South Coast End Of March - 2013

With some time off over the Easter Weekend I got the chance to get back down to the South Coast to Pennington & Keyhaven Marshes hoping to catch up with a few species that I had missed throughout the winter on my year list.

The first big surprise was spotting a Little Egret feeding not to far from the main car park with a bigger white heron like bird next to it, a second look and a scramble for the camera confirmed it as a Spoonbill, a stunning bird not all to common in these parts, and one I have never had the luxury of seeing in closish proximity.

After managing to walk further down the path to get level with the bird some disruption caused it to take flight, circling the marsh and flying back straight over top or our heads. Definitely well worth the 40 mile drive alone.

Plenty of other Little Egrets could be seen all along the marsh, with feeding birds close to the sea wall every 200-300 yards or so.

A fair few Brent Geese remained close in off of the sea wall, and were occasionally joined by the odd group of incoming Wigeon. Oystercatchers drawing our attention with their loud alarm calls, regularly skimmed over top of the waves as we made our way down the seawall path towards Lymington.

On route from the English channel Pennington proved a good spot to see some spring migrants, with Chiffchaff's galore feeding at the waters edge alongside each and every pool around the reserve.
Another surprise whilst watching a Great Crested Grebe feeding off of the sea wall was the emergence of a lone Slavonian Grebe starting to loose its winter plumage.

The Red-breasted Mergansers still appeared paired up in the same spot as where I saw them on my last visit in January, although this time the male took flight from the small spit of land where the female sat. A stunning duck and really streamlined.

As always a small area of pebble and beach was left from the incoming tide and 20+ Turnstone waddled up and down the shoreline feeding.

A species I was keen to catch up with this visit was the Spotted Redshank, having somehow missed the wintering group earlier in January, this time however I was soon comfortable I hadn't miss identified the bird for the common Redshank. And even managed some relatively close photographs as 6 or 7 birds fed on the small shallow lagoon.

Throughout the winter I had been desperate to get close to some or our gorgeous wintering duck species. Usually feeding in large flocks on the flooded ground, getting close without disturbing the group had proved quite tricky and unsuccessful. However I found myself able to view a small group of Wigeon and a couple of pairs of Teal at fairly close proximity.

All winter I have had a fairly good success rate on seeing Goldcrests and also seeing them close up. Today was no exception as we spotted a pair in a isolated bush right next to the footpath. A couple of minutes wait and they both showed them self for some photos.

With some great birds in the bag at Pennington, we headed back across the New Forest to Blashford Lakes a slight detour on the route home. Straight away picking up another new migrant species for the year as 5 Sand Martin hurried across the large expanse of Ibsley Water.

A brief pit stop in the woodland hide showed all the usual resident woodland species and also a couple of rosy looking Common Redpoll, a lone male Brambling and some very smart looking Siskin.

If you are a social media user, Feel free to follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ for up to date sightings & photographs, any 'Comments & Criticisms' are welcomed.

Facebook  •  Twitter  •  Google+

Blashford Woodland Hide

With weeks of Slimbridge posts I can finally get on to some other wildlife encounters. Unfortunately I am still over a month behind and really should get my fingers loose for plenty of typing.

The following Sunday from my trip to Slimbridge, the girlfriend was down and with some pretty indifferent weather we headed down to Blashford lakes. The main car park was flooded along with the Tern Hide that overlooks the huge expanse of Ibsley Water. That instantly put a massive dent in my visit.

As the rain started to come down we headed for shelter in the Woodland hide. A cracking hide with loads of feeders but only with one partition that opens to allow clean photography. As you can imagine this prime piece of real estate by the window is most usually frequented. And in previous visits as Im sure I've blogged, I have encountered photographers who have bragged about being sat there all day.

Luckily today after 15 minutes or so the old couple that were there up and left, and I was on hand to slide my considerable girth along the wooden bench and into position. As mentioned there are loads of feeders attracting a wide variety of woodland birds. Within minutes, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, Nuthatch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Lesser Redpoll, Great spotted Woodpecker, Pheasant, Collared Dove and several stunning male Bramblings had visited the different feeders.

Nuthatch - Check Out The Tongue Action

I try nowadays not to capture birds on the feeders as branches give a far more natural look. This however isn't always easy, especially when the birds tend to land directly on the feeders. I must admit I couldn't resist a few shots of the ever present Nuthatches who were not at all bothered by the camera just a few feet away.

Brambling Male

Goldfinch

The main purpose of my visit was to hopefully catch a few shots of the gorgeous Lesser Redpoll, but after waiting a good hour for them to land on the nearby branches I had to make do with a few feeder shots. The light was changing every 2 or 3 minutes as the clouds rolled by above, which when leaving a clear path for the sun created a lovely glow on the bracken behind the birds.

Now I hear you say I sat in the window a good hour, now that would make me as bad as everyone else I earlier moaned about. But as several other photographers entered and rather annoyingly shot over my shoulders with there lenses, 5 minutes or so later I packed up and let someone else have my spot. Turns out no one filled it so I sat back down. Playing fair isn't it?

Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll

Cock Chaffinch

http://www.facebook.com/MartinClayPhotography Up to date pictures and sightings, prior to me getting around to writing these blog posts, I would be more than grateful for any 'Likes' or Comments on my FB Photography Page too so feel free to comment or criticise about anything.