Patchlisting - 22nd January

Well the plan was to spend the day on my patch, but since I’ve been wittering on about the immature Iceland Gull at Camber Dock, Portsmouth, and given that stupidly I’ve voiced an opinion based on low res pics on the net, I thought I really should go and see it, maybe take some photos and set my mind at ease. General opinion seems to be that it is a 2^nd winter bird and I'm pretty sure that is the case but to me at least it didn’t seem 100% clear cut. Anyway there was no sign of it and a flyby blue lightening bolt of a Kingfisher was no consolation, however the Old Speckled Hen was!

By early afternoon it was back to plan A, out on the patch a very quiet Binswood did produce Nuthatch, Coal Tit and Marsh Tit all of which were patch year ticks somehow! However still not a sniff of Siskin, Redpoll or Brambling. The Green Sandpiper was still present on King Johns pond and as I headed back towards Kingsley sandpits a Little Egret flew over my head and I later relocated it on KSP south, nice one! Next I decided to target Owls over dusk, Little Owl and Tawny were as expected not a problem but I am quite concerned that the Barn Owls I’ve been watching in this area for maybe a decade have been obliterated by the harsh winter periods of the last two years, snow cover was thick and complete up here and that must make hunting very hard.

Hampshire ticks just keep on coming - 16th January 2012

A Shorelark was seen yesterday at Hayling Oysterbeds late in the afternoon and reported to Birdguides this morning. I had already made plans to visit the coast this afternoon if I had time and so with not especially high hopes I arrived at the Oysterbeds. After a brief exchange of conversation with a Dorset birder we parted ways to look for the bird. Just a few minutes later I picked it out distantly on the shingle island, the first Shorelark I have seen in Hampshire and my fifth new Hampshire bird this year.
There is no way I’ll keep up this momentum!!

Unfortunately only two other birders were able to connect before it disappeared followed by the appearance of various familiar faces hoping to see it. I gather it didn’t show again until late in the day around dusk, but at least its still there.

Ferruginous Duck – 12th Jan 2012

Having seen two Hampshire Megas with time to spare I figured I may as well take another look at the Blashford Ferruginous Duck since I had such poor views before. The bird was asleep much of the time among a raft of Pochard but occasionally stuck its head up, preened or swam a short distance. 

Here are a few record shots I took of the bird last Thursday, it appears to be a typical Ferruginous Duck in most respects. Plumage wise it seems fine, the contrast between flanks and breast was barely noticeable (though in other pictures it seems quite obvious!).The bill looks good with all the dark mostly restricted to the nail. 

The eye is pale white, though can look yellowish!The head shape is round though can appear to be slightly peaked but never as peaked as in this photo from my archive, of a presumably typical male Ferruginous Duck, taken in captivity. 

 

Male Ferruginous Duck, Photographed at Arundel WWT

 The bird shows no white spot under the chin, but appears in some photos to have a pale lore spot. The overall size of the bird is good it is smaller than a Tufted Duck.

I did not see the bird in flight but I assume the wings are as typical Ferruginous Duck. 

There seems little doubt that the bird is mostly, if not completely genetically a male Ferruginous Duck and if it isn’t what mixture of genes could cause the head shape anomaly? 

Junco revisited – 12th Jan 2012

It seemed rude not to pay the Dark-eyed Junco a visit over lunchtime after I had had my fill of the Sparrow. Unfortunately the light was bad and it started drizzling, it showed briefly though with perhaps a dozen Reed Bunting and there were a few chaffinches knocking around the area too. I was reasonably happy with this picture which was the only keeper of about 6 I fired of as it showed in the open briefly in the usual area among the fallen pines.

It was great to be able to just drop in and see a bird like this for a second time when there’s no pressure to see it and have it show pretty quickly and well all be it briefly. 

Spanish Sparrow, Photographs - 12th Jan 2012

Spanish Sparrow, Calshot, Hampshire - 12th Jan 2012

Big thanks to Bruce Gwynn for allowing birders into his girlfriends home to see this bird today. It showed in the hedge along the road mid morning and then moved to the garden feeders later on and seemed pretty reliable, sticking to a small area though at times it was elusive. My 4th Hants tick this year, which isn't bad for the12th January. 

A great bird that I am relieved to have now seen, though lets face it not going anywhere. 

