I have to admit that it has taken me quite a long time to write any of this up, however unfortunately I have had a rather busy few weeks, so here is a summary of what I have managed to get up to in my free time. Wednesday 24th Oct It started with a field trip to the New Forest and the forestry commission reserve of Bolder wood. It was yet another crisp clear morning that we had picked for our field trip and although we were looking at the quality of habitats I was still able to do a bit of birding and even picked up a lifer during on of the talks we were given in the shape of a pair of Crossbill which flew over the lecturers head unnoticed by all bar me. I have to admit that I picked them up on call as they flew from South to North East over us and headed in the direction of some tall Scott's Pines, yes they weren't the best views however they also weren't going to be the last Crossbills that I saw in the New Forest either. Other birds that I saw included 13 Chaffinch, 11 Redwing, a massive 33 Siskin with every few minutes another party heading over with their rather unusual call. A Lapwing was another interesting surprise and so was a Fieldfare, 3 Common Buzzard, and a Lesser Redpoll. The rest of the day I am going to skip due to the fact that it was rather eventful for not the best of reasons. Thursday 25th Oct So on the Thursday I headed to Hengistbury Head to see what I could see and really in the hope of re-finding a Yellow-browed Warbler that was seen the day before. It started well with a Common Buzzard being mobbed by not one but 3 Sparrowhawk over Tuckton Gardens on my way to Wick where the YBW had been seen previously. Above: Common Buzzard and Sparrowhawks I then moved on to a little sheltered area of water and found a female Wigeon along with some Mallards under some weeping Willows. Whilst I was trying to get a photo of the mobile Wigeon I noticed two little Brown Rats running about amongst the leaf litter looking for food. It was interesting just how tame the Rats were as they allowed me to get within a couple of centimeters of them eating. Above: young Brown Rat The rest of the visit was unfortunately quite poor as I only managed to dig up Goldcrest and Chiffchaff rather than the hoped for YBW. However 6 Firecrest in the Woodland, along with the Male Marsh Harrier showing well and a large flock of wigeon which were feeding close in shore. The final bird of the day was also a year tick with a female Red-breasted Merganser flying West very close in shore in the general direction of Bournemouth. Above: Teal Below: Rather Late Migrant Hawker Above: Male Marsh Harrier Below: I have included this video just so that you can hear the noise that Wigeon make. They are real characters. Above: Robin Friday 26th Oct So on Friday I had arranged to head back into the New Forest and meet up with Tommy Saunders who is a local birder our aim was to see some of the local Raptor species. I have to admit though that I don't think either of us were prepared for the absolutely bitter wind and torrential showers that greeted us when we arrived. A Rainbow off in the distance was hardly compensation for spending the afternoon shivering in the middle of what was a picturesque landscape. Upon arrival we headed across our chosen valley and headed to an area that is particularly good for Ring Ouzels. Sure enough after searching thoroughly through the Blackbirds we did eventually have brief views of a Ring Ouzel. Meadow Pipit, Linnet and also a large flock of near 200 Fieldfare were ever present but no sign of any raptors yet. Just as we were about to head back down into the valley both Tommy and I picked up a bird which on call sounded as though it was a Crossbill. Eventually we picked it up as it bounced low over our heads and the silhouette clearly showed their monstrosity of a crossbill. This was the third bird I had seen in the space of three days and I have to admit at this stage I was planning on taking this sighting as consolation if our target birds didn't turn up. We headed off up onto the other side of the valley and here we positioned ourselves. just as we arrived two calling Male Yellowhammer dropped into a bush beside us, which is apparently quite a rare sighting for the New Forest. These were presumably tired migrants dropping in to look for a place to roost. Above: Male Yellowhammer, unfortunately the best I could manage given the light conditions. (You can just about make out the characteristic yellow head) Just as we were about to give up on our target bird I noticed something drifting over and inadvertently putting up the flock of Fieldfare. At first I thought it was a plastic bag drifting through the wind, however when I got my binoculars what was staring back at me was a stunning Male Hen Harrier. I watched as it drifted towards the mound where we had just come from and it then flew along the ridge until it drifted just out of sight. About five minutes later the either the same or a different Male Hen Harrier came through the centre of the valley heading directly at us however just at the last minute it headed up one