Northney + Farlington Marshes- 26/08/25

 With reports of Pied Flycatcher the previous day still in the Northney area, I had an early start and biked to the area from Havant train station.

At first, I walked along the sea walk north of Northney to see if anything was there. A field held a few Cattle Egret, but nothing else was seen.

After spending another hour or so checking a few sites and walking along the footpath where the Pied Flycatchers had been seen, there was no sign of anything- not even any Spotted Flycatchers. 

So, with seemingly not much point staying here, I biked to Farlington in hopes of seeing a bird that I've somehow managed to avoid so far in England...

After arriving at Farlington, I immediately went towards the visitor hut, going through the gate along the stream, heading for the bench. A few birders were there, and they said that the bird had just flown off- and hadn't come back. After a bit of waiting at the bench and no sign of anything, I walked to the lake to see if it had dropped in there. 

On the lake, half an hour of searching revealed two Curlew Sandpipers, a few Dunlin, four Ruff, a few Little Egrets, and a large group of Redshank.

Still no sign of my target, though. 

I headed off back towards the bench, and a birder I passed mentioned that it was back on the stream. With a slight spring in my step, I made it back to the bench, but a quick scan didn't reveal anything. Then, a small, a tiny, a miniature wader on the edge of the water grabbed my attention. There was no doubt. 

This was the Little Stint I had been hoping to see. 

Although I did see one in Spain briefly last summer, I haven't really been able to admire this species properly, and although by no means rare in Britain, I have managed very well to avoid them, picking up Least Sandpiper and Semipalmated Sandpiper before the Little Stint- but finally, I had set my sights on one of these wonderful birds.

A Lesser Whitethroat put in a brief appearance- a long-awaited Hampshire tick for me.

A Sparrowhawk flew through, and the Little Stint started heading away, so I moved positions to the path.

I was really enjoying myself, but sadly, the train home wasn't going to wait.

So although the trip hadn't quite gone as planned with an impromptu trip to Farlington, it had ended very well with a Hampshire tick and a British lifer- can't complain with that eh!

Kingston Upon Thames- 23/08/25

 After having a quiet week, I was off again up towards London to a rather unpicturesque site where some Caspian Gulls had been seen. 

After arriving, it was clear this was going to be difficult as the view into the garbage centre in Berryfields was very restricted, and it was hard to see where the gulls were staying. Behind the road, there was a stream which held a Cormorant, and a Kingfisher which zipped by twice.

A few Ring-necked parakeets put in a quick appearance, and a Raven flew over. 

There was a group of gulls on another roof outside the garbage centre, but sadly, none were Caspian. After another hour or so, with no sign of anything else, I headed off to the Thames to sit down and see if anything was there. 

There were plenty of Mallards, Black-headed Gulls and Coots, but no sign of anything interesting. Sadly there was no time to explore the area more, so I had to head home with no reward, but it had been an enjoyable trip- it's always great getting out in the "fresh"...not sure how fresh London air is, especially by a dump... but getting outside is great and I had enjoyed exploring a new place! You can't win every time:) 

I've had a great run over the holidays, having been on 8 trips around the area with a 100% success rate in seeing new birds. Hopefully something will turn up soon to get the autumn properly up and running...

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!