Finally, a dry day on the south coast!

Wednesday 4th February 2026.

Dawn over Highland Road Cemetery this morning. Good to hear the birds singing now at this time of day.

Finally, a day without rain at last. It was bright and sunny throughout the day here on the south coast, with a breezy south-easterly that got stronger as the evening wore on. Temperatures were a bit chilly first thing, but it warmed up into double-figures in the afternoon sunshine. My day kicked off by walking the dogs at 6.45am on their usual walk that took me past Highland Road Cemetery and as dawn came, I could hear both Robin and Blackbird singing within Cemy. Herring Gulls screamed overhead as I made my way back home to get ready for another busy day. When I got home, a check in the garden revealed both the male Blackcaps high up in the bare tree at the back of my garden, just sitting there preening.

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

Fourteen bird species were seen or heard today here in Old Portsmouth and though nothing ‘out of the blue’ was noted among the usual birds, the pick of the bunch was my first Pied Wagtails on the Bowling Green for this year; a pair were chasing insects on the short grass and totally ignoring the fake plastic falcon perched on the building and the two raptor kites flying overhead!!Yes, I have seen a few fly over in January, but none have actually been seen by me on the Bowling Green. Up to FIVE Blue Tits were in a group high up in one of the bare trees adjacent to the Bowling Green and I was sure I heard a Jackdaw (rare here) calling somewhere behind the Bowling Green, but I failed to locate the bird. 

Above, Wigeon and Canada Geese were seen grazing from the Canal Path and below, a Common Buzzard keeping an eye out for an easy meal along the Canal Path.

Above, Andy's first Blackcap of the year seen near the first bridge from the Car Park at Titchfield and below, a male Great Spotted Woodpecker seen up in the trees beside the footpath.

The usual passerines were present and correct, which included the noisy House Sparrows, Blackbird, singing Dunnock, Great Tit and Wren. I didn't see any Brent Geese today flying in from the harbour, but when I drove past Southsea Common, at least a 100+ birds were present in the fenced off area for the birds. I also saw large numbers of them on the Cricket Green at Eastney, easily around 200+ grazing on the Green and more seen flying over Eastney around midday. Again, I have added some more photos from last Saturday on this blog entry.

My first Zebra Jumping Spider of the year.

The warmish weather this afternoon on my second shift brought out a few insects of note and that included what I believe was a Glimmer Hoverfly (Riponnensia splendens). Though I never actually got a photo of it (not for the want of trying with my mobile camera!), judging by its size and colour, I cannot see it being anything else. The insect landed on the flowers present briefly, but would not linger long enough for me to grab a photo. However, I had more luck with my first Zebra Jumping Spider of the year, which was seen today walking up and down the white-washed wall by where I stood.

In Hampshire today:

Hayling Oyster Beds and Langstone Harbour were still hosting a good variety of birds this morning that included the Black-necked and Red-necked Grebe, Long-tailed Duck, the drake Scaup and two Great Northern Divers. Staying with Hayling, a huge count of 101 Med Gulls were in fields off West Lane and over at Northney, the Black Brant was with around 80 Brent Geese. Two Great Northern Divers were off Black Point, but no reports of the Snow Bunting today.

Three Little Gulls were off Weston Shore, Southampton and a Water Pipit was on the Drayton Farm Cress Beds at Alresford. Five Glossy Ibis were on the Bridge Street Floods, Titchfield; I wonder if the limping bird has succumbed? The female Red-crested Pochard that we failed to see in January was seen again on Rockford Lake, Blashford and a White-tailed Eagle made an appearance on Ivy Lake. Finally, up to 13 White-fronted Geese were still at Pennington Marshes today. Sadly, there was no sign of the Cirl Bunting at Wicor Mill today or this week so far. I wonder if it will return again?

Above, a bit of a 'blast from the past'. I took this photo exactly 6 years ago today in Highland Road Cemetery of this pair of Foxes. They looked amazing in the strong early morning sunshine.