Early April Adventures

A bit of free time and a need to see some sunshine, I've recently visited Pennington again, a quick trip in to the New Forest and equally quick trip to Blashford Lakes.  Sadly the last two were in cold gloomy conditions, as the wind has shifted to coming from the East and man it's cold!!

First up, pics from Pennington.. Avocet mating and some tidy Spotted Redshank.

Hadn't seen a swallow, sand martin or house martin this year, then picked up all three circling the reservoir by the ancient highway,

Next trip was to Acres Down in the New Forest - in the search of Redstart and Cuckoo.  I had thought I was a bit early for these Summer migrants. This cold wind is coming from the wrong direction to encourage the little birds to cross the channel, but after an hour of searching the paths and woodland I spot a pair of Redstart..  and then, I was finding them everywhere!  Must have seen a dozen males in the area I walked today.
Lots of crossbill in the tree tops and finally heard a cuckoo near the car park.  And then it was time to drive to Blashford and finally get warm..  The sun was being shy today.

A distant male Crossbill

At Blashford, the new Tern Hide is open and it's massive!  I've lived in smaller places!
It offers good views of more of Ibsley Lake, a more panoramic view, but it's still Blashford.  A place that serves a purpose (well) but hard to get excited about. You go to Blashford simply to pick up Winter 'ticks', and any other rarities that are listed.

Two Little Ringed Plover close to the hide, a Common Tern flying around and a Sandpiper shot past quickly. Too quick for me to ID.   Then a quick look in the Woodland Hide, hoping to see some Brambling. None seen and the lack of sun meant little point taking pics. 
That didnt stop one lady taking about 700 pictures of the same three or four blue tits and great tits on the feeders.. God knows why anyone needs that many pics of 'battery hen' wildlife. 
We're all different I guess.

Where to go tomorrow???

Blimey, its been a while..

Yup, no new post since November 2017! Blimey!

The 'year of the bike' sort of happened, I completed my 4000 mile challenge over the course of the year, but it sadly meant these kind of days out didnt happen, except for a flying visit to Portland - to say hello to everyone, as much as anything.

Anyhoo, Spring has sprung, the weather is currently pretty decent, so today was a visit to Pennington / Keyhaven. Just me and my knackered camera, and lots of sunshine. Happy enough with that, well, apart from the knackered camera bit.

Left Andover at 9 a.m. after grabbing some food and fuel, and was parking up at Lower Pennington at around 10:30.  Opened the car door to a Greenfinch and Cetti's Warbler right next to the car, being very vocal.  (click on pictures to enlarge).

Lapwing, Redshank, Curlew all heard as I walked from the car park to the first Lagoon, Fishtail.

The fields were very wet, and full of small waders and ducks,  plus a pair of roe deer happily munching on the grasses

I haven't really be paying much attention as to whats been happening at any of these reserves, but I did see that the spoonbill were still knocking about. Sure enough, one was on Fishtail Lagoon, sifting through the mud.

I'd heard that the local Dartford Warbler had been wiped out this winter, due to the cold. Not sure if that is true, but I found one at the edge of Keyhaven Lagoon, in the usual area.

As far as migration goes, it's very much in between seasons down there.  Plenty of Shelduck, a summer visitor, but also still Brent Geese, Wigeon, Teal and Pintail in the lagoons. They'll be off very soon to more northern countries.

Usually I see one or two Avocet down at these reserves, but this time there must have been 40+ spread out along a three mile stretch of coastline, from Keyhaven to Normandy Marsh.

Plenty of Reed Bunting around the borders and reed beds, and also caught a brief glimpse of 3 Bearded Tit as they flew over, 'pinging' and dropping in to the reedbed and not heard or seen again. The first beardies I've actually seen here.

Walking along the sea wall, I hear a screeetch that I recognise. A pair of Common Tern flying along the coastline towards me.  Some of the earliest returning terns, as there really hasn't been many listed at all on Hants Birds News.   (poor shot, shooting in to the sun).

Lymington Ferries

Hirst Castle in the distance

Back to the car and a quick drive around to Normandy Marsh.. and more spoonbill, Oysterchatcher, Black Tailed Godwits and Shelduck..  But no Wheatear or Yellow Wagtail sadly.

A great day, in a great place, but don't tell anyone, we don't want it getting too busy.

TWO HUNDRED - JOB DONE!!!

Obviously I've been on a bit of a (relaxed) mission this year.

Sometime in November or December I saw a tweet from Birdwatching Magazine that suggested we all tried to see 200 different types of birds in 2017. As a regular twitter user, they called it the #my200birdyear challenge and we could all see how each other was doing, using said hashtag.
Regular readers of the magazine have probably owned this challenge, but for me, it was actually a bit daunting. I've 'yearlisted' once or twice before and my best, with a lot of help was 191. That big year was 2010. A long time ago for me!  I forget bird calls etc. once they go away for the winter! It takes me a while to remember a reed warbler etc.

