Hampshire Birding Expedition - October 2017

This was a slightly different approach to the camping trip, out of necessity, to save too much travelling back and forth along the rural roads of Hampshire and Dorset, and it meant that on the Friday we headed to Hambledon to set up the tent. We pulled up at a friend’s house as dusk approached and scoped out the area by the big barn as our ideal location for the tent. A buzzard casually drifted across the scarlet sunset and its lazy movement juxtaposed the frenzied flitting of the bats which streamed from the rafters of the barn and hunted the hedge tops. We were teased there may be owl and badger action but were perhaps too disruptive for a sighting that night.

Beers opened, tent up, and the fire going with just one spark, it was down to the serious business. Burn some sausages, drink some more beer, fire jenga, and marvel at the extreme amount of light being given off by the October harvest moon.

Up just after 7am the next morning, an unfortunate light shower dampened the tent before decamping, and we were away by 8am. The target for the day was set at a challenging total of 50 species, which must be witnessed by both observers.

Into Evesham for a full English and then onto Thorney Island. With the tide out it was never going to be a spectacular first visit but there were a few waders about. The strong south-westerly persistently blasted the inlet, and that, along with the absent tide, curtailed the trip after 30 minutes, but nevertheless we were up and running for the day.

Thorney Island

Blackbird	Pied Wagtail	Jay	Pigeon	Collared Dove
Starling	Robin	Coot	Mute Swan	Little Egret
Blackheaded Gull	Grey Plover	Brent Goose	Curlew	Carrion Crow
Goldfinch	Green Woodpecker	Meadow Pipit	House Sparrow	Redshank
Oystercatcher	Turnstone	Pheasant

Count: 23

From there we moved onto Farlington Marshes which had been independently positive for both of us in the past but again we had our doubts now that the tide was coming in. The outlook refused to brighten, and despite the rain abating the clouds sucked all colour from the world, the tarnished grey of the sky reflected in the waters as they streamed across the mud. As exposed as Thorney Island we stood on the seawall, the thundering hum of the M27 at our rear, and conducted a full scan of the area. We could see plenty of waders but there was no sign of the Curlew Sandpiper, feted to have been a regular in the area over the past couple of days. A mud-stuck spare tyre, shoe and shopping trolley later we wandered around onto the reserve area so as to observe species on the pond. This proved highly beneficial, with immediate returns from John recognising a kingfisher’s call before it shot across the reeds and disappeared. Our observations were briefly curtailed as the ever helpful John, on a crusade to convert all innocent bystanders into feather-obsessed nature lovers, proceeded to instruct some mature ladies on identifying the birdsong of the Cetti’s Warbler. Following this the roles were reversed and we got some guidance from a camouflaged waterproof-wearing birder as to the location of the Curlew Sandpiper – “just in front of the Blackheaded gull, to the left of the Mallard.”

The weather may have been bleak but the count was continuing to rise at a very satisfying rate.

Farlington Marshes

Greenshank	Ringed Plover	Moorhen	Lapwing	Dunlin
Teal	Kingfisher	Wren	Black-tailed Godwit	Canada Goose
Curlew Sandpiper	Shoveller	Mallard	Barnacle Goose	House Martin

Count: 38

The changeable weather continued and in an effort to achieve our goal we manfully soldiered on without a break for lunch. Titchfield Haven was our next destination, although scepticism reigned supreme throughout the duration of our journey because this required a financial transaction to facilitate entry. Parking on the road just above the beach, the tide was now battering the path, high curtains of chilled seawater sweeping the cars and careless pedestrians. A measured scan of Titchfield from the road yielded five additions to the day’s total but a charge of £4.25 each seemed excessive given the grim weather and lack of recent significant sightings. We were back in the car within fifteen minutes and were now on emergency rations as the BBQ-coated peanuts were shared out.

Cormorant

Grey Heron

Snipe

Gadwall

Buzzard

Count: 43

Next stop was Pennington Marshes, which meant a significant journey through the New Forest. We saw plenty of ponies indifferent to the traffic but no pigs consuming acorns or attacking innocent walkers. En-route we decided to visit an area of woodland to boost the numbers of some of the regulars found thereabouts, and we stumbled across Brownhills. Given the nature of the tree species we had an expectation of seeing at least Goldcrest but were left wanting. Eventually Brownhills gave up its secrets and John spied a Treecreeper before we witnessed a large flock of Goldfinch and Siskin working their way through the treetops.

Brownhills

Long-tailed Tit

Siskin

Great Tit

Treecreeper

Count: 47

Pennington Marshes would prove to be a disappointment but the recorded sightings from the past seven days were a little vague and it’s entirely possible that the Little Stint had decided not to stay on the top of the five-bar gate for three days straight in anticipation of seeing us. That said, it was not without success and we were afforded reasonable close-ups of both a Wheater and Kestrel, the latter hunting over a small patch of woodland and being especially vocal about it.

Pennington

Linnet

Northern Wheater

Wigeon

Kestrel

Count: 51

With the day drawing on, and a miscount of sighted species it was now a desperate last charge to Blashford Lakes to try and break the day’s target. Arriving at 16:45, after the gates were supposed to close, and long after most reasonable visitors had left, we set off in search of our final species. The woodland hide was expected to satisfy the itch but the door was locked so we resorted to some Peeping Tom-esque behaviour, voyeuristically watching over the fence through our binoculars. Patiently we added the final touches to the list and returned a very respectable number, given the weather was grey, wet and windy.

Blashford Lakes

Blue Tit

Chaffinch

Nuthatch

Sparrowhawk

Count: 55

With that, and the prospect of some beers and a curry on the backstreets of Poole Town, we headed home. The day of wildlife watching was soundly brought to a conclusion when, upon returning from town we decamped to the garden and watched a hungry badger eagerly feeding on peanuts just a couple of meters away.