Saturday 27th September 2025.
This gorgeous Tawny Owl was with a second bird along the Canal Path.
For a wonderful change, Geoff did the driving today as he picked me up from my house and then we made our way to Andy’s house in Cowplain. There were two Moth Boxes to check out this morning and a pleasant trip to Titchfield Haven to look forward to afterwards and we were in for some excellent birding today. We even rounded the day off with a look on the north side of Portsdown Hill to check if any migrants or any visible migration could be going on.
The weather was overcast again and down at Hill Head, I was glad I was well wrapped up. A breezy southerly was coming in off the Solent and there was the threat of rain coming in this afternoon. Thankfully, it never arrived as we went about enjoying the superb birds this place had to offer today.
My Moth Box:
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This Pearly Underwing was my first for the year.
A much better total of moths present this morning with up to 30 moths of 16 species and, at last, a new species for the year, a Pearly Underwing *. This is a traditional Autumn species, though I do not get many on an annual basis. Other migrant moths included two Turnip Moths, an Angle Shades, a White-point and 2 Rusty-dot Pearls.
Above, a White-point and below, a Turnip Moth (top) and an L-album Wainscot (bottom).
The Moths recorded this morning included the following:
While checking the Moth Box, there was no visible migration going on overhead, but a Chiffchaff was calling again in the neighbouring gardens.
Andy’s Moth Box, Cowplain Marsh:
One of five Lunar Underwings by Andy's Moth Box.
The Moth numbers were lower at Cowplain Marsh this morning with 21 moths of just 8 species. Though nothing new for the year here, a good total of 5 Lunar Underwings and 6 Large Yellow Underwings were the highest species total here today.
This Shuttle-shaped Dart was on one of the egg trays.
The Moths recorded in Andy’s garden this morning included the following:
Andy made Geoff and I a hot drink and took them along to the Pond. Andy suddenly noticed a very small fish swimming at the back of the Pond and then another two more were visible. We then concluded that his Goldfish had actually bred and so gave Andy a big slap on the back. Meanwhile, a Chiffchaff was flitting about in the treetops here while we heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Siskin and a Coal Tit in nearby gardens.
Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve & Hill Head:
This juvenile Osprey put on a great show for all the birders at Titchfield Haven this morning.
After Geoff had parked the car up at Cliff Road, we made our way down the steps to the Sailing Club to view the shoreline. From here, we picked out our first Brent Geese of the Autumn with two flocks of 5 and 4 respectively on the shoreline. up to 9 Brent Geese along the shoreline with two flocks of four and five birds on the shoreline. A large flock of Turnstone, with a few Ringed Plovers, Oystercatchers and Redshank mixed in, were on the exposed shingle spit. The Solent was virtually empty of birds, so we didn't hang around too long with that cold southerly coming in off the sea.
Above and below, some of the Brent Geese on the foreshore at Hill Head with an Oystercatcher.
Above, Andy relaxing near the Sailing Club and below, a large number of waders and Gulls were on the spit, including these Turnstone, Oystercatcher and a Black-headed Gull.
From the Viewpoint overlooking the River Meon, we spent the next hour there enjoying flask coffee while checking out the birds here. At least one Chiffchaff was calling from the brambles nearby and eventually, one flew out and landed in the vegetation behind us. The small island within the River Meon held around a dozen Lapwing and with them, several Cormorants, a Black-tailed Godwit and a Redshank were resting, while along the edge of the reeds, we found a lone Common Sandpiper searching for food along the muddy shoreline along with several Redshank. Along the edge of the reeds is a good spot for Water Rail, but all we could find were a few Moorhens.
Above, the island on the River Meon held a few species including these Lapwing, Cormorant and Black-tailed Godwit. Below, a pair of Shoveler were on the River in front of us.
Above, more Lapwing were resting on the small island and below, a Little Egret leisurely flew past.
A large flock of Starlings flew over our heads to land on the nearby boats behind us within the small harbour and Geoff had picked out a Little Stint among them. Geoff was familiar with its call and the same bird flew back over our heads, calling, then flew back on the South Scrape again. Also from the Viewpoint, we saw both Kestrel and Sparrowhawk hunting over the reserve and a Yellow Wagtail flew over and headed off south-west towards the Solent.
Above, the Little Stints provided a great show in front of the Meonshore Hide.
Our next stop was to be the Meonshore Hide for the waders that had been present this week here. The good news was that the two juvenile Little Stints were present, but there was no sign of the Curlew Sandpipers or Ruffs this morning. The Stints did put on a good show flying from one island to another and with so many raptors around this morning, they were quite unsettled at times. However, they gave us the honour of landing right in front of us on the well exposed mud for a good ten minutes or so.
