Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly - 23rd to 30th October

It was time for our annual holiday to the Isle's of Scilly but this year we were fearful that, with increasing Coronavirus cases, we may have to cancel as a result of a second national lockdown. But 22nd October arrived and we were free to set-off to Cornwall, the drive was relatively traffic free and we arrived in good time. But during the drive I had a call from Skybus saying that due to the poor weather our flights on 24th had been cancelled and did we want to fly on 22nd instead, I checked that we could book an extra night at our hotel and agreed to bring the flight forward which turned out to be fortuitous.

On 23rd I spent a couple of hours birding at Zennor walking south up the valley and then north towards the sea. It was fairly slow going but a small passage of 110 Redwing north and a single Firecrest in the willows by the road were good to see. My eBird checklist can be viewed here. In the afternoon we headed to Land's End airfield for our late flight to St. Mary's landing at 17:00.

The 24th was a stormy day with strong west winds and some very heavy downpours and we stayed on St. Mary's wandering around Peninnis, Old Town, Lower Moors and Porthloo with a lunch stop at Juliet's. The highlights were a self-found Olive-backed Pipit at Old Town, a Mandarin Duck at Lower Moors, Dusky Warbler and Black Redstart at Porthloo, a Nightingale at Porthcressa and Yellow-browed Warbler at Lower Moors - not a bad list given the weather. My eBird checklists for the day can be viewed here and here. In the evening news broke of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak found at the end of the day on Gugh and with a special ferry laid on for first thing in the morning I opted to catch this and meet Sarah and Tobias a little later from the normal timetabled ferry on St. Agnes.

Mandarin Duck - Lower Moors, St. Mary's, Isles of Scilly

Black Redstart -  Lower Moors, St. Mary's, Isles of Scilly

On 25th it was an early start, and with no breakfast, but by around 09:00 I was on Gugh looking for the Grosbeak with around 30 other birders. Unfortunately, the bird seemed to have departed and as the tide began to cover the Gugh bar I decided to bird on St. Agnes for the last hour or so before I was to meet Sarah and Tobias. Just as we met, news broke of a Red-eyed Vireo at Lower Farm and so we decided to pay this bird a visit and the bird showed well as it fed in an Apple tree. This was my 8th Red-eyed Vireo that I had seen on the islands having found three of these. We spent the day wandering around this beautiful island, probably my favourite of the archipelago, but saw relatively little. At 14:15 Sarah decided to head back to St. Mary's as she wanted to get some work done but Tobias and I decided to stay on Agnes. Good job we did, at around 14:20 news broke of an Indigo Bunting at the bonfire site beside Big Pool, Tobias and I were at Cove Vean and a short dash and we were on site and watching this mega rarity, only the 4th for the UK assuming its accepted. My eBird lists for the day can be seen here and here.

Red-eyed Vireo - Lower Farm, St.Agnes, Isles of Scilly

Indigo Bunting - Big Pool, St. Agnes, Isles of Scilly.

On 26th we headed over to Tresco and as we were waiting for the ferry to depart, news of a Lesser Yellowlegs on the Abbey Pool broke. We landed at New Grimsby and decided to wander along the north edge of the Great Pool birding on the way but didn't see a great deal. At the Abbey Pool the Lesser Yellowlegs showed very well down to around 15m and was feeding avidly. Other than three Yellow-browed Warbler and a Black Redstart we saw little for the rest of the day. My eBird list for the day can be viewed here and here.

Lesser Yellowlegs - Abbey Pool, Tresco, Isles of Scilly

The 27th was our last day on Scilly and we decided to stay on St. Mary's for the day. I skipped breakfast and birded Peninnis, Old Town area and Lower Moors before meeting with Sarah and Tobias and walking the Garrison and then to Juliet's for lunch. We saw little but for two Yellow-browed Warbler and a Firecrest. After lunch we wandered through the centre of the island and back to the airport. At Parting Carn I picked up the Glossy Ibis that had been present for much of our stay feeding in a pig field and enjoyed good views of this bird before heading to the airport for our 16:55 flight back to Lands End. My eBird checklists for the day can be viewed here, here and here.

Glossy Ibis - Parting Carn, St. Mary's, Isles of Scilly

On 28th in strong NW winds, I started the morning with a seawatch at Pendeen with large numbers of Gannet, Auk and Manx Shearwater passing. Highlights were a Balearic Shearwater, Great Skua, two Puffin, Red-throated Diver and seven Great Northern Diver. My eBird checklist can be viewed here. A short stop at Cot Valley produced a single Yellow-browed Warbler but little else, my eBird checklist can be viewed here.

