A Long Winded Stroll - Poole Park, Baiter Park, Holes Bay & Upton Country Park - 8th February 20208/2/2020 Yep, that's right if you read the title then you must think I am crazy, and to be honest it wasn't what I had set out to do, but with the weather being nice and the forecast for the next week or so being somewhat dull and miserable, I decided that I would make the most out of today... I started off with quite a relaxed start compared to yesterday. Since yesterday I had decided to go down to Bournemouth East Cliff with my house mate in order to watch the sunrise from behind the Isle of Wight. (Below: Yesterdays Sunrise) Todays sunrise, was a little underwhelming as it was hidden behind a think grey murkiness that gave the morning an eerie feel to it. I arrived at Poole Park at just after 8 and so i headed of in search of some good birds. I knew that I would need to do this quickly as I had forgotten that today was park run day! It was no surprise that there was hardly anything on the smaller lakes, so onto the main boating lake I went. There was plenty around on this lake with around 20 Tufted Duck out in the middle, amongst the hoards of Mute Swan, Coots, and Mallard. Surprisingly there were very few large gulls about bar a few hefty Great Black-backed. There were however plenty of Black-headed Gulls, however scanning through the flock I only managed to find a Common Gull in and amongst them which was a poor return. The new islands that were installed last winter actually had some life on them for a change with several Oystercatcher, 2 Turnstone, and a Redshank. Infact actually the Turnstones made me laugh as one of them was flicking stones up right in the middle of where the Black-headed Gulls were roosting, lets just say they weren't impressed. Above: Male Pied Wagtail Below: Oystercatchers I decided to keep the pace up and headed round towards the café. Whilst i was scanning the middle Island that was full of Oystercatchers something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye and when i turned to see what it was I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A drake Red-breasted Merganser was feeding a few centimeters away from the bank it was incredible. It was so close that you could see it under the water and you could follow the trail of bubbles as it swam. I could have reached out and touched it, if i wanted too. I couldn't believe that it had just snuck up on my like that. Honestly though if you think you have ever had a bad hair day then just wait until you see this bird. Above: The incredible Drake Red-breasted Merganser I mean I still can't believe how incredibly tame this bird was and honestly I am not entirely sure why it was this tame either. I was speechless at the time and I still am now. Moving on and I headed up along the final stretch of Poole Park, however the Park run had now caught me up, so I decided that it would be best if I quickly moved on to Baiter Park. Walking through the Baiter Park car park it was nice to see some Greenfinch feeding along side the local House Sparrows. A couple of Long-tailed Tit were also feeding in the bushes along with a Goldcrest. Heading up to Parkstone Bay I was surprised at just how still it was. The water was flat and lifeless and thus made for some easy viewing. Great-crested Grebes, Red-breasted Merganser and Goldeneye were all out and about along with the odd Cormorant. Above: Pair of Red-breasted Merganser & a Great Crested Grebe Below: Pair of Goldeneye & a Great Crested Grebe Moving onto the main football pitch and when I first arrived there was a decent sized flock of Oystercatcher with 9 Brent Geese present. Now that might sound good but in recent years there have been up to 100 Brent Geese over wintering on these fields and within seconds of me being there the reason for this decline was most notable. Several people with their dogs bounded right for the middle of the flock and whoosh everything was gone, well that was all bar one Brent Goose. This Brent Goose didn't stay for long though as it too was sent packing by dogs. Its frustrating when this sort of thing happens as a lot of people don't realise the effect that their dog running through the middle of the flock could have. Brent Geese are migrants and come to the UK to feed up during the winter, however the time and energy spent flying away from peoples dogs could not only lead them to not have enough energy to keep warm, but when it comes to migration it could also potential be the difference between them arriving safety at their breeding grounds and them dying on route. A one off disturbance would have