Saturday 21st January - Freezing Forest

A desperation to ensure I had a plan to be out on Saturday I agreed with Paul Bowley to go to the New Forest on a freezing morning. Overnight temperatures were c-5c and we arrived at 7.30am just before sunrise and it didn't feel any warmer.

We set out across the heath, crunching through frost and icy puddles to look for the Great Grey Shrike that had been present in the area all winter, but for the next 3 hours hardly a bird was seen, just MistleThrush, a couple of Meadow Pipits and a brief Dartford Warbler. We disappointingly re-located to approach the area from the Shatterford side of the railway and shortly after starting to walk we heard news the Shrike was visible near Denny Wood.  An accelerated march and we were quickly getting scope views of the Great Grey Shrike which was pretty active and wasn't long before it moved out of sight. A single Fieldfare was the only other bird of note.

We called in at Acres Down late morning but despite it being fairly pleasant standing on the ridge in bright sunshine, there was no wind and as a result no raptors were on show and a calling Bullfinch and a few flyover Redwing ended our list for the New Forest.

We left the Forest and headed back into Sussex to a busy Burpham village. Quickly finding the 5 adult Bewick Swans on the flood below the church. 3 Cattle Egrets were in the nearby fields along with c20 Fieldfare and some Redwing and the sewage treatment plant had c10 active Chiffchaffs and a Grey Wagtail, we couldn't make out any certain Chiffchaff subspecies other than collybita

At around 3pm we walked up towards the Dew Pond area of the Burgh, with a few more members of Paul's family. Some Grey Partridge were active and a flock of c50 Corn Buntings was the most I have seen together in Sussex. 

Along with over 20 Red Kites and some Common Buzzards, a Kestrel and Sparrowhawk were the only other raptors that appeared, but the first Barn Owl was hunting around 3.45pm, but by 4.30pm there had been no appearance of any Short-Eared Owls, so we started to re-trace our steps and just as we reached the ridge, the call came behind us that more owls were on show.Just about enough light to see 3 Short-eared Owls in the scope and a second Barn Owl.

The day finished very well.

New Forest at Dawn

Remaining frozen - Pig Bush area

Great Grey Shrike

Cattle Egret

Red Kite

Sunday 15th January - Wind, Rain, Mud and a Sea Gull

Saturday 14th

Weekend arrives and Saturday morning the wind and rain was so relentless I couldn't see out of the windows at home. The additional problem with now working during the week, especially from home is the limited fresh air and exercise I have been achieving. Eventually, when it got to midday I needed to get out and it looked as if there might be a slight improvement, it was still grey and windy but the rain was easing to a drizzle.

I drove down to Havant, to Budds Farm, where there is a small nature reserve next to a sewage plant on the edge of the Solent. A Sabine's Gull had been present all week. Normally a species that likes the open ocean, so rarely seen inland and this bird was an adult in full plumage, which was a bonus as most Sabine's sightings are juveniles.

After a short walk in the windy conditions to a point overlooking the wetland. The Sabine's Gull was immediately visible, initially resting on a mud spit, but over the next hour, made several short flights, occasionally dipping in the water to feed and then back to rest. A very smart looking bird, even if it is a gull. 

There were Wigeon and a few Teal and Shoveler on the flood, with a number of Rock Pipit, Reed Bunting, Linnet and 2 Stonechat. The Solent channel held Red-breasted Merganser, a male Goldeneye and Great Crested Grebe.

From there I drove the short distance to Hayling Island where I unsuccessfully searched for Black-necked Grebes from the Oyster Beds, but could only see several Little Grebes. A Greenshank was the only other notable bird before the wind picked up and more rain headed in.

Sabine's Gull

Sabine's Gull

Sabine's Gull

Sabine's Gull

Hayling Island Oyster Beds, with some more rain approaching.

Sunday 15th 

A brighter morning, importantly dry  although not underfoot as I found on a walk from home towards Furnace Pond. In the muddy conditions I saw Bullfinch, Treecreeper and a singing Woodlark. The Furnace Pond held c30 Mandarin and 5 Teal in the overgrowth at the back of the pond. A small number of Redwing and 4 Siskin were also seen, but the wet countryside has few birds at the minute, except for large numbers of Woodpigeon.

2023 Off to a damp start

Two weeks into the New Year and the wind and rain has been pretty relentless, at least it has at weekends when I would rather have been out birding. 

I had the first 2 days of the year off work. New Years Eve was very quiet as after dropping Hannah and Adie at Heathrow in the evening for their spell in Australia. So an early start on New Years Day was easy. I went to Selsey Bill for 2.5 hours to start the day, with birds moving where there was quite a bit of activity with birds moving. Highlights were Red-throated Diver (19), Great Northern Diver (5), Red-breasted Merganser (20), Slavonian Grebe (2) and up to 20 Sandwich Terns. There were plenty of Auks moving with Razorbill and Guillemot identified. Also  seen were Med Gull, Kittiwake, Brent Geese, Gannet and Shag.

The weather was already closing in but I went to Church Norton where there were plenty of waders in the harbour with Dunlin (400+), Grey Plover (100+), Golden Plover (350+), Lapwing (300+) also Avocet (14), Knot, (5), Black-tailed Godwit (15) and some duck with Pintail, Shelduck, Teal, Wigeon and a Kingfisher on the metalwork. I headed home seeing some Red Kite on-route and then added a few garden birds in the afternoon including a Sparrowhawk Marsh Tit, Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker. A list of 70 species for the day with very little effort.

On the 2nd the weather started as yesterday ended but brightened late morning, I started again at Selsey without seeing anything different form the previous day then went to Fishbourne Creek on a falling tide. There was a male Goldeneye in the channel and 6 Greenshank and 2 Spotted Redshank roosting with other waders I also added Yellowhamer, Reed Bunting, 2 Stonechat another Kingfisher and a Peregrine.

A further visit to Selsey on the 8th again didn't add anything different to the previous week and a call in to Church Norton where the wader numbers seem increased from the previous week where the harbour also had 16 Barnacle Geese (probably feral) a Bar-tailed Godwit a Marsh Harrier, which were new for the year, and another Slavonian Grebe was in the harbour.

The garden birds have been relatively quiet for mid-winter which leaves me wondering on the effects of last years drought and avian flu has been on their numbers. I did see a Goshawk on the 7th and 2 Hawfinches on the 12th, which flew over and laded briefly in a field hedge I could see from the kitchen door. Single visits from a Pied Wagtail and a Grey Wagtail, only a couple of Redwing and only 1 or 2 Siskin, but currently no good numbers of other finches.

Waiting here for the weather to clear before I can go out and the camera hasn't had a look in yet this year... but currently still optimistic.