Eyeworth Pond

Mid February and time to make our annual trip to the New Forest to see Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. Or, as it turns out almost every year, to spend a morning listening to distant drumming and to leave without managing to set eyes on them. This year was no exception. Greater spots drumming and a distant half hearted drumming from a Lesser Spot but no sight of them at all.

Plenty of birds in the forest but all of them difficult to approach although we did get the opportunity to photograph a juvenile Buzzard just after we entered the forest. It is not an unusual bird to see but it is one that I have always found difficulty in photographing.

We had a look at Blashford and a few of the enclosures but there was not much to see and even less to photograph. There were a few of the more common birds about but there was little point in spending time chasing them when our final stop of the day, at Eyeworth Pond Fritham,  would deliver close up views of all of these birds.

You do need to take a few handfulls of peanuts or sunflower seeds to keep their attention but the birds are conditioned to being fed and to being close to people.  It's not our usual idea of birding but it does lift the spirit to have so many "wild" birds almost close enough to touch.

Blackbird

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Chaffinch

Coal Tit

Marsh Tit

Marsh Tit

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Nuthatch

Even the Mandarins are happy to come over looking for food. We had seen ten of these at the northern end of Swanbourne Lake earlier in the week but they were very wary of people, staying well away from the feeding areas. The Eyeworth birds were out on the pond edge often too close to be able to get the picture.

Mandarin

Displaying to the ladies

Female Mandarin

Last time we visited there were a pair of Wood Ducks on the pond. I was hoping they would have stayed and I could have another go at photographing them but we did not see any sign of them this time.


As you leave the forest there are some areas of open grassland which are always good for Thrush species. Most were a bit distant but we were fortunate to get a pair of Mistle Thrushes that were feeding close to the car.

Mistle Thrush

Mistle Thrush

We didn't see anything spectacular and we didn't add any year ticks but it just felt good to be in close contact with the birds and to be taking pictures all day. The alternatives were standing in the cold all day waiting for the  Thayer's or Ross's Gulls to turn up -- boring!!

Red-necked Phalarope

Monday, we spent nearly five hours sitting in a hide at Titchfield Haven, waiting for a Semipalmated Sandpiper to turn up - it didn't. Which is probably just as well, as I am not sure that I would be able to tell it from Little Stint even at close range.

The drive home after missing a bird is always a bit depressing but we didn't let it get us down. This morning we were up early and over to Pagham North Wall hoping to find something unusual - we didn't and to make matters worse there were no reports of any good birds in the area. Running out of ideas we decided to go over to Thorney Island to have a look for the Red-necked Phalarope and I am pleased to say this time we were in luck.

The Phalarope has been there for  a few days now but has been distant for a lot of that time. Today it was just out of photographic range for most of the time but did make a couple of short forays into closer waters. It was then a case of trying to get a clear shot through or over the reeds and hoping that the light was reasonable.

We got a few record shots but it could have been better. If you are going to have a look at it, the late afternoon sun will give you the best lighting. For us, today, it was just too hot to stand around for a few hours waiting for things to improve.

To find the bird, park up at the triangle at (SU757049), cross the road and follow the footpath west to the beach. Turn left (south) and follow the seawall footpath for about 200 metres to the Little Deep (SU752048)

On Sunday we walked from Reculver out past Cold Harbour Lagoon. A short stop for pictures gave me the birds below.

Greenshank

Knot

Bar-tailed Godwit

Spotted Redshank

Wheatear

and this looks like another Little Stint - white braces on its back clearer in other shots

A couple of shots from Titchfield, taken whilst we were waiting for the Semipalmated Sandpiper that didn't show.

Ruff

Common Snipe

And two from last week at Pagham North Wall

Curlew Sandpiper and six Dunlin

Low flying Buzzard

The hot weather seems to have caused the autumn migration to stall. Am I alone in looking forward to the cooler and more productive days to come.

Cirl Bunting

I think the wife had been getting a bit fed up with my always being out birding or butterflying, so she decided that we should have a short break away, with some nice walking and good food. Sometimes you just have to go along with these things so I booked up a couple of nights for us in East Prawle down in south Devon. It looked a very undeveloped piece of coastline with good walking and there was a traditional pub, the Pigs Nose, that had numerous CAMERA awards for good beer and decent pub food. It sounded like the ideal, get away from it all, short break. You can imagine my surprise then, when I found out that it also has a small colony of Cirl Buntings and if the sun ever shone I might also find Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and Marsh Fritillary butterflies close by. Sometimes you just get lucky!

