Southsea Castle, 17/11/25

After the excitement of seeing the Boat-tailed Grackle on Saturday, I was toning it down a bit and going to a place much closer to home on the Portsmouth coast with Dad. We were hoping to see the Purple Sandpipers that had been there on and off over the past few weeks, a species I dipped a depressing number of times last winter at at least 3 different sites. It would be a lifer for me, and I was really hoping they would be there as it is one of the more common species I'm still missing on my list... If they're there, it would be number 209 on my British Life List and a brilliant number 201 on my British Year List. I really must figure out where my world year list is up to... my World Life list is sitting at 248, possibly pushed up to 249 if the Purple Sands are there. 

After a smashing breakfast at the Beefeater in Cosham, we drove to Southsea Castle and got out of the car to a biting wind. Hopefully, the cold will bring in some good Scandinavian birds this winter; last winter was a bit lacking. 

A Magpie was sitting in a tree in the car park, looking incredible in the sunshine. I genuinely think Magpies are one of the most underrated birds in Britain. They're stunning black-and-white look transforms into an array of colours in the sunshine. Along with their incredibly long tail, I find them very exotic and really great birds.

We got over the bank and made it down onto the sea wall and walked towards the castle. We got chatting to a friendly dog walker with a very nice Miniature Schnauzer called Dudley (great name for a dog like that), and after a while, I walked on ahead of Dad to scan the rocks in front of the castle. A Pied Wagtail flew over calling. 

I still couldn't see anything, so I continued on a bit further, when all of a sudden a shape on the rocks formed- surely? A quick look through the binoculars. Brilliant. They were here. The Purple Sandpiper. And not one, but four!

After Dad was finished chatting, he caught up to me, and I pointed them out. He was very happy- he seems to really like waders, especially sandpipers. Three of them were sleeping on a rock, now and again waking up as the water splashed them, with the other venturing around feeding.

Really, really great birds. They remind me a lot of the Pectoral Sandpiper at Farlington this summer, similar size and the curved beak. Really cool look.

They seem very chunky and round- I guess they need the insulation as most of their range is very cold.

Talking about their range, these small calidris sandpipers are found all over. North America, Scandinavia, as far north as Svalbard, and even as south as Spain and Portugal. They feed on mussels, crustaceans, and flies. 

A Black-headed Gull was on the rocks, and a Cormorant flew out at sea.

The sun was moving around behind the Purple Sands, making the lighting a bit difficult, but it was still fine.

They're just brilliant. 

One broke off from the group and perched in a nice position.

After a small sleep, it went back to some other rocks and perched again.

With the sandpipers all back asleep and not looking like they were going to move any time soon, Dad and I walked along the seawall to the construction and back, trying to keep warm in the wind. A few more Black-headed Gulls were about, and a Herring Gull was on the sea. A Starling put on a great display of its vocal range, singing a few meters away from us.

Again, a brilliant bird that is underrated due to how common it is.

After we made it back, the sandpipers were still all asleep on the same rock, waking up now and again as the water lapped at their legs.

We decided to go and get some coffee, and afterwards came back for a final few minutes with the sandpipers. 

They were still on the same rock just in front of the castle, now and again waking up and preening.

So, with not much more action, we headed back to the car. The Magpie was again on the tree. I do really love them.

On the way back, Dad and I were talking about how incredible the past month or so has been. It really has. World Life list up to 249, very close to 250. I wonder how long it'll take to get to 300. I suppose a lot depends on where/if we go on holiday in the next few years. The British year list is at a great 201, and I do really need to figure out where my World year list is at... I'm really hoping the cold weather brings some good species. I didn't see any Short-eared Owls last year, and would love to see them again. Hopefully, there will be some Waxwings in Surrey somewhere if the cold weather continues. It's already been decent for them this year in the northeast and as far south as parts of East Anglia, and if the freezing winds continue, some should start coming further south... I hope. A brilliant start to a much-anticipated week, with the start of the Ashes on Friday. I think England has a good chance if we perform decently. I'm really looking forward to it. Well, we'll see if my fantasising about these great birds coming with the cold weather comes to any fruition, but I'm very happy with the species that are around now if nothing comes out of the weather. There are a few things at Staines at the moment. The main target would be Common Goldeneye, which I still haven't seen this year, but there's also Greater Scaup and the American counterpart, Lesser Scaup, both of which I've seen this year, present on site. I'm definitely not one to turn down a chance to see such cool birds. We'll see if school and weather permit a trip at some point.

