Short-eared Owl & more at Pennington Marshes

Sunday 14 February, it was Valentine's Day and for me seeing a Short-eared Owl was definitely my biggest treat!  It was our Sunday monthly outing and we started on our walk from Ridgeway Lane, Pennington in beautiful sunny weather.   While we waited for everyone a Treecreeper obligingly crept up a nearby tree, Greenfinch and Chaffinch singing and a pair of Collared Doves flew by.

We started along the path to look over the marshes, stopping at the first field to see a single Brent Goose striding busily over the field as was a Little Egret, several Curlew and Lapwings.  Another field further on held a group of Redshank, three Ruff and a Stonechat.  Then a passing birder told us about two Short-eared Owls he had just been watching along a path we had just passed.  So we walked up the path, listening to Skylark and scanning the fields as we went.  It was Beverley that spotted an the owl first, it was sat on a post, though a little distant Nick managed to get a photo, it then flew and we watched it quartering the rough grassy field.

Short-eared Owl, Salterns Pennington © Nick Hull

Back on to the lane we resumed our walk down to Pennington Marsh, stopping to watch a Goldcrest and heard a Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker.  Arriving at the end of Lower Pennington Lane looking over Pennington Marsh we had a pretty large flock of Golden Plover in with all the Lapwing and then they all took to the air so we could really admire them, though what made them take flight we don't know.  We had heard the Long-billed Dowitcher was in the field by the caravan park so walked on.  Unfortunately something had put all the birds up and even though they did settle we couldn't find the dowitcher. Though there were a lot of other birders trying to find it so plenty of eyes looking but to no avail.  On the old landfill site pond were Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal and Coot, along the edge Oystercatchers, Canada and Brent Geese also Redshank.  Then a shrill call was heard "cheweet" several times, as a Spotted Redshank flew over head but wasn't seen to land.

As we began the walk down to look over Fishtail Lagoon we looked back to see all the birds up in the air, I soon spotted the cause of this furore - a Red Kite, causing mayhem as it majestically flew over the old landfill site.  In the distance we found three Buzzards also up soaring over the woods.  A Kestrel was then seen over Fishtail lagoon, the marshy area behind held many Shoveler and we could hear the 'whinny' of Little Grebe.  With our backs to the lagoon and looking over the salt marsh we had yet another bird of prey when Liz spotted a Peregrine which then settled on the outer marsh.  

Waders on the salt marsh included Bar-tailed Godwits, Knot, Dunlin, Grey Plover and Turnstone.  In the Solent were a couple of pairs of Red-breasted Merganser, Great Crested Grebe, two Slavonian and one Black-necked Grebe.  Very distantly Liz picked up a couple of Eider, including a drake.  Returning to the cars a field we passed earlier now had a flock of Fieldfare and Redwing.

Fieldfare-Pennington © Nick Hull

Redwing-Pennington © Nick Hull

Wild Birding in Somerset & Slimbridge

We didn't pick the best weekend weather wise for this trip but we still had a great time and great birds.  On Friday 5 February, we drove up to Slimbridge, it's been many years since we last visited this reserve when we twitched a Little Crake!  Viewing  from the Observatory, the hides and Holden Tower we had spectacular views of 1000's of Golden Plover constantly flying up and swirling around along with Lapwing and lesser numbers of Dunlin.  Other waders included a few Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit and three Ruff.  Of course there were plenty of ducks, large numbers of Wigeon, also Teal, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Pintail, Gadwall.  It was good to see Bewick's Swans and two free flying Common Cranes, though undoubtedly the latter were not "tickable"!  The other highlight of our visit was seeing White-fronted Geese, like the Bewick's Swan, now so rarely seen in Dorset.

