Hampshire (1 Viewer)

[stevetb]

things are getting interesting now:

Spotted crake still @ farlington, also 2 curlew sand, avocet and an osprey
Red backed shrike on hayling
A little stint at keyhaven and a curlew sand at oxey.

 

[RoyCo]

A good afternoon at Keyhaven

Hello,
I thought that perhaps this thread should be kept going with a posting ...

Firstly, many thanks to those who offered sage advice concerning the Keyhaven locale birds!

We spent a good and enjoyable afternoon, mostly cloud-covered with a few breaks for sunshine, wandering along the Keyhaven marsh and environs (avoiding the cyclists and dog-walkers).
Of note, the B/pool produced, amongst others, a juvenile Green Woodpecker which allowed me to get quite close; a pair of Hobby across the back fields; a Kingfisher which sped around the edge of the pool; a very smartly-attired Gadwal; Pintail and also a Cuckoo which perched conveniently on a fencepost heading down the lane to give us great views va the 'scope.
Further around the coast, the Greenshank were out in better numbers than on previous visits; 6 snipe inland; good numbers of both Curlew and Grey Plover were out on the marsh and we spotted a Peregrine polishing off its lunch on the far shore. A few terns (Common and Sandwich) "floated" by down the Solent and a good raft of Eider were near the dead tree. On the way back we were treated to a hobby swooping down to catch what we presumed were some of the numerous dragonflies around the area.
A lot more of the "usual suspects" also, sadly no Phallarope or Wryneck, but an excellent afternoon's birding!

Roy

 

[John P]

and a curlew sand at oxey.

......and here's a (poor) pic

 

[stevetb]

Thats a nice pic john, nice to hear your camera decided to work this time.

Spotted crake and red backed shrike still about

 

[Nevtiger]

OK,

I know i am new to this but where abouts at Farlington does every one see every thing?

I have spent a short time (due to work) every day for the last week or two and havee managed only to spot a whimbrel!

Very very frustrating when post after post talks about all sorts going on!

Anyway i had more luck at Rooksbury Mill lakes at Andover, where i spotted Crested Grebe with 3 youngsters, A flycatcher, Buzzard, Song Thrush, lots of young (i think) birds which had little to distinguish them apart from some red about their faces! And the flash of a Kingfisher.

Nev

 

[teamsaint]

OK,

I know i am new to this but where abouts at Farlington does every one see every thing?

I have spent a short time (due to work) every day for the last week or two and havee managed only to spot a whimbrel!

Very very frustrating when post after post talks about all sorts going on!

Anyway i had more luck at Rooksbury Mill lakes at Andover, where i spotted Crested Grebe with 3 youngsters, A flycatcher, Buzzard, Song Thrush, lots of young (i think) birds which had little to distinguish them apart from some red about their faces! And the flash of a Kingfisher.

Nev

Do you have a scope Nev, because it will help a lot at Farlington. If not then try and get someone else to let you look through theirs :-O. When I go to Farlington I like to stand by the lake for about an hour if it's high tide. The lake is the main area for birds on the reserve, although there should also be many more out in the harbour. As you walk along the seawall regularly scan along fences and bushes for migrants like Whinchats and Wheatears. The deeps is another good area a bit further along which has waders in autumn and ducks in winter. Take the inland path back through the reserve stopping at the stream (by the hut) for more things and often Bearded Tits (also look for these by the lake). The lake is really the main area so If you're doing a short visit like you say stick to here. There are regular guided walks with the Hampshire Wildlife Trust which might be worth going on.

Rooksbury Mill is a nice place. I saw the Yellow-browed Warbler there earlier in the year.

Regards,
Tom

 

[Nevtiger]

Tom,

No scope i am afraid, infact i am only using 7x32 Binoculars as well! However, is the lake the East side of the block of land? i.e. the opposite side to where the car parking is?

Rooksbury is a short walk from home for me and the kids like it too - so bit of a bonus.

