November and early-December

Well, November seems to have passed me by without seeing a single bird of any note while much of the UK seemed to be awash with rare Swift's. I have barely managed to get out due to work commitments and a general low ebb in my birding enthusiasm, this comes to me once in a while and I am sure it will soon pass, I see it as a natural cycle after which my interest will be rekindled.

A short visit to Pennington Marsh on 7th November produced good numbers of the usual wintering species. It was good to see that the Brent Goose flocks seem to have a large number of juveniles in them following a poor breeding season in 2017. There were around 250 Golden Plover on the grazing marsh at Lower Pennington Lane, my first of the winter.

Brent Goose - Pennington Marsh

Brent Goose - Pennington Marsh

Wigeon - Pennington Marsh

Wigeon - Pennington Marsh

Shoveler - Pennington Marsh

Pied Wagtail - Pennington Marsh

I did a couple of short stops at Beaulieu Road Station early and mid-month looking for the Great Grey Shrike but had no luck and saw little but for three Crossbill and small numbers of Redpoll. On 11th November Sarah, Tobias and I went for a short walk, dodging rain showers, in Denny Wood. There were few birds to be seen but for half a dozen Marsh Tit and small numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare. The forest was spectacular and at the peak of its autumnal colouration.

Denny Wood, New Forest

Denny Wood, New Forest

Denny Wood, New Forest

Fly Agaric - Denny Wood, New Forest

Fungus Sp. - Denny Wood, New Forest

On 17th November the night was very mild with southerly winds and so I ran my trap in our Romsey garden, a rare occurrence these days. I caught very little but did get this slightly worn Oak Rustic, a new species for me.

Oak Rustic - Romsey, Hampshire

On 4th December on a beautiful warm and sunny day I dropped Tobias at school and had a short walk around Fishtail, Butts and Jetty Lagoons at Pennington Marsh. There were good numbers of wildfowl on the lagoons and I spent much time enjoying the displaying Pintail with their strange squeaky calls, they really are a fantastic looking duck. The Shoveler were actively feeding deploying both their body flat to the water technique and up-ending. A single Chiffchaff was present and calling frequently. There were small numbers of Black-tailed Godwit and Golden Plover present while Lapwing numbers were probably in their high hundreds. Although the sea was millpond calm there was little to be seen, six Red-breasted Merganser, a dozen or so Great-crested Grebe and a single Eider but no sign of the regular Slavonian Grebe. It was a lovely couple of hours but I needed to tear myself away and head to work.

Shoveler - Pennington Marsh

 Pintail - Pennington Marsh

Pintail - Pennington Marsh

Shoveler - Pennington Marsh

Shoveler - Pennington Marsh

Pied Wagtail  - Pennington Marsh

Portland and Lodmoor - 15th October

Another morning at Portland saw me arriving in the car park at the Bill at 07:30 just as the sun was rising. Overhead passed large numbers of 'Alba' Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Linnet and Goldfinch while three Siskin and two Reed Bunting also passed over. In the grassland beside the Quintiq compound were two Firecrest. I wandered a short way northwards along the West Cliffs and around the back of the Pulpit Inn recording another four Firecrest with another two in the scrub infront of the Old Boat House building. It was evident that there had been an overnight fall of Firecrest. I wandered over to the Observatory Quarry where there were another two Firecrest and a Hawfinch calling from the bushes before flying east over the observatory garden. Wandering through the scrub at the Hut Fields I recorded a Chiffchaff, Blackcap and another three Firecrest while overhead there was a continuoosu stream of Alba Wagtail, Linnet and Meadow Pipit. Walking along the East Cliffs, the paddocks were full of Alba Wagtail and Meadow Pipit while two Wheatear showed well. In the scrub along the East Cliffs there were further Firecrest, another Hawfinch, three Blackcap and two Chiffchaff. Heading towards Culverwell I bumped into some birders who reported that a Radde's Warbler had been heard in the scrub, the nets had been opened and I waited around to see if it was caught. Three Firecrest, two Blackcap and a Whinchat were here but no sign of the Radde's so I gave up and headed over the Top Fields where the highlights were a Yellow-browed Warbler and further Firecrest. News broke that the Radde's had been captured in the observatory garden soon after I had left Culverwell.

I decided to head to the observatory and spend my last hour or so here as the Radde's had been released into the observatory quarry but other than more Firecrest, a Snipe and a Mistle Thrush flying north I saw little. I was time to head off but a total of 54 Firecrest for the morning was amazing - the Portland Observatory blog reported around 150 birds in the Bill area and an account of the day can be read here.

