I am now going to put on my blog on a weekly basis some of my birding exploits from many years ago. I might suggest clicking on the photo to read what I wrote all those many years ago. Here is an excerpt from my Journal from 1981 when I was the tender age of 17 years old:
When I first started birding, mostly with my late father, I also went along with my best friend at the time, Mark Trigwell. His parents were good friends of my parents and so with both of us interested in birds, we did a lot of birding together from the likes of Farlington Marshes and Pagham Harbour. However, Mark went off to do his own thing and that's when I met up with both Andy Fisher and Geoff Farwell and remained birding pals ever since. Birding then was very exciting for when we discovered the likes of Farlington Marshes and Pagham Harbour, we were seeing new birds quite frequently. I had a Kowa telescope at the time and a pair of Swift Saratoga 8 x 40's.
Curtain Moat, which is a short walk from Pembroke Road. There is a good number of Starlings and Feral Pigeons nesting in the holes within the concrete embankment.
It certainly felt like Winter had returned as a cold northerly wind had been blowing over the UK and although there has been a lot of sunshine over the past few days, if you were in the wind, it was quite uncomfortable. However, when you were out of the wind, it was fairly mild, if not warm, especially on Tuesday when it was positively balmy in the sun. Then the weather turned on its head!
There are going to be a few changes on my blog as I am going to introduce some of my old Birding exploits from the past. I was birding when I was in my early teens, picking up my late fathers interests in birds and I have notebooks / diaries going as far back as the late 70’s (Christ, I am that old!!!) and so I will be sharing my notes I made, of which some made some very interesting reading; especially due to the fact that some bird species do not habit Hampshire anymore! Enjoy.
Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:
As mentioned before, the weather over the past couple of days has been somewhat damn freezing; especially early in the morning and at the end of my first shift, my fingertips were so cold, despite wearing thick gloves! However, it has been very bright and sunny. With migrants pouring into the UK currently (Wheatears, Sand Martins and Little Ringed Plovers), I have been keeping my eye to the sky more often than not, but have yet to see anything of note. Up to 16 species of birds were noted yesterday in Old Portsmouth that included at least 9 Pied Wagtails on the Bowling Green as I took a walk before the start of my first shift to Curtain Moat. Sadly, no migrants about, but good numbers of both House Sparrow and Starling in the area. The only noteworthy bird while looking over the Solent through my binoculars was a Cormorant heading east. I’m sure the first Common Tern will be seen soon. Back over the Holm Oaks in Pembroke Road; a Firecrest was heard calling again within the trees, but no sighting again. Boo!
The afternoon sunshine yesterday brought out the winged insects. No Pollen Beetles thankfully, but at least two male Hairy-footed Flower Bees and my first Pied Hoverfly of the year, but too quick for a photo using my mobile phone camera. Bugger!
Today, Pembroke Road also notched up 16 species and this time, it included a Sparrowhawk circling very high overhead. I knew there was something going on above me when I heard the alarm call of the Herring Gulls and sure enough, six Herring Gulls were hassling the Sparrowhawk until it sped off eastbound. A Chiffchaff was calling in gardens to the north of where I stood and remained hidden. Migrant bird, perhaps? The number of Pied Wagtails on the Bowling Green numbered just 7 birds today. It will not be long before the first Yellow Wagtail flies overhead; though I rarely see the buggers as they fly so high. Though there were no Brent Geese on Governor's Green, I am keeping an eye out for a possible Wheatear hopping about here, but all I could muster were 33 Wood Pigeons grazing on the grass. Incredible as it seems, this species is actually 'Amber' listed!
The Queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee resting on a window sill.
A cracking Queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee perched on a window ledge this afternoon and bathed in the afternoon sunshine, but no other insects of note to witness. Lately, I have been reading a lot of Hummingbird Hawk-moths that have been seen and filmed in various parts of the UK. I had one here at Pembroke Road on the 20th March last year, so I shall be keeping an eye out for this fantastic moth.
Highland Road Cemetery, Southsea:
A lady was chucking over bits of bread for the Herring Gulls from her back garden. It certainly attracted quite a few.
Around midday, I took the dogs for a walk around Highland Road Cemetery as it had now warmed up a bit and still very sunny. Though to be honest, it was much quieter of late with only 15 species of bird recorded. The Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen again, though this time flying away from me and calling in doing so. I think it landed in the big Oak Tree but I could not relocate the bird. A Jay showed briefly flying high over the Cemy while I was having an interesting chat with a dog-walker. I think I have got a new admirer to my blog? Unfortunately, I couldn't find any Bees on the wing here today or any other insects, though that northerly wind really does not help.
