Odds and Ends from the 1st Quarter of 2021

Through this horrendous Covid-19 pandemic I have been fortunate in being able to continue to work and to travel for my work. During this time I have managed to make a few short detours to see a few birds. However, during this time I decided to cease posting on this blog, now that April is here and the Country is slowly easing out of lock-down I am planning to revive my posts. Here are some images from the very end of 2020 and into 2021.

Northern Mockingbird - I headed down to Exmouth for this bird at the end of March, not the best of twitches having to stand on a ladder and peer into someones garden.

Cirl Bunting - After the Mockingbird I headed to Labrador Bay RSPB Reserve where around 15 Cirl Bunting showed well

Baikal Teal - A short diversion during the school run got me this very wary bird at Sopley in Hampshire.

Garganey - Some time at Pennington Marsh either side of school drop off produced this fine male at the end of March

Dusky Warbler - I had great views of this bird at Siddington, Gloucestershire in early March

Grey Phalarope - School drop off also produced this bird at Pennington Marsh at the end of February

Bufflehead - I made a short visit for this bird at Lee Marston Lakes at the end of February

Dipper - A nesting pair showed well in Stroud at the end of February

Great Bustard - I dropped into see this bird in Oxfordshire from the Salisbury release programme 

in early March

Little Bunting - Showed well at Thursley Common in December

Rustic Bunting - A visit to Thursley Common in December produced good views after a long wait

Pennington Marsh - 20th April

The spring seems to be passing me by this year, already the 20th April and I have see but a handful of migrants and still no Wheatear. I dropped Tobias at school in Lymington and decided to spend a couple of hours at Pennington Marsh before work. At Lower Pennington Lane a handful of Wigeon were present on the floods and two distant House Martin added a spring feel as did a singing Willow Warbler. A lovely flock of eight Mediterranean Gull flew over head, two second-summer and the remainder adult.

Mediterranean Gull (six adult and two second-summer birds) - Pennington Marsh

As I pulled into the car park at Lower Pennington it was evident that the Whitethroat were in with at least five singing around the car park. A short walk out past Efford Lagoon produced two Swift, three Swallow, five House Martin, two Sand Martin and a Little Ringed Plover. So there are migrants around.

Whitethroat - Pennington Marsh

Wandering out towards the sea and past Shoveler Pools I quickly came across a pair of Garganey very close to the path. The male was giving a very bizarre frog-like song which I had never heard before. The song can be heard here. I watched these birds for some time at close range until they were flushed by a dog walker although they quickly settled again further away on the lagoon.

Male Garganey - Shoveler Pools, Pennington Marsh

Female Garganey - Shoveler Pools, Pennington Marsh

Pair of Garganey - Shoveler Pools, Pennington Marsh

Female Garganey - Shoveler Pools, Pennington Marsh

Male Garganey - Shoveler Pools, Pennington Marsh

Male Garganey - Shoveler Pools, Pennington Marsh

Male Garganey - Shoveler Pools, Pennington Marsh

I wandered out to the seawall and offshore were two Sandwich Tern plus small numbers of Knot, Dunlin and Grey Plover on the mudflats. The Turnstone are now well advanced into their summer plumage. From the reedbeds at Butts Lagoon sang good numbers of Reed Warbler and the Bearded Reedling are still present and showing well.

Turnstone - Pennington Marsh

Turnstone - Pennington Marsh

Grey Heron - Pennington Marsh

I spent the last of my time scanning Fishtail lagoon, here the Swift were buzzing overhead and three Spoonbill were present on the lagoon. Small numbers of duck were present with a lone male Pintail, 15 Wigeon and around 30 Teal plus three Ruff. I watched for some time a pair of Great Black-backed Gull consuming a freshly dead Black-tailed Godwit - something I had not seen before. The godwit was still relatively fresh and intact and while I did not see the gulls kill the bird, I suspect that this is what had happened, albeit likely that the godwit was probably on its last legs already. It looked to be a relatively healthy, full summer plumaged bird.