Firecrest - Hut Fields, Portland

Wheatear - Paddocks along East Cliffs, Portland

Chiffchaff - Culverwell, Portland

Blackcap - Top Fields, Portland

'Alba' Wagtail were abundant at Portland today but all those that I had decent views of 

were Pied Wagtail - Top Fields, Portland

Pied Wagtail - Top Fields, Portland

Pied Wagtail - Top Fields, Portland

I had around an hour to spare so popped into Lodmoor for a Lesser Yellowlegs that had been present since 5th October and I eventually caught up with it along the western side of the reserve but it wasn't showing especially well. Also here were three Little Stint, four Ruff, two Green Sandpiper and a Great White Egret.

Ruff - Lodmoor RSPB

Lesser Yellowlegs - Lodmoor RSPB

Fair Isle - 29th May

After a much needed sleep I went through the 05:45 alarm and woke at 06:30, the sun was already shining and the wind was a light south-westerly, not ideal weather for a mega but this was Fair Isle. I started the day with a walk over Buness seeing a distant summer plumaged Great-northern Diver and enjoying the Arctic Tern colony which were just in the process of building their nest scrapes. I had some very good views of Bonxie which seemed particularly confiding. After breakfast I headed south down the island, I headed out to Pund and down the Gilly Burn and spent some time sitting on the cliff and staring into Hjukni Geo where birds often gather amongst the flotsam and jetsam on the beach. There was a single Chiffchaff and a couple of Wheatear. I went onto the north and south Raeva’s but there was little here, news broke of a female Bluethroat at Bulls Park so I cut north-east diagonally across the island seeing three Barnacle Geese on the way. When I arrived there was no sign of the bird so I began hunting for it along the walls running along the north and the south of Bulls Park, eventually there it was feeding along the foot of the wall to the north of Bulls Park. I spent around 1.5 hours with the bird, it mainly fed along the foot of the wall and around puddles at the foot of the wall but on one occasion it headed further out into the field and fed amongst the grassland and within the ploughed field of the Bull Park.

After lunch I headed back to the south of the island mainly walking down the road. I spent much of the afternoon around the south of the island photographing Purple Sandpiper (3), Dunlin (2) and Turnstone (6) in the western area of South Harbour. I also paid a visit to the Oysterplant that occur on the beach at Muckle Uri Geo which were just about in flower. I then wandered back up north seeing very little new on the way, a bird that I flushed at the Chalet flew towards Pund I could not initially identify it, so chased it up and it proved to be a Tree Pipit which showed fairly well feeding in the mire to the east of Pund.  A short diversion to look for the Bluethroat at Bull Park produced a blank. 

Bonxie

Bonxie

Fulmar - Amazingly abundant on Fair Isle

Puffin

Pied Wagtail

Twite

Buoys in Hjuknie Geo

Barnacle Goose

Female Bluethroat at Bulls Park

Female Bluethroat at Bulls Park

Female Wheatear

Male Wheatear

Pale phase Arctic Skua

Pair of Dark Phase Arctic Skua

Pale phase Arctic Skua

Oysterplant at the South Light

Purple Sandpiper in summer plumage

Purple Sandpiper in summer plumage

Dunlin

Dunlin this bird appeared pale and short billed

Tree Pipit

See Also:

Fair Isle - 28th May

Fair Isle - 30th May

Fair Isle - 31st May

Fair Isle - 1st June

Fair Isle - October 2014

Denny Wood - 13th March

I have been absolutely wiped out by a nasty chest infection this week but still have had to face work which has been pretty tough, come Friday though and a doctors followed by hospital appointment I threw in the towel and took much of the day off. I am not one to sit at home and revel in illness and I sought fresh air and some space. So i decided to have a gentle potter around Denny Wood with my camera, not hoping to see much but more just to relax into the open air. There were around six Hawfinch in the area, perhaps 50 or so Redwing many in full song and Dartford Warbler showed okay on the heath but it was just a pleasure to be out and see some common woodland birds.

Blue Tit must surely be on the top of peoples want list when they travel to Europe from overseas, absolutely stunning little birds just a little under appreciated because they are so common

Great Tit

Marsh Tit

Nuthatch

Pied Wagtail

Chaffinch

Treecreeper

Dartford Warbler