Hope everyone is having a good day:)

BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE Twitch at Holbury, 15/11/25

At the time of writing the first part of this post, I'm sat eating lunch at 14:00 on the top of a double-decker bus headed towards Southampton, so how did I end up here? Well, I had planned to go and see the Boat-tailed Grackle today if it was seen yesterday. But with the pouring rain all day, as expected, there were no sightings. Because the trip costs a lot of money, I didn't want to risk going if the bird wasn't seen. So instead I decided to go to Southsea and try for the Purple Sandpipers there. That was my plan on Friday when I went to bed, at least. With engineering works happening on the trains at the moment, everything was running later, and I wasn't able to go out super early anyway. So I woke up at a civilised 8 o'clock, with no time pressure, and expecting a nice, easy, no-change trip to Portsmouth. But of course, there had to be a spanner thrown into the works. Checking Birdguides, I noticed the grackle had been seen this morning and was showing well. Was it worth risking leaving it until Monday? Maybe. We will see if my decision was a good one or not. Anyways, I ended up buying a return ticket to Southampton Central at the train station, double the price of my original plan of going to Southsea. Oh well.

After safely negotiating the trains, I walked out of the train station and went to the bus stop. Buses. I've voiced my opinions on them before. Long story short, I don't like them.

After managing to catch the bus, I sat down and checked Birdguides and got momentarily worried, but realised that the sad face I saw right next to a report of the grackle was not on the Boat-tailed Grackle, but a Grey Phalarope, the other side of the country! It was still there. Good.

After making it to Holbury, I set off towards Southborne Avenue, the alleged site of the bird.

I was really hopeful it would be there. I'm currently on 199 on my British year list, and getting number 200 as a first for Britain would be incredibly ideal. Grackles are really cool birds, with great personalities, and this one, being a very smart male, was one I did not want to dip. It's the first ever for Britain, and the second ever grackle species, after another ship assisted one, a Great-tailed Grackle, was seen in Pembrokeshire two years ago.

Made it home safely, can start editing photos now....

It seemed as though the bird moved about a lot, so I was mainly looking for a group of people staring at houses rather than for the last pinned location of the bird. A few people were gathered on the pavement, so I walked down the road towards them. Bingo. Kind of. Birders? Yes. Did they have the bird currently? No.

They said it had been showing very well in the garden right in front of us, but had flown deep into a tree and was not visible. 

All of a sudden, a flash of wings, and there it was. Britain's first-ever Boat-tailed Grackle. It perched on top of a house - what a bird!

I moved around to where I was at a better angle. You can really see why they're named "Boat-tailed." 

It flew from the rooftop to another house, where it perched on the fence before dropping into the garden, then landing on the house.

Such a great character.

I was buzzing. After so much time and money spent pushing up the year list and seeing incredible birds, I was finally at 200. And what a bird to reach that milestone. A first for Britain. I am going to address the obvious concerns about the bird later on, but for now, I'm going to revel in the wonderfulness of being at the big 200. At the start of the year, my British life list wasn't even at 200. Mid-October, I was practically down and out. There were only a few more common species to see, and I needed another 15 at a rate of one bird a week for the rest of the year. Exactly one month ago today, things kicked off with a Water Pipit at Pulborough. Since then, things have gone nearly perfect, and I've rocketed up to 200. Incredible. Anyway... back to the bird

It flew over to another fence. Here's a zoomed-out shot.

It flew over and landed on a caravan before dropping into an obscured garden. The locals were all very nice, and the gate was open for us birders to go into their garden and see the grackle. It is quite weird just walking around people's gardens you've never met before, but hey ho, it's part of the hobby!

Grackles are a group of 11 species (one extinct) in the icterid family. They're found in North and South America, with this one, Boat-tailed, found on the east and south coast of the US.

It flew up again and went into another garden, which we all flocked to. It showed absolutely brilliantly. Up to a few meters. Such an incredible bird. I was loving every second of it.

After 10-15 minutes or so dazzling us, it flew up onto a house, then into a tree, where it stayed obscured for a whole hour. 

A BW shot.

