Wednesday 3rd January 2023.
Sadly, I could not go out yesterday birding with Andy Fisher as I was a bit ‘under the weather’ and so I took it easy all day. But it was a different story for Mr Fisher as he managed to grab another five species under his belt by taking a trip to both Hayling Oyster Beds for the Long-tailed Duck and Goldeneye, then a trip down to Sandy Point where he picked up a Little Gull, Great Northern Diver and a Gannet in very windy weather as Storm Henk battered the UK. I heard on the news this morning that as our Winters are getting so mild, it brings with it more rain and strong winds, hence having our 6th storm of the winter! The sign of things to come as Global Warming is now at hand.
I started a full shift today and my first port of call at Pembroke Road, in Old Portsmouth, brought me 13 species of birds for the day. I was hoping for my first Sparrowhawk of the year, but it was just all the usual species seen. Birding pal, Andy Fisher, who is desperate to win the Fly/Pye Cup for the second consecutive year, picked up another 7 species today that included a Marsh Tit and Great Spotted Woodpecker in Clanfield, Red Kite, Sparrowhawk and Bullfinch at Old Winchester Hill and finally, Egyptian and Grey Lag Goose at Petersfield Lake; leaving him tantalisingly on 99 species for the year and needing just one more species to retain the Cup. Hurrumph!
Meanwhile, the third member of the dodgy trio, Geoff Farwell spent an afternoon at Longwood Warren on New Years Day and recorded the following: Goshawk, Red Kite, Buzzard, 200+ Fieldfare, 300 Starlings, Stonechat and 30 Skylarks. Off Sandy Point today, there was a Great Northern Diver, 2 Slavonian Grebes, 1 Velvet Scoter and 6 Eider, while off Pennington Marshes, a Leach’s Petrel and 2 Little Gulls were seen offshore and the drake Scaup still present on the reserve. Some good ‘year-ticks’ to be had. I put a selection of Pete Appleton’s superb photos in today's entry to my blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment