Monday 7th September 2026.
A wet start to the working week with heavy drizzle that
literally started as soon as I arrived at Pembroke Road to start my first shift
of the day. A westerly wind didn’t help either as the wind picked up. There was
no Moth Box on overnight and most likely it will not be on tonight either due
to heavy rain coming in overnight and onto the following morning.
It looked like a good day was had down at Farlington Marshes
with a number of potential ‘year-ticks’ being seen on and over the Reserve and
my buddy Geoff Farwell got to see some of them too. The UK’s star bird
currently is the Egyptian Nightjar, the UK’s third ever, which was found at the
Pool of Virkie on Mainland Shetland over the weekend. Even a few ‘Lazee Birders’
took the very long trip to see the bird; however, there was no sign of the bird
today. Other top rarities in the UK included the long staying Long-tailed Shrike at Eastleach Martin, Gloucestershire, the Hudsonian Godwit at Cattawade, Suffolk, the Black-winged Kite at Hampstead Marshes, Norfolk and the Solitary Sandpiper at Tresco, on the Isles of Scilly.
Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:
A grey start to the day with heavy drizzle on its way at Pembroke Road this morning.
Though the weather was poor this morning, a Firecrest was
heard calling in the trees and bushes along the footpath between Governor’s
Green and the Bowling Green. I might have seen the actual bird flying into the nearby
Holm Oaks (it certainly was very small), but I wasn’t 100% certain.
Two large flocks of Swallows flew high south in the gloomy
weather; the first being a flock of around 20+ birds and a little later, a much
larger flock of around 60+ birds all heading south. Only 12 bird species were
seen from both shifts, but the Swallows and the Firecrest were the best of a
small bunch.
The weather was poor again on my afternoon shift with more
heavy drizzle driven on by the westerly wind, but very little birdlife was seen
during my time there.
This evening, while taking my dogs for the evening walk, a
Hummingbird Hawk-moth was seen nectaring on Salvia flowers in someone’s front
porch, which was totally unexpected and a pair of Mute Swans were flying high
eastbound over the houses as I was about to arrive at my house.
Yesterday, birding pal Geoff Farwell was back down
Farlington Marshes where he had the following sightings: Caspian Gull (he was
with Jason Crook at the time in which Jason found the bird with Herring Gulls
on the Stream area), 3 Cattle Egrets, 2 Avocets, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper,
Raven, 4 Wheatears, 3 Whinchats, 15+ Yellow Wagtails, 2 Common Whitethroats,
Chiffchaff, a poorly Reed Warbler, 2 Cetti’s Warbler, 150+ Linnet. Jason also
saw 3 Glossy Ibis and 3 Ospreys from the North Shore!
In Hampshire today:
Jason was in the headlines again today when he saw a Roseate
Tern, Arctic Skua, Arctic Tern and 2 Black Terns all in Langstone Harbour off the
Great Salterns Quay, by the Eastern Road! Another Arctic Skua was seen off Hill
Head by Mark Francis this evening. Northney Paddocks held 2 Spotted Flycatchers
and a Pied Flycatcher. The Wood Sandpiper was still on the Stream area at
Farlington Marshes and a single Little Stint on the lake and over at Titchfield Haven, an Osprey caught a
fish this morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment