Starting the New Years Birding

The first day of the new year is somehow always special in the birding calendar to get your year list off to a good start.  Liz joined Jackie and I for a walk around part of our local patch of Lytchett Bay.  Jackie had Blue Tit, Carrion Crow and Goldfinch, and Liz had Reed Bunting before I had started.  I soon caught up then hearing a Curlew and seeing Herring and Black-headed Gulls.  Walking through the wood out to the bay added Robin and Blackbird and as we approached the shoreline a Reed Bunting popped up and down into the reed bed.  Scanning over the bay we quickly added Marsh Harrier, Shelduck, Wigeon, Teal, Redshank, Greenshank, Oystercatchers, Common Gull and a Little Egret beat against the wind as it crossed the water toward Holton.  We continued to watch for a while and I picked up a small flock of waders in flight heading across the bay, getting the 'bins' on them I wasn't sure of their id until they changed direction and headed east.  They then showed black auxiliaries confirming they were Grey Plover, a species that is a very scarce visitor to the patch.  In fact there was only one record of a single bird in 2013 and 2014 and I know 18  flying over was a great start to the year.  

By the time we had finished our patch walk we had clocked up twenty six species so we headed off in the car to Baiter Park.  Here we looked over the railway into Poole Park lake and added Gadwall, Goldeneye, Tufted Duck and Coot, then looking over Baiter's grass field a good flock of Dark-bellied Brent were present along with Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails.  We searched around the beach for Turnstones without any luck but added a nice Mediterranean Gull to our list.  We continued on by driving through Poole Park adding Canada and Greylag Geese grazing on the lawn followed shortly after by Moorhen, Black-tailed Godwit and Grey Heron.  It was then on to Shore Road where the only new species was Sanderling time was getting on by now and we had a boat to catch.  So we retraced our route back through Poole Park and managed to add Turnstone, with three feeding at the edge of the large lake.

Over several years now friends, Mark and Mo, have invited local Poole birders and a few from further afield to join them on a boat trip around Poole Harbour on New Years Day. We boarded the boat and heading off towards the harbour mouth checking off the usual harbour species Shag, Cormorant, Great Crested Grebe and another Med Gull (well for us anyway) also a distant Great Northern Diver.  Coming alongside the Brownsea Lagoon we quickly added Avocet, Bar-tailed Godwit, Great Black-backed Gull, Spoonbill and Shoveler.  Our cruise continued on via the harbour mouth across Brand's Bay and to as far as Green Island. On the way seeing many Red-breasted Merganser, Goldeneye and Black-necked Grebes, then Steve picked up the first winter Little Gull that had been hanging around the Furzy Island slipway. Unfortunately the tide had dropped so much we couldn't navigate the channel around the back of Green Island so we returned back towards the harbour mouth and as we passed Furzy Island a second time I found a Kingfisher sat atop of one of the jetty posts. 

It was probably fate that turned a hand in dropping the tide so we had to retrace our route back via the harbour mouth because as we approached the Brownsea Jetty a shout from the back of the boat of 'Black Guillemot behind' was called out.  As this is a bird that had probably only been seen up to this point by around three people it was very sought after by the Poole Harbour listers which included us.  A quick word with the skipper and the boat was turned around to make another pass of the area where the bird was spotted. It didn't take long for to be re-found but it did take a while for everyone to get to see the bird and it's white and black plumage worked well to camouflage it on the choppy sea.

Black Guillemot Poole Harbour Mouth © Steve Smith

After we finished enjoying this harbour rarity we had another look over Brownsea Lagoon and moved around the northern edge of Brownsea where we had the Great Northern Diver earlier.  Magnus soon picked it up again and then there were two then when I looked there were three.  It wasn't long before we were back at the quay and in the car to do some more birding around Hartland Moor area.

Norden Sewage works gave up Grey Wagtail, Chiffchaff and Pheasant, moving on to Middlebere we added Jackdaw and Greenfinch, at Arne Great Tit, Coal Tit and Green Woodpecker.  We moved on to Soldiers Road where we had a little luck when we stopped to chat to friends we had excellent views of a female Hen Harrier which quartered the moor for several minutes opposite the car.

Our last bird to go on the list for the day was Lapwing flying off our Lytchett patch going to roost.

I'd just would like to thank Steve Smith for allowing us to use his shot of the Black Guillemot you can check out more shot of the harbours birds and some from much further afield on his blog which you can find at -  Http://BirdingPooleHarbourandBeyond.blogspot.co.uk

Upton Country Park

With Christmas over it seemed a good idea to get out and have a walk and get rid of a few of those excesses consumed over the last few days and what better than doing some birding at a local park, Upton Country Park and Holes Bay.

Our first birds were a flight of Redwing and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flying over the car park then it was Robin, Song Thrush, Blue Tit and a Dunnock or two, as we walked past the pond there were the usual Hybrids and Mallards also a single Teal and a few Moorhen.  Out on the marsh and in the bay were good numbers of waterfowl, Curlew, Redshank a few Dunlin roosting around the feet of the Black-tailed Godwits. The Teal were lining the edge of the channels, Scanning through the mass of Teal a few Pintail were found and farther out there was a flock of Avocet and lots of Shelduck.  Then one of the group found a couple of Spoonbill which turned into six as they walked out of one of the distant channels.

