Winter Coastal Birding - Hengistbury Head, Poole Park and Baiter Park - 28th - 30th November 201813/12/2018 It has taken me a while to get round to writing this blog post despite the fact that it is about 2 of the best days birding I have had since the summer. Unfortunately assignments and the fact that I have been ill have stopped me from writing this, however today with the beginning of the Christmas Holidays and my health now much better I have decided to write up my experience from these days. I actually suspect that this trip to Hengistbury Head on the 28th might have played a part in me becoming ill just due to the fact that I went out in utterly atrocious conditions. I took the bus down to Hengistbury at the civilised time of 7:30 and as soon as I stepped of the bus I became drenched. I didn't bother getting my camera out at this stage just because the rain was just too heavy and the wind didn't help either with 50 or possibly even 60mph gusts. Once I arrived on the headland the place was largely bird less and completely void of all the usual dog walkers and runners. I was literally the only thing dumb enough to be out in this sort of weather. A few soggy sheltering Meadow Pipits were encountered in the dunes along with a rather soggy Pied Wagtail and a few Stonechat. I carried on towards the headland with the rain now starting to decrease visibility even further. This is the sort of weather where the sea becomes the best chance of picking up something interesting especially during the winter, however only a cormorant could be picked up in my now steamed up binoculars. To be honest it was pleasantly quiet and I quite enjoyed having some time by myself. Just when I thought the day wasn't going to improve I picked up something that looked interesting coming over the long groyne at the end of the cliff. It then started to gain height until when it flew past me on its quest west it was at my eye level. It was a Red-throated Diver and to say that I was happy to see it was probably an understatement for even those in the watch tower saw me punch the air. Although not particularly rare I knew that I really only had a small window to see one here before the Christmas holidays and well I got one on the first attempt which is unusual for me. I wasn't done yet though as just as I was passing a Little Grebe and a few Stonechat at Quarry Pond I picked up something coming in from the West and heading in my direction. I watched as it came towards me and as it flew over my head I had another punch the air with pure joy moment as the Great Northern Diver flew over on its way into the relative shelter of the Solent. This species is the rarer of the two species and only a few individuals overwinter in this part of the UK and infact if I am not mistake this was the first sighting in the area of the winter which is good. If I thought the weather couldn't get any worse, it did, however by this stage I didn't really care anymore with 2 patch ticks/ Dorset ticks safely in the bag. Infact what I saw next was odd as when I reached the bottom of the stair case right at the top of the headland a Male Pheasant flew out of one of the buses there. This rather oddly is a patch tick for me here and a rather odd place to find one. Muddeford had a decent array of sheltering waders with a Curlew, 6 Dunlin and 8 Redshank. Onto the woodland and a Firecrest in with the Goldcrest flock was a decent discovery, however 2 Redwing in sheltering from the storm where my first ever in Dorset from what I can recall so was a rather odd patch and county tick. 14 sheltering Stock Dove was also an odd find. Just when I thought the weather couldn't get worse the rain stopped for a brief moment and as it stopped I could see out into Christchurch harbour just far enough to see a female Eider Duck bobbing just offshore alongside a Great Crested Grebe and 2 Little Grebe. The female Eider is the first that I have ever seen settled on the water and to be honest they remind me of a clunky Scoter. Every time she dived she would almost flip her tail up and slap the water behind her in a rather untidy display. The only advantage is that she was really good at bringing back up food with muscles, crabs, and even what I think was a crayfish being devoured. Above: Female Eider Below: Great Crested Grebe That Eider was something quite incredible, however just as I was about to leave I flushed a sheltering Kingfisher out of the bush beside me and it flew along the sea wall before landing on it a bit further down and then subsequently flying up into another bush to get out of the wind. A flock of Brent Geese erupted out of the marsh flushing 2 Black-tailed Godwit and a Ringed Plover. Eventually the rain came back in and just before I left one last hurrah saw me find a a flock of 5 Goosander which was a surprise to see. And so at 10:30 with the rain starting to get the better of me I decided to head for home. Looking back at this day I had 7 patch ticks, however I am not entirely sure I am ever going to go back there in such terrible conditions! Above: Kingfisher Below: Brent Geese Above: 4f, 1m