little effect, however this is now unfortunately a daily occurrence and it happens more than once a day. (Below shows the lonely Brent Goose.) Above: Brent Goose Below: Oystercatcher I then headed round to Baiter Point which over looks the harbour. There were plenty of Cormorants feeding out in the middle of the harbour and these were joined by a few Shag, Great Crested Grebe and at least 2 Great Northern Divers. There could possibly have been more out there but most things were put up by the Ferry that was heading out of the harbour. Above: Mute Swan Below: Goldeneye Above: Great Crested Grebe Below: Distant Great Northern Diver Above: Great Northern Diver up close After this I head down to Poole Quay where my first Med Gull of the year was seen. Several Brent Geese were also feeding on the breakwaters as was a flock of 25 Turnstone. A couple of Shag, Cormorant and Oystercatchers were also sat roosting on the breakwater as another pair of Mute Swan made a close flyby. Above: Turnstone Below: Spot the Turnstone Above: Turnstone in flight Below: Top Bird: Med Gull, Lower Bird: Black-headed Gull After this I decided to walk through the Urban areas of Poole up to the Twin Sails Bridge. From here I had a quick scan through Holes Bay to see if the Scaup were about, but unfortunately for me they were nowhere to be seen. This was when my short walk was extended somewhat as I decided to head for Upton Country Park. Along the way I stopped near the RNLI centre as a Starling was feeding quite successfully on little worms in the mossy vegetation next to the main road. It was so incredibly tame and so this provided me the chance to get to see its quite stunning plumage. Above: Starling Next I headed past ASDA to see if the Peregrines were visible, but unfortunately they must have both been out hunting as neither were on view which was a shame. I then moved onto the small area of Marshland near to ASDA which held a Little Egret, a few Wigeon, Teal, Redshank, Curlew, and Oystercatcher. When you consider this is next to a busy 4 lane main road this is actually quite incredible. Above: Little Egret Below: Redshank and Wigeon I Moved further round Holes bay adding Dunlin to the day list. The vegetated Islands out in the middle of the Bay were full of Wigeon, Teal and Shelduck and to be honest there was quite a large gathering of Curlew as well, but still no sign of the Scaup. There were however 6 Great Crested Grebe down by the trainline which was a decent record. On towards Upton Country Park and no sooner had I crossed the trainline I had the 4 Scaup feeding out in the middle. 3 females and the first winter Drake. They were joined by what must have been a four figure count of Wigeon. Avocet also swam out in the middle of the bay and a mixed Dunlin, Redshank flock flew over the bay. Shelduck and Teal were also present in good numbers as well, but the highlight had to be the Scaup flock even if they did spend the vast majority of the time underwater. Above: Curlew, Wigeon, Teal Below: The 4 Scaup Above: Wigeon Below: Avocet. I have only just realised that the left hand bird is flagged would be interesting to find out where it came from. Apparently it was ringed on the South Coast, how boring... Moving further around to the other side of Upton Country Park, i found my first Black-tailed Godwits of the day with 10 sat sleeping out on the mud. Infact everything seemed to be taking a well earned rest including the Shoveler and Pintail which were mixed in with the Wigeon and Teal. Above: Dozing Ducks (Pintail, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler and Redshank (which i know aren't ducks)) Moving around to the next viewing point and bizarrely someone had loaded the area with bird seed. This was interesting as the birds were extremely closeby and seemed to ignore my prescene. There were plenty of birds making the most of this opportunity with Great, Blue and Coal Tit, several Nuthatch, 6 Chaffinch, 4 Dunnock, 2 Robin and a pair of Bullfinch which appeared to be attracted to the budding plants next to the seed. It was amazing to watch the comings and goings from the fence line. Above: Great Tit Below: Bullfinch Above: Great Tit Below: Coal Tit Above: Nuthatch Below: Chaffinch Above: Blue Tit Below: Coal Tit being dive bombed by a Chaffinch Above: Blue Tit Below: Dunnock Above: Nuthatch with a distant Great Tit Moving on towards the café I discovered yet more Bullfinch munching on the plentiful buds. These Bullfinch gave some amazing views rather unlike the Redwings that were also feeding in the same patch of brambles. After this i decided to call it a day and