of the sides of the valley before tumbling through the sky onto the ground sending Fieldfare flying off in every direction however there was one slight problem it had missed. It then proceeded to gather itself up and headed back over the ridge and disappeared. I have to admit that this was a truly unforgettable experience and one that I hope I will be able to repeat again in the coming months. I also must Thank Tommy for this opportunity to see such an amazing bird especially as there is a real risk of this bird becoming extinct in the UK in my life time if something doesn't dramatically changed and from my experience of this species this is one that we definitely don't want to lose. Above: My poor record shots Below: Tommy's much better Record Shot - (a link to his twitter account can be found at the end of the blog post) Wednesday 31st Oct So on Wednesday I headed down to Hengistbury Head along with Ethan at a rather civilised time of day. I had a few targets for this visit however lets just say that with luck completely against us we didn't see any of these, however this is what we did see on what was a truly cold and windy visit. I have to admit though the day got of to a great start when I noticed a Kingfisher shoot past us at ground level literally just a few feet away from us and it landed unfortunately just out of sight. The little lightning strike of colour that the Kingfisher is enough to put anyone in a good mood and I have to admit it got my spirits up. The rest of this part of Wick was rather quiet with a few Teal, Cormorant, a Curlew, and a few Brent Geese circling. A flock of Mistle Thrush flew East which is quite unusual but still no true winter thrushes were to be seen or heard although an increase in Song Thrush was noticeable. Above: Cormorant Below: Teal We then continued further into Wick and dug out Ethan's first ever Goldcrest followed by 28 more over the course of the day. We also dragged out a decent return of Chiffchaff for the time of year, but otherwise nothing particularly spectacular bar 4 Pintail and an adult Med Gull. Above: one of Several very active Goldcrest which felt like they were fresh in given the way these guys were actively searching for food. We then continued right to the end of Wick where I thought I heard the call of a Bullfinch sure enough Ethan picked a pair out in a bush no more than a metre from us and just as I got my camera ready to snap they flew and disappeared into thin air, which is unfortunately what often happens with this species. Ethan and I then headed to the wetland area near the visitor centre. Here we found 5 Mute Swans with colour rings on however I believe that they all will be local birds. The only other birds of note in this area was the huge gathering of Wigeon sheltering from the wind. Above and Below: Wigeon, Coot, and Mute Swans Above: Mute Swan S2U and T4D Below: Ethan's photos of Mute Swan E5S and F9B We then continued on our journey, however just before the woodland Ethan gave me the fright of my life when he yelled that there was something on the fence. My initial instinct told me that he had found something rare, however when I found out it was just a close range Stonechat I was very disappointed to say the least. I honestly don't think I have been so close to having a heart act in my life. Although I was to have my pay back later on! The rest of the woodland continued the trend that Wick set however it wasn't just Goldcrests as we also managed to pick out not just one, but 10 Firecrests which I believe is a sight record and one that I am pleased to have made. Above: The terrifying Stonechat Below: Lets play spot the Firecrest (Crests move so quickly and therefor any photo is a good photo in my opinion) After this we headed down to the little bit of wetland just at the edge of the wetland and saw our first Redshank, Oystercatcher and Dunlin of the day feeding in the salt marsh. Above: Redshank and Oystercatcher We then headed down to Muddeford and the harbour mouth however we couldn't find any Turnstones we did however find a rather sleepy Redshank roosting on the side. Above: Redshank We then continued on to the quieter side of the spit which borders the Solent. This side was unbearable at times as the wind was kicking up sand in all directions and trust me it wasn't particularly fun. We did however find one flock of waders which held a mix of Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Knot. A few cormorant were offshore along with a Common Gull and also a Brent Goose attempted to leave the shelter of the harbour over head, however that attempt didn't last long before it speedily turned around. After this I decided that we would take the sheltered middle route back along the headland via Quarry Pond and Lily Pond. I wasn't expecting to see much however when we were at Lily pond I noticed a little brown bird scurrying up the tree trunk in front of me. I have to admit that It was my turn for pay back as I screamed "Treecreeper" to Ethan who came rushing over to be completely underwhelmed by the LBJ that was in front of me. This was however