The marvellous New Forest.

Another Birthday, another day for getting out there and enjoying the lovely weather.. What would I do if my Birthday was in November?

Last year it was Normandy / Pennington, this year searching for a few new Yearticks, myself and my friend (and knowledgable guide) Joe hit the New Forest.. The first time Id really spent any decent time here, despite driving through it probably hundreds of times.

1st stop was a lovely area called Acres Down. A Raptor view point offered great views..
Cuckoos, Stonechat, Woodlark and Tree Pipits.. the last 2 being 'lifers' for me - all showed very well. Sat on the hill top, we could feel ourselves cooking in the Sun.. after 2 hours and an increasing crowd of plonkers, we decided to head into the woodland.. This was a very wise move as it offered amazing views of Redstart and Wood Warblers.. again, 2 lifers.. Going with an expert really makes a difference as Joe picked out a Firecrest in a nearby Pine Tree.
Today was going really well..

Male Redstart.

Firecrest


Wood Warblers were common in the woods.

Joe 'swapping lenses'.

A 'Four spotted Chaser'??

From the New Forest, we headed to Stockbridge, in search of a mythical creature.. Turtle Dove... Never seen one, heard one and am seriously doubting whether they are made up!! But continue the search.

Lots of Butterfly on Stockbridge Down.. Someone asked us if we had seena Duke of Burgundy?? It s a Butterfly apparently.. obviously we hadnt. But a Willow Warbler was showing well.

North?? I never head North..

Feeling a little sore after yesterday's crash on the bike (dont ask!) I had a free afternoon of no cycling - so I headed out to Oxford to try and catch up with a few on this year's 'hit list'.

Garganey and Black Tern in good numbers in or near Oxford had been reported for the last few days.

First call was at Port Meadow.. a marshy area to the West of Oxford near the Thames. I had some rough directions, and you'd think that was enough?? Oh no.. Lots of One Way Streets and roads blocked with bollards meant it was more of a challenge to find the Marsh and somehwere to park than it was to find the Garganey.. Thank god you can now have GPS on Blackberrys. I suppose I should really buy a Satnav, but Im a cyclist!! we worship the Ordanance Survey Map God!

Marsh found, its big with the sun in my face.. Not helpful.. But to the right is a man with a Scope - always look for a man with a Spotting Scope.. saves a lot of checking every bloody Mallard! He's on the Garganey, only one (of the 3 previously listed) and its nice and close.

Job done.

Port Meadow done it was back to the car and try and get out of Oxford before the School traffic started to build up. Next stop was Farmoor and the massive Reservior thats there.. to look for Black Tern.. 22 reported yesterday!

A Yellow Wagtai was very obliging at the edge of the Reservior, just after I left the car park.. Most kind.


Second target of the day.. Black Tern.. a long way off and a real bugger to picture, when youre as talentless with a camera as me.. There were a dozen flying around the water, and this was as close as they came - and with a serious amount of cropping, so apologies for the grainy picture.

Yearlist now on 160.. Marvellous.
Farmoor.

Normandy again..

A return to the best birding site in Hampshire.

The stretch of coastline (and lagoons) between Lymington and Hurst Castle. I left at silly o'clock, got there at 8.00 am and wondered around until 3.00 pm on what was a very warm day.. There was always a breeze off the sea - and it was quite chilly at 8.00 am, but once it warmed up, it really warmed up. Hoping to add a few to the Yearlist - the first stop was Normandy Lagoon.. Little Tern and Greenshank were among the crowd. A good start.

A wonder further along and some Whimbrel were present and so was my friend Joe. He'd been on an early morning Sea Watch at Hurst Castle.. and was having a look around Pennington.

We strolled together and picked up a Ruff, Reed Warbler and a Terrapin!! Free range on one of the lakes!

I walked with Joe, back to his car in Keyhaven and I ducked into the pub, It was midday and I had finished my drinks ages ago.. just OJ and Lemonade, but tasted as good as any beer..

From there I made my way back to the car.. this took 3 hours! Its a long walk, and there was a fair bit of stopping to snap Whitethroat, Plovers and a very obliging Dartford Warbler that was consuming a caterpillar.. so pleased with that shot. Sandwich Tern were also perched out to sea. What started as a quiet day got a fair bit noisier when they decided to test a Hovercraft in the Channel, this went on for half an hour or more. As I got back to the car, a quick look in the field and I saw 2 Deer, a further look revealed 2 foxes at the back. 1 sunbathing, 1 looking around.

On the way home, via a Garage for much liquid... I called in at Lower Test Marshes and picked up a Sedge Warbler. So 7 new ticks today and the Yearlist is now on 153.. Happy days, with a hint of sunburn.

Sandwich Tern

A Whitethroat on Blackthorn

The hungry caterpillar meets its match.

Redshank

White Wagtail

Common Tern

Little Tern

Shhhh!

Spring Mandarin..

