Cornwall

Yesteday My Dad and I left Hedge End at 4.00am to leave for cornwall because of the recent Hume's Yellow Browed/Leaf Warbler that had been present in Cot Valley. Before we went one thing was bothering us, this would be our sixth attempt for this bird and we hadn't had it yet so would this be the case again?

Thankfully is wasn't after we had found the site along with another birder we had stunning views of this quite strikingly pale individual, whilst there we had the bird calling which is the main way we found it and we left at about 10:30am.

Record shot of Hume' Leaf Warbler taken at Cot valley.

After this we dropped into Drift to look for the 15 Cattle Egrets that had been present at Treganhoe Farm for quite a while, well we found the farm alrite but no sign of any birds so after about an hour we gave up and went to Mount's Bay to look for some Divers and sure enough we had a nice Great Northern Diver close inshore while I was photographing around 25 Purple Sands on the rocks below the Jubilee Pool.

Purple Sand taken at Jubilee Pool.

Purple sand again Jubilee Pool

Purple Sand.

Purple Sand.

Purple Sand.

Purple Sand.

We then went back to Drift but this time I looked at the white birds in the distant fields which I didn't bother to look and what do you know there they were three in flight briefly drifting over a hedge, Therefore we went up to Sancreed and we found a Footpath that leaded towards the Fram so we parked up by the Church and then walked down the Footpath.

5mins later we were stood at the field where the Egrets were but unfortunately there was a thick hedge however this didn't stop the Cattle from moving up to us and they brought the Egrets with them and luckily for me I managed to find a little hole in the Hedge which was just big enough for my lense and I managed some pleasing shots of a close individual.

1 Cattle Egret of 15 present.

Cattle Egret again.

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Blashford Lakes HWT

On the 28th of December my Dad and I went down to Blashford Lakes as they have had a good spell of decent birds which include Cattle Egret, Great White Egret, Bittern, Red Necked Grebe and a couple of Black Necks.


First of all we visited the Feeding station and got Siskins one of which was a superb male (see photo) also all of the usual. Moving on we headed for the Ivy North hide where the Bittern had been showing and after about an hours wait it produced no more than a Moorhen but then a Water Rail flew out from the reeds (Patch tick) and immediatley after the Bittern strolled out of the reeds and swam straight (another patch tick) for us until it reached the Nearest reeds where I managed some shots, after about 5mins it walked back into the reeds where it came and we moved on.

Then we went for the Cattle Egret nearby but it flew off just before we got there and wasn't seen again that evening. Finally we stopped off at Mockbeggar to see the Great White Egret and this we managed to see but unfortunately we didn't see all 5 species of heron present we only managed 4.






The Bittern which showed well from the Ivy North Hide.

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Keyhaven Marshes

On the 27th December my Dad and I went down to Keyhaven Marshes to look for the Long Tailed Ducks and Velvet Scoters. During our stay we managed to see both but not much else of interest just the usual. On the way back we stopped off at Sowley Pond to see if we could find a Bittern, we failed but saw another LTD.

West Sussex 2

On the 26th December my family and I travelled down to Southwick again to try and get better pics of the Little Auk and the Long Tailed duck but would be happy with a view of the Glaucous Gull. When we arrived we went straight to Hove Lagoon to look for the Long Tailed Duck and this time it was showing down to 3oft but also the light was amazing so some good shots/views were had, then we went to look for the Little Auk however this didn't show aswell and I was lucky to get any shots at all. We again missed the Glaucous Gull but it apparantly flew over our heads whilst watching the Little Auk!
On the way home we stopped of at Titchfield Haven NR to look for the Bittern and Iceland Gull but we left with neither however we did get some nice views of Pochard from the bridge.

Long Tailed Duck taken at Hove Lagoon.

Long Tailed Duck again.....

Long Tailed Duck again.....

and again....

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West Sussex 1

On the 23rd my Dad and I made the short journey east to Southwick to try and get the Little Auk, Long Tailed Duck and the Glaucous Gull which had taken up residence there. On arrival the Long Tailed Duck was showing very well but unfortunately the photos were poor due to the bad light, moving on to the Little Auk nothing had changed the light was again poor and the bird was showing down to 10ft at times. During our stay we couldn't find the Glaucous Gull so we headed back stopping off at West Wittering but some stupid people that had hang gliders landed in the field where it was and subsequently it flew off before we got there.




