Not the best of days being pretty grey but mostly mild and dry. Whilst there was nothing desperately exciting, the sheer numbers of waterfowl, mostly on Ibsley Water, were nice to watch - probably more Shoveler than I've ever seen here - and good numbers of Pintail and Wigeon. Goldeneye were in double figures with some nice displaying males and the long-staying Black-necked Grebe was easy to find in the vicinity of the now collapsed Osprey post. Raptors were Buzzards, Red Kites, a single Peregrine over the lichen heath and a cream-crowned Marsh Harrier flushing ducks in the north west corner of Ibsley Water.
Round at Goosander hide six Goosanders included an adult male, lots of Pintail here and a typically photogenic Great-crested Grebe successfully fishing on several occasions. Always the way when the camera is at home!!
Ivy Lake was quiet with just 200+ Teal and slightly more Wigeon plus a few other Duck spp. Highlight here was the two Kingfishers, male and female, sparring with each other and staying in view for a long while. Several other species, Redwing, Goldcrest, Treecreeper and Nuthatch showed well - the 12×50 Swaros really coming into their own for frame filling images.
Below spring Catkins and a phone camera shot of some of the wildfowl in front of Goosander Hide.
Later at Blackwater Arboretum very few birds; no Hawfinches. But some spilt bird food in the carpark was attracting several Coal, Blue and Great Tits plus singles of Marsh Tit and Nuthatch. The rain was getting heavier by 15:35 so I and another birder gave up.
It transpires that my previous visit here produced 12 Hawfinches but that was almost fifteen years ago to the day!!