A trip to Mapledurham Lock this afternoon.

It was too nice to stay inside and I went hoping to see a Mandarin Duck for the yearlist.

Last year there was a female bird there, this year there were 2 males and a female..

I kinda felt sorry for the other guy.

One of the males was very kind to pose in front of a bunch of daffodils, worthy of a pic.

Mr and Mrs Mandarin.

2 Geese, one only speaks Canadian, one only speaks Egyptian.

On the way back from Mapledurham I picked up a Whitethroat and a White Wagtail for the yearlist. Now on 143 for the year... 2010 total was 146.. its going well :o)

A local twitch.

For most people a Ferruginous Duck is nothing exciting, but this cute visitor turned up in Lydiard Park in Swindon. I've never seen one before - so it was a short drive of around 30 mins to try and pick up a local 'Year and Life Tick.

Thankfully it was showing well in the sunshine and I picked up Yeartick no. 139 :o)

The Leach's Petrol hadnt been seen at Theale that day, so didnt need to walk cluelessly around a Gravel Pit... and the Red Flanked Blue Tail in Swanage will have to come a lot closer if it wants to meet me... decided that I'm not gonna chase all over the Country for one bird... Shoot me if I do!!!

Portland Bill and the Long Billed Dowitcher.

A ridiculously early start to the day.. 5 am!! Destination Portland.. and a day of seeing what was incoming on migration. We set off early, because my friend Joe doesnt like sleep.. that has to be the reason?

Picking him up in Andover at 6am, we made our way to our first port of call - Lodmoor in Weymouth where a Long Billed Dowitcher had set up camp.

A noisy Cetti's was an alarm call for anything that might still be sleeping.. Still havent caught a glimpse of 1 yet this year - so it stays off the list for now. The Dowitcher took some finding. But I guess (considering the size of the reserve) we were lucky to find it, sitting at the side of one of the pools. (I had nothing to do with finding it, all Joe's work).

With the Dowitcher in the bag, not literally, we had a quick look out over the Sea there and also in Portland Harbour.. Very quiet!

Onto Portland, on what was a wet day :o( Hiding between the Beach Huts we kept an eye out on what was out to Sea. A few Gannets passing through, all good.

A Hot Chocolate and a bowl of chips in the cafe (my first chips of the year!) and we set off down the Point. On the way we picked up a Purple Sandpiper. Nice.

Seawatching on the point found us more Gannet, Common Scoter, Fulmar, Red Throated Diver, Manx Shearwater, Great Skua, Razorbill, Guillemot and a solitary Puffin flying across. Happy days!

A little search around the point and a lovely female Black Redstart plus an increasing number of Wheatear were now dropping in.

A few pics.. including a cute Sparrow..

Purple Sandpiper.

Gannets passing by.

A Wheatear that had just flown the Channel.

And this sweetheart had just been ringed at tPortland Obs..

Not in my hand, but lovely to see her so closely.

A Spring sunset at Woolhampton GP.

Took these a few days ago at what is fastly becoming my fave new place to go.

With the main Gravel Pit, the River Kennet and a decent bit of reedbed and woodland its a very diverse place to go to spot wildlife.

These pics were taken on a day I was watching 2 Black Necked Grebes.

In between showers.

Off work for most of this week, so am trying to get out a bit - between bike rides, which is the main reason for taking the time off..

Started out on Greenham Common, the former US Airbase.

This base has been returned to the common land it was, before the Cold War al kicked off.

Its been 10 years now and through the excellent management it attracts a variety of birds and wildlife.

Dartfords and Stonechats have a foot in the door here. Nightjars in the Summer.

The target today was trying to see any of the 3 female Wheatear that were reported yesterday.

I was lucky enough to see 2 or 3 at the back end of last Summer, but really really want to see a male Wheatear in Spring plummage.

Well, no luck.. despite a long walk and look in last years place.

What was abundant was Golden Plover. Yesterday I saw over 150 as they gathered to roost.Today there was a flock of around 70 that circled for a very long time.. the flyover was quite amazing.. Some were on the ground in the 'no public access' breeding area - and were very hard to spot in the gloomy light.. as you can see in the pictures.

How many Golden Plover in this picture??

A male Kestrel was also showing well on the Gorse.

I managed to get fairly close before he flew off.

This strange looking thing is known as the Fire Plane.. and its purpose is obvious..

The Ground Crew used to practice their firefighting when it was an active Air Base.

After the stroll around Greenham, where the showers beat me back to the car :o( I then headed to Woolhampton GP.. If you havent seen any Chiffchaff or Reed Bunting this year, then head there.. The trees around the main lake were brimming with both species.

A Cetti's Warbler was heard, I got quite close too, but typically this shy bird went unspotted..

No sign of the Black Necked Grebes either, apparently one is still present though.

Final call was at Thatcham Discovery Centre to look for Sand Martins..