Spanish Sparrow, short Video - 12th Jan 2012

Hayling Island - 8th January 2012

After an interesting! evening in the pub for the Hayling birders Christmas curry and drinks, I found myself birding Hayling from mid-morning with a slightly hazy head. ACJ and I had what I considered a good variety and quality of Hants birds including 3-4 Razorbill, 9 Slavonian Grebe, 1 Red-necked Grebe and 6 Red-throated Diver from Sandy point. The thousands of waders at the Black Point roost was also an impressive site, and the café up the road does a very good fry up.

Patchlist 2012 - 7th January

I gave the patch its first proper bash today and concentrated on the sand pits and the farmland. No sign of the Wigeon that was around after Christmas which was a pity. Grey wagtail was reasonable and saves me worrying about that one. Otherwise things were very quiet particularly out on the farmland where I hoped i'd bump into a few finches, maybe there will be some when winter starts! It seemed quite spring like at times and I had a drumming Great-spotted Woodpecker.

Late afternoon things stepped up a gear when I realised I could scan Sleaford Reservoir FROM my patch, though this small reservoir does not fall within it. Making full use of the in, over or from rule I thought it may be good for a Pochard or alike. I was very pleased to pick up a drake Goosander on here, Brilliant!!! This is a scarce bird locally and an unexpected bonus for the patch. There are two small sections of heathland on my patch that I don’t know well but that I planned to target for Woodlark in the spring. Shortly after the Goosander I was back on my bike when I flushed three birds from the edge of a ploughed field at Malthouse Farm, before I had dismounted there calls gave them away as Woodlark, excellent.

Patchlist 2012 - 5th January

I had my first real chance so far this year to visit my patch for a couple of hours, the main goal was the wintering Green Sandpiper that may prove to be a key bird. Hopefully waders won’t be hard to come by in the spring but I have not really birded the Kingsley pits before in migration seasons so its all new, which is nice. The Green Sand was present and also of note was a Cormorant and a good count of 270 Black-headed Gulls on the north pit with one Common Gull. Gulls seem to use this pit most when it’s windy as a place to shelter, a similar thing was happening in the autumn with a wider variety of species. Anyway they never seem to roost here overnight but I have high hopes of getting 6-7 gull species here over the year.

Hampshire birding 1st & 2nd January 2012

With the first two days of the year available to go birding and a determination not to yearlist this year I had intended to devote some time to starting my patchlist. However on the evening of the 31^st Dec news broke of a Dark-eyed Junco in the New Forest, and along with recent news of a Ferruginous Duck at Blashford and an Iceland Gull at Gosport it seemed Hants ticks were on the cards.

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)

Hawkhill Inclosure, The New Forest, Hampshire.2nd January 2012 

I woke on the 1^st having surprisingly stuck to my guns and had very little to drink the night before. I decided to make the Junco site (Hawkhill Inclosure) my first port of call hoping to beat the crowds and see the bird as reported feeding in the car park. By mid morning there was no sign of it and a surprising lack of people looking, though news on site seemed positive and dispelled thoughts of a possible hoax. There was little else of note in the car park aside from a few Crossbills.

Around mid morning I decided on a trip to Blashford for the Ferruginous Duck which was not as reported on Spinnaker Lake but thankfully had relocated not far away on Ivy Lake. Unfortunately shortly after catching up with it the heavens opens and I only really had distant rain encumbered views of it, a little unsatisfactory but a Hants tick in the bag none the less. The weather scuppered other Blashford birding that I could have considered though I did pick out a Bewick’s Swan in the meadows at Harbridge. With few options left to consider in this weather I figured I may as well be getting wet were there was a chance of seeing a Dark-eyed Junco and so I returned to Hawkhill Inclosure, where for most of the remaining afternoon I was 50% of the people looking for the bird. Clearly everyone had the sense to be elsewhere though some reward for persistence and a soaking came in the form of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at around 16:00.

The 2^nd Jan dawned a very different day in all respects, clear skies and sunshine all be it pretty cold. I had arrange to meet  Andy Johnson and catch up with a few of the good Hants birds on offer (we both claim to be ‘not yearlisting’) and with any luck catch up with the two Hants ticks I still needed (Iceland Gull and the Junco). The Cattle Egret was still showing at Warblington but we were soon on the way to Gosport to attempt to see the Iceland. We had no joy but the Ring-billed Gull showed nicely at Walpole Park and during this period news that the Junco was showing had reached us.