One of the free flying Common Crane-Slimbridge

Staying at Meare, Somerset we woke on Saturday 6 February to a wild windy wet day and we were supposed to be meeting our Two Owls Group for a day on the Avalon Marshes and finishing with the Starling Murmuration.  Having seen the forecast we had swopped the group over to Sunday so the day was ours to explore and try to keep dry.  As you can park next to the hide at Catcott Lows it was an easy choice and had the hide all to ourselves and a good array of wildfowl.  The ducks, Wigeon, Teal, lots of Shoveler, Pintail, Gadwall and Mallard were close to the hide, trying to find some relief from the relentless wind and rain, though every now and then they would have a little fly about.  We also had just one Lapwing and eight Snipe flew a short distance past the hide. We finished our morning by driving to Barrow Mumps where we had scope views (from the car) of five Whooper Swans.   We then gave in to the weather.

Flight of Pintail ©Nick Hull

Catcott Lows in storm Imogen ©Jackie Hull

Thankfully Sunday 7 February, was a much calmer day and some sunshine so our group met at Avalon Marshes Visitor Centre, where the feeding station had a good variety of birds which included Bullfinch and Reed Bunting.  Our first stop was Catcott Lows and on the road to Burtle from Westhay Nick stopped the car by the side of the road to look through a flock of Little Egrets, He thought there may be a Cattle Egret with them.  He was absolutely right and very pleasing to see a Cattle Egret and an excellent start to our day.  As we approached Catcott a female Kestrel flew across the road and landed on a rotted log at the bottom of a hedge.  Unlike yesterday the ducks were much further out, the only species we added was Tufted Duck and Meadow Pipit.

We moved on to Ham Wall and a very muddy walk to the new Avalon Hide as the main footpath was closed.  It was wortVh the walk as we had at least five Marsh Harriers including an adult male and female.  Adding to the raptor list was Sparrowhawk, Merlin and Buzzard.   Fran was following the Merlin when she called out "Bittern" as one flew up from the reedbed flying a short distance before landing again.  However, though we could see where it landed and caught glimpses it did not reappear.  A Great White Egret flew across the reedbed, our first of the day.  After lunch we had a walk on Shapwick Heath with more Marsh Harriers, another Sparrowhawk and Great White Egret.  The only other additions to the list was a female Stonechat, a hand full of Greylag Geese a single drake Goldeneye and a few Pochard.

Time to carefully retrace our steps down the very muddy path at Ham Wall to the viewpoint for the Starling Murmuration.  It was raining and it was a concern that there would not be the spectacle we hoped for, but we were not disappointed.  At first we could see large numbers in the distance and wondered if we were perhaps in the wrong place, but no later they started pouring into the reedbed in front of us.  Coming from the left, the right and head on an uncountable number of birds!  They seemed to go straight into the reeds and we thought due to the rain that was it, no murmuration tonight.  The sight of all these birds in the reeds was amazing a sea of Starlings, and in the words of Mathew "it looked like a layer of topsoil"!  However they were obviously not comfortable here and they took off and swirled around and streamed off, like a pouring of birds over the trees it was an amazing spectacle to behold.  The noise I can only describe like the sound of constant running water.

You just turn your back and they're in your camera bag. ©Nick Hull

A day on Brownsea Island

We joined a Dorset Wildlife Trust members day to Brownsea Island yesterday (Sunday 31st January).  While waiting to board the boat over to the island a Common Guillemot swam by the quay, Nick wanting to get a photo followed it and realised how quickly they can swim, but he did get a shot.

Common Guillemot - Poole Quay © Nick Hull

The boat first went round part of the harbour before landing on the island, as we past fisherman's quay Nick spotted a Sinesis Cormorant and on the way back with camera ready he managed to get a good photo.  We were soon finding many Red-breasted Mergansers, much harder to spot were Goldeneye.   Several Great Crested Grebes dotted about and a few Black-necked Grebes, I picked up a distant Great Northern Diver and a second just before we came into land on the island.  The Shags were showing their beautiful crest and looked very smart, however no sign of the Black Guillemot.

