Curtain Moat in Old Portsmouth. You can see Gosport in the distance and a part of the Solent. The shipping (Continental and Isle of Wight Ferries) make their way through the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour nearby. The possibility of finding a scarce bird here is promising, especially for this time of year.
An overcast morning, but quite still with hardly any wind either. There had been some rain showers overnight as my garden patio was a bit damp and raindrops were on the lid of my moth box. There were a few moths this morning, thankfully, and I even managed a short walk before I started work in Pembroke Road, down to the Curtain Moat to see if there was anything of note around here. You just never know where the next rarity could turn up?
Above, my first Garden Carpet moth of the year. Though a very common species, it is always nice to get the first one for the year. Below, the micro moth, Narrow-winged Grey (Eudonia angustea).
Above, a Light Brown Apple Moth. A very common moth in the UK that was accidentally imported from Australia.
The Moth Box:
There were just three moths present this morning, but at least one of them was new for the year; a Garden Carpet. Unfortunately, it flew off as soon as I turned the light off on the moth box, but I did get a couple of photos before it departed. The other two moths were both micro moths; one Light Brown Apple Moth that was on one of the egg trays and a Narrow-winged Grey, which was on the white sheet behind the box.
The footpath from Pembroke Road to the Curtain Moat. The Bowling Green is on the left hand side of the photo and to the right is the Governor's Green behind the shrubbery and trees here. There could always be some interesting birds hiding in here.
Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:
I had 15 minutes spare this morning before I started work and so took a walk with my binoculars down to the Curtain Moat. I picked up 19 species this morning, largely thanks to taking the walk to the Moat area where the likes of a male Greenfinch, Robin, Blackbird, Pied Wagtail were seen; but apart from a few Herring Gulls, there was nothing flying over the Solent, though it was a bit misty out there. All the usual species were seen or heard this morning during my first shift and probably the most outstanding bird would have been a Cormorant flying high over Pembroke Road heading towards Portsmouth Harbour. It was a bit early for insects, but I did check out the plants growing on the verges along Curtain Moat that included both Red and White Dead-nettle, that were both abundant.
The birds noted on my first shift this morning included the following:
Morning shift:
Feral Pigeon
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Herring Gull
Black-headed Gull
Cormorant
Wren
Robin
Blackbird
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Carrion Crow
Magpie
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Pied Wagtail
House Sparrow
Starling
Afternoon shift:
Great Black-backed Gull
Roughly around midday, I pulled over by South Parade Pier to pop into a local Co-op and checking out some birds over by the far end of the Pier, I saw at least five fishing Common Terns and at least two adult Med Gulls. The tide was high within the Solent and I assume a shoal of fish was moving through.
Me, Geoff Farwell and Andy Fisher were on tonight's One Show on BBC1 tonight. Finally, they showed the film footage of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at Acres Down, New Forest, which was presented by Mike Dilger and his son.
Even my birding pal Geoff Farwell was on there in between the two presenters. I did see Andy for a split second. Fame at last.
This Willow Warbler was found in the north-east corner of Highland Road Cemetery, singing quietly high up in the Oak tree.
It was bright and sunny when I arrived at Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth, this morning; but a heavy shower rolled in early this morning just before I left for work and thankfully, it was gone by the time I arrived. A breezy south-westerly kept the temperatures down and at just 8 degrees, it was like sitting in a fridge…... .again! There was no moth box overnight, although I wish I had as the wind had died down and it did look promising overnight. Maybe I will tonight. Yesterday, I saw a Common Buzzard very high up over my garden heading north and with wings half closed, it looked as though it was on a mission. Migrant bird perhaps? An adult Med Gull was seen flying over Pembroke Road yesterday of which 15 species of birds were noted during my day there. The long-staying Marsh Sandpiper and a Curlew Sandpiper was still attracting attention down at Normandy Marshes, there was also news of a Marsh Warbler at Fishlake Meadows; though what I read on the ‘Lazee’s’ Whatsapp site poured scepticism on the sighting.
Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:
Today, 17 species were recorded on my two shifts in Pembroke Road and I think the best sighting was literally when I got in the car to go home on my second shift. I just casually glanced at the Bowling Green to my right, when I spotted a pair of House Martins flying west low over the Green! Still no sign of any Swifts overhead yet, but surely one will be seen this week? Though cold, it was bright and sunny for most of my first shift, but this afternoon, it became cloudier and occasionally, it spat with rain.
Above, the Cemetery is now looking very green and below, I liked this photo of this Robin with Ivy-leaved Toadflax behind it growing on the perimeter wall.
Above, a smart looking male Blackbird in the sunshine and below, Ox-eye Daisies are now out in bloom.
Highland Road Cemetery, Southsea:
After my first shift at Pembroke Road and the chores I had lined up for the morning, then I took the dogs for their walk around Highland Road Cemetery. It was still bright and sunny still when I arrived there, but I could hear the Council cutting the grass again over on the east side of the Cemy. Bugger! Though to be honest, they concentrated on just one area of the Cemy, so there was a chance of finding something interesting in the rest of the Cemetery. But it wasn't till nearly the end of my walk when I found a Willow Warbler quietly singing high up in the Oak tree in the north-east corner. It was in exactly the same area where I saw one here last Friday. Surely, not the same bird? Seventeen species were noted this morning, which is about average, but there should be more as the month wears on.
Above, a smart Great Tit singing by the main footpath and below, this Robin singing from the top of a tall gravestone.
Above,Germander Speedwellwas abundant throughout the Cemetery and below, a Grey-necked Mining bee laden with pollen around the Horse Chestnut trees.
The birds seen or heard in the Cemy this morning included the following:
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Carrion Crow
Magpie
Goldfinch
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Willow Warbler
House Sparrow
Starling
Wren
Robin
Collared Dove
Feral Pigeon
Wood Pigeon
Wren
Blackbird
Above, Field Forget-me-not's growing by a grave. I cannot recall seeing this species here in the Cemetery. Below, the Willow Warbler in the north-east corner of the Cemy.
Above and below, this Blue Tit blended in well with its surroundings.
This Starling was collecting nesting material from this garden at the southern end of the Cemy.
Apologies for not updating my blog of late, but that toothache I had on Saturday got a lot worse, but yesterday, I got the antibiotics I needed from the Dentists to hopefully get rid of this horrible pain. Since Saturday, there has been a nice variety of birds seen in Hampshire and still this morning, the Marsh Sandpiper is still showing well on Normandy Marshes; along with a Curlew Sandpiper and a Spotted Redshank. The Purple Heron is still showing occasionally around the reedbed by the Breach Pool, Pagham Harbour and the arrival of Swifts has at last arrived, although I am still awaiting my first sighting. Last night, I put the moth box on overnight, hoping for a few more new for the year.
The only moth this morning, aBrimstone Moth.
The Moth Box:
Sadly, it wasn't to be, for the moth box only attracted just the one moth, a Brimstone Moth that was perched on the wall opposite the box. Absolutely bugger all inside the moth box. Looking back to last year, it was also the same for last April where it was fairly quiet too, though May is just around the corner and things should pick up.
Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:
Though under a lot of painkillers, work continued yesterday before my Dentist appointment and up to 15 species of birds were seen from Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth, that included sightings of both a Mallard (a ‘first’ here) and a Willow Warbler. The former simply flew high over the road and then headed south and the Warbler was calling (not singing) in the Holm Oaks and then seen flying over the house opposite and into the properties garden. Still no Swifts flying over yet. This morning, only 12 species were seen and nothing out of the ordinary either. It was still rather cool this morning, but at least it was bright at times and no sign of that horrible northerly wind! This afternoon, on my second shift, at Pembroke Road, two more species were added to my day total here that included a Great Black-backed Gull and both male and female Sparrowhawk were seen overhead.
Above, a Wood Pigeon snuggled up within one of the trees and below, House Sparrows gathering by the houses on the perimeter.