On arrival at  Hawkhill Inclosure, which seems like a different place due to the different weather, we learned that the bird had been showing sporadically with Reed Buntings NW of the car park in a cleared area, though as everyone present was aware it was difficult to pin down. Thankfully a phone call in the early afternoon saw everyone heading for a group of pines and birch where the bird and been seen a few minutes previously still associated with Reed Bunting. It was some while however before anyone got views and several people had dispersed including me. I had unsatisfactory flight views as it moved around between ground cover and trees but eventually I was in the right place to see it well and take a few photos. Phewww!  

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)

Hawkhill Inclosure, The New Forest, Hampshire.2nd January 2012

Hants tick number two and a cracking bird under my belt. The Junco was seen again more distantly shortly after this and apparently a few more times in the afternoon but unless it settles down in the car park to feed on the seed that has been placed there it will remain a difficult bird to see.


With not much daylight left another attempt to see the Iceland Gull at Gosport on the way home seemed the only option and with frankly low expectations we arrived in Harbour Road to news that it was showing! Good but distant views were had of a cracking adult Iceland Gull, my third Hampshire tick in two days, on the pipes of the fuel jetty where it was also accompanied by the Ring-billed Gull.

A couple of pints ended an overall cracking day of  Hampshire birding, but I’m not yearlisting J

Hayling Island - 24th December

I had a brief visit to Hayling Island again today where two Great Northern Divers were showing quite well around the pontoon at the Ferry Boat Inn, where they were feeding mostly on crabs. One of the birds is a first winter and the other a winter plumage adult showing a small amount of remaining summer plumage. 

Juvenile Great Northern Diver 

The only other birds of note that I found were in Chichester Harbour from Sandy point where what is presumably the same adult winter Razorbill I saw last week was seen briefly close in before it moved further out into the harbour. Later there was a winter plumage Guillemot in the same area. 

Is was rather quiet otherwise so I had a little play with the camera and took some photos of the sea and beach using the Finepix HS20EXR and a neutral density filter.

Patchlist 2012

Patchlist 2012 has moved, please now enter your details here www.goingbirding.co.uk

Good luck everyone

If you are interested in being involved then visit the site. The rules are simple. Select a four sided area no larger than 25 square kilometres (5x5km or 8x3km are appropriate) which is defined by its centre grid reference. This is your patch and you can count any wild, living, full species (BOU) you identify (seen or heard) in, over or from the defined area during the year. 

Hayling Island and Warblington - 19th December

I haven't been able to get down to the coast for some time so it was nice to spend some time in the Langstone harbour area today. Unfortunately the drizzle set in mid morning but up until then it was very pleasant, there was no wind and the water was flat calm. My first stop was Budds Farm where yesterdays reported Scaup were nowhere to be seen, there were good numbers of Teal and other ducks here and a Water Rail called.

I soon moved on to Warblington where the reported Cattle Egret was still present and showing well. i suspect this is the same bird i found at The Kench on 2nd August and has since been residing on Thorney Island in West Sussex.

 Below is a Video of today's Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) showing well at Warblington near the Church



Later on SW Hayling near the Langstone Harbour entrance there was a Great Northern Diver and a juvenile Shag. The usual Med Gull (the distinctive bird with black legs) which has been returning to the same car park to winter for many years was easily found near the funfair.

Later in the afternoon i moved to Sandy point where birding was difficult in the rain but there was at least two Razorbill. Both birds showed well along the shore line at times together and it was possible to see differences in their bills and age them as an adult winter (above) and a first winter (below).

Birding and photography highlights 2011

Here is a video comprising just a few of my birding and photography highlights from the last year, mostly taken in Hampshire and neighbouring counties.

Full HD Videos

In my attempts to find the best way to display video on the web I have tried a few option but settled on the obvious. Youtube makes sense really so i have re-uploaded the previously terrible looking Badger video Hampshire birding and Nature photography: Daylight Badger

And added various bits of footage to the new videos page, click the link on the left

Rich

Fuji Finepix HS20 EXR - November 20th

I have recently purchased a Fuji Finepix HS20 EXR and today at Arundel Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust i gave it its first proper outing, the birds in the collection here are at close range of course but testing this camera in various situations on this family day out gave me a good idea of what its capable of.