Six Spoonbill roosting NW Holes Bay

We moved on to look over the north east of the bay on our way a few had good views of a Green Woodpecker and farther on we had Black-tailed Godwits flying over to feed in the fields.  As we arrived at the Creekmoor outlet I and a few had brief views of a Kingfisher.  Out in this part of the bay we had lots of Wigeon and Redshank, I then heard a Spotted Redshank calling and soon after found it feeding in the channel fairly close to us.

Spotted Redshank NE Holes Bay

There were a good number of Mute Swan along the edge of the bay and we had brief view of a single Spoonbill as it flew into the bay over Pergin's Island.  The PC World ditch had our second Kingfisher  but little else of interest and now the tide was rising and we watched a flock of one hundred and fifty Avocet fly in and started feeding on the far shoreline.  Retracing our steps Jackie mentioned that we had forty seven species on the list three off our target for the our walk 'Aha - a challenge'!  Walking back through the wood Jess saw a Nuthatch and soon after we all caught up with a very noisy bird calling.  

As we looked over the north west of the bay again a small flock of Lapwing flew over and then all the waders lifted off giving a wonderful display and we soon saw why.  A Peregrine came cruising across the bay and flew straight into the wader flock which consisted of mainly Black-tailed Godwit and it missed, turned and went back through them again with no luck.  He gain height again and started to take another flight into the flock when a Crow appeared and had a go at the Peregrine, the Crow then headed toward Pergin's and the Peregrine turned his attention on the Crow and gave it a real wallop and knocked it into a tree on Pergin's, it then circled and disappeared into the back of the island out of sight.

But what a tremendous way to finish a walk and successfully reaching 53 species in total, a good morning's birding.

Black-tailed Godwits taking flight just before the Peregrine made its first pass.

Day at the National Car Museum

Took out our grandson to Beaulieu and the National Car Museaum, Palace House and Abbey, and had a great day.

One of the games we played was we had to pick our favourite car in the museum, well Ben chose one of the older Peugeot formula 1 race cars as it had a number 8 on it.

 Jackie with her expensive taste went for the French built Bugatti Veyron super sports I have to say a very good choice. Only around 400 have been built at around £1,250,000.

I also went for a Bugatti though my choice turned out to be one of only two known in Europe, though you might have thought the Veyron was expensive well this little beauty would cost you in excess of £5,000,000 now that makes the Veyron a pretty cheap deal.

To top the day off when we visited the Abbey I heard calls of Hawfinch and found it up on the top of a fir tree and when it flew, it was joined by nine others just fantastic.

The Home Patch

Today we had a group out on our home patch of Lytchett Bay in an hour and a half's walk we recorded 53 species in just that short time.  We started almost immediately with Bullfinch and Goldcrest and a Cetti's Warbler.  Walking out to the bay added several of the other common species like Robin, Blackbird, Blue and Great Tits, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Magpie and Jay.  As we were exiting the wood I picked up a movement to my left and searching a small birch tree found three Reed Bunting, which are alway nice to see.  Once out at the bay we set up scopes and scanned intently to see what we could find.  A Redshank was the first which noticed us and decided we were too close and took flight giving a very loud alarm call, living up to its old name of 'Warden of the Marsh'.  This unsettled a few other waders and enabled us to see a hidden Greenshank as it few off, and it alerted the Sika Deer out on the marsh to our presence which quickly disappeared into the reeds.  A Raven was seen distantly over the trees to the west and Wigeon and Teal were drifting offshore, an odd Black-tailed Godwit and Curlew fed along the spartina edged banks.  Further out along the main channel Redshanks, Dunlin, Oystercatchers more Curlew and Black-tailed Godwits fed.  A flight of Shelduck passed along the Holton shoreline and then we found three pairs of Red-breasted Merganser, a regular winter visitor in the bay in small numbers. As we moved on around the path I picked up a large raptor flying along the edge of Otter Island which turned out to be a female type Marsh Harrier. 

Unfortunately due to the rather waterlogged path a few of the group had to retrace their steps the rest continued on with me.  Mick found a single Avocet and I a pair of Gadwall, along with more of the species "we had already seen.  'The not wearing wellies' group added a pair of Green Woodpeckers and were watching a wintering Chiffchaff when we joined them to continue on around to the Border Road viewpoint.  Here we had a large charm of Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch and then four more Bullfinch, a male and three females.  From the viewpoint the whole group were able to watch the Avocet and Gadwall, after this we headed home for coffee and mince pies, this ended a very nice walk.

Male Bullfinch digiphone scoped today © Nick Hull

Stanpit Marsh

Had a break from work today and joined Jackie for a walk at Stanpit Marsh followed by our annual Christmas lunch.  Our walk didn't produce amazing numbers of species just thirty two but we had good views of everything and nothing was too far away.  Our first sighting was a small group of Greenfinch in the car park and a flight of Meadow Pipit that flew over towards the golf course, this was followed by Great Spotted Woodpecker one in flight and one "chipping" from the trees by the path.  

On reaching the marsh we came across a mixed feeding flock of Redshank and Black-tailed Godwits one of the latter was coloured ringed so hopefully we will find out soon when and where it has been if its been recorded before.  Also out here were Curlew, Little Egret, a few Meadow and Rock Pipits and a group of Dark-bellied Brent which seemed to be disturbed by three Grey Herons and they flew off towards the central marsh with some of the Black-tailed Godwit. 

Black-tailed Godwit flying by - Stanpit Marsh © Nick Hull

From Crouch Hill we had a look through the wader roost which held Dunlin, Ringed and Grey Plover, Lapwing, Curlew and a single very well marked Ruff. Walking out onto Blackberry Point we had very close views of a Little Egret that performed very well for us putting on a real display on how to fish successfully.

Little Egret catching a small fish Stanpit Marsh © Nick Hull

We finished our walk with close views of the Brent Goose flock that were happily feeding on the marsh and what was very nice there seemed to be quite a few immature birds amongst them.

Dark-bellied Brent - Stanpit Marsh © Nick Hull

After our walk we headed off for a very enjoyable christmas lunch.

Portland & Weymouth

We met at the car park at Portland Bill this morning with blue sky above with the promise of a dry day though the weather forecaster had said otherwise. After introductions we headed off out to the Obelisk for a little sea watching.  Almost immediately Jess spotted three Purple Sandpipers on the rocks below us and out to sea very much the usual gulls with a few Gannets, Guillemots, Cormorants and Shags.  

Purple Sandpipers, Portland Bill © Nick Hull

A small flock of Black-headed Gull had an immature Kittiwake tagging on behind as they passed us heading east.  Jackie picked up a small tern which disappeared behind a wave not to reappear which she thought was a Black Tern and I had what looked to be a starling sized auk which I'm sure was going to be a Little Auk but it flew into the sunny water and didn't appear to come out the other side,  Oh well these things happen can't get them all.  Moving on towards the Obs along the East Cliff we had several Rock Pipits as we walked around the Obs quarry we heard a sharp "Kee kee" like call and there above us was a pair of Peregrine. The surprise came when we were walking back between the Obs quarry and the Coastguard Cottages a chat flew up and it turned out to be a Whinchat, then a Black Redstart was on the roof of the end cottage, we had better views a few minutes later of a stunning male and then a immature with a tail missing which looked a little odd.  Back at the car park we had a pair of Raven sat on the rocks.  We then moved on to Portland Castle but as we drove past the Pulpit pub a Short-eared Owl flew across the slope of the West Cliff, then as we approached Weston we had another view of the pair of Peregrine this time both sat on fence posts. 

Pair Raven Portland Bill © Nick Hull

At Portland Castle our target was the wintering Black Guillemot though our first birds were a group of Red-breasted Mergansers and a Common Guillemot, then myself and Fran picked up the 'tystie' which gave good scope views even popping out of the water to rest on one of the mooring buoys. 

Black Guillemot - Portland Harbour © Nick Hull

Lunch at Ferrybridge added lots of Dunlin and Ringed Plover more R-breasted Mergansers and a couple of Little Egret out on the shoreline of the fleet.  Then on to Radipole where I challenged the group to find two Mediterranean Gull in amongst the resting gulls on the car park by the time they had found them the number had grown to four.  Cetti's Warblers and Water Rails seemed to be having a competition on who could call the loudest and still not be seen.  

Forest Walk

With our Sunday group we met at Cadman's Pool near to the old Stoney Cross airfield.  The pool can attract a lot of duck and indeed there was a good number of Mallard present and the Oaks around the parking area were alive with Chaffinch, but no early Brambling was found.  Our circular walk took us down the valley, back up on to the plain and then back to the Cadman's Pool.  We didn't see masses of birds but we found Grey Wagtail along the Dockens Water and as we walked back up onto the plain we had a Painted Lady butterfly, the latest I've ever recorded a sign of how mild the autumn has been so far.

The latest Painted Lady we recorded

A Kestrel hovering over the plain was are only raptor. seen, though our highlight of the day had to be the Fieldfare and Redwing that were feeding up in the holly copse after their recent return to the UK to winter though many of the birds were very restless and after a quick feed moved on across the forest. Though we stopped for sometime listening to a gathering in one holly copse and the noise of the chattering and calls were amazing, made me wish I had my recording equipment as it would have made a great audio recording.  

Our walk turned into a bit of a fungi foray many of which were identified by Mick and Angie, as yet a subject that Jackie and I have only touched on but must do more to learn about as some can be very interesting.  I've included a few of the fungi that I managed to get reasonable shots of.

Cauliflower fungus 

Dung Fungus

Yellow Brain Fungus - Tremella mesenterica

A circle of Sulphur Tuft Fungus

closeup of Sulphur Tuft Fungus