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| Adult (left) and juv Goshawks |
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| Ferruginous Duck |
An uneventful journey to Blashford with the first bridge removal work complete on the motorway so no holdups; not so lucky for west bound drivers with a three car pile-up adjacent to Burley services, all write-offs I would think and tailed back to beyond Ringwood.
Blue skies, chilly breeze and pretty much nothing on the south side although somebody had a Bittern - new in or the one from a couple of weeks back??
Initially on Ibsley Water, nothing special with just 125 or so Grey Herons and one GWE; a single Swallow was the only hirundine all day. Despite plenty of people looking no sign of yesterday's Garganey nor Grey Phalarope. However, the returning Ferruginous Duck was around the 'twigs' for its 10th or 11th winter; it seems to arrive here for a few days before decamping to the inaccessible Kingfisher Lake, so good to catch it here.
The Wood Sandpiper popped up distantly and joined up with one or possibly two Green Sandpipers, disappeared and then proceeded to perform a nice walk-by in front of the hide in perfect light; probably the best and closest view of the species in many years.
Returning through the forest to avoid any potential delays with the A31 chaos prompted a brief, late lunchtime raptor watch and which, surprisingly, produced two Goshawks within 10 minutes. An adult and a juvenile rose up from the trees and sparred away playfully, getting higher and higher with lots of stoops and talon flashing before gliding away eastwards. Just five Buzzards and a single Raven which would have gone unrecorded but for a typical call as it passed behind me.
