Farington Marshes- 13/08/25

After arriving at Farlington, I locked my bike and then set out towards the main lake. A few Goldfinches were about, and two Great Crested Grebes were out in the harbour. On the lake, there was a large increase in waders since the last time I was here, with many Black-tailed Godwits, Redshank, Greenshank, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, and Dunlin obvious. A Spoonbill was in some reeds behind the main lake towards the visitor hut. 

As I was searching for the Ruff that had been reported earlier on the day, a huge clap of thunder was heard, and a flash of lightning zapped over Portsmouth. Before long, it was pouring, and I scarpered towards the visitor hut, trying to keep as dry as I could(didn't succeed). After finally making it to the visitor hut, I sat down and waited for the rain to abate. An hour later, and the rain seemed to have gone, so I went outside the visitor hut, scanned the stream before heading towards the cattle where some Cattle Egrets were. With not much else here, I headed off back towards the lake, with a Cetti's Warbler calling in the reeds behind the visitor hut. 

En route to the lake, a Common Sandpiper was seen, along with a few Ringed Plovers, Dunlin, and Black-tailed Godwits. 

Nothing new was obvious on the main lake, with plenty more Ringed Plovers, Little Egrets, Grey Plovers, and Dunlin visible. A Grey Heron dropped in, and a total of 5 Swifts were flying about. A bit of interest came in the form of a Hobby, which flew about briefly before heading back east. With not much else apparent, and no sign of the Ruff, I started to head off back towards my bike. 

As I was walking past Jason (Farlington regular), he asked me whether I had spotted the Ruff at the back of the lake. I replied in the negative, so he put his scope on it, and I managed to pick it up- a beautiful Ruff. After a bit of searching, I got it in my binos and eventually in my camera, very distantly but clear. I hadn't seen a Ruff since summer 23', so I was happy to finally pick one up. Also visible at the back now were two or three Knot. After a while of watching the Ruff, I headed back to my bike to catch the train(don't want to be late home for dinner!)

Another great trip, with another year tick, and some fun species seen. 

New Forest- 11/08/25

 I didn't expect to be writing a blog for this day, as a trip to see our cousins who were camping in the New Forest was scheduled. I did suspect we might see one interesting species, but of course had no expectations, as we were just meeting to catch up as they live up in Huddersfield. 

The campsite had already been proven to be ok for birds, with a family of Spotted Flycatchers seen briefly, and plenty of Blue Tits, Great Tits, Song Thrush and juvenile Robins about. 

As we were having lunch, a bird plopped down onto the ground just a few meters to my right- a Marsh Tit. Although not a rare species, I always enjoy seeing these, as they aren't an everyday sight. It stayed in the tree a few meters from me for half a minute(always in terrible lighting), before flying off. This was a bird I had been slightly hopeful to see today, with the New Forest being a good place to see them, and I hadn't yet seen them this year.

About an hour later, we were at the beach and I thought I would quickly scan all the gulls that were around, just to be sure there was nothing interesting in amongst them. I couldn't see anything, and as I was looking out across the view towards The Needles, a gull caught my attention. Not only was it much smaller than the Black-headed Gulls around it, but it also had a few tell-tale giveaway features. A check through my binoculars confirmed my suspicions; this was a Little Gull. 

This was another bird I hadn't seen yet this year, so I was very happy. Another bird that is by no means rare, but still a delight to see. I wondered whether I had actually seen the bird in Hampshire or Dorset, and after a check, the answer is kind of both! I myself had been in Dorset, only about 10-20 meters from the border into Hants(which of course I hadn't realised at the time), so as the gull flew east, I had seen it in Hampshire as well as Dorset! A bit of a confusing occurrence lol.

So although this day had nothing bird-related planned, it turned out to be a great day, with two yearticks, including a bird (Little Gull) that I hadn't seen since January 24. This clearly shows that with birding, you sure have to keep your eye out for anything, anywhere, at any time!                                      Photos to be posted later                   

Staines Reservoirs- 04/08/2025

 After recovering from a nasty cold I caught, I decided to go a bit further afield than usual, with a trip planned to go and see a very cool species. After arriving at Ashurst Station, still feeling a bit deflated after the cricket result, I set off on my bike towards the reservoirs. 

After locking my bike and walking up to the causeway, I was taken aback by the huge size of the basins, I don't know what I had been expecting but it wasn't that! A few Black-headed Gulls were flying about, and lots of Coots and Tufted Ducks were visible. A group of Linnet was on the path, and on the slope past the fence, a few Pied Wagtails were feeding. 

I scanned both basins, and with nothing visible, continued on along the causeway, keeping my eyes peeled for the target species. A bird on the water, a bit of a way out, caught my attention- surely this was it? A look through the binoculars confirmed my suspicions. This was indeed my target species of this trip- Black-necked Grebe.(A video of the Black-necked Grebes is now available on the blogs Youtube channel)

Black-necked Grebes are decreasing at a rate in Britain, so it's always a great pleasure to be able to see them. This individual was in a great plumage, and the first I have seen in breeding plumage in England. It continued swimming along, occasionally diving. 

There were a few Great Crested Grebes also, with a few coming quite close on the North Basin. 

The Black-necked Grebe was still showing on the South Basin, before swimming off too far away to photograph.

