Pennington Marsh - 18th July

My birding has been at a very low ebb of late, the Covid-19 lockdown saw my birding turn to a deskbased project to enter my bird records into eBird, a project to which I have become somewhat addicted, adding UK records from back as far as 1987 and now having entered my foreign trips and their associated photos back almost to 2010. Its truly fantastic to have my records, photographs and sound recordings all at my fingertips in one place rather than scattered through various notebooks and digital forums (such as this blog); although I still have a fair way to go to completion. eBird will now be my main forum for recording my sightings with a summary added to my blog.

The current Bearded Vulture in the Peaks of Derbyshire had me planning a twitch, but on the day before my planned visit I had heard that some selfish idots had pitched themselves on the cliff above the birds roost thereby detering it from coming in that evening, in addition the weather forecast was not favourable with fog and drizzle and so I cancelled. I have to say my motivation to drive four hours and then walk another 1.5 hours or so was fairly low since I have seen the species on multiple occasions arround the World and, at times, almost within touching distance.

Come the 18th July the weather forecast was good and I decided I would be more modest in a birding outing and so headed down to Pennington Marsh and walked a familiar loop out past Shoveler Pools back west to Keyhaven Lagoon and back east along the seawall before finally checking Efford Lagoon. Given that it was mid-July I had not expected a great deal but it was nice to be out on such a fine sunny morning. I arrived at 06:30 and as the tide was coming in and high at 11:07 I expected a few waders. Four Greenshank flying north over the car park on my arrival was a good sign but thereafter the wader highlights were a meagre 45 Dunlin, four Turnstone, 12 Ringed Plover and five Little Ringed Plover. There was, for example, not a single Black-tailed Godwit to be seen. There were no wildfowl, save for Mallard and Shelduck to be seen although two Goosander on the sea were somewhat of a surprise. The only hints of some migration were a single Yellow Wagtail flying west and a 1st year Wheatear along the coastal path. I headed home at just before 09:00 pleased with my mornings birding despite the lack of an obvious highlight.

My eBird checklist for the morning can be viewed here.

Little Egret fishing on Jetty Lagoon - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Little Ringed Plover on Fishtail Lagoon - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Juvenile Redshank on Fishtail Lagoon, these juvenile birds are responsible for a lot of claims of Wood Sandpiper at this site in July - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Oystercatcher with an Annelid Worm - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Pennington Marsh - 15th May

After eight weeks of Covid-19 lockdown I had set aside a few hours to visit Pennington Marsh. It was a fantastic still and sunny day but with an early morning frost and a chilly north-east wind blowing. I walked a loop around Fishtail, Butts and Keyhaven Lagoon with a short wander along the first section of the Ancient Highway.

At Efford Lagoon a pair of Great Crested Grebe were displaying and Whitethroat and Reed Warbler chattered from the ditches and scrub. A Cuckoo called from the back of Efford and then later from the Brambles on the Old Tip where I saw the bird investigating brambles probably hunting for caterpillars. This bird regularly calls with a slightly odd three note 'cuk-cuk-oo'.

Fishtail Lagoon was alive with birds, there are currently around 15 pairs of Avocet nesting on the lagoon and many now have chicks and so the parents are actively and noisily defending them against possible threats including the local Lapwing. A pair of Little Ringed Plover fed around the waters margins and eight Black-tailed Godwit slept in the shallows. A flock of eight Whimbrel accompanied by a single winter plumaged Bar-tailed Godwit flew east along the shoreline, I got the impression that these might have been late passage birds moving through the site.

I wandered out to Keyhaven Lagoon but there were few birds, I spent some time watching a pair of Common Tern, the female perched on a fence post and the male fishing over the lagoon and returning to the female to feed her small prawns. A pair of Little Tern began hunting on the lagoon but the Common Tern objected to this and rapidly chased them away.

I left the site just gone 09:00 after a lovely mornings walk.

My eBird checklist for the morning can be viewed here.

Avocet - Pennington Marsh

Avocet - Pennington Marsh

Avocet - Pennington Marsh

Avocet - Pennington Marsh

Redshank - Pennington Marsh

Common Tern - Pennington Marsh

Common Tern - Pennington Marsh

Common Tern - Pennington Marsh

Little Egret - Pennington Marsh

Normandy Marsh, Lymington - 7th October

Having spent the weekend in Lymington I found a spare hour to have a wander around Normandy Lagoon at Lymington, part of the Keyhaven/Pennington/Lymington Marshes complex. I wandered from the Yacht Haven Marina along the seawall around Normandy Lagoon and back up to Normandy Lane. The tide was on the fall from a very high level and there were good numbers of common waders including a few Knot, 14 Greenshank, three Spotted Redshank, c.75 Dunlin, c.30 Ringed Plover, and six Bar-tailed Godwit. Wildfowl numbers are beginning to increase and I recorded 65 Teal, 45 Wigeon and 16 Brent Goose. Passerines were in short supply and I only recorded two Wheatear, two Stonechat, a single Chiffchaff and small numbers of Swallow passing over to the west. There was a distinct autumnal feel to the environment with an abundance of Hawthorn and Bramble fruit in the hedgerows and the leaves beginning to yellow, the Salicornia on the saltmarsh was flushed a rich vinous red making a lovely back drop to marshes inhabitants.

