on one of his greenhouses, a single Common Plume was sat, to round off an excellent number and variety of moths to his trap. Apart from the Common Plume, all the moths were new for the year. The male Blackcap that was heard singing nearby, actually came down to the tree near his back door and showed very well until flying off. What a great start to the day.

Another of the Little Ringed Plovers that was seen flying around by the Tern Hide.

Because of the rain, the proposed plan to go to Farlington Marshes evaporated and a morning in the Hides at Blashford Lake was far more favourable. So westbound along the M27 was made where we saw not only a female Sparrowhawk flying over the road, but also Andy’s first Green Woodpecker of the year! Also, a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew south over the same motorway; all despite the rain falling all the way there to Blashford Lakes. The road through the New Forest, the B3078, produced sightings of at least two male Stonechats, several Skylarks and a couple of Curlews that flew over the road. But it was sad to see two idiot drivers overtaking me, despite doing the max 40 mph along the road and nearly double their speed. No wonder so many animals get killed on the road here.

One of three Red Kites that flew over Ibsley Water.

After grabbing some nosh at the Shell Garage on Salisbury Road, we parked up by the Tern Hide and almost immediately, we saw our first Little Ringed Plovers of the year; a pair that were circling the area calling at the same time. These birds spent the next couple of hours doing this although they did settle a few times in front of the Hide according to other birders. Andy still needed the Scaup for his year list and after checking most if not all the female Tufted Ducks, I eventually picked the bird up some distance away north of the Hide. Incidentally, we never bothered using the Hide and spent the next 4 hours viewing from the Viewing Platform instead, which turned out to be a very good idea.

One of two drake Goldeneye present this morning on Ibsley Water.

The female Scaup was sporting the large amount of white above the base of the bill, though it still looked rather small. At least 6 Goldeneye were still present including a gorgeous drake bird, which spent a lot of its time west of the Hide. All the usual wildfowl were present, though in much reduced numbers and even a drake Goosander flew in to land somewhere near the Goosander Hide. Surprisingly, I found the Black-necked Grebe swimming with two Great Crested Grebes out in the open and quickly put Andy and another birder who joined us, onto the bird. The Black-necked Grebe was not quite in summer plumage but a smart bird nonetheless.

Another shot of the drake Goldeneye.

Waders were in good numbers here too with a healthy number of Black-tailed Godwit seen mostly on one of the islands, including quite a few in full summer plumage. At least 10 Lapwing were noted on the islands, but as well as the Little Ringed Plovers seen throughout our stay there, I found a Ruff walking around one of the islands close to the northern end of Ibsley Water along with a Redshank. The Ruff was new for our year list too, which was totally unexpected and even a calling Curlew got in on the action as it flew north high over the water along with at least three Oystercatchers!

One of the islands on the west side of Ibsley Water held a good number of Black-tailed Godwit.

Always checking the raptors overhead, we had a nice variety here and in good numbers too with Common Buzzards easily outnumbering all other raptors. At least three Red Kites went over as did two sightings of a female Sparrowhawk and finally, a smart male Marsh Harrier flew east over Ibsley Water. An Osprey was reported flying north over Gosport this morning and with all these Alpine Swifts being reported nationally over the UK, we most certainly kept an eye open up above us.

Andy in summer plumage! Yes, it was that warm from the Viewing Platform.

Passerines here included a few singing Chiffchaffs seen (my first singing Chiffs seen this year) nearby and several Reed Buntings also showed well by the Hide. Overhead, I heard the distinctive calls of Sand Martins and quickly got the guys onto the birds as they flew high south over our head, with at least three birds present. About an hour later, another 5 more birds flew south; yet another species added to our year list.

This Redwing showed well by the Blashford Lakes Centre car park. 

At least two Brimstone butterflies flew past us, though would not settle while we were watching the birds from the Viewing Platform, our first of the year too and also a probable Red Admiral belted past us, though far too quick to get a proper ID. Overhead, the midges had gained in number with some settling on my head and what with the heat of the sun (seriously, it was that warm!) I quickly went back to the car to get my hat! All the time we were there, we were getting updates on a female Surf Scoter that had been found this morning off the Jetty at Pennington Marshes. Though I had seen two of this species in Hampshire before, Andy has yet to add this species to his Hampshire list, but when we found out that the traffic lights within Lyndhurst were a nightmare, I gave going for the Scoter a miss.

Another photo of the Redwing.

Instead, we headed back towards Fordingbridge and back on the B3078 to hopefully view a possible Goshawk over the woodland to the north of the road. Despite a lengthy search, there were no Goshawk sightings, but we did see another pair of Red Kites and at least three Common Buzzards. A Woodlark flew over our heads, calling in doing so and headed off north over the heath, which was a nice addition to our day list. By 2pm, I called it a day and we headed back east to our respected homesteads.  Later this evening, I heard that an Alpine Swift had been seen at Swanage, Dorset and at least five birds around the Stanpit Marsh area this evening!!! Surely one will be seen in Hampshire tomorrow?  

My third and final photo of the Redwing. Such smart looking birds.