The drake Lesser Scaup on one of the smaller lakes at Blashford. Photo by Andy Friend.
I thought I would update what has been going on in the birding world here on the south coast and there has been more very rare birds turning up in Hampshire. Unfortunately, I have contracted Flu from my beloved wife and have been off work since Wednesday when I suddenly felt bloody awful and went downhill. Annoyingly, I cannot carry out my two jobs, but my two employers have been more than sympathetic.
A Barn Owl poking its head out of this old tree stump. Photo by Matt Parkes.
This week, amazingly, a drake Lesser Scaup had been found on one of the smaller pools at Blashford Lakes. I have not seen this species in Hampshire and only have ever seen two in my lifetime. I believe one was here a few years ago, also in one of the smaller pools on Blashford Lakes. Again, I don't know all the details on where exactly it is, but I know someone who does. However, I cannot see me birding over the weekend as I still feel totally drained of energy
Lovely close up of a Sparrowhawk. Photo by Andy Tew.
In Hampshire, the Lesser Yellowlegs was still present on Fishtail Lagoon and interestingly, a ringtail Hen-Harrier was over the heath at Woolmer Forest. The three Scaup are still present this morning on Milton Lakes.
A blast from the past. I took my grandchild Isabelle to see the Little Owl at Fort Cumberland around three years ago. The Little Owls eventually got kicked out by a Barn Owl!
One of several Common Buzzards seen today on Portsdown Hill this morning.
My plan today was to get to 100 species in Hampshire for the year to win the Fly/Pye Cup and bring it back to Southsea once again. Andy Fisher has held it for the past two years, but, sadly, Andy was ill over the weekend and so I mopped up the best I could. Today, though bright and sunny, was very cold with a blustery westerly wind blowing over Old Portsmouth and despite nearly freezing to death in Pembroke Road, after a few jobs, I made my way up to Portsdown Hill to not only get my 100th species for the year, but added two more additional birds to my list.
Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:
Apart from that horrible wind again, it was bright and sunny, though on my first shift here in Pembroke Road, only 12 species were seen or heard. A Peregrine or a Grey Wagtail passing overhead would have been nice, but it was not to be. However, on my second shift, both Jay and a hovering Kestrel seen near the Curtain Moat, put the day's total here to 14 species.
Portsdown Hill, Hampshire:
A flock of Linnets were discovered from a lay-by on Pigeon House Lane.
I decided to drive up to Fareham and from the motorway, I took Boarhunt Road to get to the St. Nicholas Church Car park to view the fields opposite the Farm. From here I scanned the fields thoroughly for any Gamebirds and came up trumps with a pair of Red-legged Partridges scrambling about in the fields to add to my year list. Despite a good search, I could not find one Pheasant, which was surprising as there are normally truckloads around this area. Even the best laid plans sometimes do not happen. Not a great deal of note here and so I climbed back into the car and made my way to Pigeon House Lane.
Finally, the Gamebirds were discovered. Above, a pair of Red-legged Partridges were found in the field adjacent to St. Nicholas Church. Below, my 100th species were these male Pheasants.
Along the way, while driving eastbound along James Callahan Drive, I saw another much larger covey of Red-legged Partridges in a field adjacent to the road. Shame, as they would have made an excellent photo, On reaching Pigeon House Lane, I drove slowly down the road and eventually parked up half way down in a layby to check the countryside. From here, I was lucky enough to pick up my first Linnets of the year feeding on the stubble within a field nearby along with a solitary Goldfinch. Year-tick number two. The third was seen almost immediately, when I heard a Yellowhammer calling. It didn't take long to find the male bird perched on a bramble near the Linnets and a second bird was seen further along the hedge. I also scanned the fields and the horizon for a Red Kite, but the best I could do was a couple of distant Common Buzzards perched on bushes.
Just part of the Fly-tipping that goes on here within the country lanes.
Mandarin was now on my radar and to see these, I had to get to Hook Heath Farm where a small pond was hosting the birds nearby. I parked near the Ford and then on foot, made my way up to the Farm. Sadly, a lot of rubbish had been dumped on the side of the road, which is a big problem down here as Fly Tipping still goes on in this beautiful part of our countryside. On top of that, someone with a tractor was hedge trimming and the noise was deafening as I made my way past the tractor and up to the Farm.