The juvenile Little Stints in front of the Meonshore Hide this morning.
There were quite a few birders within the Hide and someone shouted out that a large raptor was over by the River Meon some distance away and as it got nearer, we recognised it as an Osprey. The bird was being mobbed by a variety of birds, but it gave us a super performance as did a pair of female Marsh Harriers that came into view. To top this off, up to three Glossy Ibis were on the South Scrape as well to entertain all those birders in the Meonshore & Spurgin Hide. Both Matt & Emma Parkes were in the Spurgin Hide earlier and had made their way to the Bridge near the old Cafe and got amazing views of the Osprey. We determined the bird was actually a juvenile bird and also unringed and it was trying its luck at diving for fish with no success it seemed. The Osprey eventually tired of being on the reserve and flew off over the Solent towards Lee on Solent.
Above, as mentioned, the juvenile Osprey put on a fine performance for us over the Reserve.
Other birds seen from the Hide included a pair of Stonechats on the wire fencing and a Kingfisher flew low over the reedbed. Several Common Snipe were on the edge of the reeds and a large flock of Oystercatchers were resting on one of the larger islands at the back of the Scrape including the piebald individual.
Above, one of the female Marsh Harriers flying over the South Scrape and flushing this Glossy Ibis as it passed by and below, gliding near the reedbed.
Above, the female Marsh Harrier and below, the same bird filmed flying over and also a Glossy Ibis on the South Scrape.
Above, a female Kestrel was hunting to the left of the Hide and below, all three Glossy Ibis seen together on the South Scrape.
After our excellent experience here, we decided to make our way to the Canal Path and walk northwards. There were plenty of passerines on the move through the trees including Long-tailed Tits, Chiffchaffs and a probable Goldcrest. We tried to get to see the 'crest' but it was proving elusive deep within vegetation. However, when Andy said he had found a Tawny Owl, we dismissed it at first as a prank, but, unbelievably, he was right. Sure enough, deep within the cover of the tree branches, there was not only one, but Geoff found another next to it! We think they might have been juvenile birds for both were sporting a lot of white feathering around the head; but these were my first sightings of this species for the year! Happy days indeed. Earlier today, Matt and Emma had heard the Owls calling behind the Spurgin Hide. This day was getting better and better. We gave instructions on where to view the birds for Emma and Matt and they texted me later to say they had found them.
Above, the Tawny Owls the boys found along the Canal Path. Below, I couldn't resist a photo of the Highland Cattle in one of the fields.
We moved on a little further north and had a cup of coffee while watching more Chiffchaffs and other small birds in the trees overhead and Geoff had found a Spotted Flycatcher, though Andy and myself only saw the bird briefly. Both Matt and Emma caught up with us as we then walked further up the pathway and checked out the fields where there was a large herd of Highland Cattle and Sheep present. A Common Buzzard was seen over to the north (our 6th species of raptor today) and another Marsh Harrier flew over our heads and headed off south. It was now getting a bit dark overhead and according to my mobile phone, there was rain on the way and so we turned back and walked back to our respective cars. A small flock of three Sandwich Terns flew over the reserve heading north to round off our superb trip here.
Crooked Walk Lane, Portsdown Hill:
The stunning view looking north over the countryside from Portsdown Hill.
Not finished with the day, we made our way to Portsdown Hill to hopefully see if there was any visible migration going on. Making our way there, I saw three Ravens flying south as we drove up Down End Road. We chose to park at Crooked Walk Lane and walk west behind the DSTL building and overlooking the countryside to the north. On the large field to the south, we found at least 6 Pied Wagtails on the short grass and at least 8 Meadow Pipits feeding on the same field. Geoff picked out a pair of Chiffchaffs along the fence line, but there were to be several other Chiffchaffs seen along our walk. Passing the small wood, we had another cup of coffee and simply waited for the birds to fly past. Several small flocks of Swallows headed low east over the fields as well as three Siskins, a Linnet and down at the bottom of the hill, our first Red Kite of the day was seen (and another shortly afterwards perched in a tree), which was our 7th raptor of the day.
Geoff found this Red-legged Shieldbug on the ground here.
On the walk back to the car, Andy found a Spotted Flycatcher perched on the security fence along with a few more Chiffchaffs nearby. As I said to Geoff, it was well worth coming up here early in the morning to check out the ‘Vis Mig’ going on here. The drive back along the top of Portsdown Hill produced up to three Common Buzzards and two Kestrels to finally round off yet another superb day's birding.
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