Saturday 28th February 2026.
The Spotted Redshank at Bunny Meadows was our third 'year-tick' of the day.
Andy did the driving today as he, Geoff and myself toured the southern half of Hampshire by frequenting three different areas. There was no way Andy wanted to drive up to Fleet Pond for the Ring-necked Duck (though there were no reported sightings of the bird today) and so I suggested Sandy Point first for possible seabirds. The Ruddy Shelduck was reported again today at Ranvilles Lane and I found out yesterday that a Spotted Redshank was overwintering for the second year running at a place called Bunny Meadows, near Warsash.
A breezy westerly wind was blowing, but it was dry and mostly sunny today as we made our way to our first destination. I had my Moth Box on overnight, despite the light rain overnight, and thankfully, there were some Moths to check out.
My Moth Box:
The micro moth, Varied Tortrix, was my first for the year.
Despite the poor weather overnight, my Moth Box was blessed with three Moths this morning that included two that were new for the year: Beautiful Plume (Amblyptilia acanthadactyla) and a Varied Tortrix (Acleris hastiana). The other moth was a Light Brown Apple Moth, my first for the garden this year. Sadly, no ‘macro’ moths yet for my garden this year, but it is only a matter of time.
Though a very common moth in my garden, this Beautiful Plume was my first for the year.
Sandy Point, Hayling Island:
A male Stonechat by the Sandy Point Nature Reserve. This was one of a pair seen here by the perimeter fence.
There was a strong, cold breeze blowing from the west and so the idea was to get down by the rocks and view the sea and harbour entrance from there. It paid off at first with an adult Kittiwake passing by heading east with a couple of Herring Gulls; but that was all we saw bar several Cormorants flying low over the sea. Nearby, we heard a Stonechat calling and so checking behind us by the perimeter wooden fence, we found a pair of Stonechats perched on the Gorse bushes. A possible Dartford Warbler was seen with the birds very briefly, but Andy couldn't be 100% sure if it was one and so did not add the species to his Hampshire Year List.
Above, the sea from Sandy Point was very quiet bar a few Gulls and Cormorants flying over. Below, a Meadow Pipit flew up and landed on the perimeter fence.
A Meadow Pipit flew up from the restricted area and perched on the perimeter fence briefly, but little else of note here.
This adult Shag was fishing in the harbour entrance.
After checking out the sea, we made our way to the Lifeboat Station and as I got out my coffee from my flask, I set about, along with Geoff, to check the harbour and harbour entrance with our scopes. An adult Shag was fishing in the harbour entrance and a possible second was nearby, while out in the harbour, we found at least two Great Crested Grebes swimming on the water.
There was a lot of boat activity going on in the northern half of the harbour, but I soon picked out a distant Diver fishing just south of Thorney Island. The light was now excellent and once the Diver came up again, I could clearly see it was the Black-throated Diver that was seen earlier this week! A very good ‘year-tick’ for our Year List, but I had to wait nearly 15 minutes for another good view as the bird simply disappeared. On refinding the bird, I quickly got Andy onto the bird through the scope and a very happy man he was too! Several flocks of Sanderling flew over the harbour and several more were seen along the tideline over at East Head.
We even took a look further up the shoreline towards the Sailing Club, just in case the Snow Bunting might be there, but it was a ‘no show’ and so we made our way back to the car and got some lunch at Greggs!
Ranvilles Lane, Fareham:
The Ruddy Shelduck near Ranvilles Lane today. Film footage by Dolly Hawkes.
We had got the heads up that the Ruddy Shelduck had returned to its usual field off Ranvilles Lane, Fareham and so that was our next ‘port of call’; but the bird took some finding at first. When we parked up in Ranvilles Lane, a good scan over the field produced absolutely nothing. I knew the bird was with two Egyptian Geese and so I took a walk south down the road and eventually, I picked up the Egyptian Geese, but no sign of the Ruddy Shelduck.
I thought I would walk further down the road. Andy then gave the shout that the bird was present and so after watching the bird for around 5 minutes, I walked back to the car to grab my camera but on return, the bird had disappeared again behind a dip in the field. I couldn't be asked to walk all the way around the field and so we got back into the car and headed off to Bunny Meadows for, hopefully, our third ‘year-tick’ of the day. As we passed the same field along the new Daedalis Way road, we had a brief sighting of the bird again with the Egyptian Geese, but not long enough for a photo. Fume!
Bunny Meadows, Warsash:
This Grey Heron flew in and landed in the creek by the main entrance to Bunny Meadows.
Bunny Meadows was a ‘Reserve’ tick for us and with the power of Google Maps, we managed to find our way to the Car Park at Holly Hill Woodland Park. From here, we had to walk some distance through some slippery, muddy woodland to get to the reserve that was adjacent to the River Hamble. The whole area was packed with dog-walkers and people out for a walk, but it was a decent looking site to do some birding though, with plenty of wildfowl and waders to sift through on our walk around the Reserve. I was hoping to come across the Spotshank almost immediately as there was a good number of birds present by the main entrance, but it turned out we had to do a lot of walking before we finally saw the bird. We nearly gave up and started to make our way back and it was by the main entrance that Andy gave the shout that he had found the bird.
This Little Grebe, now in summer plumage, was on the large lake within Holly Hill Woodland Park. Below, Bunny Meadows was at low tide when we arrived.
There were a variety of waders out on the shoreline of the River, with Grey Plover, Oystercatcher, Redshank and Dunlin all showing well and a reasonable number of Wigeon and Teal in one of the creeks. The Spotshank could have been hiding in any of the small creeks, but it wasn't till we arrived back at the same site where we first started, that the Spotshank was found and it certainly showed very well for us too.
Above, Wigeon and a female Teal in the creek by the main entrance and below, one of several Oystercatchers present here.
Above, a few Grey Plover were also around along with several Dunlin by the edge of the River Hamble.
Above, the Spotted Redshank in the creek and one of many Redshank present.
Other sightings here included a Common Buzzard and a male Kestrel by the woodland and a very confiding Rock Pipit on the shoreline close to the entrance to the Reserve. So with three more ‘year-ticks’ under our belts, we then made our way through the woodland back to the car park. I think we certainly got our ‘Steps’ in today as we certainly put on a sweat by the time we got back into the car. The Woodland held a number of singing birds that included at least three Firecrests, a couple of Goldcrests and also Nuthatches, Treecreepers and a variety of other woodland birds. There was a large lake within the woodland that held several Mallard, Moorhens and a lone Little Grebe. It could be one site for the future during the Spring time here; possibly a Pied Flycatcher or Wood Warbler perhaps?
The Spotted Redshank at Bunny Meadows today.
