'Year-ticks' a plenty today.

Saturday 8th March 2025.

The Black-necked Grebe on Ibsley Water was still present today.

Another busy Saturday birding with just Andy with me today and we were blessed with what was arguably the year's warmest day with afternoon temperatures reaching around 16 degrees (according to my car!). There were a few birds around that we have not ‘year-ticked’ this year and so I took the opportunity to grab as many as possible and so tried out FIVE sites that could possibly help us; notably Queens Park in the middle of Southampton, Redbridge Wharf, Fishlake Meadows, Blashford Lakes and finally, Southmoor (which was nearer to home). The day started well with both Moth Boxes too as I notched up three more species that were new for the year.

The Moth Boxes:

A Small Quaker and two Early Grey moths were present this morning by Andy's Moth Box.

Kicking off with my box after an encouraging morning yesterday, three moths were present that included a Light Brown Apple Moth and Common Plume. But best of all was my first Common Quaker of the year and strangely, a species I rarely get in my garden over the years; so a good species to see here.

This Common Quaker moth was by my Moth Box this morning.

Over in Andy’s garden, a total of five moths were obtained, all in the egg trays laid out on the outside of his Moth Box. This included two Early Grey’s and a Small Quaker, which were both new for the year. Two Common Plume’s were present also.

Queens Park, Southampton:

The Ring-necked Parakeets at Queen's Park.

Our first stop was to nail the Ring-necked Parakeet at Queens Park in the middle of Southampton. We have been successful over the years, including last year, at this site and after parking the car close by, it didn’t take long to connect with a pair of birds perched in a tree and then we watched them fly off east over the Park itself and out of view. Our first ‘year-tick’ of the day in the bag and now for the Common Sandpipers over at Redbridge Wharf. True, the Parakeets are now well established in the UK, though not in Portsmouth yet, but they were being seen on and off over Hayling Island, perhaps nesting in Tournerbury Woods?

Redbridge Wharf, Southampton:

The Common Sandpiper at Redbridge Wharf.

Parking up near the Railway Station nearby, I heard a singing Chiffchaff in someone's garden as we neared the Railway Bridge to make our way to the Wharf. Walking to seawall through the park, we got as close to the nearby Totton Bypass as possible then searched the shoreline by the Bypass for the Sandpipers. The tide was up on the River Test (No Divers here today) and though it took a while to find one of the Common Sandpipers, I managed to pick one out using my scope and quickly got Andy onto the bird. Our second ‘year-tick’ of the day. However, it wasn't all that straight forward in getting here as the Sat Nav took us in a completely different direction!!!

Andy looking over the River Test.

The Common Sandpiper (there were 9 present on nearby Lower Test Marshes today!) flew a lot closer from where first found and though still a bit distant, I did manage to grab a photo or two and some film footage of the bird.

The Common Sandpiper at Redbridge Wharf.

Other birds present here included a good number of waders on the opposite side of the River Test. These included up to 19 Black-tailed Godwit, 6 Oystercatchers and about a dozen Curlew, all feeding along the shoreline. Roughly about 60+ Wigeon were also present and a good check through the many Herring, Common and Black-headed Gulls revealed nothing more unusual. I remember the juvenile Iceland Gull here a few years ago.

Fishlake Meadows, Romsey:

One of two Red Kites soaring high over the reserve.

All week, there have been reports of a singing male Blackcap by the Car Park at Fishlake Meadows and so we took the drive there to hopefully see the bird. On arrival, we waited patiently for around 15 minutes, but all we could hear were singing Chiffchaffs and Cetti’s Warblers. So, we decided to take a walk up to the first bench by the Canal Path and try our luck there.

Lesser Celandines in bloom by the Car Park entrance.

Sadly, all was quiet for the Blackcap, but two superb Great White Egrets flew close past us, but the trees got in the way to grab a decent photo. Fume! Overhead, the calm bright weather brought out the raptors as we enjoyed a pair of Red Kites heading east and up to 5 Common Buzzards soaring together in the clear blue sky. A female Sparrowhawk flew high over the Canal Path and then over the houses heading east.

One of several singing Chiffchaffs seen here today.

From the bench, we had sightings of more singing Chiffchaffs and Cetti’s Warblers going about their business and Reed Buntings were flying back and forth over our heads. I decided to make our way back to the Car Park again and it paid off when I heard a Blackcap ‘sub-singing’ and then I found it singing near the entrance gate where the bird showed very well. It then flew across the main footpath and began feeding on Ivy berries in a tree, but, again, the vegetation got in the way and so no decent photos were obtained. You win some, you lose some; that's the challenge of bird photography.

Above, this Nuthatch showed well in the small copse by the Car Park.

In the small copse near the main gate, there was both Treecreeper and Nuthatch flitting about in the branches and Andy picked out a Chiffchaff searching for food among the Mistletoe clumps high up in the trees. Regarding insects, we saw our first Brimstone butterflies; in fact, a lot of them were on the wing today! So, three target birds were successfully seen and now for Blashford Lakes for possible Brambling and Redpoll.

Blashford Lakes, Blashford:

Wigeon and Grey Lag Geese on Ibsley Water from the Tern Hide.

We had to park up within the Tern Hide Car Park seeing there were no spaces at all near the Information Centre and so took the long walk to the Woodland Hide from there. When we reached the Hide, we were disappointed to find that all the Bird Feeders were removed and so we made our way back to the Tern Hide, but not before checking the Silver Birch trees for Redpolls of which there were none at all! It turns out that the feeders were taken down as they had a bout of Bird Flu here! Why didn't the staff present close the reserve here? Who knows! From the Tern Hide, it was still busy with wildfowl on Ibsley Water with mostly Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Tufted Duck and up to 7 Goldeneye still present (two pairs were displaying too). The lone Black-necked Grebe showed well again near the Hide and a female Goosander was seen east of the spit.

The rare Wild Daffodils near the Woodland Hide.

There were no sign of any Little Ringed Plovers or Sand Martins found during our time here but overhead, we saw a pair of Ravens flying high over and I managed to pick out a soaring Goshawk high up through the scope, but once I took my eye off it, I could not find it again! Earlier, while driving along Roger Penny Way to Fordingbridge, Andy and I saw a total of SEVEN Ravens flying over in a loose flock!

Southmoor, Havant:

Oystercatcher and Dunlin on the foreshore at Southmoor.

Our final destination was to be Southmoor, which was a lot closer to home. There was the potential of a Short-eared Owl in the rough grassland here and a Bar-tailed Godwit on the shoreline and of course, none were present during our time here. Hurrumph! However, good numbers of Mediterranean Gulls were flying over our heads and into the harbour and up to two male Kestrels were seen hunting over the rough grassland. This disturbed a small flock of Meadow Pipits that flew up and landed in a nearby bush and remained there up until we left. A Greenshank was seen distantly within a creek to add to our more interesting sightings here. It was nearing 3pm and so I decided to call it a day and reflect on a great day's birding.

Above, one of two male Kestrels hunting over the fields.

Above and below, Med Gulls were flying over our heads calling in good numbers.