Above, a Blue Tit in search of insects and below, a pair of Collared Doves on the main footpath.
Highland Road Cemetery:
It was back over the Cemetery again this morning with the dogs after my first shift and though fairly quiet, there were a few notable sightings here today. The sun had come out now and then, warming the place up and a few more plants had started to flower among the usual plants. The male Sparrowhawk was seen again this morning, although briefly, carrying a freshly caught prey up into one of the trees near the Mausoleum. A male Blackcap sang just once deep within cover, but I never got a glimpse of the bird this time; but no other migrants were noted this morning. Only 16 species noted today, but plenty to look at again which is always good news.
Above, my first Ox-eye Daisies of the year just about to come into bloom and below, the red 'spikes' all on show on the Horse Chestnut Trees.
Above, a singing Goldfinch and below, the male Sparrowhawk probably dispatches its latest kill.
Germander Speedwell is now starting to flower within the Cemetery as is Ox-eye Daisies, which in turn, gives more food to the insects and consequently, they give more food to the birds. I could be cold and callous and say this gives more food to the Sparrowhawks!!! Anyway, as Spring moves on, more and more plants are starting to come through and it was nice to see the red ‘spikes’ coming out on the Horse Chestnut trees this morning. Today, birding pal, Matt Parkes scored with his first Swifts of the year at his workplace in the north of the County and also a Cuckoo!
Above, there has been a small flock of Goldfinch in the Cemy for a few weeks now and below, Germander Speedwell is now in flower here.
The birds seen or heard this morning included the following:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Feral Pigeon
Collared Dove
Carrion Crow
Magpie
Blackcap
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Goldfinch
Starling
Sparrowhawk (male)
Robin
Wren
House Sparrow
Blackbird
Above, the Marsh Sandpiper is still showing well on Normandy Marshes. Photo by Graeme Loader.
Above, a Lesser Whitethroat and below, a male Redstart. Both photos were taken recently by Pete Appleton.
Matt Parkes kindly sent me this film footage of Fox cubs playing where he works in the north of Hampshire today.
The Marsh Sandpiper on Normandy Marshes this morning. Sadly, all my photos were long distance affairs and this was probably the best of the bunch. However, the bird performed nicely for all watching the bird and my third sighting of this species ever.
Yet another amazing days birding with Geoff Farwell and Andy Fisher that took us down to first Normandy Marshes to check out Hampshire’s star bird, the adult summer Marsh Sandpiper and a great supporting cast and then onto Blashford Lakes for more ‘year-ticks’ and finally, we finished off the day off by the woods next to Longcross Car Park (near Fritham) in the New Forest. The weather was near perfect, though the cold north-westerly wind was still blowing and without a coat (of which I stupidly left behind) and a raging toothache, I struggled on with the guys and saw up to 7 ‘year-ticks’ today. I even put the moth box on overnight in my garden and though nothing exciting was within there, at least there was something to look at.
There were a few moths in my Moth box this morning that included this Ruddy Streak (Tachystola acroxantha).
The Moth Boxes:
There was only one ‘macro’ moth by the box this morning and that was a Double-striped Pug that was on the wall behind the box. Up to 6 ‘micro’ moths present that included 4 Ruddy Streaks, 1 White-shouldered House Moth and 1 Light Brown Apple Moth. It was very cold overnight and probably explains the lack of moths. I fared a lot better than Andy’s moth box that did not hold any whatsoever! The best his box attracted was a Caddis Fly species and a Crane Fly!
After parking, we made the short journey to Normandy Marshes and were greeted by close views of this hunting Kestrel within an adjacent field by the seawall.
Normandy Marshes, Lymington:
We parked up in the narrow road of Maiden Lane and took the short ten minute walk to Normandy Marshes (many thanks to Ollie Crabbe on where to park) where we could see a large group of birders obviously checking out the star bird, the Marsh Sandpiper. It has been many years since I have seen a Marsh Sandpiper, but this bird was my 3rd ever and probably the best one yet, being a gorgeous summer plumage bird. However, there was excitement first with our first Lesser Whitethroat of the year that Geoff spotted flying over a field and landing right in front of us! What a start. Then I picked out Andy’s first Common Whitethroat of the year near singing away in the brambles below us and then doing its display flight. A male Kestrel was hovering close by and a Common Buzzard was in the same field of view soaring above the Kestrel.