I continued walking on, and before long, British weather kicked in, so with not wanting my camera to get wet, I put it in my bag and started scanning around with my binoculars. A scan of the terns on the North Basin didn't produce any surprises, and a look on the South Basin revealed at least two more Black-necked Grebes, and with the rain subsiding for a bit, I managed to get a few photos.

As I had reached the westernmost point of the causeway, I turned around and started heading back towards the way I had come. Another Black-necked Grebe was a bit further down, and further out, a second one was also visible, and unlike the others, this one was not in full breeding plumage. 

Both birds started coming a lot closer, allowing for great views.

As I had been so focused on photographing one of the birds, I hadn't realised an additional two that were swimming around together a bit further out. 

A group of Linnets were on the path, and the Black-necked Grebe I had been photographing swam out to the other two.

With my train due to leave in 20 minutes, I called it a day and walked off to my bike. On the journey back to the station, I heard and possibly saw some Ring-necked Parakeets, a controversial species, but beautiful all the same. 

I had thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and seeing the Black-necked Grebes was great, adding yet another bird to my year list, and a very cool one at that. The rain did hold off for most of the trip as well- not something I expected!

Thursley Common- 25/07/25

 A trip to Thursley Common this evening with a particular species in mind was set to be good fun, especially if we saw the species. After arriving at Thursley around 21:00, we set out towards Shrike Hill, which had been a good starting point last year in the hunt for these birds. 

Moat Pond had plenty of Mallards on it, and a Grey Heron was in a tree to the side. A Goldfinch was also calling overhead.

Quite a few Canada Geese were on the water, with a singular Greylag Goose in amongst them. A few Gadwall were also on the pond, and a juvenile Stonechat perched up on a branch right next to the path.

With the light going very quickly, taking photos was getting near impossible, so instead I started to listen very closely to all the sounds around, and after a few minutes, there it was, the distinctive call of our target species. After making up on top of Shrike Hill, we listened a bit longer and decided the best way to go was to head over to the same place as we had seen them last year. More and more started to make their voices heard; surely it was only a matter of time before we saw one? 

After making it to the spot, we sat down(ouch, iykyk), and waited. A few sounded really close, and all of a sudden, Dad(who seems to have a real knack for not seeing and identifying everything other than the bird we are looking for) said, "Look, there's one!" And sure enough, there flying around us was a beautiful Nightjar that we had come here to see. It flew around us for a few seconds, then disappeared into the darkness. A few Nightjars sounded really close, their wonderful churring noise quite surreal in the dark. Over the next half an hour, more came and flew around us, but seeing as it was so late now, we decided to start heading back towards the car. One Nightjar must have been churring right next to the path on the way back, as it sounded very loud. Back at the car, we got in and went back home. 

Seeing Nightjars is always a thrilling thing, and with the success of the last few days, this year tick puts my list onto 175 now, which was my original aim for this year, after getting 163 last year. What a great and successful trip it had been. 

Titchfield Haven 24/07/25

 A trip to Titchfield Haven with Joe and Peter was on the cards today, and with not much seemingly about, anything interesting would be a great bonus.

After arriving, we decided to go up the east side first, and on the way to the Meadow Hide, we heard a Tawny Owl calling in the trees. With not much visible from the Meadow Hide, other than a Whitethroat and a few Cormorants, we headed on up to the Knights Bank hide, where a while was spent watching the 4 Spoonbill, a few Herons, Little Egrets, and a Kestrel. Two Green Sandpipers flew around in the distance as well. 

On the walk over to the west side, a Green Woodpecker was seen, and the Tawny Owl was still calling.

In the Meon Shore Hide, a lot was visible, with plenty of Avocet, Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwits, Redshank, Black-headed Gulls, Common Terns, Shovelers, and Gadwall all immediately obvious, along with a few Teal and the Tufted Ducks. 

After having lunch, we decided to head on up to the Pumfrett Hide, and after we sat down, I had a look at the terns that were landed nearby, and with nothing interesting seemingly obvious, I turned my attention to a few Common Tern chicks that Peter had pointed out. 

This was when Joe said that he thought he'd seen a  Roseate Tern in the flock I had checked over, and Peter said he thought he'd just noticed it as well. Typically, when we scanned the flock again, it had flown off. From the photos, we could see it was indeed a Roseate Tern, so although I hadn't got any photos, I did see it fly off, just without knowing it was one! This was for sure a great year tick. This is only the second time I've seen this species, with my first when I had just got into birdwatching on Hill Head beach nearly two years ago.

With the Roseate Tern seemingly not coming back, we headed up again this time to the Spurgin Hide, where a small time was spent with not much seen, other than a few Little Egrets.

Heading back to the Pumfrett Hide to see if the Roseate Tern was back, we saw a few Green and Common Sandpipers, but no sign of the bird we were looking for. 

Back at Meon Shore, we heard that the Roseate Tern had been there, but had probably flown off with a large group of terns, so we sat down and enjoyed what was there, with a very cute Moorhen chick briefly visible before heading off into the reeds.

A large gull and tern flock flew up, but with not much else obvious here, we decided to go and check the beach to see if there was a tern flock before heading home.

With the tide still too high for anything to be on the beach, we headed back, very happy with the day's findings.

Well, another great days birding, with yet another great bird seen. Things definitely seem to be picking up speed a bit now, hopefully this continues on into August!