Goosander If there is anything that wet Hengistbury day then it is that perseverance sometimes pays of and with it you can only make your own luck. The final day of the month was the complete opposite of Hengistbury with glorious sunshine and a chill in the still crisp air. The ornamental ponds had the usual Mallards and Canada Geese and the cricket pitch still had that odd mix of Oystercatchers and Geese with around 40 Oystercatchers on the field, well that was until a dog ran right through the middle of the flock and sent them scattering in all directions. It was a bit like flying bowling pins except they didn't return and instead they headed off in the direction of Baiter Park. I then headed towards the main boating lake passing a Goldcrest, a mixed Tit flock and an unusually placed Grey Wagtail on the miniature railway. When I reached the main boating lake quite usefully there were some people feeding the Mute Swans and therefor I was able to read 7 Colour rings from the local Mute Swans including 2 new birds which I hadn't seen before and also the firm favourites such as SLR, T9V, T5N and B9E. (When I do eventually get back the data from the rings I will let you know about any interesting life history). Also enjoying the free food were the regular Black-headed Gulls, a few Coots, and also a decent sized raft of Tufted Duck. Above: female Tufted Ducks Below: Mute Swan Above: Drake Tufted Duck Below: Juv Mute Swan moving on I found a rather tame Greylag Goose that didn't seem phased by the amount of people walking past where it was sitting right out in the middle of the public footpath. A Pair of Pied Wagtails were also keeping it company, however they took the more sensible approach of preening themselves on the grass verge next to the path. Above: Greylag Below: Pied Wagtail I then headed round to just past the café where the Mandarin Duck usually is, however today he was over on the ornamental ponds near the children's playground. In his place were however 7 Little Grebe and 10 Goldeneye. I have to admit I spent the next hour or so watching the Goldeneye performing their head bobbing displays with 5 drakes speeding around after the 5 females. All I am going to say is that their charismatic displays are worth going and seeing at some point and to give you a taster I will add some videos below. I just love the energy they put into throwing their head back and forth. The are just another amazing piece of nature. Above: Goldeneye After spending far too long watching the Goldeneye I decided to head over to Baiter Park. Usually my quick scan of the bay produces nothing however I was surprised when I picked up 2 female Red-breasted Mergansers, 3 Great Crested Grebe, and a Goldeneye which must have all come in after the storm the day before. Most of the birds were distant, however the female Red-breasted Mergansers slowly came closer in and this to be honest was my first ever look at a settled Merganser that I can remember. So yes you guessed it I ended up watching these birds diving and being quite successful in their catching for way too long. Having grown up in London moments like these are so hard to come by as they are predominantly a sea bird. They do turn up occasionally on reservoirs however they tend to turn up on those that are near impossible to reach by transport. Above: Female Red-breasted Mergansers I have to admit what I found next was most unexpected and as I keep reminding myself and others as well its the moments like these that we constantly strive towards. Yes its nothing major, but its still good to find something yourself even if it is at the end of the day a bit of luck, sometime that's what you need luck. I decided to have one last scan of the harbour between Baiter and Brownsea to see if there was anything about and all of a sudden amongst the Buoys up pop a summer Plumaged Great Northern Diver. As it popped up it took one large stretch before diving again and it wasn't subsequently seen. This is the first summer plumaged Great Northern Diver that I have ever seen and it is also the first that I have seen at such close range as well. I also believe that it was the first bird to be seen in the harbour during the 2018/2019 winter. Above: The best I could manage of its brief appearance After this stunning discovery I turned my attention to the Brent Geese and Oystercatchers that were on the playing field behind me, making the most of the feeding opportunity. I do love Brent Geese and its quite odd seeing them side by side with Oystercatchers as they are a pretty similar size and it just doesn't look right. A few Starlings were the last addition to my list before I decided to call it a day and headed for the bus. Above: Brent Geese Below: Starling And so another great weekend of winter birding on the south coast was had with some Divers, Ducks and Geese. I wonder what will be instore on my next visits? And so with my year list sitting on 192 species and my life list on 223 I wonder what will be their next additions?
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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 |