5k additions...etc

 

Because of M's accident and subsequent rehab, outings are currently limited to 09:30-12:30 maximum. Not really long enough for TH but a quick visit produced the best views yet of the Velvet Scoters with three flying in from the west and landing off the sailing club. A Red-throated Diver and three Eiders were about it. Two drake Pochards and Scarlet Elf Cup above.

The following  day a circuit of Farlington pushed the time to the limit but added some new 5k square birds. The highlight was a fine bushy-tailed Red Fox snooping about just in front of me and causing the various Canada Geese to go  all 'giraffe-necked' just in case!!

It eventually trotted off straight towards me sniffing the ground all the time until it finally sensed my presence and loped off disturbing four hen pheasants.

On Saturday a brief non-birding visit to Stansted Garden Centre was enlived by a calling Raven on top of one of the ornamental redwoods and joined by a second bird - surely they breed here or nearby. At the same time five Buzzards and two Red Kites were airborne.  Goldcrests were heard in the arboretum but the area favoured by Firecrests is closed until Easter. This Cattle Egret was one of three at Warblington on the way home.

After a fourth COVID jab yesterday, a fifteen minute wait was spent in M&S over coffee and a toastie - and, with a couple of hours available, a visit to Farlington seemed the best option. A nice female Marsh Harrier was the best (and a 5k year tick) as were six Gadwall. Forty or more Avocet were roosting on the lake and eventually departed en masse into the harbour only to decide twenty minutes later that the tide was still too high and so returned.

The reserve was busier than I've ever seen it; the sheer number of 'togs waiting for Beardies etc was nuts!! And the rest of the seawall was packed with families, dog walkers and joggers.

This ringed Brent Goose was one of PP's; hopefull registering on www.geese.org  may provide some history. I've  been hoping that the very local Brent flock might contain ringed birds but none so far.

PURSA - 5100

 A free couple of hours seemed an opportunity for a walk along the seafront prior to its closure in the weeks ahead looking for/at Purple Sandpipers. Chilly and very grey but the low tide ensured at least some birds would be feeding. The numbers here seem to have dropped off since late autumn whilst the other Hampshire resident flock at Barton-on-sea seems to have grown to record(?) proportions with 29 today. So, today, just six rather distant birds and three much closer. Single Cormorant and two each of Rock Pipit and Oystercatcher were about it.

The Rock Pipit below was a massive crop and taken at 200 ISO and 1/40 and 1/60 second and 600mm FFE, whilst upping the ISO and being a slightly larger and closer birds meant the PURSA's were just a large crop with more pixels on the birds. Proximity and blue skies are the new lens's friends!! Coupled with the GX9 it's never going to create great images but more than adequate for the blog or embedding in notes. Should be OK for butterflies and dragonflies but maybe not quite enough for damsels. Definitely back to the 60mm macro for smaller stuff.

Sadly these guys are outside my 5k square so don't 'count' whereas yesterday's  four Collared Dove do!!

A bunch of local bits and bobs.

 

Two out of very few youngsters amongst 500 Brent in the refuge, probably 2-4 percent.

The usual Little Egret, Brown Rat and Common Gull amongst the geese.

A dot in a blue sky was enlarged to produce this white- headed Cormorant,  probably the bird that flew in the previous day whilst chatting to MW on his way to the allotments.

Glossy Ibises (not!!) ... and a day off

 

(WWII landing craft and three of eight Purple Sandpiper)

A number of Glossy Ibises have turned up in Hampshire and having been notified  of three at Warblington in the field/s usually used by Cattle Egrets it seemed worth a quick look on the way back from Petersfield. Needless to say despite TH from TH and three other birders looking no sign of any ibises, just a dozen or so Cattle Egrets and a calling Firecrest.

Disappointingly one at Farlington yesterday wasn't reported until it flew off today!! Doubly disappointing as it was in my 5km Challenge square.

Another singleton was at Workmans Lane and decamped to TH on Monday where it was seen briefly.

As well as half a dozen over the M27 it seems as if there has been some on the IOW so maybe they've relocated to Hants; also one in the Pagham area.

Sunday on the seafront was very busy, unsurprisingly, considering the unseasonably nice weather. A  post coffee and bacon butty walk found eight Purple Sandpiper in two groups. In a few weeks this part of the promenade will be closed to pedestrians for a year or more so possibly no chances to see these little gems until 2023 or later.

