A very cold day that produced a few surprises.

Wednesday 24th December 2025.

An early start this morning around my local patch.

It was bitterly cold today with a biting strong north-easterly blowing over Southsea as I took my dogs for their walk around Highland Road Cemetery before I headed off to work. Arriving around just after 8am, the sun had not quite risen over from the east and therefore, it lit up the few clouds with an orangy hue. I must admit, finding birds to photograph was a bit of a struggle at first, with only the local Herring Gulls and Wood Pigeons mostly being on show and amazingly, I did not see one Robin during my 45 minutes here.

Highland Road Cemetery, Southsea:

Wood Pigeons high up in one of the Horse Chestnut trees. 

As mentioned, birds were hard to come by for a decent photo, but eventually, a few showed relatively well that included several Blackbirds and a Great Tit (see photos). A small flock of four Greenfinch flew over but they did not settle this time around. I think I notched up around 15 species in all, though a lot of them were simply brief sightings as the smaller birds remained elusive throughout the morning. 

Above, the Jay showed fairly well and below, a Great Tit within a Buddleia Bush.

Above, this 1st winter Blackbird was vocal and below, a pair of Collared Doves was within the Conifer within the south-east corner.

A single Jay put in a brief appearance and I managed to grab a couple of photos of the bird with a clump of Buddleia bushes. Yet again, there was no sign of any Woodpeckers and I strongly believe that the regular Green Woodpecker here has gone for good. The cold strong wind did make it feel a tad uncomfortable walking around my local patch, but nonetheless, it's always enjoyable here whatever the weather. Even the dog-walkers were far and few between and all were quite friendly (and their dogs too!).

Above, Common Knapweed was growing in the south-east corner and below, the old lady feeding the Herring Gulls and Feral Pigeons.

Above, this male Blackbird popped out and showed nicely and below, the orange hue on the clouds made this a more interesting photo.

An old woman (a regular here) came in with a bag full of bread and fed the local Herring Gulls and Feral Pigeons and the sight of so many Gulls was quite something. Sadly, nothing unusual among them, but the sheer numbers and noise of around 100+ Herring Gulls was notable. 

One of many Wood Pigeons here in the Cemy this morning and below, flowering Smooth Sow-thistle were abundant around the graves.

Of the plants still in flower, it included a clump of Ox-eye Daisies, Smooth Sow-thistle, Common Groundsel and I even found a small clump of Common Knapweed, which took me by surprise. Not surprisingly, there were no insects on show today here in the Cemy. Yes, it was cold, but it was always a pleasure to be here.

In Hampshire today:

The male Cirl Bunting at Wicor, Portchester today. Photo by Andy Friend.

For those birders escaping the Xmas shopping, what better than getting a Hampshire ‘tick’ with the male Cirl Bunting showing well at yesterday’s site of Wicor, in Portchester. The bird was found again this morning and got a good steady stream of admirers. This is a real gem of a bird to get in Hampshire and just a pity that I was working most of the day. Could it hang around a few more days? Another amazing find was a pair of Bean Geese that was found by Jason Crook on Farlington Marshes today. The birds were with a pair of White-fronted Geese and a further 18 more White-fronts were also on the Reserve!

The Hayling Oysterbeds hosted a variety of notable species that included a showy Long-tailed Duck. Up to 5 Great Northern Divers were in Langstone Harbour along with the female Scaup and a Whimbrel on the Oysterbeds too. I don't think this year is quite done yet for more potential ‘year-ticks’!