The problem was that we were not lucky with the weather, overcast, drizzle, low cloud and cool. We did a couple of stretches of the South West Coast Path. I have no complaints about the scenery. You get miles of unspoilt paths with very few people about and with wild flowers growing everywhere. All you needed was a bit of sun to bring out the butterflies. The closest I got was a Speckled Yellow Moth.

Speckled Yellow Moth

There were plenty of birds about but not the ones that I really wanted to see. Still I always have time for a Dunnock one of my favourite birds.

Dunnock

We did about ten miles along the coast on the Thursday. We could probably have done more but I was stopping to check out every tree and cluster of undergrowth in an attempt to find a Cirl Bunting. We had no luck and by the time we got back to the car park my spirits were starting to sink. We were leaving the next morning so it would have to be an early rise and a couple of hours birding before breakfast. We did one last circuit of the car park, I had given up but my wife, an occasional fair weather birder, thought she had heard the Cirl Bunting song in the distance. I was sceptical but we went and had a look anyway and sure enough she was right. We had a male bird sitting out on the top of a bush singing for all he was worth.

Cirl Bunting

Cirl Bunting

Its strange how one moment can transform a day. I was now happy to go home and was looking forward to celebrating with a couple of pints of the local brew in the pub that evening. But birds are like buses, once one comes along they all turn up. We only had a mile to drive to get back to the B&B but halfway there I spotted a buzzard perched on top of a post. It was a very pale colour so worth a look and it should have been a great picture as I don't think that I have ever been able to get so close to a buzzard before. Unfortunately we were at the top of a hill and in low cloud so diffusion through the water droplets has meant that I have lost all the detail in the picture.

Juvenile Buzzard

When I turned around to walk back to the car I found I had eight of the Cirl Buntings sitting up on the power cables. No chance of a close up picture but at least I will know where to look next time.

One of eight Cirl Buntings on the power cables

Magnificent Cormorants

Yes, you did read the title correctly. That boring dull bird you see everywhere and only check just to make sure you are not missing a Shag or a Glossy Ibis. Where does the magnificent come from? Well you have to see them in breeding plumage.

Cormorant

I had gone over to the sea cliffs at St Bees Head hoping to see Razorbills, Shag, Puffin, or even a Black Guillemot. It was all very disappointing. There were birds on show but they were Kittiwakes, Fulmar, and Common Guillemots. Nice to watch but not the birds that I was looking for. Then I came across a small group of Cormorants. They didn't look like the birds I see on the south coast and a quick check in Collins had me thinking about the subspecies sinensis. I am still not sure but sinensis is a bird of the east coast and it seems unlikely that I would find such a large group over on the west coast. I think this must just be breeding plumage.

Displaying

Already a couple?
 - do the different colour patches below the eye differentiate between male and female?

Cormorant

Most other birds were too far away for a decent picture but there were lots of Meadow Pipits on the cliff tops and a single Buzzard over the fields.

Meadow Pipit

Buzzard

And finally my first shot of a Red Squirrel in the wild. I have taken pictures of them at feeding stations before  but this is the first time I have managed to get a picture as one runs past in the woods. I had time for just a single shot and it was gone and I was amazed to find that I had it in focus.

Red Squirrel

Red-breasted Goose and Spoonbill

Rain and mist on Thursday but I still needed to see the Red-breasted Goose that I had missed on Tuesday so I headed over to Farlington Marshes early afternoon. I have been spending a lot of time in Hampshire lately, perhaps I should change the name of the blog.

It looked quite dull for taking pictures but fog and mist often give a soft even lighting and can give good picture opportunities as long as the subjects are not too far away.


I found the Red-breasted Goose after a short walk along the sea wall. I had good views through  the binoculars but then had trouble relocating it through the camera. It blends in really well with the Brents when it has its head down feeding. So a frustrating ten minutes until it stuck its head up again and I managed to get a couple of pictures.

Red-breasted Goose

A couple of Spoonbill had been reported on the marsh on the previous day and a helpful birder located them for me, asleep on the far side of the marsh. A distant view through a scope was useful but I was keen to get a picture so I hurried off in pursuit fearing that they would fly off before I got there. Sure enough before I had taken a few steps one took to the air and disappeared off high and in an easterly direction. I felt sure the other would follow but although it was active and moving around it stayed on the ground.

Spoonbill

The mist probably helped here as these shots would have been difficult to get in sunlight. Fabulous bird, pictures could have been a bit sharper though.

Back at the car park I spotted a raptor sitting in the tree with its back towards me. Useful in that it enables you to get closer but a bit frustrating when you see the pictures you have taken.

Buzzard - rear view

Buzzard flying - rear view

etc.

Still if it had been facing towards me I doubt that I would have got anywhere near it.