Right on cue, 8 flew over and shortly after a Swallow.. 2 new Year Ticks.

On the Tern raft, a dead duck was attracting the attention of the rapters and a Red Kite and a Sparrowhawk circled for a while, before 2 Herring Gull dropped in and did their sanitation work..

That duck wont last long - but thats Nature.

Well Wintered my friends..

An early finish from Work on a lovely day.

It was too nice to go home and do nothing (rest day from the bike) so decided to go for a stroll around Greenham Common and see how well the vulnerable birds had coped with the Winter.

Towards the end of last Summer there were plenty of Stonechats in the Gorse and previously a couple of Dartford had been seen too.

Had they survived the Winter?

First up was a herd of the Common Ponies, taking advantage of a quick drink in one of the pools.

It took a while to see anything other than Pigeons, Crows and the occasional Green Woody, but towards the middle of the Common I finally saw half a dozen Stonechat.. both sexes showing well.

A Skylark couldnt really be bothered to fly away from me..

It did eventually and let rip with a great song in the sky.

I know its a poor shot, but Dartfords are never easy to picture.
Pleased to see 2 and hear at least one more in the area.. thats all that matter.

By the Control Tower on the Common there was a flock of around 70 Golden Plover.

Just enjoying the sunshine.

The Frog Chorus....

A sunny day and the world thinks Spring is here.. including Frogs!!

There is a pond where I work which is probably more of a drainage ditch or 'balancing pond', but every Spring it is at its wettest and for a couple of days each year - all you can hear is croaking!

Yesterday I didn't have a camera with me, a shame as it was a brilliantly sunny day and the noise was immense.

Today was gloomy, but I returned with my camera to snap what was probably 100 frogs that had come to do what frogs do best.. Make Frogspawn!!! And have a damn good Croak about it too.

Another Day - Another tour of Hampshire...

Making the most of my week off, I also made the most of an opportunity to go Birding with someone who a) knew some new areas I hadn't seen and b) actually knew what birds we were looking at..

Cant we just call them all Seagulls?? It would make life a lot easier..

This morning I picked Joe up at 8.30 am at Rooksbury, Andover and headed to Chilling, or Solent Breezes or whatever its called.. (just West of Titchfield Haven anyways).

The target was a Red Breasted Goose that was keeping nearly a thousand Brent Geese company..

As we got out of the car at Chilling, a large bird flew through the woods by the car park - and a distinctive 'cronking' noise was heard.. Raven, tick!

Walking along the footpath to the Coast, we saw 13 Waxwing on a telegraph wire and they posed very nicely.. its a bit of a shame that it wasn't sunny, but we still got some good pics and probably got as close as 3 metres to them.

Unfortunately, the Geese had moved on.. no sign of them in the surrounding fields or out to sea..

But from the shore we spotted a male Eider and a group of Red Breasted Merganser.

Joe picked up a Guillemot and a possible Slov Grebe.

A quick look out to Sea at Titchfield didn't bring anything new, then it was a drive to Walpole Park Lake for the Ring Billed Gull..

No joy there, despite a loaf of bread being chucked into the lake and the sky filling with other gulls.

The Mute Swans did their very best at intimidating us into handing over bread, money, in fact anything we had on us...

A quick look in the river / estuary area by the lake offered some Common Gull and a Med Gull.. (thanks to Joe again for pointing them out)... Me and Gulls don't get on..

Farlington Marshes, North Portsmouth, (just off the M27) was our next stop. And we were joined by the rain, so this was a very quick look around a massive expanse of mudflats etc..

There was a few hundred Brent Geese in the field to the left.. No RB Goose with them though..

Joe got us some Avocet on the far side of the inlet.. a nice bonus before we headed back to the car as our bins and scopes were too wet to see anything through.

Lower Test Marshes provided a Water Pipit, Reed Bunting and Stonechat.. and thankfully an end to the rain.

Next stop was what turned out to be the highlight of the day...

Mentioning that I needed a Bittern for the Yearlist, Testwood Lakes suggested, as it was close.. and it didn't let us down.

We were having a walk around what we presumed was the smaller lake (and recent sighting area).. when, on one of the Fishing areas, I saw a speckeld brown bird with long legs out of the corner of my eye..

Not believing what I was seeing I tried to alert Joe, who was a few metres ahead.. Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, was all that came out of my mouth.... As Joe came back, the bird took off and flew a little further along the reed bed..

I was happy enough with that! Its a Bittern, they don't fall in your lap after all.

Anyways, with a look in the right direction we were delighted to get as close as 5 metres away from this bird.. It was slightly obscured by reeds, but am happy enough with these shots!

A Kingfisher and a Great Black-backed Gull brought the daily total to 12.. for the second day running..

The 2011 yearlist now stands at 109!! Last year I reached 148 in total, so am very happy after a month and 1 day!!!

We had a quick look in Romsey for a Smew on the way home.. No luck there, but that will surely be for another adventure?