Stonechat - Normandy Marsh, Hampshire

Redshank - Normandy Marsh, Hampshire

The Teal are in heavy moult and this individual was particularly scruffy - Normandy Marsh, Hampshire

Starling - Normandy Marsh, Hampshire

Renged Plover - Normandy Marsh, Hampshire

Greenshank - Normandy Marsh, Hampshire

Curlew - Normandy Marsh, Hampshire

Little Egret, this ringed bird is, I believe, from a Dutch ringing scheme- Normandy Marsh, Hampshire

Little Egret - Normandy Marsh, Hampshire

Little Egret - Normandy Marsh, Hampshire

Little Egret - Normandy Marsh, Hampshire

A Long Hot Summer

The summer has been long and hot and I have done little but for work most evenings and many weekends with little time for birding. This is a summary of the highlights of my summer before, with luck, Autumn kicks in and tI can get out and see some birds.

I have been carrying out vegetation and butterfly surveys at Bedwyn Brail in Wiltshire, this woodland block is always a pleasure to work in and I recorded three new species for the site, most exciting was an egg laying female Purple Emperor but these Chimney Sweeper and Forester moths were nice additions.

Chimney Sweeper - Bedwyn Brail, Wiltshire

Forester - Bedwyn Brail, Wiltshire

I have been carrying out extensive invertebrate surveys on Portsmouth Water sites in Hampshire and West Sussex with Adam Wright. These have produced a few interesting species including a new colony of Small Red-eyed Damselfly and a whopping count of 31 Asilus crabroniformis at a site on Portsdown Hill. The latter is one of my favourite invertebrates and to find such a strong colony was very satisfying.

Bee Orchid - Near Wickham, Hampshire

Small Red-eyed Damselfly - Fishbourne, West Sussex

The Tachinid Fly Prosena siberita - Near Wickham, Hampshire (O)

The Longhorn Beetle Paracorymbia fulva - Near Wickham, Hampshire (O)

The Longhorn Beetle Agapanthia villosoviridescens - Near Wickham, Hampshire (O)

The Picture-winged Fly Chaetorellia jaceae - Near Wickham, Hampshire (O)

Wasp Spider Argiope bruennichi - Portsdown Hill, Portsmouth (O)

Asilus crabroniformis - Portsdown Hill, Portsmouth (O)

Asilus crabroniformis - Portsdown Hill, Portsmouth (O)

My only visit to Crockford Bridge this summer was on 26th June where the usual range of New Forest Odonata put on a good show.

Small Red Damselfly - Crockford Bridge

Southern Damselfly - Crockford Bridge

Beautiful Demoiselle - Crockford Bridge

Beautiful Demoiselle - Crockford Bridge

On 28th June I popped to Bentley Wood to try and see Purple Emperor. I met with some success but the only 'grounded' Emperor was in the shade and not showing much purple.

Purple Hairstreak - Bentley Wood

Broad-bodied Chaser - Bentley Wood

Red-necked Footman - Bentley Wood

Purple Emperor - Bentley Wood

On 4th July, having heard of large numbers of Purple Emperor present, I visited the Knepp Estate in West Sussex. After seeing around 12 Purple Emperor I eventually encountered one on the ground which showed fairly well. On the day before my visit there was an impressive count of 388 Purple Emperor at this site!

Purple Emperor - Knepp Estate

Purple Emperor - Knepp Estate

We visited the Isles of Scilly on a family holiday for a week from the 7th July. I didn't do any birding as such but did run my Heath moth-trap at the Star Castle and went on a pelagic on 10th July. The latter didn't produce many birds as the conditions were too calm but we did see around 12 Blue Shark, Ocean Sunfish, 12 Bottle-nosed Dolphin and 25 Common Dolphin. Moth highlights were two new British species for me, Shore Wainscot and Devonshire Wainscot,

Shore Wainscot  - St. Mary's, Isle of Scilly

Devonshire Wainscot  - St. Mary's, Isle of Scilly

 Marbled Coronet - St. Mary's, Isle of Scilly

Four-spotted Footman (female) - St. Mary's, Isle of Scilly

Four-spotted Footman (male) - St. Mary's, Isle of Scilly

Ocean Sunfish - At Sea, Isle of Scilly

Blue Shark - At Sea, Isle of Scilly

Great Skua - At Sea, Isle of Scilly

Rose Chafer Cetonia aurata - Peninnis Head, St. Mary's, Isle of Scilly

Trips to Pennington  20th and 24th July produced relatively little but these three Curlew Sandpiper and a Little Stint on 20th July were very welcome.

Curlew Sandpiper - Pennington Marsh 20th July (O)

Black-headed Gull - Pennington Marsh 20th July (O)

Little Egret - Pennington Marsh 20th July (O)

Reed Warbler - Pennington Marsh 20th July (O)

On 24th July I was working near Noar Hill NNR and so I couldn't resist popping by for a couple of hours.

The Hoverfly Sericomyia silentis - Noar Hill NNR 24th July (O)

Brimstone - Noar Hill NNR 24th July (O)

Brimstone - Noar Hill NNR 24th July (O)

Brown hairstreak - Noar Hill NNR 24th July (O)

Weekends in the cottage in the Cotswolds allowed me to spend some time at Slimbridge 31st July and 11th August where a few migrant waders had begun to trickle through and Avocet showed well.

Avocet attacking Shelduck chick - Slimbridge 31st July (O)

Green Sandpiper - Slimbridge 11th August (O)

Green Sandpiper - Slimbridge 11th August (O)

Ruff - Slimbridge 11th August (O)

Ruff - Slimbridge 31st July (O)

This summer I sold my beloved Canon 7d Mark II and 500mm Mark II and purchased a new camera system, the Olympus OMD E-M1 Mark II with the 60mm macro, 70-150mm and 300mm lens. I have found adjusting to the system a steep learning curve having been using Canon kit for the last 20 years or so but I am getting to the point where I am pleased with the images I am obtaining, particularly the macro shots. Images taken with the new Olympus are marked (O) after the caption. For the time being at least most images on this blog will be shot with the Olympus kit. The full list of my Olympus kit can be seen on my About page here.