On 29th October I started with a seawatch at Porthgwarra but despite the strong SW winds there was little to be seen. The bushes produced a couple of Yellow-browed Warbler but were otherwise it was very quiet. My eBird checklist can be viewed here.

On 30th we were heading home but I spent a little while birding at Copperhouse Creek and Hayle before I had to head back to pack. Needles to say, there was little to be seen here, the highlight was a Firecrest. My eBird checklists can be viewed here and here.

Eyeworth Pond and Milkham Inclosure, New Forest - 12th January

I at last had a spare weekend and so decided to head into the New Forest for a few hours. There had been a White-tailed Eagle present on and off in the Roe Inclosure/Bratley Plain area south-east of Linwood since 16th December. While the bird had been seen yesterday, sightings had become sporadic and I treated this more like a wander in a part of the forest which often produces some interesting birds with a chance of seeing the eagle rather than as a concerted hunt for the eagle.

I started in the semi-dark at Eyeworth Pond just to the north-west of Fritham. On the pond were a couple of male Goosander, 16 Mandarin Duck and two Gadwall. I wandered north-east through the woodland to the adjacent heathland at Howen Bottom and picked up half a dozen Marsh Tit and a male Goshawk circling over the heathland before it headed south towards Fritham.

Mandarin Duck - Eyeworth Pond, Fritham

After leaving Eyeworth Pond I took a slow drive south-westwards through the forest picking up a few Stonechat, Mistle Thrush and other common forest species. As I passed Janesmoor Pond I picked up a nice group of three male and a female Goosander and so, pulling into the carpark here I spent a little time photographing them. They were a little distant and the light was poor and so the beautiful greens of the males heads are difficult to see but the pinkish tones of the white feathering is apparent.

Goosander - Janesmoor Pond, Fritham

Goosander - Janesmoor Pond, Fritham

Goosander - Janesmoor Pond, Fritham

I headed on and parked in the carpark at the eastern end of Milkham Inclosure. I then walked a large loop through Milkham Inclosure and into Roe Inclosure hoping to bump into the White-tailed Eagle but it was not to be. There were good numbers of Siskin, a calling Goshawk and half a dozen Common Crossbill but it was a little slow going. After a couple of hours I headed back to the car and decided to call it a day.

Common Crossbill - Milkham Inclosure, Linwood

Common Crossbill - Milkham Inclosure, Linwood

Common Crossbill - Milkham Inclosure, Linwood

Beaulieu Road Station - 12th May

With a lovely sunny evening I was itching to get to the New Forest to see if the Nightjars had arrived so I headed off giving myself enough time to wander from the Shatterford Car Park to get to Bishop's Dyke in time for the last light. Stonechat and Dartford Warbler sang from the Heather while at least two Curlew 'bubbled' from the mires and four Snipe drummed overhead. As I got to Bishop's Dyke at least five Cuckoo were very active chasing one another in territorial dispute but the light was a little low for descent photographs despite the close views. As the sun set the sky burnt orange and mist formed over the valley mire of Bishop's Dyke. And on cue Nightjar began churring with at least four birds in the Bishop's Dyke area chasing and wing clapping frantically as they set-up territory. Two Woodcock were roding overhead and completed a great and atmospheric couple of hours.

Cuckoo - Bishop's Dyke

Mandarin pair in the mist - Bishop's Dyke

Cuckoo at sunset - Bishop's Dyke

Cuckoo showing the distinctive silhouette with raised tail and drooped wings
when calling - Bishop's Dyke

Bishop's Dyke at dusk

Bishop's Dyke at dusk

Bishop's Dyke at dusk

Nightjar - Bishop's Dyke

Nightjar churring from Scot's Pine - Shatterford

Bratley Plain and Eyeworth Pond - 7th February

The first time I visited the Bratley Plain/Kings Garden area of the New Forest was on 2nd January with Trev when we failed to locate a Great Grey Shrike that had been present. So with reports of the bird there again on 6th February I decided to have another crack at the bird today. In a still bitter north-easterly and with much of the water on the heath frozen, I walked the exposed ridgeline southwards from the carpark at Milkham Inclosure to the main path that passes east to west from Bratley Inclosure to Kings Garden and from here I chose a high spot to scan across Bratley Plain and Buckherd Bottom. After some scanning and very few birds I spotted a grey dot in a bush about 500m to the north-west in the Hawthorn bushes flanking Roe Inclosure, through binoculars I couldn't decide whether this was a lump of lichen or some litter but then the wind shifted the branches and I could just about visualise what could be the Great Grey Shrike so I headed back north from my view point and onto the main path back towards Milkham Inclosure and as I walked I periodically stopped and scanned and eventually I was certain I had the shrike. When I was about 200m away I stopped and ran of some photographs and that was it, the bird flew, gained height, hovered over the thorn patch and flew way into the distance before dropping into Buckherd Bottom. I contemplated chasing it but surveyed the terrain and decided against it. I checked the thorn bush where it had been sitting to see if it was a regularly used perch and found numerous droppings beneath  and then noticed a small bird, possibly a Robin impaled on a thorn - this was the first time I had found a shrikes larder in the UK.

