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.

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Early March - 2013

To say March started with a bang for me was a bit of an understatement, another Patch Mega found its way into my notebook on the 2nd during a sunny saturday afternoon walk along the river. Taking my time as normal and giving the reed edge a good scan I totally missed the Bittern that erupted from the water edge about 3ft away, scaring me out of a good 10 years of my life, I quickly tried to setup my tripod, fumbling with my camera as this awesome mythical patch bird disappeared across the water meadows. As you can see from below I didn't manage a picture worthy of posting, but what a bird to have wintering on the patch about 300 yards from the front door.

This weekend also signalled the return of the Barn Owls to the water meadows, maybe I had just missed them throughout the winter but I manage to see two different birds hunting the long grass a good mile or so apart on both saturday and sunday afternoons.  

Distant Barn Owl

With my workload during the day starting to pick up due to our Tradeshow event at the NEC in April, finding time to visit Rooksbury Mill at lunchtime pretty ceased to exist, a trend that I still haven't had chance to remedy. So the odd evening I could sneak out on the river proved crucial in discovering the comings and going of spring.

Plenty of Duck life on the waterways with the Mallard Drakes starting to loose a little of the stunning colour they've held for most of the winter, Gadwall seem to be present in a lot higher numbers than throughout the past couple of months, showing up in groups of 6+ on various parts of the patch.

Mallard Drake

Gadwall At Dusk

The Goldcrests still seemed to be present everywhere as I counted a whopping 13 singing birds one evening on a river circuit walk, with the now daily increasing addition of Chiffchaffs that also got into double figures. The local Kestrels seemed to be quite active showing up quite often, along with a pair of Buzzards one with particularly pale coloration's.

Chiffchaff

One evening on the way home from work, I was positive I saw a lone Hawfinch rise up with the flock of Chaffinches feeding on the edge of the main road through the village, a quick look back for the next couple of nights confirmed that it must have just been a bloody big Chaffinch.

By the middle of the month a lot of Fieldfare and Redwing were showing up in the garden and around the fields surrounding the house, maybe fuelling up for there journey onwards, with several Redwing venturing quite close to the front room window for a stunning view one drab morning.

On the 16th Nat was down for the weekend so we took off down to Farlington Marshes, with reported sightings of Spoonbill & Red-breasted Goose over the past couple of days I thought it was about time I got some slight rarities on my year & county list. On a pretty drab day with plenty of rain in the air we soon picked up a white dot feeding on the far side of the reserve, Spoonbill or at least what looked like a Spoonbill. At this stage of the month there were still plenty of Brent Geese around Langstone Harbour as small skeins flew this way and that landing out on the mudflats and then coming back in again to feed on the grassy meadows.

If Brent Geese were still present in their thousands, Shelduck congregated in their hundreds, I don't think I have ever seen so many in one place. As we walked around to the far side of the reserve we spotted a strange Cape/Ruddy Shelduck hybrid sleeping in amongst the more striking commoners. This also gave us a better view of the Spoonbill now feeding on the shallow lagoon, brilliant to see it working its head back and forth bill under the water sifting through for food.

Incoming Shelduck

We encountered plenty of other species, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Stonechat, Bar-tailed Godwit, Little Egret, Sanderling, Dunlin, Kestrel & Sparrowhawk, but two new year ticks came as we almost made it back to the car, a female/juvenile Marsh Harrier rising up from the reed bed and spooking the thousands of Brent Geese that were feeding nearby, quite the sight.

If one stunning raptor wasn't enough we caught a quick glimpse of a female Merlin zooming between bushes further down the path. No Red-breasted Goose but well worth the visit.

With stomachs rumbling, a quick stop in Pizza Hut replenished the energy levels as we drove around the expanse of Langstone Harbour to the Spinnaker Tower and the seafront at Southsea. Having seen the reports on going birding for most of the winter I suddenly had the urge to try for what would be a new lifer for me, having not taking the species of birds I've seen throughout my life to seriously until a couple of years ago, I still have no recollection of catching up with this species before, the Purple Sandpiper, a winter visitor to our shores and one that doesn't visit in huge numbers. 

With high counts of 21 and 27 recorded during the winter, but none posted for a couple of weeks I wasn't sure if my luck would be in or not. So braving the now brighter but defiantly blowier weather we wandered along the promenade right up to the castle and believe it or not just 3ft the other side of the railings, 3 tiny little Purple Sandpipers hunkered down in any cracks they could find sheltering from the bitter wind. 

