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
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