Once on the island we had a quick look over the lagoon before taking walk up from the church up to look over the harbour towards Sandbanks for another look for the Black Guille, again with no luck.  On our walk we heard Raven "cronking" and then we watched it carrying a stick presumably to add to its nest.  In the woods we had the usual species including Song Thrush, Blackbird, Robin and Great Spotted Woodpecker, though we only heard the Green Woodpecker.  We watched a Treecreeper busy searching for insects ignoring us completely as did a Coal Tit foraging on a rotting log.   A Mistle Thrush started singing and we could hear Siskins, a flock of Long-tailed Tits trickled through with their constant contact calls.

Treecreeper - Brownsea Island © Nick Hull

Going back down to the Villa for our lunch sitting out by the feeders with the usual chickens keeping us company, while on the feeders we had Blue, Great and Coal Tits, Chaffinch.  We had already seen Red Squirrels but one very confiding individual came on the feeder just a few feet from us.  Obviously this squirrel decided we may have something better and came up on to the picnic table, I thought he was going to pinch my sandwich!

Red Squirrel - Brownsea Villa © Nick Hull

Looking over the lagoon from the Macdonald hide we could see a huddle of waders on a sandbar, a mix of Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwits and Dunlin, though they were soon up into the air.  So scanning the sky I found the culprit, a Peregrine!  It landed by the sea wall and the waders seemed happy with that and soon settled back down.  Another look round picked up Turnstone, Grey Heron and Pintail.  

Greenshank - Brownsea Lagoon © Nick Hull

We decided to move on to the next hide and en-route we watched a Common Buzzard over the wood.  From the hide we had several Greenshanks and a couple of Spotted Redshank and just tucked into the reeds were a few Snipe.   There were a very large number of Shoveler on the lagoon, other wildfowl included Teal, Wigeon and Gadwall.  Now time to go back to the quay for the boat home as we passed the boardwalk we had a very smart female Grey Wagtail.  While we waited to leave we had lovely views of Great Northern Diver.

Upton Country Park

Waking this morning and finding a grey wet morning I have to say didn't inspire me that it would be a good day for our walk at Upton Park and the northern shore of Holes Bay, but now that I've returned after the walk I can say how wrong those thoughts were.

Jay planting an acorn © Nick Hull

We started from the car park by the main gate walking the cycle path to the north west shore and we started with the common woodland birds Robin, Wren, Great, Blue and Coal Tits.  We also had a som tantalising views of a few thrushes which I was sure were Redwing flying out the back of the tree-line.  As we exited the trees the first birds seen were a pair of Bullfinch, then three Jay were busy planting acorns so still expecting winter to come, eventually we had five of each. In the alder a few metres away from the bullies a small flock of Siskin worked their way through the hanging seed heads and a couple of Goldcrest entertained us.  On the field were Mistle and Song Thrush and a scattering of Redwing.

male Siskin © Nick Hull

Stood by the stone bench viewing the north western bay which was packed with waterfowl with good numbers of Teal and Wigeon and lesser numbers of Gadwall, Pintail, Shelduck, Redshank, Avocet, Oystercatcher and Black-tailed Godwit.  There were a pair of distant Mute Swan, and three Little Grebe under the bridge.  

Gadwall - Holes Bay © Nick Hull

Walking the path to the north east part of the bay we had a a very large feeding flock of Canada Geese  some two hundred were grazing in the field.  As we arrived to look over the northeast section the tide was just started to turn and it enabled us to scan much of the wildfowl at fairly close range.  Here we had a repeat of many of the species already seen but in greater numbers.  We scanned all the Wigeon and Teal to see if there was an american equivalent amongst them but no such luck and no Smew.  Checking the PC World drain we added a couple of distant Chiffchaff, Moorhen and Sarah picked up a single Grey Wagtail.  Along the edge of the railway embankment we had Grey heron and several Little Egret and two Goldeneye were spotted under the bridge.  It was just as we were taking our last look around at the last of the birds, the tide was almost in and they were flying off to the high tide roosts.  We had a blue streak of a Kingfisher fly by that Liz then spotted the redhead Smew paddling between the gaps of the railway bridge and we all had a brief view before it was hidden from sight again, a very suitable bird to finish on.