And so for the next hour, the bird just sat in the tree doing nothing.

So, Boat-tailed Grackle, a non-migratory species incapable of reaching this side of the pond on its own steam. Obviously, the bird is ship-assisted, as it couldn't have flown here, and there are no captive birds in the UK. It is destined to end up in Category E of the British List, which means it would not be officially counted. So, although it may not end up in any official lists, I am counting the bird. It's as wild as all the Blackbirds you see, free to roam, as it has already demonstrated, relocating from Calshot to Holbury, and I don't see any reason for not counting it. If you're going to count species such as Black Swan, White-tailed Eagle and Mandarin Duck, you might as well count a truly wild bird. I hope ship-assisted birds get their own category at some point, as throwing them in with escaped non-wild birds is criminal. Also, the number of rare sparrows that have been counted in Hampshire that have undoubtedly been ship-assisted is surely a testament to the fact that ship-assists aren't really all that bad...

After seemingly ages, the bird flew onto a telephone pole.

Then it went back to its spot and started eating.

The lighting was not ideal, but I was just about making do with it. I was mesmerised by the bird. It's
just so cool.

By now, after a while since the first reports in the morning, quite a crowd had gathered to watch it.

Weirdly, a Marsh Harrier circled with a Peregrine before heading off.

I moved around to the wall to get a different angle of the bird.

I went back to the driveway to get more low-down shots.

The next few minutes, it tussled with something it caught, struggling to get it down.

It was showing so well.

There were quite a few other birders trying to get low-down photos, and I was at the far left, nearly underneath a caravan on the driveway.

Time was fast disappearing, and with a 3-hour journey ahead of me, I decided it would be best to catch the next bus, which was in about 15 minutes.

I tried to get some interesting photos of the bird.

I spent my last few minutes admiring the beauty of this American wonder before heading back down the street. I took a photo of all the birders peering into the garden from further down the street.

Well, I started this post on a phone, eating lunch on a bus, and I'm finishing it off on a computer on the sofa in our living room after having dinner, listening to Poulenc's Organ Concerto (really cool piece of music, a bit too atonal at points, but on the whole it's great.) I have 200 birds safely secured on my list, and have to think about a new target. 205? Who knows. All I know is that I'm absolutely thrilled with all the birds I've seen in exactly one month. 15th Oct to 15 Nov 2025 is not a period of time I'm going to forget. I've listed the species I've seen plenty of times, and I'm going to do it again. It amazes me every time how many incredible birds I've seen in the space of just over 4 weeks. So, Water Pipit, Black-throated Diver, Velvet Scoter, Great Grey Shrike, Isabelline/Red-tailed Shrike, Pink-footed Geese, Bittern, Crane, Bonxie, Snow Bunting, Spotted Redshank, Long-tailed Duck and now Boat-tailed Grackle. That's over two lines on here of just truly epic birds. 9 Lifers, 2 Vagrants (sort of with the grackle), one Asian, one American, 13 year-ticks. Incredible. Hopefully, I might still go and see the Purple Sandpipers with Dad on Monday, which would be another lifer for me after endlessly dipping them last winter. I still can't believe I saw the grackle. So cool. So so so cool. Whether or not you're going to count it, it's well worth going to see, as it is a truly incredible bird with great character and looks. The trip was worth every penny, and I'm at 200! We'll see what the rest of the year holds, and I'm going to continue pushing for more and more species. I think I'm going to take it more chilled next year, and aim to fill up the gaping holes on my life list, and not travel up to London and stuff for year-ticks. We'll see what happens. If we go on holiday somewhere good in Britain, I may end up with a big year list anyway. It's the unknown of birding that makes it so much fun. There have been so many random and unexpected sightings that have made it possible to get to this 200. The self-found Hoopoe at Thursley, the completely unexpected Bittern at Titchwell, a Tawny Owl flying over the village seen from our garden (back in Liss), a species I haven't seen any other time this year, although I've heard a few. Things like the Black-throated Thrush just down the road in Bordon, Little Bunting at Send, of course the Hudsonian Godwit, Least Sandpiper and many more unexpected birds that I would never dreamed of seeing at the start of the year. 

A good day's birding and a brilliant new bird added to my personal list. 

A huge, huge, huge thanks to the locals for being so friendly and being alright with stacks of birders piling into your nice gardens!