Above, the Common Buzzard soaring above the Kestrel drifting overhead.
Above and below, some more photos of the male Kestrel hunting over the field.
Above, the displaying Common Whitethroat performed nicely for us on the seawall.
The Marsh Sandpiper was some distance out from where we stood and annoyingly, I was not packing my digiscoping equipment (which was in the pocket of my coat at home!). So, the photos were a bit distant and I am sure the guys with the big cameras probably managed to get some good photos. Nevertheless, the bird looked good in the scope and even the finder, Andy Friend, came over and had a chat about the bird and what was around. Nice to see Graham Loader there too and probably a few more ‘Lazee’s’ present in the large crowd here. While enjoying the Sandpiper, we heard some Little Terns and soon found them coming onto the Marshes. Up to four birds flew in and called loudly, they headed over the pools to the south and then disappeared back into the harbour. We were hoping for a Common Tern to fly past, but none were seen, but a Sandwich Tern was seen out in the harbour. That horrible wind even blew my scope and tripod over and I should of apologised to the nearby birders for the swearing come out of my mouth; but that happening and toothache are not a very nice combination!
The distant Wood Sandpiper showing well on Normandy Marshes.
The last time we were here, a large flock of Spoonbills were present on the islands, but none were present this morning, but checking thoroughly all the birds present, we found at least 6 Avocets, 4 Turnstone, at least double figures of Redshank and a few Oystercatchers. A pair of Great Crested Grebes swam on the water. I have to say, what with the toothache and that horrible freezing cold wind, I decided to leave after an hour and on the way back to the car, we saw at least three Chiffchaffs along the footpath to round off a successful trip here to this wonderful part of the world.
Though we saw no Common Terns here at Normandy Marshes, I knew Blashford Lakes was a good place to find them and so I made this our next destination. While driving through the New Forest to get onto the A31, we saw good numbers of Swallows flying over the heath and also a pair of Ravens and at least two Common Buzzards. Even while we are driving, we always keep our eyes open.
The Marsh Sandpiper continued to attract birders far and wide with one chap we met briefly having come down from Chelmsford! Thats ‘twitching’. I was interested in the comments on one of the Apps where birders were noticing how the Marsh Sandpiper was very territorial and would not tolerate any Redshank to get anywhere near it. It even drove off a flock of Redshank in the evening and there was a photo of one poor hapless Redshank actually getting dunked by the Marsh Sandpiper! Of course, when you have many Birders in one place, birds get spotted and some lucky chap watched a Honey Buzzard sail over his garden in Pennington and a large flock of Bar-tailed Godwit, many in summer plumage, fly onto Normandy Marshes. Very nice.
Above and below, while we watched from the Viewing Platform, several Common Buzzards soared over our heads.
Above, Common Terns over Ibsley Water and below, just some of the Black-tailed Godwits pouring onto Ibsley Water. This was spectacular to say the least.
Blashford Lakes:
It was straight to the Viewing Platform by the Tern Hide when we arrived at Blashford Lakes. The wind was not so strong here and the sun on our backs was delicious! Almost immediately, we were onto our first Common Terns of the year where I counted at least 11 birds gracing Ibsley Water. A Garden Warbler had been reported here yesterday and our luck was in as a singing bird was seen several times skulking about the brambles and trees around us this morning. I just love their liquid song and it's so different from Blackcap once you get onto the bird. Grabbing my lunch, we then enjoyed the birdlife all around us that included good Common Buzzards overhead and a lone Red Kite. Andy also picked up his first Sand Martins of the year, though the numbers here were a lot smaller than I thought there would be. However, I thought the star birds here were the Black-tailed Godwits. I read earlier this week that a huge number of this species was present here and they still were. Easily, over 1000+ birds were present in three huge groups and they swirled around over Ibsley Water like a ‘murmuration’ of Starlings or similar to a large flock of Dunlin twisting in the sunshine. What an incredible sight it was and simply had us spellbound. More drama was to come as a large young female Peregrine flew in, picked out a bird and chased it across the water but failed to grab the bird. A very lucky escape. I have never in my lifetime seen such a number of Black-tailed Godwits in one place and in this superb light, they simply looked stunning.