And now the hedgerows get ripped to pieces!
I was now on 99 species for the year and eventually, before I encountered the Mandarins, I found my first Pheasants of the year to get my 100th species at last. Three male birds were out in the fields viewed by the side of the road and I took a few photos in the bright sunshine of the colourful birds. Passing the Farm to my left, I checked out the heavily grown over pond to the right and it wasn’t going to be easy to view the Mandarin either. In fact, I could not obtain any photos as the birds were seen for a few seconds at a time, two drakes that were swimming under all the vegetation. Happy with the Mandarins now on my year list I took a slow walk back to the car and then I heard a Redwing calling. I found a clearing through the roadside hedge and picked up a male Stonechat in the field and then I saw the Redwing flying out of a hedge and away over the countryside to make it 102nd species of the year.
Another Common Buzzard perched by a roadside tree.
I then sent Andy a text: ‘It’s coming home, it's coming home. The Fly/Pye Cup is coming home!’
Though I had a pair of binoculars, I didn't have my main camera and so these distant Sanderling among the Gulls on Eastney Beach was the best I could offer. I could have gotten a bit closer, but a dog walker was about to flush all the birds anyway.
It was a horrible start to the day with squally showers and a strong and very cold westerly wind blowing here on the south coast. However, the showers eventually gave way to a bit of sunshine, but remained very cold in that wind. I returned back to work in Old Portsmouth today, after a nice two week break, but returned in grim weather to start the week. Between shifts, I had the opportunity to take a quick look on the beach for Eastney for Sanderlings and thankfully, they duly obliged.
Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:
There were very few species on show on my first shift with just the usual Herring and Black-headed Gulls, Carrion Crows and Wood Pigeons braving the awful weather. But it wasn't till this afternoon that I managed to get up to 12 species for the day here at Old Portsmouth, but nothing unusual among those species seen or heard today.
A superb close up photo of a Kestrel that was taken by Pete Appleton recently.
Eastney Beach, Portsmouth:
I parked up by Fort Cumberland, flushing a pair of Meadow Pipits from the grass and grabbed my spare binoculars (having left my new ones in Matt’s car last Saturday. Doh!!!) and made my way to the beach. There was a dog walker on the beach with three dogs in attendance walking along the shoreline and in front of them were a small group of two Sanderlings walking fast along the same stretch of shoreline. They did fly off as the dogs approached but looking back westwards, I found a flock of 60+ birds on the shoreline among the many Herring and Common Gulls. The Sanderling was my 96th species for Hampshire and my 97th species overall in the UK and hopefully, with more to come tomorrow!
One of the Long-eared Owls at Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve. Photo by Pete Appleton.
In Hampshire today, the 3 Glossy Ibis remain faithful to Posbrook Floods still and a Yellow-browed Warbler was seen again at Eastleigh Sewage Works and in West Sussex, the Long-eared Owl was still being seen by some of the ‘Lazee’s’ over at Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve.
One of the Long-eared Owls on the Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve today.
The plan today was to either go down to New Hythe for the long staying American Yellow Warbler or for the Long-eared Owls at Pagham Harbour NR and the Lesser Yellowlegs at Pennington Marshes. Matt Parkes was going to do the driving today and with Andy Fisher not feeling well, it was just Geoff Farwell and myself joining Emma and Matt. After discussion the previous night, we decided to give the Warbler a miss; for it really was a big gamble that it might actually show and judging by Birdguides, the bird actually never showed today. As the old chap in the third Indiana Jones movie said, 'We chose wisely!' Though it was damn cold all day, we even finished off at a balmy Blashford Lakes where by the end of the day, my year total reached 96 species for the year of which 95 of those were in Hampshire!
The spectacular sunrise over Langstone Harbour greeted us when we all met up in the Farlington Marshes Car Park.
Pagham Harbour Nature Reserve, West Sussex;
Large numbers of Brent Geese over Pagham Harbour at dawn.
