It's Tuesday which means...

 ..yay.. another blood test!! And so it's seems more time spent in the company of the phlebotomist than anyone else over the last year. On the bright side, the bespoke NHS-made cushioned innersoles collected today are the real deal and fit really well.

Up early enough to see a fine female Sparrowhawk slip very close past the bedroom window using the rather slow almost display-like flight, well lit by early morning sunlight and followed by a small trail of Starlings - presumably yesterday's pond bird. Having taken three months to bump into a sprawk she or another was up over the pond at lunchtime flushing the feral doves and being watched closely by Goldfinches and yet more Starlings. 

Yesterday's Blackcap had decamped and even the Chiffchaffs were silent leaving just the Cetti's  now favouring the area around the swan's nest. Surprised to see a Moorhen feeding a reasonably sized (single) youngster not having encountered any chicks in previous visits.

And elsewhere the new parents at Chichester have a second egg.

Oh and some Papillios from Amazon to help with insect watching should arrive by the weekend. 

Cholecalciferol - vitamin D to you and me!

Today was a first outing to the park in 140 days!! And was duly celebrated with a sausage  and mushroom ciabatta, coffee and intake of vitamin D!! Nice to listen to Song Thrush, Chaffinch and Siskin all heard only and all year ticks!! A Chiffchaff hidden in the blossomed-laden pondside bush was strident and a Buzzard enjoyed the fine soaring conditions. Sadly, no obvious Firecrest sounds.

Back at base yet more vitamin D whilst watching a heron chased down into the reeds and later back out onto a nearby rooftop where it sat, crest raised and bill upwards, to deter the annoyed Herring Gulls. It eventually flopped down into the garden where I'm sure a garden pond will have provided a lunch opportunity. 

Rather better, and definitely a harbinger of spring, was the first male Blackcap of the spring, just a little later than last year and singing strongly and perched up in view adjacent to the dead tree. 

The roadside scrub held just the usual Cetti's but little else other than a couple of NfY white spp butterflies.

Back to the bench for some final skywatching produced the first Sparrowhawk of the year flushing up all the feral doves and drifting off south behind the big Horse Chestnut.

March almost done.

The last three weeks has seen the usual mix of spring weather with some warm and dry spells encouraging a few changes. First up were a few hovers, mostly E. balteatus, Eupeodes spp and Meliscaeva auricollis. After a few changeable days these were augmented by E. pertinax, tenax and Epistrophe eligans. 

Little in the way of nectar bearing plants so just Blackthorn, Red Deadnettle and Dandelions to attract a few bees including A flavipes, A clarkella, Bombus lapidarius and the ubiquitous Hairy-foots and Buff-tails. The Microandrena above was the only other  species. No sign yet of any other species yet.

On the butterfly front just two Brimstones and a couple of Peacocks dogfighting  with up to three Commas. Hopefully, not long now until Whites, Speckled Wood and Holly Blue should appear - and Orange Tip within the next 3-4 weeks.

A single Chiffchaff arrived at the pond and was followed by a second in nearby gardens the next day. But still no Blackcaps!! 

Sky watching produced just a few Buzzards over the patch and the garden and this kite above which was virtually invisible with the naked eye but was just 'doable ' with the macro lens!! Sadly, the IOW eagles have eluded me despite one, G408 a male, whose  GPS track showed it cruised past behind the house at lunchtime on the 9th. Assuming flying at a reasonable height it would have been easily visible. Dammit! Later in the month it or another was over Eastney but pressed on back to the IOW.

Social media showed half a dozen in Hants and birds over the old Arun valley stomping ground in West Sussex. Another in East Sussex and one for Kent birders near Stodmarsh seemed to be non-IOW birds. Most only be a matter of time surely.

Elsewhere, despite being two new birds, the Chichester Peregrines are on their first egg as I write this,  with D and J plus others still watching them regularly and the camera switched on for the rest of us 'house bounded'.

A fortnight tomorrow should see TH and Arundel WWT opening up in some fashion (assuming I'm  able to drive that far) and hopefully the chance of a few more migrants.

And more importantly the chance of a big brunch fry-up!!

Oh, and finally managed to enter an Ebird complete list for the local patch, albeit a paltry 27 species.

No change yet...

(Above Sawfly Aglaostigma aucupariae, Comma, Peacock, Andrena flavipes, Vespula vulgaris, Red Kite).

(Below,Hairy-foot male, Beefly and Microandrena spp possibly  minutula group per FB BWARS).

And this Bittern from two winters ago at Blashford, the last I saw and the only half decent photo taken since, just as a reminder of 'proper birding ' after a year of Covid and ongoing issues

 

Start of a new month and little change, still fully blue skies but slightly hazy and a couple of degrees  cooler. A Little Egret was preening (above) with frisky Mallards and bathing gulls. Also a typical 'not-quite-there-yet' Black-headed Gull. Warm enough again to bring out basking terrapins.

The gull loaf was a little larger today and included a scruffy Med Gull, but still a year tick, and at the same time two Buzzards flew into the taller trees harassed by gulls.

A couple of Buff-tailed Bees were on the Gorse and a single male Hairy-foot was sunbathing on the ground but no sign yet of Bee Flies.

Spring is sprung..... ish!

Probably the best day of the year so far with wall to wall blue skies and little or no breeze which was enough to bring out my first insects of the year; a male Brimstone blundered between the trees, a dopey looking Honeybee landed on the kerb and at least two female Hairy-footed Flowerbees, one on Gorse and another trying to sunbathe on Ivy. 

A Cetti's was very strident in the dry scrubby area adjacent to the last house. The refuge field was pretty much empty.

Sat quietly on a park bench with the sun on my face the alarm calling Herring Gulls indicated a Buzzard, my first raptor of the year(!), which drifted westwards before deciding to power off to the north. At the same time an invisible Grey Wagtail slipped behind me. A Heron was perched on the fence posts and another cruised in from the east and sat up in the tallest tree on the island. The last of the 'Baffins Gang' Barnacle Geese returned today with is dodgy white domestic goose chum having spent most of the winter (I assume) at Farlington.

Finally, two Great Black-backed Gulls circled  time and time again before slowly losing height and landing; in contrast an inbound Cormorant 100-150 ft up whiffled in and dropped like a stone landing within a few seconds of its approach.

 

Saturday  update

Again very blue but with more high, fluffy clouds and a cooler breeze.

A calling Great Spotted Woodpecker was very vocal between the refuge and the houses in one of the taller trees. More Honeybees active on the lone Gorse bush.

32/22,000

They're coming..

A pretty much painful and quiet few weeks since last post with little wildlife watching opportunities. A group of 40 or so Lapwings over the golf course on the way to first Covid jab on Hayling a fortnight ago were presumably local birds looking for a marginally warmer, drier and sheltered daytime roost.

Locally, still two drake Pochards  and little reduction in Tufted Ducks but Shovelers are down to single figures. Two Cetti's with one near the swan's nest site on two days. A Common Gull perched up was the first this year. Today the refuge was empty and had been mowed so no cover for last week's Meadow Pipits but still 22 Pied Wagtails and three more on the walk. Despite the sunshine the cool wind kept insects hidden so no hovers, Buff-tails nor Hairy-foots.

Back on the pond the swan's were displaying and mating so I guess nest building will start soon.

Elsewhere in the country Sand Martins, the odd Swallow and Wheatear, Garganey and Ring Ouzel plus a local Stone-Curlew - all signs of things to come. Chiffchaff have been absent this winter but must surely be the first migrant species to pop up around here.