Total 60/112/121 to date (5k, Hants, All)

The new 5 by 5 k - let the battle begin.

 

Long time no see!!

Today was a classic January day for watching some early Gos activity and so it proved although a very quiet 50 minutes or so with little on view other than singing Mistle Thrushes and a few Redwings preceded their appearance. Other heard-onlys were Siskin, Raven and one or two Woodlarks. A couple of Buzzards flew past but with not a puff of wind and a clear blue, cloudless sky seemed disinclined to do anything more than glide to the next perch. First one, then two and finally three Goshawks rose up, one flew off north but the other two sparred for a while before heading south.

Amazingly,  it's  nearly three years since the last Gos watch here - a side effect of the impact of COVID - how time flies.

At Blashford very little but this Green Sandpiper showed well, the Goldeneyes were far better and closer than the Langstone birds and a handful of Goosanders were the first for a while. A brief visit to the south side saw a few Siskins feeding high up in the trees and two very combative Kingfishers chasing each other from Ivy Lake to the Salt Pond and back.

Yesterday was a brief look at QECP where the Brambling flock seems to have gone, moved or broken up with just ten seen or heard and precious little of anything else.

Total now 120

Week 2 and a twitch, the first in four years!

Week two started with a virtually unbirdable day weather-wise and so a long, slow breakfast at TH ensued whilst watching the rain chuck down.

West facing hide windows and seats were wet and so the north east corner of Meadow Hide was the best place to be. A long chat with DR saw us watching three Marsh Harriers, male, adult female and a third bird too distant and part-hidden to be sure but probably the younger male from the previous visit. Considering the conditions they showed well.

A couple of Ravens dropped into the meadow briefly  before departing back eastwards.

The sea was unwatchable.

The following day, all change, with fine warm and sunny weather which made the walk out to Sandy and then Black Point very pleasant. First up was a roller-coastering Sparrowhawk behind the Lifeboat Station, followed by a backlit Great Northern and a few each of Razorbill and Guillemot. The Black-throated Diver/s took longer to find having strayed a long way north, well beyond the North Pilsey buoy but just about doable.  A Slavonian Grebe and a couple of Sandwich Terms were best-of-the-rest.

Heath Pond was rammed but added a couple of NfYs in a very brief stay including 'plastic' Black Swans. All the east side scrub has been felled to ground level, probably deemed necessary, but giving birds nowhere to hide.

Lastly a quick pull in at the A27 roundabout added forty or so Avocets to the list.

Yesterday, Monday, was a dismal but mostly dry forecast and so, with other commitments this week, seemed a good opportunity to go on a twitch, albeit reasonably local - just 26 miles - for the Little Bunting at Iping Common. First up was the obvious need for wellies just to get out of the carpark!! It looked as it if might me a bit hopeless on such a dim day especially without any local knowledge, but luckily another birder was waiting on a minor path having seen a few Reed Buntings. I unpacked my bins, pointed them at the first bird I could see and lo and behold - Little Bunting!! It sat still long enough for me to unpack and set up my scope and gave good views whilst 'tic' ing occasionally. Eventually it and the RBs slipped low down into the birch scrub and out of sight.

Apart from a calling Raven, singing Song and Mistle Thrushes and several noisy Green Woodpeckers it was very quiet. One or two scolding Dartfords were disinclined to show themselves in the usual patch of Gorse on the way back to the car.

At Pulborough, lots of water and lots of mud and lots of ducks and geese etc but no raptor activity and no reported sightings of LSW recently - hopefully if it stays in the area it might start drumming next month which would help. The trees between Green Lane and the church were full of Redwings calling and sub-singing, probably 150 or so and Upperton's Field had some nice Fieldfare and just a single Woodlark bringing the years total to 117.

And for a bit of fun I 'signed up' for HOS/KBs 5km square challenge. Just need to break out the map to work out best placement of the square in relation to home.

Below, phone-scoped LB, trees full of Redwings and mud and water!!

End of week 1

The oysterbeds were a miserable place to be on Thursday being cloudy with a chilly wind and with just two mergansers on the pools. Offshore five Black-necked Grebes were distant with one Slavonian amongst them but no sign of the hoped-for Long-tailed Duck. Amongst the waders just a few Knot were NfY.