A Wood Pigeon in the Cherry blossom.
More cold weather is due over the next few days and overnight temperatures could even be below freezing! I will not bother with the Moth Box over the coming days either.
The birds recorded in the Cemy today included the following:
Jay
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Herring Gull
Black-headed gull
House Sparrow
Robin
Starling
Wren
Blackbird
Goldfinch
Carrion Crow
Magpie
Wood Pigeon
Feral Pigeon
Blue Tit
Above and below, Wood Pigeons preening in an Ornamental Conifer.
In Hampshire over the past few days, three Sand Martins were seen over Hinton Ampner, just north of the A272 and a Brambling there too. Incidentally, it's been a very poor winter here for Brambling. There have been a few Little Ringed Plovers reported in Hampshire this week, including one bird on Drayton Farm WaterCress Beds along with three Water Pipits. We were there a few weeks back too!
One of three Bloxworth Snout moths was present in my garden today.
There was a bit of rain early on this morning, but it fizzled out to nothing eventually. There was hardly any wind and around midday, it was most certainly very mild with temperatures getting well into double figures. Though the birds were all the usual variety at Pembroke Road today, it was the insects taken centre stage today.
Pembroke Road, Southsea:
This White-shouldered House Moth was in my kitchen last night.
I managed to notch up 16 species at Pembroke Road today, which included a good variety of passerines among them. Up to 6 Pied Wagtails on the Bowling Green, though there could have been more on Governor’s Green. A few Brent Geese flocks headed east over the seafront and on the way back home, I noticed the Brent Geese flock in the fenced off area on Southsea Common. Hopefully, a migrant or two will be coming through soon; maybe a Wheatear or two on Governor’s Green perhaps?
This afternoon, now that the temperatures had climbed into the mid-teens, there was an outbreak of Pollen Beetles on the plants where I stood and many took a liking to my coat I was wearing and had to brush them off now and again. Male Hairy-footed Flower Bees were also interested in the flowering plants close by with at least two nectaring on the plants.
Pollen Beetles were prolific by where I stood in Pembroke Road.
Around 1pm, I trimmed the Ivy that was growing in my garden and up to three Bloxworth Snout moths were flushed from the leaves; my first of the year. Yesterday, my first White-shouldered House Moth of the year was found crawling up the wall in our kitchen, which I caught and released into the garden.
The male Great Spotted Woodpecker showing very well just above my head.
It was back over Highland Road Cemetery this morning as my dogs never got their walk yesterday. Again, the weather was kind to us with hazy sunshine and a light easterly wind keeping the morning temperature around 12 degrees.
Above, this singing Great Tit grabbed my attention and below, the female Sparrowhawk belted through the Cemetery and most certainly on a mission.
As I slowly made my way anticlockwise around the main pathway, I heard a Chiffchaff singing near the Holm Oaks of which I saw later on my walk, though it was too difficult to grab a photo of the bird as it eventually disappeared into the Holm Oaks. A second bird was calling nearby, but I didn't see this individual. The female Sparrowhawk zoomed across the Cemy heading north through the Holm Oaks as I struggled with the camera to get a photo.
Above, Goldfinches were evident today including this singing bird below.
Above, Starlings were very vocal today and coming into their spring plumage.
The best sighting was of a male Great Spotted Woodpecker perched on an overhead branch and not far from where I stood. I even managed to get some film footage of the bird too. A flock of 5 Goldfinches flew over and one kindly settled by some bushes near the main footpath. There were plenty of birds singing this morning which included Robins, Great Tits, Wrens and even a Jay uttering its jumble of sounds and notes from the Holm Oaks!
Above, a gorgeous day again here in Southsea. A view of the Cemy looking west. Below, I found a dead and mostly eaten Magpie on the grass.
Above, there were plenty of Bees around today including this male Hairy-footed Flower Bee.
Above, a couple more photos of the showy Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Sadly, no butterflies were seen here despite the lovely weather, but there were plenty of Bees on the wing including many Buff-tailed Bumblebees and also a male Hairy-footed Flower Bee. On the way back home, as I was walking up my road, a calling Meadow Pipit flew north high over the houses.
Film footage of a beautiful bird.
The birds recorded this morning here included the following:
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 Celandinesin 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.
