Spring? - Blashford Lakes, Poole and Baiter Park, Hengistbury Head - 13th - 15th February 201915/2/2019 There seems to be some sort of pattern to my birding week at the moment and Wednesday saw me head to Blashford Lakes under the lure of some more ringing. This time we managed to ring serval different species to last time including a Wren, a Goldcrest, a Reed Bunting, and also a Male Siskin as well as a Dunnock, lots of Blue and Great Tits, a Coal Tit, a Long-tailed Tit and also a Nuthatch. At the moment I am learning the basics and I am just beginning to get used to the ringers grip as well as being guided through attaching the rings to the birds as well as being allowed to do some of the measurements myself as well. This week I was given both a Great Tit and a Blue Tit to ring and I was able to hold most of the species caught in order to practices ageing birds and looking at the plumages of others. It has been a great learning experience so far. One of the more interesting things was the difference in weight between the Goldcrest and the Wren which we caught. When holding the Goldcrest you could hardly feel it as it weighs just 3 grams whereas the Wren is actually quite bulky for its size weighing in at around 6 grams. It makes you appreciate just how small these birds are and just how tough they have it in winter. Above: Long-tailed Tit Below: Reed Bunting After we had finished our ringing session I decided to head out birding again. I headed out to Ivy South hide passing Redwings, Finches, Treecreeper, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Once in the hide I could see several Common Buzzard displaying over the large Pine trees in the distance. On Ivy Lake itself there was a good mix of Ducks with Pochard and Tufted Ducks being the most numerous as well as a few Gadwall and Wigeon. A Pair of Great Crested Grebe were also about as well as a Little Grebe and a few Coot and Cormorant. After half an hour of being in the hide I saw the Kingfisher again and as with last time it flew from right to left but perching just out of sight. It then did the correct thing and flew like a bullet back across the hide perching very briefly in front of the hide on a small stick which was just jutting out, however no sooner had it stopped it was off again and with a flash of blue it was out of sight. Above: Coot Below: Female Tufted Duck Above: Drake Tufted Duck After the Kingfisher Episode I decided to have a wonder and so I headed for the Woodland hide to see what was on the feeders. I was not to be disappointed with Greenfinches, Chaffinches, and Siskin literally everywhere and a wall of sound coming from the canopy above. It was a sight to behold. Above: Male Siskin Below: Ringed female Siskin (presumably a returning bird) Above: Male (Lower Bird) and female (Upper Bird) Greenfinch After this I decided to head over to Ivy North hide in the hunt for the Bittern however like last time after over an hour in the hide I was unable to connect with the bird. Whilst I was in the hide I did however see 2 Cetti's Warblers, a Chiffchaff, and a good mix of duck species including several well hidden Teal in the trees on the left hand side of the hide. The highlights for me where however watching a cormorant battling to swallow what looked like a massive Tench. Also while in the hide I was scanning the distant pines again and I picked up a circling Red Kite which was great to see and we all watched it as it flew directly towards the hide and eventually giving us some great views. However after the Bittern showed no signs of showing up I decided to give it a miss and head to the Lapwing Hide. Along the way whilst walking through the woodland I came across the usual Tit flocks with Coal, Long-tailed, Great, and Blue Tits and also a few Goldcrest and Nuthatch were about as well. I eventually got to a slightly more open part of the wood where I was sure that I could hear Bullfinch and sure enough out of the bush on my right hand side a stunning Male flew up into one of the trees next to me and started munching away on the seeds. (Pictured Below) Finally I made it up to the Lapwing hide and just in time as well as the Gulls had just started to gather for their roost with possibly as many as 1000 Black-headed Gulls and probably over 500 Lesser Black-backeds turning up in the hour that followed. I had the task of sifting through the flock trying to pick out the odd ones out and eventually we managed to pick out several Herring Gulls, Common Gulls and eventually a nice almost summer plumaged Med Gull. Also seen from the hide were 20 Goosander, and 10 Goldeneye as well as large amounts of Wigeon, Pochard, Shoveler, Tufted Ducks and Pintail. A Grey Wagtail was the final bird of the day before I realised that I needed to make a move and sprint to the bus stop to head back to Bournemouth. It was another great day and I look forward to my next ringing session with Kevin et al. That evening I went to the monthly CHOG meeting and listened to an inspiring talk done by Shaun on Bottle Neck Birding and honestly it has made me want to visit this places just to experience these migrant spectacles for myself. Above and Below: Just so that you can get a sense with what we were looking at (BHG, LBBG, HG, and CG) So on Thursday with the stunning weather continuing I decided to head to Poole Park to have a look at what was about. The thing I find odd about birding in Poole Park is that it is right in the middle of the bustling conurbation and yet everywhere you look there is wildlife. It is basically the Poole equivalent to Hyde Park. As soon as