I never once imagined I would see them so close, and had to admit I was shocked by how they were to find. So as usual another good days birding down on the south coast.

Purple Sandpiper

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The Last of February - 2013

Apologies, apologies to my regular blog readers, who are now not really so regular as I haven't posted for such a long time and seem to be so far behind with every post. So hopefully over the next week or so I can briefly summarise the past couple of months and get back up together with things.

The end of February was pretty slow, with extra hours at work starting to pick up, and weather at weekends pretty poor, opportunities to get out around the patch with the camera seemed to come at a minimum. Reports of the Bittern on the river by Dad and the ex-river keeper Jeff where still coming in at least once a fortnight, and several fruitless evenings and sunday afternoons were spent wading up and down the flooded banks to no avail.

Whilst waiting for the Bittern I did manage to stalk pretty close to a young Roe Doe as the light started to fade, getting within 20ft before she spotted me, insisting on a stare off for a good 2 or 3 minutes before she decided she didn't like the look of me and disappeared off into the water meadows.

Roe Doe

Plenty of Mute Swan activity on the river with the Cobs starting to look a little more enthusiastic about the forthcoming breeding season. Some interesting preening poses and plenty of wing flapping and postulating gave some nice photo opportunities.

The Conductor

As seems to be the norm now, the sound of Goldcrest song seems to follow me where ever I go, at least 3 pairs still present in the garden, and one even popped out onto a low branch to belt out another sweet chiming tune. There definatly seems  to be more Goldcrest about this Winter/Spring than I have ever seen before, which must be a good thing right?

As with the Goldcrests, numbers of Chiffchaff seemed to start to multiply towards the end of the month with at least a dozen seen and heard along one full length walk of the River, whether wintering birds starting to show off in hope of a mate or a steady but early influx of summer visitors.

Chiffchaff

A slight random call was received one monday evening as I made my way home from football, Joe Stockwell a good twitcher friend of mine had spotted some Shelduck on a flooded corn field just outside the village. In such a bizarre place the next morning I was up bright and early and out to investigate. And sure enough as the mist rose off the frosty ground, 6 Shelduck swam and fed on a rather large puddle in the middle of this crop field. Not to bad a patch tick!

Patch tick Shelduck

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A Week at Rooksbury - 18th - 21st Feb

Massive apologies to all my blog readers as I am a whole 2 months behind, work has been manic for the past month or so and all lunchtime trips out have been halted in there tracks. But you don't want to hear about that so I will try catch up on some blogging normality, I would say expect them all thick and fast in the coming days, but we shall see.

So after the excitement of the Great Bustard it was back to the humdrum of a lunchtime walk around the lakes. Both appeared really quiet with hardly any birds visible on a fairly bright February Tuesday afternoon. 4 Little Grebe appeared on the large Lake and showed fairly closely for Little Grebe, both  a Sparrowhawk and a Cormorant perched atop waterside trees surveying the scene.

I managed to seek out a rather bold Goldcrest singing in the ivy tree at the far end of the reserve, and after a short wait I was rewarded with some lovely close views, even if the foreground and background was cluttered with twigs.

Goldcrest 

Singing Robin

With Rain on Wednesday, I returned Thursday lunchtime to an even quieter reserve, a brace of Gadwall pairs on the small Lake, and now only 2 Little Grebe on the large lake. Several Goldfinch fed on the thistles by the car park and I did catch a glimpse of a calling Grey Wagtail as it zoomed over the top of the water.

I did have some joy whilst sat on the bench overlooking the lakes, 3 raucous Mallard put down the landing gear, and somehow I managed to catch them in almost perfect synchronicity. They soon were joined by 3 other drakes who all raced off after the lone female.

So all in all quite a quiet week at the lakes, but nice to see a little of Spring in the air.

Little Grebes

Incoming Mallard

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A Goldcrest Frenzy - 8th Feb

After enjoying such a stunning sunrise, the weather by lunchtime had changed for the worst, it was now very dull and dismal, and the temperature hadn't really risen all day. So I arrived at the lakes without a lot of hope for some decent photographs because of the light.