I have generally slagged off bridge cameras in the past because I am a DSLR owner and obviously this will never be my first choice for wildlife (though perhaps for Macro work!) . However results in ideal shooting conditions are comparable with DSLR images when pixel peeping at 100%, not surprisingly it struggles in poor shooting conditions and that's when the differences become obvious, for example it is noisy at high ISO’s, however it does have lots of bells and whistles to deal with these kinds of issues and some interesting and potentially useful features.

It’s ideal for a family day out when you don’t want the hassle of carrying all the DSLR gear and it's capable of producing a decent wildlife image or at least a record shot! Full HD Video is good quality and with 16mp i'll  have plenty of scope for cropping to enlarge and still retaining enough detail for large prints. I could have bought a newer more expensive bridge camera but I had set a budget of £250 and this fitted all the specifications I required. I few images from Arundel above and below.

Hook Acro - 16th October

An interesting Acrocephalus Warbler was found at Hook today which was in the end caught and ringed. Speculation about the ID ranged from Marsh Warbler to Blyth's Reed Warbler but in the hand it seemed it could only be a Reed Warbler perhaps of the eastern sub-species Fuscus. Here are a few pictures.

Hayling Island - 11th October

I managed to spend three hours down on Hayling today where the shingle bar at The Kench had good numbers of the expected waders feeding as the tide dropped. There must be at least a thousand Brent Geese in the harbour now too. The only other bird of note here was a nice male Common Scoter hanging around the area until the tide dropped and it took flight and landed again on the water further out in the harbour.

I spent the last part of the afternoon with ACJ having a brief seawatch from Sandy Point. The highlight was this juvenile Arctic Skua which put on an excellent but brief show harassing a gull just offshore and over the beach.

Pennington Marshes - 3rd October

I spent the morning on Hayling Island and having seen little else but a few Chiffchaffs, the news of a juv Rosy Starling at Pennington was quite welcome and after some initial hesitance i decided to go. The Starling took a little bit of work to track down amongst the several hundred common Starling and after a brief view perched on brambles and a few flight views it was pined down feeding on the deck in amongst the throng.

However it was picked up again in flight and disappeared off west into the distance mid afternoon.

It was good to once again connect with the Semi-palmated Sandpiper which was still showing well on the Jetty Lagoon, Pennington Marshes.

So not a bad day at all!

Pennington Marshes - 26th September

As it turned out i did manage to catch up with the Semi-palmated Sandpiper at Pennington Marshes, it showed well though to far away for good photos, with a group of Dunlin and associated closely at times with a Little Stint giving a nice comparison. I had assumed i would dip this one but the Sabine's Gulls at Sturt pond do continue to elude me.

Wrong place wrong time - 24th Sept

My week off work is just about at an end and Pallid Harrier was the undoubted highlight. In Hampshire terms I've been very unlucky. I've tried to cover most of the key sites and found very little of note. Just to rub it in good birds have literally turned up at sites I have visited the day or two days before, on days when I have other commitments. Some days I wish I was possessed by a simpler hobby, but that would be no fun would it.

Richard Ford - Wildlife Photography
http://www.digitalwildlife.co.uk

More pictures of the Pallid Harrier, Burpham, West Sussex – 21st Sept 2011

Pallid Harrier, Burpham, West Sussex – 21st Sept 2011

What a bird, What a bird……

One of those twitches that had everything for me, we didn’t have to wait to long before it showed. When it did it showed for prolonged periods and performed brilliantly. If you were in the right place at the right time it showed well at close range allowing scrutiny of id features and good photographs. This bird has character, it gets a lot of attention from the local corvids, Kestrels and Buzzards give it hassle but it gives it back, on more than one occasion we saw it have a go at Crows and a Kestrels almost for fun, we watched it successfully hunting, feeding, preening and chasing Partridges (don’t tell the local game keeper) and best of all it looks AWSOME……

Here are a couple of photos, not doubt there will be more when I have sorted through them.

I also saw the Weir Wood Res, Long-toed Stint today (if that is what it is) which by comparison just isn’t worth mentioning.

Pennington to Farlington - 18th Sept

I'm just about start another week off work and though i wont be able to get out every day i do hope to cover the Langstone Hbr area as much as possible with a few trips further afield and maybe out of county if necessary. Fingers crossed for some good birds and with any luck it will be me that finds them!!


Today i spent the morning and early afternoon a Pennington Marshes in the hope of connecting with the the Bairds Sandpiper again ideally on the Shoveler pools which has to be the only place with a chance of it being close enough for good photos. No sign all day despite plenty of people looking though it was reported early AM and late PM, to put it diplomatically those reports surprised me!! Hmmm.... anyway Grey Phal on the Normandy Lagoon was nice and there were Curlew Sands, Little Stints, Spotshanks and a fly over Osprey to keep things ticking over.