When Geoff and I reached Farlington Marshes Car Park to join Emma and Matt who were waiting for us there, a spectacular sunrise was taking place over Langstone Harbour and beyond. Carefully packing our birding gear in the back of their car, we made our way to Church Lane, Pagham in a very good time. It was overcast, though the sunrise over Pagham Harbour was pretty spectacular too, especially with all the waders and wildfowl taking flight over the harbour.
Wigeon was seen close to the main footpath.
As some birders have put it, the Long-eared Owls were probably Sussex’s worst kept secret as we walked along the North Wall to join a small group of birders looking intently into a hedge that was pretty close to the main footpath. There we had a Green Woodpecker passing by and a good scan in White’s Creek. I picked up my first Shelduck, Wigeon, Lapwing and Grey Plover of the year. Large flocks of Brent Geese were overhead or in the harbour as we walked along the harbour wall with a fierce biting cold wind coming in off the harbour.
Waders and wildfowl resting in Pagham Harbour. Sadly, at the end of our trip to Pagham Harbour, I realised the battery in my camera had died! But I did have Digiscoping to back me up. Phew!
On reaching the small throng of birders there, we met up with Graeme Loader who kindly pointed out where one of the three Long-eared Owls was sitting. Excellent. I have not seen one of these species since we saw one (Geoff, Andy and myself) on Cley Beach, Norfolk way back in my ‘twitching’ days; probably 25 years ago! The main bird here near the harbour wall was showing out in the open whereas the other two were much harder to see. Emma had brought along her new Thermal Imaging Camera along with her and confirmed there were two more birds partly hidden within the dense brambles. Nevertheless, this individual showed superbly for us.
Another photo of the Long-eared Owl this morning.
Spending around an hour here, despite the jaw-numbing cold, I was picking off ‘year-ticks’ during our time here that included a Spotted Redshank that landed in a creek nearby (the tide was well out currently), two female Marsh Harriers flying over the reedbeds and big flocks of Black-tailed Godwit flying over the fields behind the Owls. A pair of Snipe flew overhead having come off the freshmarsh within the harbour and as we left Graeme and the Owls behind and made our way back to the car, another scan up White’s Creek produced our first Avocet of the year along with a drake Pintail. A Little Egret was fishing in the same Creek and jumped onboard my year list and Emma found a female Kestrel flying low over the reeds and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew overhead and landed in the trees by the houses. to round off our successful trip here. Now onto Pennington Marshes.
Film footage of the Long-eared Owl at Pagham Harbour this morning.
Pennington Marshes, Hampshire:
The Lesser Yellowlegs (right) feeding with a Redshank within the small pool. Patience paid off when the bird actually came into view after a freezing 30 minute wait.
We stopped into the Rownham Services on the M27 on the way there for a Maccy D’s breakfast and picked up our first Rook of the year scrounging for scraps by our car, joining around 20+ Carrion Crows. They obviously get fed well here!!! I was hoping for a Jackdaw, but I did see these birds to add to my year list while driving through Lyndhurst!
Above, one of the many Spoonbills seen today at Pennington. Below, good numbers of Dunlin were present around the reserve. Photos by Emma Parkes.
On reaching the Car Park at Lower Pennington Lane, we made our way to the seawall where we were stopped in our tracks when Matt saw a soaring White-tailed Eagle in the distance. Yesterday, three birds were sitting in a distant Conifer here! The Eagle, though distant, was soaring round and round for a while; they eventually disappeared from view though I think it was heading towards the Isle of Wight. Emma then shouted out that a Spoonbill was passing through and we quickly got onto that bird too. Two ‘year-ticks’ within seconds! Getting onto the seawall, we headed westbound to join a small group of birders watching the said Lesser Yellowlegs. A couple of birders told us that they had seen the American wader, though viewing was very limited.
Above and below, Ringed Plovers on the freshmarsh. Photos by Emma Parkes.
On our way to the spot, we encountered our first Ringed Plovers of the year feeding with a mixed flock of both Turnstone and Dunlin. The tide was coming up within the Solent and that wind coming in off the sea was terribly cold. On reaching the area to view, we really did have a limited viewing area through some brambles where the bird was using a small grassy fringed pool. After ten minutes or so, Matt suddenly had the bird through his scope, but frustratingly, the bird quickly flew off a short distance and was out of view. We had to wait at least 30 long minutes for the bird to reappear but during that time, a Skylark, Meadow Pipit and a Reed Bunting were added to my year list.