Relocating to the east side on the way back produced another fifteen mergansers, plenty displaying, but being forced to fly in the presence of one or two RIBs. A Razorbill flew towards the harbour entrance and two Guillemots were out near the metal platform.

Despite difficult issues at home and more crappy weather Friday's destination, changed en route, proved a winner with lots of blue sky after a wet and squally start. A fine ring-tailed Hen Harrier from the gate (thanks to a fellow birder from Plumpton whilst I was retrieving my scope from the car) was pleasing and the whole area was alive with birds but sadly no partridge species.

A subsequent drop-in for coffee and a snack at WWT produced nothing. The landscaping work is still ongoing and so there was little to see other than a single Water Rail, the first I've  laid eyes on this week, and a singing Mistle Thrush. 

Now up to 104 species, only 40 less than all of last year!!

Seaside sun.

 A second day at TH, primarily to deliver book to DW via reception. The light was great and loads of photographers were out-and-about, although 'ring fencing' the roosting Sanderlings and Ringed Plovers for hours is a bit hard to take although better than the low tide dog disturbance. Unfortunately, the combination of light, wind and tide made it impossible (for me at least) to locate the Velvet Scoters. Even the Eiders were just hazy blobs interspersed with gulls. Luckily the Slavonian Grebe was closer in. 

On the reserve nothing much of note although two drake Pochards were snoozing distantly on the river and a Kingfisher flashed by.

The highlight of the West side were the two male Marsh Harriers, one adult, one sub-adult (3cy??) which were repeatedly dive-bombing a hapless Buzzard.

Up to 87 spp.

A drop in temperature and a mini-blizzard

A post dental hygiene visit to the park saw a massive drop off in people after yesterday's bank holiday crowds and so it was quiet in the cafe and later still quieter in the top car park with just one family in the play area. Having seen no reports of the Brambling flock since my GoB posting a month ago I rather assumed they may have departed or scattered but no, the birds were in almost the exact same spot and, whilst a little nervy, quickly returned to the ground after disturbance. In some areas it was if the forest litter had come to life and amongst them all were numerous splendid males. To add to the atmosphere a sharp snow shower blew through for 15 minutes which guaranteed I had them and indeed the top of the park to myself. Eventually heading back, a few more Brambling were calling from trees further down the main track whilst nearer to the car a very dense conifer held a Firecrest amongst a number of Blue Tits. It always seems strange here just how empty most of the forest is especially for woodpeckers, Nuthatch, Treecreeper etc.

Improving weather on the return failed to add Red Kite to the yearlist from the car apart from last month's road casualty which is, strangely,  still recognisable.

Total 85 and about half a mile walked.

A longer outing tomorrow hopefully but 100 for the first week is looking less likely at the moment.

Day 3 Ticking along

A dash around five local areas over four hours and just 3 miles walked added some new-for-years. At the harbour entrance several large yachts performing tight manoeuvres kept birds at bay with just a distant Shag of note. The usually disturbed Sanderlings chased off Hayling eventually settled on the Eastney side. A cute 'pup-faced' Common Seal slipped past heading further into the harbour whilst avoiding the yachts.

At the castle a wind-driven high tide spraying over the promenade plus lots of pedestrians meant that the Purple Sandpipers had decamped to the usual green buoy.

Inland, at the park, a Firecrest, the first for nine months, was the best bird with Sparrowhawk and Marsh Tit more expected but little finch activity although the large numbers of people prevented a walk through the upper carpark area. A Bank Vole popped out by the drinking pool.

Back on the coast the usual suspects but no obvious Jack Snipe amongst the fifteen or so Commons at the Farlington Lake and the highlight being a Peregrine which flushed thousands of birds from Dunlin to geese; a Lapwing was very lucky and jinked out of the way at the last minute and the Peregrine gave up and departed south-west. With the high tide keeping the waders on the islands a scope and tripod would probably have produced a few species more.

Total so far 84 spp

A new year and 400pikm2 ..... or maybe not.

 The year started with incredibly mild conditions although a decent wind and high tide ensured plenty of spray blasting cars parked on TH's seafront. Needless to say everyone was out for their January 1st family outings etc which meant it was busier than any day since the parking charges were introduced.