Having had a run in with possibly the rudest photographer I've ever encountered over disturbance of the resident Otter and her trespassing into a clearly marked "Out of Bounds" Area therefore placing herself between the Otter and its holt, I politely told the facts and was responded to with a tirade of swearing and bitterness. I've been spoken to before by lots of blokes in the wrong but never by anyone so angry or bitter - and she was female, she was so angry she was literally spitting at me. 

Having lost all interest in Otter photography with idiots about, I walked back towards the car park not really paying to much attention, the lakes waters were pretty quiet and only the local Buzzard flying by grabbed my attention before I heard the sweet pinging melodic call of a Goldcrest. Unknowingly I seem to have undertaken a little bit of a Goldcrest photography project. Not often seeing a decent Goldcrest shot posted online I thought I'd make it my mission for the winter.

Goldcrest

My closest Goldcrest subject yet

I have become quite accustomed to picking out their song on my lunchtime walks, as the wintering populations around the lakes is quite high. Having on several occasions had one very close in a nearby bush, only to grab a lot of blurred shots due to their speed and size. And the main fact that they don't sit bloody still for more than a second, so once you move to focus they're gone.

So today although the light was poor and I was shooting at ISO 5000 and above, I got some clear-ish close up shots of a very obliging male. What happened next as I was watching this tiny bird flit before me on some willow was quite astonishing, and certainly something I had never witnessed before. The bird flew off across the path to a small clump of ivy about the same 3 feet off of the ground, and its call changed dramatically, with a much louder and alert ring to it.

And then he done it the head crest parted and the Bright flame orange tuft became clear, I must admit having never seen this before I thought it was pretty awesome for such a small bird. Still calling loudly, 2 blurs pasted quite close by me and headed straight for the calling male, Que. a small blurred mess of fighting male Goldcrests, beaks pecking, wings flapping and talons locked. Well it looked like that!!!

I wondered what had caused this sudden outburst of aggressiveness as the male birds zoomed off after each other up the path. 3 more now flitted in the Ivy bush in front of me presumedly females. Seconds later a male returned, crest still clearly visible and he landed close to one of the females again presumedly telling her he was the victor.

Stunning Displaying Male

The pair together

Just look at that crest!

A great way to end the lunchtime with some bird behaviour I had never witnessed before, and a great way to momentarily forget the evil bitch I'd spoken to earlier!

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Rooksbury Siskins - 5th Feb

With the sun shining and the rain having abated for a few days it was nice to get back into some sort of lunchtime routine, enjoying the dry settled weather for my lunchtime wander around the lakes. Apart from the odd Goldcrest from time to time and the obligatory group of Long-tailed Tits, small passerines are not often on the daily menu.

So you can imagine my delight when I rounded the path on to the lakeside board walk and was greeted by a small group of Siskin feeding in the water side Alder tree. My first of the year and I think the first I have seen around the lakes. Although a relatively common finch throughout the UK, I never seem to connect with them all that often.

I counted 5 in total 2 Males & 3 Females and they were quite obliging in allowing me to walk to the base of there tree. As is normal on an Andover lunchtime the sun regularly disappeared behind passing clouds, and seem to do this even more frequently as one of the male Siskin's occasionally came out to the ends of the branches to feed.

So I whacked up the Exposure settings on the camera and waited for such occasions. He even raised his head up from feeding on the catkins long enough for a few pictures too. Not I guess a miraculously exciting sighting for most, but it certainly made a change to me, and it was nice to watch these acrobatic little finches at such close quarters.

Male Siskin 

"Im going, im going, I'm....no wait I'm just hungry"

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King Of The Lake - 17th Jan

Having calmed down a little from the visit the day before I thought I'd give the lakes another go in a completely contrasting day, it was dull, dark and very cold, and all the wildlife was nowhere to be seen.

A pair of Goldcrests greeted me by the first bridge over the Anton but both flitted about far too much to allow me to even focus let alone photograph. So I carried on around and sat down on the bench over looking the small lake. The resident Mute Swans rested out in the middle so I thought I'd have a play with the metering settings on the camera and try some nice contrasty shots.

The only problem with this is, being used to human visitors and I am guessing free meal tickets, every time someone sits down on that particular bench, the Swans gather for a feed and headed straight for me. A bit close for the telephoto and scuppering my plan. They left disappointed too as I never had anything to give!

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