Above, another photo of the incoming Black-tailed Godwits over Ibsley Water. I have to say, this is one of the most amazing sightings I have ever seen whilst birding. Never before have I seen so many of this species at one time and it was amazing and for a Peregrine to try to take a bird was something you expect to see on one of the Wildlife TV programmes! Below, Geoff and Andy look on in amazement.
Above, can you spot the lads blending in with their surroundings? Below, Field Forget-me-nots growing near the Woodland Hide at Blashford Lakes.
Despite not being able to get an open window, I still managed to film this Reed Warbler in front of the Hide.
Our next stop was to try our luck by checking the reedbeds near the Woodland and Ivy North Hide for our first Reed Warblers of the year and although we heard a few singing deep within the reeds on our way to the Ivy South Hide, it wasn't till we got to the Ivy North Hide when our luck changed. At least four birds were present and showed very well in front of the Hide, but unluckily for me, I didn't have the luxury of one of the open windows and therefore, the birds were viewed through the glass. Still, they showed very well and sang kindly in front of the admirer birders present. A Kingfisher belted through the reedbeds in front of the Ivy North Hide, but far too quick to grab a photo of the bird. Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were abundant throughout the woodland here, while Robins and Long-tailed Tits flitted about in the treetops. Both Green-veined White and Peacock butterflies showed well along the footpath and there were good numbers of ‘teneral’ Damselflies on the wing too. We had one more look from the Tern Hide before heading home and on our second visit, the best we could muster was a pair of very smart drake Goldeneye, one of which came out of the water to preen itself. There was a flock of 8 Great Crested Grebes swimming together on the water and the large number of Black-tailed Godwits seen earlier were now resting on the water at the far end of Ibsley Water. Later in the afternoon, someone had a couple of Swifts flying over the back of Ibsley Water; though I am sure it will not be long they are gracing our skies over Southsea.
Above and below, the Black-tailed Godwits were still pouring onto Ibsley Water.
Above, the Green-veined White butterfly on a Nettle showing well in the sunshine near the Woodland Hide. Below, a Great Crested Grebe in front of the Ivy South Hide.
Above, a Great Crested Grebe in front of the Ivy South Hide and below, an Alder Beetle near the Hide.
Above, this Peacock butterfly showed well on the footpath through the woodland. Below, a male Blackcap singing in the trees on our way to the Ivy North Hide.
Above, it wasn't easy to grab a decent photo of the Reed Warblers present in front of Ivy North Hide, especially through the poor glass in the Hide. The windows that opened up were both occupied. Below, the plant Bugle was growing abundantly along the footpath.
Above, one of the Common Terns perched briefly on this post on Ibsley Water and below, the pair of drake Goldeneye in front of the Tern Hide along with a drake Tufted Duck and Black-headed Gull.
I still felt we had some more birding time available and I thought I might try my luck by parking in Longcross Car Park near Fritham. From here, we took a walk through the woodland by the road and it didn't take long before we were onto our first Redstart of the year. Geoff confirmed that it was a Redstart singing within the woodland, but it took a little while to catch up with the bird as it was flitting about at the top of the trees - but our patience paid off as we got good views of the bird. A couple of Firecrests were heard singing and one was seen reasonably well flitting about in the Holly Trees. A few Siskins flew overhead as we climbed back into the car and home bound. A very good day where I had 7 ‘year-ticks’ and Andy managed 9. Well done that man.
The 'murmuration' of Black-tailed Godwits over Ibsley Water.
