Brambling & a superb Merlin out in the 'sticks'!

Saturday 4th March 2023.

It looked far better in the scope! This female Brambling was seen just north of Warnford among the many passerines present.

I was at a bit of a loss on where to go this morning with Andy Fisher and eventually, with Blashford Lakes, Farlington Marshes and a few other areas to think about, I decided to take a drive north-east to Warnham for possible Bramblings. The weather did not look particularly clever, especially for bird photography, what with heavy cloud overhead and the north-easterly still blowing. Even the temperature was colder than yesterday and not rising above 5 degrees centigrade.

This area north of Wheely Farm held a lot of stubble in the field that obviously attracted a lot of finches and Reed Buntings. However, we did not expect so many different birds at just one spot, which made our time here superb. The Brambling was photographed in the trees at the back of this field.

One of the many Reed Buntings present here.

Brambling have been very scarce in Hampshire this Winter and even Blashford Lakes and the New Forest have been parched for this species so far; so when I read earlier this week that a road just north of Wheely Farm near Warnham, had a few birds among the Chaffinches, I decided to take a gamble. Good news, it most certainly paid off, not only for the Brambling, but a very good selection of birds there.

A Red Kite spooked a lot of the passerines, but they did return, thankfully.

As we were both just about to get in the car, I heard a Raven overhead and sure enough, three birds were seen flying eastbound high over the houses. ‘A good omen’ I said to Andy. Then we drove north up the A3 to the village of Warnford. Taking Wheely Down Road from the village of Warnford, we got to the end and then turned right, drove past the Farm and kept an eye out for any finches flying around by the roadside. Some quarter of a mile from the end of the road, we saw a lot of passerines flying around the fields and so I pulled over on the side of the road and began searching through the many birds present. At first, we came across several Reed Buntings, with at least a dozen present and then a large number of Chaffinches flew over our heads, landing in nearby bushes. It was then I heard the familiar call of a Brambling and then caught sight of one landing in a bush on the opposite side of the field from where we stood. My Swarovski scope came to the rescue and there was no doubt we were looking at our first Brambling of the year. Andy punched the air in delight.

Above, a Reed Bunting sharing a bush with a female Chaffinch. Below, a female Reed Bunting landed in a tree close to where we stood.

Question was, how many were there? I think there were at least two birds among the 30+ Chaffinches, but the birds were quite flighty and did not hang around in the same place long. Earlier, as I was driving up to where I parked, Andy spotted a couple of finches perched by the roadside, which turned out to be a pair of Bullfinches. A good start. We then spent the next hour going through the many passerines present here. Both Red Kites and Common Buzzards flew over and even a Mediterranean Gull was heard to call as we watched a high flying bird heading north. Andy still needed a Yellowhammer for his year list and I soon picked out a calling bird in the hedge opposite from where we stood, then it flew over our heads and off over the fields.

This male Yellowhammer was one of three that were seen at Cheesefoot Head.

Andy was now on two new species for the year as we enjoyed several views of the Bramblings, but they were all distant views in my book and so we waited a little longer for a much closer view that never came. During our wait, we heard a Woodlark singing somewhere behind the trees and bushes in front of us, but sadly failed to locate the bird, which was frustrating. Lovely song, nonetheless. A Firecrest suddenly appeared, seen flitting about the Ivy clad trees by the roadside, though it didn't hang around for long. Happy with what we had seen in this one area, I said we would give Cheesefoot Head a try for Corn Buntings. As we drove down to the bottom of the road, the fields to our left held a large number of both Fieldfare and Redwing searching for food on the ground.

Above, good numbers of Red Kite were on the wing today including this individual over Cheesefoot Head. Below, the track we followed by the Scrubby area that held plenty of birds.

The car park at Cheesefoot Head was quite full, but we were lucky enough to grab one of the few parking areas as we soon grabbed our gear to make our way up to the footpath leading to the scrubby area to the south. There was a Tea stall in the car park that was tempting, especially with the delicious looking cakes on sale; but I resisted the temptation (my waistline is bad enough as it is!) and headed off down the track where we came across a couple of Meadow Pipits, at least 3 Yellowhammers and a dozen or so Chaffinches! To ‘cut to the chase’, there was absolutely no sign of any Corn Buntings during our hours walk here, but we did see a fantastic male Merlin come belting in low from over the fields to ambush a large flock of Chaffinches, of which it looked as though it grabbed one, settled on the ground briefly and then headed off south. Another punch in the air from Andy!

Above, one of at least four Brown Hare's we saw today and below, a Roe Deer ran across the field behind the Scrubby area.

There was an awful lot of activity here, which cheered us up no end as the cold temperatures here were really noticeable. Not just birds here were keeping us entertained, but I got onto my first Brown Hares of the year with at least four individuals seen in the fields. Even a Roe Deer ran out of the scrubby area to our right and ran across the field to the north. This in turn flushed up a few Red-legged Partridges while back in the scrubby area, large numbers of both Chaffinch and Linnet were seen. It was most certainly a good day for raptors as good numbers of both Red Kite and Common Buzzard were on the wing here and all over the countryside.

Most of my Red Kite photos came out either poor or blurred, but this distant individual showed very well in front of us at Cheesefoot Head.

While checking the fields on the horizon, there were huge numbers of passerines flying over the fields, though too far to be certain on what they were, but most likely finch flocks along with several thrush flocks too. It was nice to hear Skylark's singing overhead and a few were seen quite well as we made our way back to the car. Crossing the main A272, we took the footpath heading north and tried our luck there for the Corn Buntings; but although I have seen them there in the past, again there was no sign of any. Instead, as well as superb views of the Kites (plus a few Common Buzzards and a male Kestrel), there was a huge mixed flock of both Redwing and Fieldfare on the ground adjacent to the footpath. I also found a few Blackbirds, at least two Song Thrushes and a solitary Mistle Thrush that was perched on a fence post!

The battery in my camera was dying on me, but I managed to grab one photo of the many Fieldfare present at Cheesefoot Head! 

Back at the car park, I fancied trying Alresford Pond in New Alresford; however, on reaching the village, we could not find a suitable parking place and eventually took the Bighton Lane route where we came across some Cress Beds. There was a possible chance of a Green Sandpiper here and so we pulled over and took a look. No sign of any Green Sandpipers, but we did have both Grey and Pied Wagtail plus a Firecrest was flitting about in trees by the roadside. Apparently, viewing the Pond itself is not as easy as it looks and so we aborted that idea and headed off to Petersfield Lake (Heath Pond) for the dodgy Ruddy Shelduck that everyone seems to be ‘ticking off’! Andy had already seen the bird earlier this year, but when I looked today, no sign of the damn thing! Not the ending I was hoping for, but you cannot win them all, as they say. Still, some cracking birds today and a few surprises too.