The distinctive scythe like shape of Common Swift, one of my favourite birds - Pennington Marsh

Reed Warbler - Pennington Marsh

Great Black-backed Gull feeding on Black-tailed Godwit - Pennington Marsh

Great Black-backed Gull feeding on Black-tailed Godwit - Pennington Marsh

Great Black-backed Gull feeding on Black-tailed Godwit - Pennington Marsh

Great Black-backed Gull feeding on Black-tailed Godwit - Pennington Marsh

Pennington Marsh - 27th March and Cotswolds 29th March to 1st April

Another lengthy spell with little or no birding. After dropping Tobias at a party in Lymington on 27th March, Sarah and I went for an afternoon walk around Pennington Marshes taking in Jetty Lagoon and Oxey Marsh. A male Garganey had been present on Oxey since the 19th March and it didn't take long to pick it up as it fed at the back of the lagoon with Teal, it was a little distant and in fairly poor light but nice to see. Other birds on the marsh included around 50 Brent Goose and small numbers of the usual winter wildfowl and waders.

Garganey - Oxey Marsh, Pennington

Garganey - Oxey Marsh, Pennington

From 29th March to 1st April we were up at our cottage in the Cotswolds I was hoping to go birding but we were unable to get childcare for Tobias and so I spent most of the weekend messing around in the garden planting up our small wildflower area. I ran the moth trap on each of the three nights and recorded the following species;

• Brindled Beauty
• Chestnut
• Clouded Drab
• Common Quaker
• Dotted Chestnut
• Dark Sword-grass
• Diurnea fagella
• Early Grey
• Early Thorn
• Hebrew Character
• Herald
• March Moth
• Mottled Grey
• Oak Beauty
• Pale Pinion
• Red Chestnut
• Shoulder Stripe
• Small Quaker
• Twin-spotted Quaker
• White-marked

White-marked was a new species for me which was pleasing, I don't get to see many new moths as I have been trapping for over 30 years so this was the definite highlight. The species is locally distributed in central southern England and into the south-Midlands and south and mid-Wales - I haven't really trapped in these areas before hence the reason the species is new.

Dark Sword-grass - Normally considered a migrant

White-marked - A new moth for me

Oak Beauty

Shoulder Stripe

Twin-spotted Quaker

Dotted Chestnut

The Herald

Brindled Beauty

Pale Pinion

Mottled Grey

Red Chestnut

A Pheasant coming after the moths

Pennington Marsh - 23rd May

On 23rd May I popped to Fishtail lagoon again to spend a couple of hours with the Stilt Sandpiper after all its not every day you have a one on your patch. The bird was showing fairly distantly again on the floods at the back of Fishtail but was in better light than yesterday but my photos are still shite but I guess an improvement on yesterday. The bird fed in the open water of the lagoon rather than amongst rushes like it did on my visit yesterday and it remained solitary not mixing with the nearby Dunlin.

Up to the end of 2014 there had been 33 records of Stilt Sandpiper in the UK with one previous record from Hampshire at Pennington Marsh from 21st July to 3rd August 2002. Most records of the species occur in July, August and September with 76% of all records being of adult birds. The species winters in South and Central America and in the spring migrates north, largely following routes along rivers in the interior of the USA to its breeding grounds in north Alaska, north Canada and around the coasts of Hudson Bay. Birds begin to arrive in their breeding grounds in late May.

Here is a cracking image of another Stilt Sandpiper that has been in the Netherlands recently, I considered whether this may be the same bird as the Pennington bird but the patterning of darker feathers in the upperparts of the two birds differs. 

Above images all of the Stilt Sandpiper on Fishtail Lagoon

Reed Warbler

Roe Deer - A young male feeding on grassland behind Fishtail Lagoon

Hurst Castle and Lighthouse

 

A short wander around the Old Tip and then out to Jetty Lagoon produced around 60 Swift feeding in the area and two male Garganey sleeping on Jetty Lagoon. It was time to head to the office.

That's it for my patch this May, off to Alaska until mid June now.........