I successfully got a few friends to have a go too, newby birders who I've got to know well from my time with the Wildlife Trust whilst briefly working as a Conservation Trainee and Community Engagement Officer with BBOWT .
Selfish maybe on my behalf, but the idea of birding with new friends on a weekend was an attractive one to me. I'm glad I did.  I should start by saying a few Thank yous. Well done Rachel and Sorrel  for joining me (keep going!! you guys can do it!) and to Graham P for a few trips out, also thanks to Simon  for the birdy chats at work, along with Roger , Alex and my boss at the time Jacky. 👍👍

So I'm not gonna do a full year summary, I have mentioned most of what's happened on here already. What I thought would be fun is to do an 'awards ceremony' picking out a few highs and lows of the year.

So to quickly fill in the missing gaps, today I hit my 200.   A weekend spent with me best bro Joe in Dorset led by his excellent skills and knowledge saw me clock up that magic number.
Dipper in Lyme Regis. 197
Redpoll in Morden Bog 198 (they simply weren't here last winter).
Stonking male Hen Harrier in the east of the county..  and the final tick, a Great Northern Diver in Portland Harbour this morning.  That before trying to locate a Pallas Warbler in some random quarry on 'the rock' (Portland).

So that's the very important 'maths' bit covered. I thought, for a bit of fun I'd throw a few awards out there, best bird, best site etc..  I'm typing this 'off the top of my head', on my 'half birthday' and may have accidentally opened a beer already, but for a bit of fun, here is a few thoughts on the last ten and a half months.  A few shocking pictures too.

So.. where to start.... ?

Its my list, so lets kick off with

Best Self Found Bird.
Tricky this one, but from a relatively crap Birder, my best self found has to be the male Black Redstart I found near to Danebury Hill Fort. With the internet making things a lot easier for keeping in touch / sharing sightings, You could probably reach 200 by being guided by t'web. This fine bird though was mine...  I found it... six months later I still can't believe it..  I found a Black Redstart.. Six miles from my house on 15th April..  I was up there, looking for Corn Bunting or Yellowhammer or something similar, but found a recently ploughed field full of Wheatear. Actually too many to count!! And surprisingly as it was April, a handful of Fieldfare. Seasons colliding right there!  Then this one bird that kept hopping down off a bare hawthorn bush caught my eye.  Goosebumps...

Honourary mention must go to the Great Bustard I found on the very edge of Salisbury Plain. People will have there own opinions on the legitamacy of this, but seeing a gynormous bird, on the hill side, a mile and a half in the distance was a massively unexpected site.. I went looking for something else, (more later) and had no idea they were even out there! Naivety on my behalf, should have known better.

Most Dipped Bird.
Makes sense to follow on the Bustard sighting with the reason I was out there.  I spent a large part of May walking around certain parts of the massive Salisbury Plain looking for an opportunistic sighting of a Montagues Harrier. dip, dip dip...  etc. But on the plus side I saw the Bustard and stone curlew and a few other top birds.  Obviously no picture of the Most Dipped Bird.

Most Complacent Tick.
By way of an apology, I'd like to apologise to the Lyme Regis Dippers..I've only ever seen two before. But getting out of the car, lifting the binoculars and saying ' There's one', was far too complacent for my liking. IT'S A DIPPER (two actually).. I had to travel (Joe drove) to the western edge of Dorset to see one! But so good were our instructions that we fell on top of one, almost.
This was a very good 'tick'. One of the rarest on my whole list.  I'm sorry.

Best managed reserve.
This is flippin tricky one.
Dartford Warbler and Woodlark in my old home town of Newbury - Greenham Common.
Excellent viewing from the woodland hide or tern hide at Blashford Lakes? The Ivy South hide gave me Bittern for the year, other hides gave me Black Tern, Black Necked Grebe etc.
Although I only visited once, my first ever time, I think this award goes to RSPB Ham Wall. Excellent interpretation boards, good maps, sighting board, and above all else, booming bittern, marsh harriers in abundance and a Little Bittern..  Naturally I dipped on that one too. There is only so long you can spend looking at gaps in reedbeds.