Great Grey Shrike perched distantly in a Hawthorn bush

Great Grey Shrike hovering before flying off into the distance

The shrikes larder, I suspect this is a Robin 

View across the heath to Buckherd Bottom, this is an extensive area of heathland. The shrike flew from this position to just beyond the middle ridge visible in the left of the photograph

New Forest Ponies

I decided to head back to the car as the time was pushing on, I cut through Kings Garden and Milkham Inclosure birding as I went, it was fairly quite but with many of the common birds now in territorial song, a sign of an approaching spring. I watched a Great-spotted Woodpecker feeding in a Scot's Pine often clinging to the outer limbs and investigating the needle clusters. A Raven passed overhead and Siskin called from the trees.

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Raven

With a couple of spare minutes I decided to pull into the carpark at Eyeworth Pond to try to get some shots of Marsh Tit, this is a good area for the species as the public put down seed and they allow close approach but other than some fleeting glimpses they were not performing today. The Mandarin Duck showed well, with 11 birds present in the only unfrozen area of water on the pond. I watched the feeders for a while and then had a sudden feeling of being a bit of a dude watching plastic ducks and Blue Tits - it was time to head home.

Mandarin Ducks on ice

Blue Tit on a lichen and moss covered Oak

2nd January 2015 - 'New Years Day' Listing

It is tradition amongst many birders to spend New Years Day chasing the a day list to start the year but I more often than not bow out of this, I tend to have a little party on New Years eve and avoid driving on New Years day. This year the weather forecast was poor for the 1st so I felt even less inclined to head out early and so had an extra few glasses! On the 2nd I ventured out for my 'New Years Day' listing trip, fresh headed and in quite pleasant weather, my birding companion was Trevor Codlin and his account of the day can be seen here, I make no apologies for this being a repeat of Trev's post, after all we were birding together.

Our focus for the day was south-west Hampshire and we started early, Trev arrived at my house at 07:00 and we were at our first stop, Eyeworth Pond, in the dark. Our target bird was Mandarin, wow! As we drove through the forest there were various dodgy identifications in the car headlights including a Blackbird that looked remarkably like a Siberian Thrush. As the light lifted we could see the shapes of many Mandarin, Mallard and Moorhen on the pond and our count of Mandarin peaked at 22. In the surrounding woodland we recorded our first common woodland species including Treecreeper, Long-tailed Tit and Nuthatch. It was nice to see Marsh Tit present here in good numbers and these showed well coming down to seed that had been placed for the birds.

Ten of the 22 Mandarin Duck at Eyeworth Pond

Mandarin Duck - Eyeworth Pond

Next up was Milkham Inclosure and Kings Garden where we hoped to see a Great Grey Shrike that had been present for a number of weeks but it was not to be. We did add Raven, Stonechat, Siskin, Crossbill, Dartford Warbler and Goshawk to the list. This area of the forest is an area that I had not birded before and I intend to head back hear in 2015 a little more often.

We then headed west across the New Forest to Blashford Lakes birding the Lapwing Hide, Tern Hide and a short trip to the Woodland Hide. We added the classic freshwater lake species here but as is Blashford birding most birds were very distant. Highlights were Chiffchaff, female Long-tailed Duck and Black-necked Grebe, Goosander amongst the Pochard, Tufted Duck, Little Grebe etc that are regular. A short stop at Kingfisher Lake produced Yellow-legged Gull and a heard only Firecrest but no sign of the Ferruginous Duck although it was seen by others later in the day.

Little Grebe - Blashford Lakes

Tufted Duck - Blashford Lakes

Long-tailed Duck - Blashford Lakes

Next down to the coast for some proper birding! Pennington Marshes produced the usual range of species with the highlights being Mediterranean Gull (at least six), four Slavonian Grebe, Eider, three Ruff and Cetti's Warbler but we missed several easy species including Knot and Reed Bunting which are usually almost guaranteed here.

We then headed into Denny Wood to pick up species such as Lesser Redpoll and Hawfinch which I almost invariably see when at this site but it was not to be, I think we were a little late arriving as at 15:00 the light was fading and the birding was slow. We called it a day with 94 species having missed a few easy to get species (Grey Wagtail, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting to name a few). Not a bad start though for a New Year dash around which was not too intense.