The Lesser Yellowlegs on the small pool between Fishtail Lagoon and Keyhaven Marshes.
When the bird finally flew in, I quickly called everyone over to view the bird. After Geoff had a good look through my scope, I managed to reel off some digiscoped photos and film footage of the bird and as a Redshank joined the bird, there was a good comparison between both species. The slender build of the Lesser Yellowlegs plus the yellow coloured legs easily tell it apart from the bulkier Redshank. Not only a very good Hampshire ‘tick’ but also my first for at least ten years when I saw one on Lepe Country Park.
Also while waiting for the Yellowlegs to show, a Kingfisher made several sorties past us and another pair of Marsh Harriers were seen over the reserve. A large group of Avocets were resting on the Saltmarsh behind us and a Kestrel was hovering over nearby Keyhaven Marshes. Happy with our Lesser Yellowlegs sighting, we made our way back to the Car Park. My lips were actually numb from the cold and though the rest of me was well wrapped up, I was actually having trouble trying to get the words out of my mouth. Maybe a good thing, lol?
Another photo of the Lesser Yellowlegs (left) with the Redshank.
A large group of Golden Plover flew over the fields and out onto the fresh marsh to add to our ever growing year list and then with a large group of Brent flying off the fields, a large group of Canada Geese and a small flock of Grey Lag Geese also jumped onboard my year list! The guys then found a male Stonechat amongst the brambles just before we reached the Car Park to round off another successful trip.
Blashford Lakes, Hampshire:
A Tufted Duck on Ibsley Water. Photo by Emma Parkes.
On our journey to Blashford Lakes, the slow traffic through Lyndhurst was to our advantage as I pointed out to Emma two large passerines in someone's garden and she quickly identified them as our first Bullfinches of the year! How lucky was that? Driving along the Roger Penny Way road through the New Forest to Fordingbridge, we kept a sharp eye out for any Harriers along the way and though no Harriers to be seen, we encountered our first Raven of the year flying low close to the roadside!
A Great Crested Grebe in front of the Tern Hide. Photo by Emma Parkes.
On reaching the Reserve Centre at Blashford Lakes, we stayed briefly for a toilet break and during our brief time there, my first Siskin of the year flew over. Everyone now relieved, Matt drove over to the Tern Hide (the Centre Car Park was virtually full) where we stopped for lunch, where Matt & Emma kindly fed me!!! I was hoping to buy some lunch in a garage, but who could refuse being fed a couple of Rolls and a packet of crisps?
A drake Gadwall in front of the Tern Hide. Photo by Emma Parkes.
Refreshed, we then made our way to the Tern Hide where many more new birds for the year were found. Of the wildfowl, Gadwall, Goldeneye (around 4 birds including two drakes) and best of all, a female Red-crested Pochard; that was picked up through the scope over on the west side. I pointed it out to a stunned birder next to me and he kindly then put me onto my first Green Sandpiper of the year at the back of Ibsley Water sitting quietly on the waters edge. Other new for the year included Great Crested Grebe, two Great White Egrets and, eventually, the two Black-necked Grebes. Seeing that there is only one bird in Langstone Harbour currently, this was a real bonus to see these Grebes here and they showed very well too, swimming just south of the Goosander Hide.
The Black-necked Grebes on Ibsley Water. Photo by Andy Tew.
Pleased with our sightings here, we then finished our day off with a quick look within both Woodland and Ivy South Hides. It seemed to be getting a bit darker here, especially when we were in the Woodland Hide, but we managed to pick up Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Coal Tit and finally Chaffinch to add to our year lists and we even had time to check out the Eye-lash Fungus growing on a small fallen branch. My God, it is tiny! Yes, there were a few omissions here at Blashford that included Goosander and Egyptian Goose, but they can be seen later in the year. But I have to say, though it was damn cold at times; we all certainly had a brilliant days’ birding. Just sorry Andy wasn’t here today to enjoy the spoils.
A drake Tufted Duck on Ibsley Water. Photo by Emma Parkes.