Little Egret NE Holes Bay © Nick Hull

Poole Harbour

Partial sum/plumage Mediterranean Gull with adult & 2nd/winter at Shell Bay © Nick Hull

Started at South Haven this morning looking out over the bay the usual Shags and Cormorants were quickly seen.  We were early enough to be in place before too many people were out walking the coastal path and there was a good number of Brent, Oystercatcher with the odd Grey Plover and 23 Sanderling on the beach.  Close to the shore a Great Northern Diver surfaced and gave great scope views. A little further out a small grebe was found by Tony, was first thought to be a Slavonian but once good views were had the high crown and slightly upturned bill and rounded bum confirmed it was a Black-necked Grebe.  Another Great Northern Diver off Pilot's Point and there was a good scattering of Mediterranean Gull all along the beach.  Viewing the groins in front of the Haven Hotel and we managed to see Rock Pipits and a small group of birds roosting on one of the groins.  Zooming up the scope it was easy to pick up the Ringed Plovers and as we scanned over the rocks nearby Purple Sandpiper and Dunlin came into view a nice spot though a little distant. 

As we moved to look over the inner harbour one of the group called Linnet but when I got on to it I could see the black face it was Lesser Redpoll which was looking stunning on such a grey day.  

Looking towards Brownsea Quay in the hope that yesterday's Black Guillemot was still in the area,  unfortunately no Guille but from our viewpoint we had 4 more Great Northern Diver,  a scattering of Red-breasted Mergansers, the odd Great Crested Grebe and another Black-necked Grebe.  Looking from the House Boats we didn't add very much except, whilst I was checking out the fourth GND, a small falcon flew through my scope heading low from Brownsea towards Brand's Bay our first BOP and a Merlin at that, great start.  

We moved to the Brand's Bay hide but with the tide being very high the birds were few but we did have good numbers of Common Gull, Shelduck, Wigeon and Curlew, fewer numbers of Redshank, Pintail and a single Yellow-legged Gull.  Then it was off up the road to look over Middle & South Beach, where we added Common Scoter which Tony found out in the middle of the bay, our second BOP with Common Buzzard and a few common woodland species.  We broke for lunch at the NT car park at Corfe Castle and watch the bird feeders.  Here we added Great, Blue, Long-tailed, Coal and our target Marsh Tit.  A slight bonus for a few was one of the visiting Coal Tits had a slaty grey backed resembling P. after - Continental Coal Tit. We also added Great Spotted Woodpecker which popped in just before we left. 

female Great Spotted Woodpecker Corfe Castle © Nick Hull

At the sewage works we did really well for a quick stop, Goldcrest was our first followed quickly by a flock of thirty or so Siskin.  Then a speeding grey flash darted across from right to left and all the Pied Wagtails, some thirty odd birds, scattered in all directions the cause was a Sparrowhawk, a very nippy male which headed off without any prey to harass other birds somewhere else. But before we left Jess picked up a Firecrest which gave brief views and then Jackie found a female Grey Wagtail.   It was at this point the weather began to look really threatening and we headed for Slepe Heath to see if we could add any more bird of prey to our growing list, but by the time we reach our viewpoint the rain was thundering down and very unpleasant and any BOP in its right mind would be in a sheltered spot sitting the weather out, so we called it a day.

Birding Normandy Marshes, Lymington

It was good to be back out with our first group meeting of 2016 yesterday, 6 January.  Our first Wednesday group met at Normandy Marshes, with a bit of sunshine and hardly a breath of wind it was ideal.   

The morning started nicely with a Kingfisher, sat out on a branch below a Little Egret in the same tree, and a Sparrowhawk over 8 acre pond, also Tufted Duck, Redshank, Mallard and Little Grebe.  Looking along the edge of the field we had at least six Bullfinches, two Song Thrush, Greenfinch and Blackbirds.   Our first Stonechat sat up on the gorse and a few Meadow Pipits in the rough grass.  I heard a Greenshank call and watched two fly out to the smallest piece of ground showing in Oxey Lake.  A female Red-breasted Merganser and Great Crested Grebe were seen further out.

