Misty, moisty morning

An intended visit to the New Forest for Hawfinch, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Gos etc was scuppered upon getting out of bed to the sound of various foghorns and parting the curtains to see a very damp, grey and misty outlook.

Speed reductions on the M27 and the use of rear foglights by some meant a left turn and off to Titchfield and the coast where, surprisingly on arrival, the IOW wasn't hiding in the murk. A flat sea, little wind and decent visibility was ideal but sadly the sea was very quiet. Things brightened with this Goosander (below) in the harbour and at times on the south side 'snorkelling' in very shallow water amongst the tideline gulls and Turnstones. As the tide poured in it eventually departed to the west. 

These Sanderlings (below) were enjoying some quiet time on the shingle adjacent to Rainbow Bar - thankfully very quiet today for walkers, wind surfers and dogs and so very little disturbance.

A coffee and a chat with Mark plus a couple of other vols with the start of Med Gull calls in the background before driving around to Posbrook. A pale Buzzard rose up off of a Fox carcass just in front of the car and perched about seven feet up. Hopefully it will avoid any traffic collisions.

Unlike last week there were plenty of car parking spaces and heading off to a soundtrack of singing Song Thrushes, Robin's, Wrens and Great Tits felt very spring like as did the temperature (54 degrees on the car gauge).

Bumped into another two Mark's (MF  and M? from Sussex). Two of the Glossy Ibis were present amongst plenty of Wigeon and Pintail but no sign of last week's Ferruginous Duck. Finally a quick look behind the stables with MF failed to find the Water Pipit.

The bees knees....

 

A slow crawl down to the castle through heavy morning traffic on a fine sunny morning found at least seven Purple Sandpipers on the rocks below the castle four hours after high tide. Watering eyes, a low sun, a dropping tide and distant birds made them tricky to pick up. And the supporting cast was limited to a west bound auk spp. Sixty or so Brent were on the common.

At home a Cetti's was between the road and the single gorse Bush which held a few small calliphiorid flies and three or more Honey Bees. A Little Egret was day-roosting near a Grey Heron, the first here for almost a year.

And the above was delivered by the usual postie just after lunch. Looks fab so far.

A surprise sunny day

 

No Bitterns, harriers nor Cattle Egrets today, Wednesday at WWT.

Two Firecrests, a colour ringed Black-headed Gull (orange 207E) and the first hoverfly of the year, an Eristalis tenax were the best for the day and the Snipe were back in their corner adjacent to Ramsar Hide.

Above some 'feeder tits', a Blackbird and a Kingfisher distant and through the glass of the restaurant - a second bird was perched up on a wooden fence just outside the reserve when I left.

A good number of Greylags flushed into the reserve but again still didn't seem to contain the single White-front seen recently.

Nice to catch up briefly with SH and later an extended chat about 'all things eagle' with MJ.

EDIT The gull was ringed by TC at Farlington on one of the raised platforms at The Deeps  on 2/06/23 and this was the first sighting.

After the storm...

Storm Isha was, for the most part, a slightly damp squib (thankfully) at least in south-east Hants and didn't see TH needing to close. The NfY Spoonbill on the frying pan had the good grace to relocate to south scrape and was immediately visible from the road on arrival although, typically,  head tucked in and asleep. Sadly the Bittern in the Reed patch just below the bridge was more problematic and flushed across the river just after I'd walked away from the usual TH birders/togs.

Again Firecrests and indeed all passerines were elusive/absent with no Redwings along the boardwalk trees. Three Curlews were feeding in the meadow and a distant Sparrowhawk was chased around by crows.

Finally, two Marsh Harriers were circling distantly.

A brief attempt at the Posbrook Ferruginous was stumped by no parking spaces and will have to wait for another visit.

Uncooperative cone munchers

A quick drive out to Hundred Acres after reports of Crossbills in previous days. It was a fine, still, blue day but barely above freezing, with a handful of roadside Red-legged Partidges and an even closer Buzzard on roadkill enlivening the drive out.