headed for the Bus in order to go back and play some footie before tomorrows storm. Above: Bullfinch And so with the poor weather forecast for Sunday you would assume that the blog post would end now.... Well, lets just say i had the rather stupid idea of going sea watching of Hengistbury Head yesterday afternoon. Honestly the conditions couldn't have been worse if it tried. The sea was lifeless bar the 4 Med Gulls that travelled east, a Common Gull that travelled West and a Great Northern Diver that was feeding close in to the Beach Huts. I was at least hoping for a Gannet or a Scoter, but unfortunately there was nothing. Just before I completely gave up I had a walk along the Sandspit where at least 8 Ringed Plover were sheltering along with several Rock Pipit. The Ringed Plover were infact year ticks, but shortly after this a squal line came through and dumped a tonne of rain in the driving wind. I was soaked through to the skin even with wearing waterproofs. My shoes were so wet that they had water pooling in side them. The driving wind meant that when i got home the whole of one side of my face was covered in sand whilst the other side was amusingly bone dry. Although it was a great experience i am not entirely sure i will ever do it again, and i think a leason has been learnt.
Anyways that leaves me on 120 sepcies for the year. Only 80 more to go to reach my target and 81 to beat my record.
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So for those of you who know me it would come as no surprise to hear that my train back to uni was cancelled due to a derailment on Wednesday. In fact my luck with trains has been so poor recently that when South Western Railway offered me to re-book, I opted for my money back and will now head back by National Express on Monday. Anyways, I am actually quite glad that my train was cancelled as it meant that I could go to the London Wetlands Centre for Arjun's Birthday celebration which I would have previously missed. So on Saturday morning I left home to some grim dark dull conditions only to arrive out of the tunnel to a glorious winters day, if a tad on the windy side of things. The walk between Hammersmith and the London Wetlands Centre was pleasant with great views to be had at Hammersmith Bridge and a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming on a London Plane. I was first to arrive at the London Wetlands centre so I decided to wait outside whilst watching the mixed Tit flock feeding in the trees around me. The first Goose of the day was a Canadalag calling awkwardly above me. Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Goldfinches were all on the feeders and the main building was covered in Ring-necked Parakeets. The lake out the front of the Centre held a pair of Tufted Duck, some Coot, a few Moorhens, some Mallards, and an incredibly tame pair of Shoveler. Above: Female Shoveler Below: Drake Shoveler Eventually I was joined by Kabir and then James, Arjun, and Sian arrived leaving us waiting for just Megan. We decided to head into the centre and head to the observatory area. I had never been in this room and it was absolutely incredible. It was bizarrely high tec for a hide and gave us great views out over the lagoon. Unfortunately for us there wasn't to much too see however when you consider where the London Wetlands Centre is. The Species count and amount of birds is incredible. Tufted Duck, Pochard and Egyptian Geese were everywhere in front of the hide. A flock of Starling were put up with along with a swirling flock of Lapwing. We weren't in the hide for long before we were joined by Megan and so we headed out onto the Southern end of the reserve. First we went into the Dalverton Hide, however there wasn't too much around. We did however add Grey Heron, Cormorant, and Canada Geese to the day list. As we left the hide a Cetti's Warbler called from the reed bed next to us, as we headed towards the woodland feeders. Once we were at the woodland feeders we sat and watched the comings and goings of mainly Blue and Great Tits. A few Chaffinch and Moorhen were on hand to clear up the dropped seeds, before two quite rotund Brown Rats appeared to take charge of the clear up operation. We then headed into the WWF hide. From here we picked up the days first pair of Pintail asleep on the main island in front of us. They were joined by a few Gadwall and Teal, but the best was still to come. Someone standing just to the right of me had been watching a Gull land out on the island and all of a sudden he started to describe it to his wife. When i heard his descrption i set about scanning