Very showy snowies!

If you didn't see yesterday's post, I mentioned going down the see the Snow Bunting at Southsea.
I didn't want to drive all that way (Ok, only 45 miles) and not see them so I came up with a cunning plan...
Head to Romsey first to check if the Hawfinch are there yet, whilst news filtered through on the Snow Bunting. As I was going for them, I suspected they would fly away over night so I was very pleased to see them listed this morning on Hants Birds.

Romsey offered a female Brambling, but sadly no Hawfinch today. I don't really know how often they are there but have seen them once and figured it was worth checking out - a half way stop off that I could easily come home from if needed.

Snow Bunting listed whilst I was there so off to Portsmouth I headed. They have been listed as being near to the bandstand next to Southsea Castle / the D-Day Museum since Sunday, and sure enough, this is where they were today. Tiny birds that had flown all this way, to eat the dirt in Hampshire.

The Hampshire Birding facebook group has been flooded with pics of them and to be honest, all pics look the same - birds eating in the mud.  It's a bit easier to get excited by owls that quarter the meadows in front of you. That said, the Snow Bunting were 'lifers' for me. A bird I had never seen before, and a double plus that it was showing so well. No excuses for not getting a picture. Just a shame the sun didn't come out. We always want more, don't we.

Purple Sandpiper are often listed around the castle, so I had a look for them too.
Completely missed them! Walk past them and was thankfully put right by a nearby photographer. I'm blaming the cold wind and the fact that my eyes haven't stopped watering for a week or so.
My friend Joe had shown me one before on a day trip to Portland. This time four were skipping on and off the rocks, raiding the seaweed for anything good to eat.
Again, snapped in gloomy conditions, facing what ever light there was, but always good to get a few more shots of a fairly rare bird. Click on all the pics for better viewing.

I tried to video the snow bunting whilst heading back to the car.

Happy with the morning's work. Off to KFC to eat a different kind of bird. (hopefully).

Farlington Shorties.

Winter is about to kick off. A couple of frosty mornings and the leaves are jumping off the trees at quite a rate. Autumn is my favourite season? I do seem to say that about every season? The golden trees and misty mornings on the lakes do put it right up there though.

With Winter comes the winter visitors. Redwing and Fieldfare have been here a little while, there's even talk of it being a good Waxwing winter. That would be nice after a couple of barren years here in the South.

Looking at the Hampshire bird news page (link) I saw that the Short Eared Owls had returned to Farlington Marshes so jumped at the chance to get down there on a sunny afternoon last week.

Farlington is a fairly large reserve managed by Hants & IOW Wildlife Trust and is situated to the south of the Motorway in between Portsmouth and Hayling Island. Details here
It's a reserve I've visited a few times over the last few years. Got good pics of Bearded Tit and Merganser in the past, but today it was all about the Asio Flammeus  - flame coloured, eared owls.

I got there around noon, had the rest of the afternoon spare and with the tide being in, I figured I would stay til around dusk if needed. The high tide meant that a lot of the waders would be on the lake as the mudflats would be underwater. Indeed the lake was busy! Dunlin, Grey Plover and Teal all over it.

I chatted to a departing birder who said that three owls had been 'up' til around half ten, then dropped down into the Point Field and not been seen since. Typical behaviour really. I anticipated them flying around an hour before sunset, so wasn't surprised.

Walked up to Point Field and sat on the sea wall, chatting to others with cameras and scopes, patiently waiting for the birds to return. Each photographer trying to out bid others on their recent 'I got this record shot' pictures. I didn't play today.

Two o'clock and we were in business. One owl takes off and starts to quarter the field. Yes!
Possibly the biggest reason to go today was to try and snap the owls with my new lens. Ok, it's not so new any more but this was my first attempt at using it with the shorties.
My camera battery died after 5 minutes! I'd been doing some firework shots the night before, long exposures that drain the battery, luckily I brought a spare.

Spent an hour watching all three birds flying over the marshes, not particularly successful at hunting, but gave good views in great light. A sight I have missed!

Pretty pleased with the pictures, a few 'Eek' shots in there.

A good afternoon.
With a poor weeks weather predicted, I might take a gamble and go for the Southsea Snow Buntings tomorrow morning. This means that they will fly somewhere else between now and I get there. Just like last week's Little Auk at Blashford. Dipped by 20 minutes.
Hmm, we'll see.