GWH

S.A.D is setting in as always at this time of year, driven in part by the reminder of glorious sunny, blue skies in Spain over Xmas. And here we are with continuous grey skies and rain AND another named storm on the way!!

Still, a nice coffee and a cheese and bacon pastry cheered things up a bit.

So here are a random selection from GWH.

Plenty of Snowdrops out and some Winter Aconite (both below). A quick catch up with Richard and ground staff who fielded some questions and pointed out the four new hybrid Elms, hopefully DED resistant.

A single kite and heard only Green Woodpecker, Nuthatch and Redwing were about it for birdlife; a couple of Kestrels on the way back into Petersfield and a Grey Wagtail over the shops.

Tonight a talk from Oliver Smart should feature some good pictures. (P.S and it did!!!)

First divers of the year

IC's early posting on the WhatsApp group of two Great Northern Divers off Rainbow Bar prompted me to pop over to Hill head for  the morning where it didn't take too long, on a gorgeously flat Solent, to find first one and then the second, just inside the Darling buoy. Further looking produced two then four Velvet Scoters which were joined by two Commons and all in the same field of view as the divers.

Offshore, and especially out towards Lee, there were lots of Great Crested Grebes, certainly into  three figures. A Male and female eider went west.

A brief walk up the east side found both Spoonbills feeding, preening and washing - a nice change from the usual white, sleeping blobs!!

Scanning the shoreline gulls failed to find Amy's Caspian Gull from yesterday.

Tuesday saw a brief Sparrowhawk slipping between the houses but no sounds from the pond's Water Rail, maybe due to the presence of the work party. The Tufted Ducks were into the 60s but just 10+ females. No Shovelers today

Wednesday to friday

A brief trip to PB for a catch up saw little other than one of the adult eagles flying into its usual tree.

Friday was a shopping trip with Southsea Castle thrown in so, three Purple Sandpipers, one Grèat Crested Grebe and a male Black Redstart, the latter on the rocks before jumping onto the railings and dropping down into the moat. Across the road the new, temporary 'refuge' held 55+ Brent Geese plus a single Light-bellied Brent.

Back home the Water Rail was still present and calling but typically too far into the reeds to be seen.

No birding this weekend.

Monday and Tuesday

A shopping trip to Chichester was a write-off as the shops I had intended to visit were closed due to power outage!!

The Ravens were either silent or still absent from the Bishops Garden but the Peregrines were noisy with the male putting on a nice show before landing on the north-east side of the upper tracery.

After chores on Tuesday a stroll from the Cockleshell carpark to the south end of Swan Lake was quiet despite a flat calm high tide; sadly no divers.

The three Scaup were still asleep as were a couple of Teal; one of the Scaup is a 2cy drake now beginning to moult into its next plumage. Sadly, my phone's camera is very poor.

Thanks to PDW for his picture below taken a week after my visit.

Tuesday 7th, Thursday 9th

Tuesday saw a brief visit to Arundel which, after some cold weather, was very short of wildfowl, gulls and Snipe. A Kingfisher was very watchable but too far for pictures unlike this egret which was just 5-6 metres away. For the first time in many visits no Cattle Egrets nor Marsh Harriers

Thursday was mostly a lunch visit to GWH with nothing of note.