It didn't take long to hear Crossbills in little groups of 1-5 and were initially given away by the sound of cones being eaten. Sadly, only one female perched up and after half an hour they went silent. A few Siskin and Lesser Redpolls also flew over and Nuthatches and Great Spotted Woodpeckers were particularly vocal.

The mobile cafe in the carpark served a nice coffee and lemon muffin which I consumed at a picnic table whilst 'swapping notes' with a fellow Crossbill enthusiast!!

With Storm Isha on the way over the weekend Wednesday may be the first opportunity for a second visit.

It was surprising to see from notes that the last time at this site for the same species was eight years ago!! Where did the time go.

Foxes

A shopping etc day was not going to be too interesting wildlife wise but, despite plenty of after dark Fox noises in recent weeks, it was still surprising to see a dog and vixen locked in coitus on the garage roof mid-morning!!

The only interlopers today amongst the 400+ Brent in the refuge were three Lapwings. The pond Shovelers still haven't broken double figures

And some nice weather...

 

A more typical winter's day with plenty of sunshine on Thursday (11th) was an opportunity to head to the New Forest and Blashford. First stop for Gos was virtually birdless and with no shelter from the breeze saw me cutting my losses and heading to Ibsley Water. Large numbers of wildfowl were all sheltering on the far side and hence distant. The north facing hide windows were into the teeth of the wind so little time spent other than admiring many Pintail (950 ish according to JMC with another 50 on Ivy Lake); probably my largest count ever. Others had a Black-necked Grebe and Red-crested Pochard. I'm assuming it's last spring's drake Ring-necked Duck that I found on Ibsley which has been on Linwood east, including today.

Elsewhere 2-3 Great White Egrets was the best of the rest. The south side was very poor with no winter finches and the recent Otter didn't put in a show although a couple of large wildfowl disturbances may have been caused by it.

Monday at Titchfield saw the Black-necked Grebe offshore - and found reasonably quickly thanks to IC's early WhatsApp message. Little else in still flooded conditions but a quick scan offshore prior to leaving was rewarded with a very distant eagle over Calshot where JGR reported three a little later!!

Today a brief visit to Burpham for the eight Bewick's Swan saw them below the church as usual but little supporting cast. In WWT the presence of ice and strimmers meant it was birdless and a low-flying Chinook flushed a few Snipe and rattled the cage of about 100 Greylags which landed on the river. Finally, the early-morning Bittern (above) popped out briefly but quickly skulked off down a channel between reeds. 

And still no Waxwings nearby.

And finally another Bittern pic courtesy of Mike Jerome; what a cracker!!

A new year, same old weather!

December had little of note and only two Red Admirals on the 8th, the odd Buff-tailed Bumblebees and a single Eristalis spp representing insects. The three eagles at Pulborough put on a good show in two visits and a single obliging Firecrest along Green Lane was nice. Twenty-five or so Lesser Redpolls along the zigzag were best-of-the-rest.

The most recent and best day of weather (albeit with a couple of sharp showers) saw a few hours at WWT in the company of a friend not seen for some years, 40 or so Cattle Egrets and yet again a fine, obliging Firecrest. 

January has started off as grim as 2023 ended and yesterday, unsurprisingly, both the Arun and Stor were overtopping into the south and north Brooks respectively. With so much water most wildfowl were well scattered,  the eagles were absent and the two White-fronted Geese yet again eluded Pete and I. The trees and bushes were almost totally birdless and sadly the highlight of the visit was the lunchtime Sausage Roll!!

With just 6-7 hours birding this year the total stands at a paltry 61 spp.

On the bright side it seems as if colder, drier conditions are arriving next week. Time will tell whether it proves to be a short interruption or a longer spell of 'proper' winter weather. Maybe its not too late for some local Waxwings - fingers crossed.