through the flock and sure enough there it was. My and most of the groups first British White-winger. It was an Adult/ near adult Iceland Gull. I mean to anyone who isnt a birder this bird is infact quite similar to a Herring Gull. I will admit it is close, but there are a couple of key features that distingish it from the other Gulls. This includes the pure white tail and the lack of any Black in the wing. It also lacks the black tip to the wing and also has a remarkably large pale eye. Iceland Gulls also tend to be noticable smaller than their counter parts, however in this case it was an absolute beast. In fact it would have been the biggest gull if it weren't for a rather hefty adult Yellow-legged Gull lurky nearby. In fact the Yellow-legged Gull was so heavy that it struggled to take off. Above: ad/near ad Iceland Gull and co. Most of the others are Herring Gulls of various ages. The rest of the Gull flock contained at least 4 Common Gull, but that was all that could be picked out before the whole of the flock took off leaving us with nothing, but a bare island in front. This was when we decided to take off and headed to the Peacock tower. From the peackcock tower you get a great view over the main grazing marsh. From here we were able to see plenty of Wigeon, Gadwall, and Teal as well as Coots and Moorhens. We also managed to pick out a Common Snipe which was well hidden in the vegitation. 2 Water Pipit were seen which was a new bird for Sian, but unfortunately we couldn't pick out any bobbing Snipe. We then bumped into local patch birder Martin, who got a phone call from the wildside hide saying that the Iceland Gull was on the deck in front of it. As Martin got us all back on it, it took flight and circled up and over the reserve until it was the highest bird in the sky. Then after gaining altitude it flew gracegully up river with the london skyline in the background. It was an incredible bird and was an educational experience to be able to see it. Above: Pair of Wigeon Below: Lets play spot the Water Pipit. Above: Distant Iceland Gull over Hammersmith area. After this flyby we decided to head back to the main visitor centre for a lunch break. It wasn't long before we headed out onto the other side of the reserve. We then headed into the Wildside Hide in the hope of seeing the over wintering Bitterns, however unfortunately with a strong cool South Westerly the Bitterns remained hidden. We then moved on to the Headly Hide which looks over the both the deepest and most sheltered lake on the reserve. Sure enough out on the West Side of the Hide was where most of the action was taking place with 7 Mandarin Ducks hiding in an amongst the over hanging vegetation. Well when I say hiding at this time of year the drakes are kind of hard to miss and stick out like a soar thumb. There were a total of 5 Drakes and 2 females in all. Also out on this side of the hide there were plenty of Pochard and Tufted Ducks and eventually I managed to pick out the female Goldeneye that would briefly surface every now and then. Out in front of the hide another pair of Pintail appeared this time awake and showing well. A Green Woodpecker was busy feeding on the grassy banks and eventually I managed to pick out 5 snoozing Snipe in an amongst the vegetation, but still bobbing ones which was a shame. Above: Female Goldeneye and Coot Below: Green Woodpecker Above: Pair of Pintail After this we headed back to the Wildside Hide as it turned out that Arjun had left his Binoculars in there. Of all the things that a birder could leave behind, how could you leave a pair of Binoculars behind. They should be around your neck at all times! After this we headed back to the other hides several times in order to try and add to the day tally, but unfortunately the wind was becoming even stronger and therefore this was harder than before. It became frustrating after a while, but at least we were all enjoying the day. Above: One of several Stock Dove seen on the Grazing Marsh So at around 4pm we all decided to call it a day and headed our separate ways. I have to admit i was treated to a quite glorious sunset from Hammersmith Bridge and a pair of Mistle Thrush to go with it.
It just leaves me to wish Arjun a happy Birthday and thank you for inviting me to your Birthday celebrations. It was good too see everyone again and i am now looking forward to the 18th even more than before. And so i headed home on the tube i looked back on the day that I saw my 232nd species of bird in Britain. I wonder what will be next...? |
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 19. ArchivesCategories |