Long Tailed Duck taken at Hove Lagoon into sun.



Little Auk taken at Southwick on Southwick Canal.

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Red Necked Grebe

Yesterday My Dad and I went down to little Anglesey Lake, Alvestoke to have a look a the recent Red Necked Grebe which we haven't previously had one in Hampshire and when we have had one elsewhere in the UK the views have been poor. However this bird was no more than 100m away st the max distance and it came to about 30m away from the car. I managed to get some half decent shots but the light was poor so hopefully this bird will stay and make it into summer plumage. Other birds seen on the small lake were 4 Red Breasted Mergansers but we didn't see the pair of Goldeneye that were there the same as us.




Red Necked Grebe taken at Little Anglesey Lake



Red Necked Grebe again near Alvestoke



Red Necked Grebe siz comparison with Black
Headed Gull



Red Breasted Merganser taken at Little Anglesey

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Sturt Pond

Yesterday afternoon my Dad and I went down to Sturt Pond near Hurst Castle to try and find/locate the recent Lapland Bunting that had been present in the Finch flock which have been commuting between two Fields near Sturt Pond.
On arrival it was tipping it down so we decided to stay put and view from the car and as one would expect the results were poor with us just managing to id a Male Reed Bunting. (really it was that poor!!) Then at about 12.45pm the rain cleared and it allowed us to get out and get a proper look at the Finches and 15mins later I found myself listening to a call that I had previously not heard so the first thought was Lapland Bunting, luckily for us the bird in question landed on a rock on top of the shingle bank and there it was the Lapland Bunting.(only my second record in Hants) It then flew off with all the other Finches into the stubble fields and could not be relocated, all that was seen was a few Bramblings and an adult Mediterranean Gull feeding just offshore on the surf.

Dark Bellied Brent Goose part of a flock of c500 taken at Sturt pond

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Blashford Lakes HWT again

Yesterday My Dad and I went down to Blashford Lakes HWT to try and get 60 species as there wasn't much about. First stop was the Ivy South hide and there we found the usual stuff which were Gadwall, Wigeon, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Cormorants etc.

Then we went over to the Goosander Hide which over looks Ibsley Water, fom here we had Goldeneye, 15+ Goosanders and 2+ ad Yellow Legged Gulls. We then went to the Lapwing hide which was pretty crap so we moved on fairly quickly and whilst walking back to the car we had the Great White Egret fly over our heads.

We left for home at about 4pm and had a total of 59 Species which all in all was a pretty rubbish day so if the sun had been shining who knows what we would have had.

Chaffinch which was taken from the Woodland hide.

Male Shoveler taken from the Goosander Hide over looking Ibsley

Water.

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Shipton Bellinger, Nr Andover

Today we headed up to Shipton Bellinger near Andover for the remarkble record of a Juvenile White Tailed Eagle that had been present for a week or so. On arrival at around 10.00am there was no sign but after about a minute or so the huge bird flew fairly low passed the crowd that had congregated to see it. We then watched the bird circle around the fields/woods for a further 30mins which allowed a photo or two, other birds seen were plenty of Buzzards, kestrels, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine and Thrushes were plentiful. After the Eagle had drifted south we decided to make the short journey south to Blashford Lakes HWT to have a look around before we headed home. Here we had the usual stuff such as Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal, Tufted Duck, Pochard etc my Dad also had the Black Necked Grebe on Ibsley water + 17+ Gossanders and a Peregrine on the shingle, then we headed home at 3.00am after the heavy rain set in.

The Juvenile White Tailed Eagle taken at Shipton Bellinger.

Male Gadwall taken at Blashford Lakes HWT.

Blue Tit taken at Blashford Lakes HWT from Woodland Hide.

Mistle Thrush taken at Blashford Lakes HWT near Carpark.

Coot taken at Blashford Lakes HWT bathing in front of Ivy South

Hide.

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