Ruddy Duck back on Ibsley Water.

Thursday 8^th October 2026.

A breezy start to the day with mostly overcast conditions and a westerly wind. I didn’t put the Moth Box on overnight as I was feeling quite grim last night and after a poor night’s sleep, I was glad I had a bit of a lay in before heading off to Pembroke Road for my first shift.

Once there, it wasn’t too bad and very mild too, but this afternoon, the wind was blowing hard down Pembroke Road and even proved hard to stand up at times!

 

Pembroke Road, Old Portsmouth:

It remained overcast throughout the day here in Pembroke Road, but very windy in the afternoon.

Just 13 bird species were recorded today and to be honest, nothing really to set the pulses racing. Another big gathering of 100+ Wood Pigeons were on Governor’s Green until one of the big Cross-channel ferries blew its horn and scattered all the Pigeons! In the afternoon, the Wood Pigeons took to the Holm Oaks, dangling from the branches to pick off the acorns that were now emerging.

Up to three Pied Wagtails were on the Bowling Green this afternoon. There was just the one Pied Wagtail this morning along with the stuffed Crow! No sign of any Jays today, but there were at least 6 Magpies around the area along with plenty of Carrion Crows. I know the weather didn’t help this afternoon, but there were a lot of Gulls flying around and making use of the strong wind that included a group of 4 Great Black-backed Gulls flying over Curtain Moat.

The birds recorded this morning included the following:

• Herring Gull
• Great Black-backed Gull
• Black-headed Gull
• Wood Pigeon
• Feral Pigeon
• Carrion Crow
• Magpie
• Blue Tit
• Great Tit
• Pied Wagtail (3)
• Blackbird
• Wren
• Robin

In Hampshire today:

The female Ruddy Duck on Ibsley Water today. Photo by Andy Tew.

A few of Hampshires top listers connected with a female Ruddy Duck on Ibsley Water, Blashford Lakes, this morning. A little while ago, a female Maccao Duck had turned up on the same stretch of water until it was re-identified as a female Ruddy Duck; but although the bird this morning remained at the back of the lake, we can assume it was a female Ruddy Duck.

I found this Narrow-winged Grey moth in a block of flats near the main entrance in Southsea today.

Redwings are now on the move as there were plenty of reports on Going Birding today. 454 birds were recorded flying over Tweseldown, near Fleet and it is only a matter of time before I get my first bird of the Autumn. A Glossy Ibis was seen over Titchfield Haven today.

I was listening to this weeks Podcast on Birdguides last night about the mini invasion of Nutcrackers spreading our way in Western Europe. I think it was Finland had recorded three figure numbers of this species. I saw the bird in Kingsdown, in Kent, on the 6th September 1998, when I took the long drive to see the bird. I was watching all the 'twitchers' rushing up the road towards me pointing to a bird above them and sure enough, the Nutcracker flew right over my head! Since that bird, sightings of this species have been extremely rare in the UK; so who knows, they could finally reach our shores this Autumn?