Nev

 

[teamsaint]

Nev here is a map with locations http://www.hos.org.uk/sitesdirectory/site06.html (scroll down to bottom). With 7x32s you will be struggling to ID many of the waders but as I said there are regular walks and often friendly people to help out. see http://www.hwt.org.uk/things-to-do/events/all-our-events.htm for walks (walks in the near-future on 15th and 16th september)

 

[stevetb]

Yeah shame about the distance of the birds at farlington.

Little stint and curlew sand around normandy at the moment, also a merlin.

 

[wint]

With 7x32s you will be struggling to ID many of the waders but as I said there are regular walks and often friendly people to help out.

7x32 would be Ok for IDing the waders on the Lake. I was at Farlington between 11:45 and 18:30 today and the waders in the harbour at low tide were distant dots with a 32x scope On the Lake as high tide approached were 13 species of wader - best being 6 Curlew Sandpipers, Ad+5juvs. Also singles of Whinchat, Wheatear and Hobby. A young Water Rail raised hopes of Spotted Crake from time to time but no joy.

 

[wint]

Lower Test 6th September 07:20-09:00

Black-tailed Godwit 1
Green Sandpiper 6
Greenshank 2
Snipe 6
Ruff 1
Water Rail 1 juv
Cetti's 2 singing, 1 seen

 

[Nevtiger]

Cheers for the heads up on Farlington.

I today managed to spend some time at the Lake.


Lot of birds.

And people with scopes.

Managed to identify Redshank, Moorhen, Swan, Starling and a single Plover out of the multitude of birds flying, sitting, feeding and floating.

Cheers

Nev

 

[JohnnyH]

Nice morning at Farlington, 2 Curlew Sands, Spotshank, Beardies showing well early on, 4 Knot in the Harbour, Merlin perched on a fence post, White Wagtail on the edge of the lagoon being the highlights.

John.

 

[stevetb]

looks like the GWE is back at blashford ( Better late than never! ) reported present on mockbeggar at 13:00.

 

[teamsaint]

looks like the GWE is back at blashford ( Better late than never! ) reported present on mockbeggar at 13:00.

yey, we were nearly fed up of waiting !!!! should be an easy year tick :smoke:

 

[skatebirder]

looks like the GWE is back at blashford ( Better late than never! ) reported present on mockbeggar at 13:00.

While out birding at Lower Test at lunchtime, I remarked that the Great White hadn't returned to Blashford. This must have been at around 1pm...it must have been listening!

At LTM at lunchtime:
Ruff 1
Green Sand 5
Greenshank 3
Common Sand 1
Snipe 3
Black Tailed Godwit 1
Lapwing several

The scrapes have a wider variety of waders on them than I've seen in a long time. I wonder if the Wilson's Phalarope would like it there....

Still a few Chiffchaffs, Sedge Warblers and Hirundines about, some Yellow Legged Gulls in the distance, and the Cetti's have started to sing again.

Anyone been to Testwood Lakes recently?

David

 

[busyb]

The GWE seems to have visited the North of the county. I went to the Vyne watermeadows after work this evening, not arriving at the hide until 19.45,
saw the GWE straight away, I watched it until 20.05 when it flew off west
after being spooked by the sound of shotguns. I hope it returns, I will check
first thing in the morning.
Only managed a dodgy poor light digiscope.

 

[stevetb]

Normandy - Keyhaven today

Highlights:

Normandy:

Hobby perched up
Merlin ( which flew straight past the hobby )
Lots of knot
10+ Greenshank

Oxey:
1 Juv. Curlew sandpiper

Pennington - fishtail:
Kingfisher
Peregrine
Curlew sandpiper ( looked like the same 1 )
Hobby
Merlin
Sanderling

All in all a great day, with all the british falcon species seen. :t:

Curlew sand pics

 

[stevetb]

And some hobbies and a kingfisher

 

[teamsaint]

nice curlew sandpiper pics steve, a nicely marked bird and looks like it was fairly close as well. the last juv curlew sand i saw looked like a winter one.