Best place. Full stop.
For a novice Southern birder, Portland is a mecca. An amazing island (peninsula) that sticks out like an attractive sore thumb to any migrating birds. Why fly over the sea when there is a bit of sticky outy land to land on??  No brainer..  And boy do they land!!  I've been very lucky to visit Portland five times this year.. Three stays at the Bird Obs, (Thank you Martin) where they almost bring 'ringed' birds to you, as you sea watch from the patio, and two further trips where me and Joe  (or more accurately Joe and me), hit local sites.   There is a Bird Observatory there for a reason, and seeing Radde's Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat 'in the hand' as they've been caught mid migration in 'mist nets' is a real treat.
My first trip this year was a very sober Stag Night. I was the only one sober (sorry Joe) and it didnt disappoint.. Waking up to amazing sunrises, watching two Peregrine eat a pigeon for breakfast. Walking the surrounding area, looking for whatever had dropped in.. perfect.

I went back, and hope to always do so.

Never Gets Old Award.
Seeing an Osprey, 20 minutes from your doorstep..  Ok, not massively impressive until that doorstep is in North Hamsphire.  Fishlake Meadows, you beauty!!  This one, an early returning (non breeding)? bird arrived in July and stayed a while. And was then  joined by others. A big draw here in the South, and rightly so.
Fishlake just misses out on the best reserve. To be fair, considering the lack of management, which actually is it's success, it should be top dog...  The best place for Hobbys, warblers, cuckoos in the South.   I hope Hants & IOW Trust, the new site managers continue to be sympathetic to the long standing residents.


Going, Going....  (hopefully not gone) award.
Turtle Dove. Have you seen one?
Be quick. I had to travel 40 minutes from my house to see one this year. NNR Martin Down. A great site, but not too dissimilar to every other field or farm land.  Good views of Cuckoo, Lesser Whitethroat, Corn Bunting  and Cuckoo though.

Bogey Bird (most dipped).
Can't say too much about this one, but whilst stumbling across the very distant Great Bustard I was actually looking for a Harrier. Monty for short. I'm not one to spend hours searching for a bird, luckily I do like walking. so I guess that's a win, of sorts.

Best photo.
Not a long list by any means, but if I had to nominate one of my shots, It would have to be the Crossbill I snapped in the New Forest.

Honourable runners up shots go to...
The Portland Sparowhawk and Peregrine. (above).  and the WWT Slimbridge Dunlin and Golden Plover.

Best Latin Name.

Simple. White Fronted Goose.
Anser Albifrons.


Should probably end on the #200 bird.
A Great Northern Diver in Portland Harbour.   Thanks all..It's been bloody brilliant! 

Portland Dash

After over two weeks of suffering with the lurgy, two wasted weekends of doing nothing but feeling sorry for myself, I nipped down to Portland today. No excuses, which is easily done, alarm set for Six O'clock (a.m.!!) I was down at RSPB Lodmoor by 7:45 a.m.

My 200 Bird Year challenge has stalled a bit recently, mostly because there aren't many more options for me. Hampshire is fairly quite so the decision was to go to Portland where anything can drop in, and when it does, it is usually found, due to the large numbers of people who are out looking for any rarities.

Lodmoor had a Lesser Yellowlegs and several Little Stint listed recently. Both needed for the 'list'.
Within an hour I'd located them, probably a good job it took that long, as it was still pretty murky at that time of the day, so even by my poor standards, the pics aint great.  Numbers 194 and 195 on the 200 list.

Lesser Yellowlegs

Little Stint (in foreground)

After a successful Lodmoor visit I headed on to Portland. Met Joe at the Obs and went for a wander.
At Culverwell (a patch of scrub just up from the Obs) we were told that someone had heard but not seen a Radde's Warbler. Cue lots of staring at brambles for the next 20 - 30 minutes. A Bramling in the treetops, but no Radde's so we headed back down the hill.  A quick look in the quarry and some pics of the Little Owl and a Kestrel on a telegraph post.

Bramling

Today was an unbelievable day. It was basically raining Firecrest! Every bush had them in, Joe counted 25 in the bushes by the Pulpit Pub. The Obs garden easily had seven in it every time you looked. A bird you would only see one of, briefly at best, if you were lucky. They were everywhere!

Firecrest 

Then it got a bit quiet at the Obs.  Busy quiet, people scuttling back and forth, phone calls being made. A Radde's Warbler had been trapped in the nets and was being 'ringed' in the shed. Quite possibly the bird that was at Culverwell just before.  Number 196!

It proved to be a popular bird!  Pic courtesy of Joe Stockwell.

A couple of Hawfinch circled the Obs occasionally, but didn't obligingly land, unlike the other day when one was ringed.

After Portland I nipped in to RSPB Radipole in the hope of seeing the resident Hooded Merganser. No luck on this occasion but a male Bearded Tit lurked close by the Visitor Centre, and almost twenty Grey Heron on the far side of the lake.

FOUR TO GO FOR THE 200 YEARLIST.