Robin © Nick Hull

With our first look over Normandy Lagoon we had Wigeon, Teal, Lapwing, Pintail, Shelduck and a single Avocet and a superb Spotted Redshank.  Brent Geese were flying in large number to and fro the field and lagoon and unlike the noisy Canada Geese give a softer and more soothing call.  Moving down and looking over Oxey Lake again we had two Slavonian Grebe and a little later another Slav flew in.  Jess pointed out a Common Seal by the salt marsh spit and then called our attention to some Eider duck sat out on the marsh which included a beautiful adult drake.  Also on the spit was a Spoonbill being quite active feeding on the marsh, plus Grey Plover and a single Bar-tailed Godwit. 

Back to the Lagoon where we had a good number of Dunlin and Ringed Plover, a female Goldeneye was diving along with Little Grebes.  A single Oystercatcher flew noisily in, then to add to the list was Snipe and Shoveler.  A Reed Bunting briefly showed, we had Stonechat again, then a little flock of Long-tailed Tits and with them was a Goldcrest and Chiffchaff.  We also had three sighting of Dartford Warbler though it may have been just two individual. 

On the walk back to the cars along Normandy Lane one of the fields held a large flock of Curlews, also a Roe Deer.  A Green Woodpecker called and some of the group saw another Sparrowhawk and a Buzzard.  

Our new programme for Spring and Summer is now on our website www.twoowlsbirding.co.uk why not join us on one of our walks.

New Year Day's Birding round Poole Harbour

1st January 2016

Our day started with looking over Lytchett Bay from footpath no. 12, with Song Thrush and Robins singing and House Sparrows chirping we walked down the path.  We could hear Curlew calling and a Pheasant and of course the very noisy Jays, plus the usual woodland birds were seen including Coal Tit.

As we came out to the bay there was enough mud exposed for Oystercatchers, Redshank, Curlew and a Greenshank, the latter flew off immediately.  Wigeon were close in though many drifted slowly round the point.  I picked up 8 Shoveler on the far side, not common in the bay, a single male Goldeneye nearby.  We heard there were 3 Spoonbills on the Turlin side so we walked on to the salt marsh for a look, disturbing a Water Pipit and several Rock Pipits but they soon settled again and we did see the Spoonies.

Guillemot off Brownsea Lagoon © Nick Hull

It was time to get down to Poole Quay for the Poole Harbour birdboat and catch up with fellow birders, a great social occasion as well as getting plenty of good birds.  Soon we were finding Great Northern Divers, 10 were seen in total during the 2 hour trip.   On Brownsea Lagoon where we had the usual Avocets, 3 Spoonbill, Grey Plover, Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwits, Dunlin and a few Knot.  More unusual were 3 Pintail, along with Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler.  A Kingfisher sat on a post by the cottages and on the cottage feeder was a Red Squirrel and just off the quay was a Guillemot.  Around the rest of the harbour were the usual Black-necked and Great Crested Grebe, Brent Geese, Goldeneye and Red-breasted Mergansers.  It had started to rain fairly heavily and it was downstairs in the dry for soup and cake and a good natter.

In the afternoon we drove round to Middle Beach car park to look over Studland Bay.  Another Great Northern Diver offshore and a Red-necked Grebe, of course the usual Black-necked and Great Crested Grebes were scattered around.  A few Mediterranean Gulls and a Common Gull flew by but the show was then stolen by a Firecrest.  It called which drew our attention to this diminutive beautiful bird right under our noses in the brambles.  We watched him for quite a while working all the brambles, quite delightful.

Great Northern Diver Poole Harbour © Nick Hull

Moving on to Norden sewerage works we had Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Chaffinch and our first raptor of the day with a Common Buzzard.  A quick stop at  Middlebere and Liz picked up a very distant Marsh Harrier, raptor no. 2.  Then on to Soldiers Road and a look across the heath towards Corfe Castle as dusk fell, a Kestrel hovered but then a ring-tailed Hen Harrier came across, raptor no. 4 and saving the best till last.