The Velvet Scoters (8) were seen by others but I couldn't  be bothered to try and find black dots disappearing in the choppy sea - that can wait for another day. 

Chatting to a couple from Salisbury meant I completely forgot to look at a Curlew feeding in the meadow, the only one of the day, and so reduced my count even further!!

The bird/s of the day were, without doubt, the 80 or so Golden Plover, which arrived during a brief sunny spell which highlighted their beautifully coloured upperparts but which were typically hesitant to land, especially with high water levels and little space left. These were my first for exactly three years - how has that happened?

A Kingfisher did a fly past but, with the sun hidden, appeared as a miniature black exocet for all of two seconds thereby defeating the various photographers!!

After previous visits with typically 50-85 Snipe  today produced only seven; and, despite many looking, no sign of the recently resident Jack Snipe.

Three hours and as many kilometres produced 56 species with notable absentees Eider, Little Egret and Sparrowhawk.

Back home a quick look at the 'mini patch' produced House Sparrow, Coot and Meadow Pipit but not Collared Dove nor Sparrowhawk and, whilst not that hard to see nearby, two Kestrels chasing each other at some speed south  over the garden towards dusk was a nice sight - presumably off to roost nearby.

Total 59 

( A couple of bumblebees,  presumably Buff-tailed, and several Episyrphus balteatus on sheltered and sunlit Ivy - temperature mid 50s Fahrenheit!!)

Today, Sunday was a non-birding outing with M for coffee and tea-cakes but which managed, by dint of a minor homeward detour, to add Little and Cattle Egret to the list  with tomorrow scheduled to knock off a few more local species.

But yesterday and today have brought home one truth. A limited year's birding makes no sense and so '400pikm2' bit the dust after just 36 hours. I doubt that 2021 will see any/many trips out of the areas of south Hampshire and West Sussex and so introducing a smaller limit, especially one that still requires driving, seemed fruitless but I will probably keep  a 20km list and try to investigate some new areas, although probably with insects in mind rather than birds.  And hopefully I can motivate myself to take a few more photos this year. 

Total 61

2021 That was the year that was or was it? A Year in numbers.

A total of 163 diary entries covered 136 dates with 229 non-birding days, many due to health issues, inability to drive or COVID restrictions.

The 'home patch' of house and the adjacent 18-20 hectares contributed 84 entries and 65 species with the 5km radius from the house adding another 14 entries but only 7 more species. Yet another 20 dates came from nearby sites in south-east Hampshire. Titchfield Haven produced the most visits outside the home patch with 24 dates albeit not all specifically birding trips.

This year's species list was as pathetic as last year's -142 - until the last few days when Razorbill and Hen Harrier were added taking the total to 144 (plus Siberian Chiffchaff)  the worst two years since 2006.  The total number species over both years comprised 159 species.

There seems to be increasing interest, and indeed pressure, to spend more time locally and to reduce travel whilst birding, with several people tweeting 5km circles centred on home. Personally, if I lived within 5km of Flamborough, Spurn, Titchwell, Cley, Minsmere etc, etc or indeed anywhere with sea or a sizeable reservoir then I might give it a go, but a 5km circle of housing, industrial complexes, roads and the odd scraps of utterly birdless farmland, plus not even a puddle of water, ensures that this is a non-starter. 10km is much the same and even 15km precludes my most watched area. 20km looks just about OK and doesn't include too much wasted space i.e. the Isle of Wight but obviously a 20km circle precludes walking and I neither own nor want to own a push bike even with mild electrification. So, sadly,  2022 will be another year of burning up the planet by car albeit with limited mileage. Not having been further than an hour from home in seven years and, with no passport, not having travelled abroad since 2013 I won't feel too guilty about it. Reading Jonathan Lethbridge's (Wanstead Birder) recent blog posting, December 23rd from the States, maybe puts the UK's 'green intentions', and that of it's birders, into perspective!!

And good to see Birdwatch magazine promoting local birding with the hashtag #LocalBigYear, especially not trying to enforce cycling, walking, public transport nor setting prescribed distances - more a case of common sense. 

And, short of rigid COVID restrictions, hardcore twitchers will continue to chase from Scilly to Shetland. Whilst disliking crowds I sometimes wish I had the physical health,  mental stamina and bank account(!) to join them sometimes. Oh for a Varied Thrush or an albatross!!