the last excitement of the day and as we headed back a final scan of the sea brought up an Adult Gannet heading slowly East. Above: Treecreeper Below: Distant Adult Gannet Saturday 3rd Nov An early start saw me heading in the direction of Poole Park and Baiter Park. I arrived at Poole Park just as the first glimpses of light were just starting to appear on the Horizon. The local gull roost erupted with noise that no one will have ever experience before with a cacophony of Herring, Lesser Black, Great Black, and Black-headed Gulls all leaving in one large flock. As soon as they had left they were almost instantly replaced by the largest flock of Cormorant I have ever seen in my 10 years birding. The total that I managed to count was 277 birds however due to the lack of light I am pretty sure that there were many more than this especially as when they landed on the lack a large chunk of the water was covered in them. A few Tufted Duck, Mallards, and Mute Swans were also around however what was slightly more surprising was the fact that 13 Sandwich Tern dropped in just after sunrise. Infact due to our changing climates Sandwich Tern are now increasingly becoming an all year round bird along the south coast as it is advantageous for them to waste less energy migrating and also be in prime position to get nesting spots in the spring. Not long after it was light at about 7:20 the whole flock of Cormorants decided that they had enough of the park and continued their journey off into the main part of the harbour. Above: Raft of Cormorants Below: Sandwich Terns Above: Cormorants: and then just like that they were gone I then moved round the lake to where the café is and to my surprise there was a proper Dorset rarity sitting on the lake alongside a Mallard and an Aylesbury Duck, a stunning Drake Mandarin Duck apparently the first one in the Poole Harbour recording area for sometime. Also 10 Little Grebe were also present in their dull winter plumage. Above: Drake Mandarin Duck Below: Aylesbury Duck with Mallard. (The Aylesbury is a meat breed of domestic duck hence the size difference with it and the Mallard and the chunky all round appearance) I then headed round to near the playground and on the grass verge next to the play ground a few Pied Wagtail, an Oystercatcher and 57 Canada Geese were feeding along with a lone Greylag. I then had one last scan of the lake, however in doing so I picked up 4 Goldeneye including 3 dashing Drakes. I decided that I would have a closer look at them and so I jogged round to the other side of the Lake to find that they were now feeding much further away than I had originally thought. 5 Little Egret fed in the reedbeds near where the Goldeneye were and also a rather odd duck was out near a group of Tufted Duck. Now I am pretty sure it is an Aythya sp and I think it is an eclipse Drake Scaup which is an odd one for the time of year. I will leave this one for you to decide, but if it is a scaup as I suspect then it would be a great self find. Above: Little Egrets Below: Aythya sp (Probaby eclipse Drake Scaup) (Slideshow) Above: Tufted Duck Below: Goldeneye After this I decided to head to Baiter park which is just over the railway line from Poole park and has a great view out into the harbour. To be honest by the time I had reached here there were a lot of people around, however a decent amount of Pied Wagtails, Meadow Pipit, and Linnet could be found feeding in and amongst the grass on the playing fields. The Turnstone flock wasn't about however I did have one fly past me suggesting they had just been disturbed. One thing I did however see and find was something that to be honest I wasn't really expecting, however given the fact that I was climbing on some rocks.... well lets just say that I should have expected it when the familiar sight of a Rock Pipit came out of one of the cracks before minding its own business and continuing to feed on the rocks in front of me. Since this was right near the end of my morning I decided to sit and watch the bird for a little while as it ran in and out of Rocks quite expertly in search of some insectivorous grub. I have to admit that this put me in a great mood for much of the rest of my day and what's more I even made it back home before lunch which was another great achievement. Above: Rock Pipit (Also known as Rockit) And so this rounded off a great week and a bit with my life list now sitting at 223 species and my year list at 192. I have to admit that I am very pleased that I have been able to see a Male Hen Harrier in the wild in the UK and I hope it doesn't have to be the last time either.
I would also like to say a massive Thank You to Tommy Saunders who gave me a lift to the Hen Harrier site. Below is a link to his Twitter account. And now with my year list target smashed I wonder how many species are achievable with still around 2 months left...? (Also Stay tuned for a little Instagram takeover on the BTO Birds account in the next week or so...!)
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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 |