I dropped in on Farlington Lake and the stream on the way back where two Ruff and a Whinchat were the best of little else of note there.

Baird's Sandpiper, Pennington - 15th September

I bit of a mad dash to Pennington this afternoon in the hope of connecting with the reported Baird's Sandpiper. I had approximately four hours to spare which left me with two hours to see the bird, it seemed like enough time, but two hours turned into an hour and a half and when i arrived the bird hadn't been seen for some time, a few useful conversation and text were exchanged (thanks SI and SP) and i relocated the bird at the back of Butts Lagoon with half and hour to spare......Phew. I enjoyed some good scope views but sadly for photos it needed to be on the Shoveler pools. An added bonus during the afternoon was five flyover Spoonbills. I got home a bit late but no harm done and another Hants tick in the bag.

Two record shots below

Farlington - 31st August

Thanks to Martin Gillingham for todays Temminks Stint on the lake at Farlington, which showed well if distantly untill it flew off west.

SE Hampshire - 21st-23rd August

I’ve been able to get out and about on and off over the last few days and aside from a brief visit to Pennington Marshes I have concentrated on trying to find migrants in the Langstone Harbour area, including Hayling Island and Farlington Marshes. Basically the expected areas such as Northney Paddocks and the bushes at Farlington have contained the expected Warblers such as, Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs, Blackcap and the odd Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitetroat and Spotted Flycatcher. Yellow Wagtails have been a near constant feature particularly at Farlington. There seems to be poor numbers of waders but the rubbish neap tide is giving them more options of high tide roost sites so they are less concentrated. A single Spotted Redshank is about as good as it has got. Singles of juv Curlew Sandpiper and juv Little Stint were the best of very few birds in the Pennington area on 21st Aug.

The undoubted highlight is the continued presence of two Ospreys in Langstone Harbour which are pretty easy to find but always distant. When they are not flying around, one bird seems to favour South Binness Island and the other uses marker posts (usually a red one) near to the west Hayling shore.

Birdguides Photo of the Week: 4th–10th August

I guess i may as well point out on here that i was very pleased to be awarded photo of the week by Birdguides. http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=potw&rty=0&r=1&v=1&off=313143

In their summary they were also kind enough to say probably the nicest things ever to have been said about one of my photographs. See below:

Although our choice of Photo of the Week is based entirely on the image rather than who took it, regular readers of our PotW citations will have realised that we're always particularly pleased to be able to award people their first PotW, especially it they've been long-standing photo contributors. Bird photographer Richard Ford has been uploading images to BirdGuides since early 2004, at which point his Digital Wildlife website was already up and running. Richard's photography is very focused on the county of Hanpshire and he now maintains a blog of his birding and nature photography forays around that county. This week, visiting Hayling Island in the hope of picking up some migrants, Richard had to settle for pointing his camera at the local Sparrowhawk family sparring with crows. Lack of species interest, though, was more than made up for by some gorgeous evening light bathing the hawks, and Richard's pick of the session definitely made his visit worthwhile. The colour combination of the rich blue sky and the warm hues of the flying bird give this image instant appeal, after which the other qualities of the image start to hit the viewer: great bird, great pose, open bill, steep banking, dynamic angles, superb detail, the list goes on. As we've said before, a steeply banking bird front-lit by low altitude sunlight is a great recipe for successful flight shooting, but Richard's image goes way beyond the basic application of this technique.

Photo of the Week citation (admin), 11/08/11 11:37

Titchfield Haven Roseate Tern, composite image

A composite of three other flight shots

Titchfield Haven – 7th August

After dipping Roseate Tern at Titchfield Haven last week I had been reluctant to make the trek over to Titchfield again for fear of another dipping session. But at least one bird had continued to be reported all week and this morning I felt I may as well give it another go. On my arrival I started to scan the small gathering of Terns on the beach in front of the sailing club to no avail, the tide was high and I expected to have to wait until the large number of Terns in the Solent returned to roost on the exposed shingle as the tide dropped. I could see there were a few Terns on the river and around the island near the visitors centre and so I wandered over to the viewing area and began to scan through them. It wasn't long before I noticed the Roseate Tern in the photographs below.