I will retain the Fly / Pye Cup for another year.

Friday 2nd January 2026.

Spending its 8th day by my garden, the female Black Redstart was showing well at times and favouring the tall tree in my neighbours garden.

I was just 7 more ‘year-ticks’ away from the magic 100 Hampshire species for 2026 and with the Blackcap showing well in my garden this morning, the hunt was on to win the Fly / Pye Cup! I did have work to do around 10.30am this morning, but still had plenty of time to take my dogs for a walk around Highland Road Cemetery. Though very cold again here in the south, it was dry and cloudy first thing this morning and very little wind too.

Highland Road Cemetery, Southsea:

A cloudy but bright start to my walk around the Cemy. When I left, the clouds departed and a bright blue sky was overhead. But temperatures were still around 5 degrees.

Jay was my target species within the Cemetery this morning and thankfully, this colourful Crow eventually was seen in the tall trees by the Mausoleum when I walked around the perimeter footpath. This was my 95th species for the year and I was more than happy with that, but when I heard a Coal Tit calling from one of the tall Bushes by the footpath, it didn't take too long to get a very brief view of the bird, though it was very elusive and preferred to stay deep within cover. Still, a sighting of the bird was confirmed as my 96th species for the year. The Coal Tit has been a regular here for the last few months and trust me, it is a very scarce species within the Cemetery, with only a handful of sightings over the years here in my local patch.

Above, the 'Old Dear' with her dog brought along another bag full of bread for the many Herring Gulls and Feral Pigeons. Below, a Wren posed nicely for a few seconds in the south-west corner by the footpath.

Above, one of a pair of Collared Doves high up in one of the Horse Chestnut trees and below, this Redwing sat nicely for me in one of the smaller trees over on the east side of the Cemetery.

I was pleased to find a couple of Redwing within the Cemetery this morning. As Andy said, the snowy conditions in the north of the UK, could push a lot of birds down to our ‘neck of the woods’ which could be very interesting. The weather forecasters believe that this cold snap from Scandinavia could last well into next week and possibly with snow on the way. A flock of 6 Redwing were seen a little later flying over the trees and headed off northbound. At least two Goldcrests were heard calling, but no sightings today and there seemed to be a good number of Blackbirds around today.

Above, another photo of the Wren in the south-west corner.

Above and below, the Jay showed well and a second bird was seen a little later.

Above, a male Blackbird was one of several seen this morning and below, this Carrion Crow made me look twice! It was carrying some large item in its bill as it flew off high north.

Above, another photo of one of the Redwings. 

Above, Winter Heliotrope growing below the Holm Oaks and below, I found this clump of Common Ragwort flowering by a grave.

Both Greenfinch and a Pied Wagtail flew high over the Cemy, but apart from the usual birds, I was very pleased with today's sightings here. The Winter Heliotrope was flowering in its usual spot below the Holm Oak trees and I even found a flowering clump of Common Ragwort growing beside a grave, which I thought was most unusual for this time of year.

Eastney Beach, Southsea:

This stunning photo of Southsea beach was taken by Ollie Crabbe.

After work, around 12.30pm, I took a drive down to Eastney Beach and so parking up at the Fort Cumberland Car Park, I walked down the footpath to the beach and made my way right to the shoreline. I had packed my spare pair of binoculars in the car and then scanned the shoreline and found a small group of four Sanderlings scurrying close to the edge of the waves. This was my 98th species for the year and a good scan over the calm sea produced virtually nothing apart from a few distant Gulls and so I made my way back to the car with a big smile on my face.

Pigeon House Lane, Portsdown Hill:

The gorgeous countryside looking north viewed from Pigeon House Lane.

Now I needed just two more species to retain the Cup and so I parked up in a layby within Pigeon House Lane and scanned the fields for my target species: Red-legged Partridge and Red Kite. A female Kestrel was hovering around 30 feet away from me in the adjacent field and I also picked out a distant Common Buzzard soaring high over the countryside below. Yes, it was very cold, especially due to the fact I did not have a coat, but undeterred, I waited patiently and was eventually rewarded with a pair of distant Red Kites with a Common Buzzard soaring together to the west. Just one more species to go and within minutes, I found a small covey of Red-legged Partridges! Bingo! The Cup was mine again for another year and low and behold, while watching the ‘Red-legs’, a Red Kite drifted low over the birds.

The Red-legged Partridges were seen by the edge of the field close to the Bushes behind the pylon. Then a Red Kite drifted low over them seconds later after sighting the birds.

Now I can relax and hopefully get Andy onto 100 species tomorrow. Pigeon House Lane rarely disappoints, though Geoff tells me that the area of trees where the Mandarin Ducks used to be at the bottom of the road has now all disappeared as the local landowner had the trees all grubbed up! What a shame. A lot of green belt areas are now under threat due to the Government's drive for new housing, but I will not get into politics. If I haven't done so already, I would like to wish all the readers of my blog a very Happy New Year. Keep the superb photos coming guys for it is most appreciated to put them on my blog.