I got off the bus I could see several Oystercatcher alongside a group of Canada Geese on the Cricket Pitch. I headed over to the smaller ponds near the Playground and here a pair of Mute Swan seemed to have settled and I have no doubt that they will be nest building in the near future. The Mandarin Duck and his friends were however nowhere to be seen. Above: Oystercatcher and the rear end of a Canada Goose Below: Mute Swan Moving on I headed to the middle size lake surrounded by the model railway. Here the Mandarin Duck gave himself up along with his Mallard friends and also several Canada Geese and Greylag. I have to admit the Mandarin may have showed off just a bit... (Pictured Below) I have to admit the rest of Poole Park was unusually pretty dull, however there were still decent numbers of Black-headed Gulls, and Oystercatcher with a few Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit. This was partially due to these massive trucks moving about the lake moving tonnes of rather smelly black sludge from one end to the other. So to avoid the smell I quickly moved on to Baiter Park. From here out in the bay there were precisely 100 Brent Geese, along with 4 Great Crested Grebe, 7 Goldeneye, and 7 Red-breasted Merganser. Eventually I managed to pick out 7 Turnstone in and amongst the sea weed and trust me I wouldn't have seen them if it weren't for the occasional piece of seaweed flying in the air as they hunted for food. Below: Turnstone And so onto today and my trip to Hengistbury Head which was greeted by yet another truly stunning day and an awesome sunrise. I have to admit at times I just stopped and starred and took in the peaceful surrounding as it glistened in the bright warm sunshine. The sea was my first point of call and I was surprised to see a decent amount but in waves. 19 Brent Geese Moved East along with 5 Red-throated Divers while another 6 Brent Geese Moved West as did a Common Gull. While all this was taking place 2 Great Crested Grebe were sat on the sea taking in the peaceful surrounding. It was just simply stunning and the birds mostly played ball as we moved up to the headland. Passing many Greenfinch and a few Stonechat. Above: Female Stonechat Below: Male Stonechat I have to admit once I got to the view point at the top of the headland I may have taken a few too many photo's of the stunning scenery. I have to admit I was taken back to a place where all my stress could just disappear. Once I had got moving again the birds suddenly started to appear as I picked up the fluty call of a migrant Woodlark and eventually picked it up as it slowly bounced East. Moving further along the headland eventually gave us the opportunity to see not 1 but 3 Dartford Warblers in the heather flycatching before they eventually disappeared into the gorse. (Pictured Below) We then headed along the sandspit to even more stunning scenery finding 11 Turnstone and a few Oystercatcher along the way, however still not finding the rather secretive Purple Sandpipers which is, I have to admit, starting to get a little bit frustrating. Above: Oystercatcher Above: Turnstone I have to admit the Turnstone encounter was truly amazing as I decided to sit down close to them and after about 5 minutes they had puked up the courage to forage literally within millimeters of my feet it was amazing to have 11 of them running about so close. Moving on towards the Mudeford Marsh and a flock of 5 Rock Pipit erupted from the long grass along with a few meadow Pipit a Snipe and a Little Egret. Redshank and Wigeon were also numerous here. Moving onto the woodland where with some carefully listening the crests could be found in full song with point blank views eventually had of both Firecrest and Goldcrest. A Chiffchaff could also be heard calling from the canopy but wasn't located. The final part of the day to visit was Wick and it was I have to admit a little dull until the Western end where it meets Tuckton Gardens. Here in the marsh we had great views of Teal and also a Kingfisher. The Kingfisher was awesome as it continued to feed despite our presence hovering just meters away from us before plunging in to catch several small fish. Each time perching briefly before heading back out in search of food. It was truly magical and honestly a great experience to see the tiny blue gem hunting within meters of us standing and watch. We then headed up into Tuckton Gardens where the usual Oystercatchers were still feeding in the back gardens as well as the pair of Mute Swan which are both ringed still being in the area. Their history is unfortunately not the most interesting however F9B has had 2 other partners before E5S and has nested in the same place for at least 10 years in a row and to make things even better F9B is also older than I am. yep that's right the Swan is just about to enjoy its 19th Birthday in April. And so ill leave you with the remainder of my pictures from another peaceful day with some amazing experiences mixed in. My year list now sits at 122 species after todays Woodlark, however with a possible trip to Weymouth tomorrow I wonder whether I will be able to see my 225th British bird? Wish me luck.... Above: Male Greenfinch Above: Kingfisher
Below: Mute Swan F9B
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AuthorI have been a birder since I was 8 however only really started to be able to go out to places by myself in Summer 2016 (Blame the parents) My blogs will be from all over the place, but mainly from RSPB Rainham Marshes and Totteridge Valley! Photography done by Samuel Levy aged 18. ArchivesCategories |