New Year's Day birding.

Monday January 1st 2024.

Brent Geese at dawn over the Solent.

New Year's Day always signals a ‘Dawn till dusk’ birdwatch and we most certainly took in the whole day to notch up a grand total of 87 species, despite the grim weather in the afternoon. Andy did the driving (yep, seriously!!) as we belted around some of Hampshire’s finest countryside and coastline in search of as many species possible during the time we had. We took in 6 different locations throughout the day and with Andy picking me up around 7.45am, we headed off to Southsea Castle for our first port of call. Incidentally, my first bird species of 2024 was a Herring Gull!

Below, though distant and in poor light, I just managed to get a shot of the Purple Sandpiper on the rocks. Below, one of the Rock Pipits seen today with this one at Fort Cumberland.

Above, we had a good number of Shags on the Solent today with this bird seen off Eastney and below, this Kestrel just took off as I clicked the shutter; also at Fort Cumberland. 

Though the light was still poor as sunrise wasn't till just after 8am, I did struggle to get any decent photos here, but we got our main quest; the Purple Sandpipers. At least three, possibly four birds were seen, though three took off leaving one behind on the rocks, thankfully! There was no sign of any Black Redstarts despite a thorough search of the rocks below and nearby Castle, which was disappointing; but we did pick up at least four Shags flying close in over the Solent. Brent Geese, Feral Pigeon, Wood Pigeon, Starling, Common and Great Black-backed Gull quickly followed and an Auk species that hurried through over the Solent was most likely a Razorbill.

Above, both Oystercatchers and (below) Redshank were abundant on Farlington Marshes & Langstone Harbour this morning.

Above. male and female Teal by the harbour wall at Farlington Marshes and below, so was this drake Pintail.

Next stop was to be Fort Cumberland for possible Divers and Barn Owl. Sadly, neither were present here, but we did see our first Kestrel of the day along with Stock Dove, Rock Pipit, several Sanderling and Cormorant. Another good scan around the derelict buildings revealed no birds apart from the many Feral Pigeons. The good news was that the weather was holding and the morning was actually quite bright and occasionally sunny and mild. One of the regular ‘nuders’ said hello as he walked past as we made our way back to the car and then headed off to Farlington Marshes. 

Above, a drake Pintail and below, a female on Farlington Marshes.

Above, two pairs of Pintail. Numbers of this species seemed to be on the increase. A good breeding season, perhaps? 

We wanted to get to this location as early as possible to avoid the masses of walkers that seem to swarm the reserve on New Years Day and it actually paid off. I saw a Moorhen on the way up the Eastern Road plus Shelduck and Curlew on Hilsea Creek. Though Andy never saw them, he easily picked these birds on the Marshes. We notched up another 25 species here that included some superb Bearded Tits within the reedbeds by the main lake. From here, notably from the ‘Viewing platform’ . There were a host of waders and wildfowl to add to our total including at least 30 Avocets out in the harbour near the Eastern Road. I found a large flock of Golden Plover out in the fields among the many Brent and Canada Geese and was seen a little later flying high over the reserve. Huge numbers of Dunlin were feeding out on the harbour on the rising tide and among them, I managed to pick out a flock of Knot through the scope. A couple of Stonechats were seen in the fields near the Deeps area, which had a bit of makeover of late to benefit the Terns and waders during the coming year. Two Greenshanks were in the Hayfield and after noticing everything on the reserve take flight, I found out the reason why when I spotted a female Peregrine soaring overhead. A good total of birds were seen here and next stop was to be Pigeon House Lane.

Above, the Pintail were joined by a Curlew in the Sluice area of the reserve. Below, one of two Common Buzzards perched on the posts behind the main lake.

Above, I counted at least 30 Avocet out in the harbour including several birds on Hilsea Creek. Below, Wigeon and Brent Geese on the small pool by the harbour wall.

Above, our second Rock Pipit of the day at Farlington Marshes and below, Dunlin south of the reserve in Langstone Harbour.

Above, this Little Egret was off the Point Field and below, hundreds of Dunlin feeding on the mudflats to the east of the reserve.

Above, the resident Barnacle Goose with a feral Goose plus a Brent Goose in the background. The Barnacle Goose and feral Goose are inseparable apparently! Below, a male Stonechat near the Deeps.

Above, the female Peregrine scaring all the birds, including the Brent Geese (below) on the reserve.

Above, the Golden Plover even took flight and below, the Bar-tailed Godwit we found by the Bushes area. Sadly, it is sporting a very poor left leg.

We parked up on Portsdown Hill and took the walk down the Lane where we quickly came across our first Red-legged Partridge and Pheasant of the year. We made our way to Hook Heath Farm where we viewed the Mandarins on the flooded bit of Carr on the opposite side of the road and also picked up quite a few passerines too to add to our list that included Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Coal Tit, Chaffinch and Siskin. Walking back, we did a circuit by taking the Mill Lane route back to the car park. Despite the terrible amount of litter and fly tipping along these lovely country roads, we did get to see our first Firecrest of the day and also, Jay, more Siskins and both Nuthatch and Treecreeper! A pair of Common Buzzards were perched on an overhead wire, but no sign of any Red Kites. Then the rain started! The walk back up the hill was a bit strenuous in the wind and rain and what with a couple of big cars coming up the lane, one had to have their wits about them.

Above, the walk down Pigeon House Lane. Sadly, litter was strewn all the way down this lovely bit of countryside. Below, a Mistle Thrush seen near Hook Heath Farm.

The Mandarin Ducks opposite Hook Heath Farm. Birding pal, Geoff Farwell, had 30 of these birds here recently.

You can just about see the female Firecrest in this photo. Sorry, it was the best I could get of this flighty bird.

It was now 2.30pm and we thought we would make a dash to Warblington for Barn Owl and Cattle Egret before finishing off at Sandy Point on Hayling Island. Despite getting the ‘gen’ off fellow ‘Lazy’ Ollie Crabbe on the exact location on what tree the Barn Owls were in, the birds were not at home (though they were there earlier today). Boo! So we quickly drove down to the Church and checked out the Cow fields where only Little Egrets were seen. I suggested looking from the new Cemetery to the east and thankfully, we found at least 6 Cattle Egrets searching for food in the field adjacent to the Cemetery. Phew! Now the light was fading and so Andy got us down to Sandy Point in record time!

One of the 6 Cattle Egrets at Warblington.

The tide was up within the harbour entrance and the waves looked fierce out on the water and sea, but we persevered and made our way to the Lifeboat Station to view the harbour entrance. From here, after being joined by Gary Fennemore and his mate. From here, we picked up a Sandwich Tern flying out of the harbour and Andy picked up an Auk on the water, which I quickly identified as a Razorbill through the scope. The light now was nearly gone and we had one last ditch attempt, in the rain, for one more species. Quickly getting into the car, we headed to Sinah Gravel Pits and it didn't take long to pick up our first Tufted Duck of the year in the gloom. A great day's birding was had and we finished off by popping in a garage to get something to eat before Andy dropped me home. 87 species wasn't too bad for a day's birding and we were only beaten by one species by a fellow ‘Hampshire lister’. Earlier today at Sandy Point were Velvet and Common Scoter, Guillemot, Little Gull and Great Northern Diver.