Cattle Egret, Bittern and Bearded Tits........

31st December 2007

The last day of 2007 and my last chance to add some birds to my year list, so we headed to Blashford, where we had heard there was a Bittern in the reeds outside Ivy Lake, North Hide, and a Cattle Egret near North End Farm, a couple of miles from Blashford.

We went in search of the Cattle Egret first, and by the time we arrived at North End Farm we had already seen four Buzzards, one Kestrel and a Peregrine......not bad considering it was just after 9am on a cold, cloudy, December morning.

The Cattle Egret was easy to find, it was sitting in the field opposite the farm and we had good views of it, before it flew off over the farm. Now it was time to head back to Blashford to look for the Bittern.


cattle egret

I had decided that even if it took a few hours I would stay until I had seen the Bittern. Well, luck was definitely on our side to-day, as we were only in the Ivy Lake, North Hide for about five minutes when another birder located the Bittern. He then very kindly showed me where it was and he set our scope up, so everyone had good views. I must admit I don't think we would have found the Bittern ourselves, as it was so well camouflaged.

The Great White Egret was showing well on Ibsley Water and with a Grey Heron and Little Egret at Blashford there were five heron species altogether........not bad at all.

We were thinking of going home, but as luck seemed to be on our side we decided to go to Farlington Marshes in search of some Bearded Tits, a bird I have wanted to see for a long time. To tell the truth, I hadn't been able to get out birding all over Christmas so I wanted to make the most of to-day!!!

It must have been 12.30ish, when we arrived at Farlington Marshes and we headed straight to the reed beds. I was looking at some teal ducks through the scope when I noticed some movement in the reeds. I couldn't believe it........Bearded Tits and lots of them!!!!!!


bearded tit - sorry the pic isn't very good......

They were at the back of the reeds at first, and we could only see them in the scope, but they gradually moved closer to us. Wonderful little birds to watch, we reckon there were 20-25 of them, and we did watch them for almost an hour. By then we were freezing cold and in need of a nice hot drink, but with three lifers to add to my year list, what a perfect end to my birding year.................

154. cattle egret
155. bittern
156. bearded tit

Season's Greetings.......

Christmas Day 2007



Happy Christmas to my family, friends and fellow birders

Best wishes

Eve.

Barn Owl again......

Saturday 22nd December 2007

I was able to lighten the background of the photos of the Barn Owl, and even though they aren't that good, I've decided to put them up.





Smashing bird..... hope I get to see it again next week......

Barn Owl, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker + Brambling.......

Friday 21st December 2007

I've just had the most brilliant time in Stockbridge and the surrounding areas today.

The idea was to try and find some Grey legged Partridges, but on the way, I saw a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes, I have wanted to see one for the past eighteen months, I was delighted.

Later on, driving down a country lane, I flushed lots of small birds from the trees and the verges. I stopped the car to see if there were any Brambling amongst them........and yes, there were quite a few. Unfortunately the light was very bad today and the photos were only silhouettes of the birds, so not much good.

We saw lots of birds, but no sign of the Partridges, so we decided to call it a day and go to Stockbridge for a cuppa. I was driving up the main street looking for somewhere to park, when I noticed lots of starlings overhead.



I turned into Longstock Road and pulled into the layby beside the River Test, where we sat and watched the starlings.........a couple of thousand of them. I was just thinking what an enjoyable day it had been, when I noticed something in the field next to the layby..........a Barn Owl!!!!!!!!!!! I grabbed the camera and jumped out of the car. It was only 4:15 and there was still some daylight left, though not much. An elderly man came over to see what we were looking at, and then a police car pulled up to see what was going on...........



It really was quite something, with a couple of thousand starlings flying over us and the barn owl flying in the field next to us. I guess it was there for fifteen minutes or so and when it went out of sight, I looked up to see the starlings, but they had all gone as well.

On the down side, the photos I took are very disappointing. There was only one I considered posting on the blog, but even it was mostly black and the barn owl was hardly noticeable. I'm going to try and get back to Stockbridge sometime next week, so lets hope I get to see that Owl again..........

151. lesser spotted woodpecker
152. brambling
153. barn owl

150 Birds..........

Monday 17th December 2007

At the beginning of the year I set myself a target of one hundred and fifty birds to see, anywhere in the UK. I am very pleased to say I have reached my target :-)

My 150th bird was a Red-necked Grebe on Anglesey Lake in Gosport yesterday - a lifer for me.
I took a few photos, but it just wasn't close enough.

I must admit I am a wee bit disappointed that I haven't seen any owls this year. Mind you there are still two weeks left until the end of the year, so I'm going to try my best to add at least one owl to my list.......

150. Red-necked Grebe

New Garden Birds.....

Sunday 16th December 2007


my garden robin....

I didn't get out birding last weekend but I did spend time watching birds in my back garden and I'm pleased to say I have five new garden birds.....

blackcap (male)
long-tailed tit
greenfinch
chaffinch
raven (flew over)

On top of that my goldfinch numbers have gone up from seven to thirteen!!!!!

I also saw a great spotted woodpecker in the tree at the back of our house so fingers crossed he pays us a visit soon......


one of three blue tits I have in my garden...

Great White Egret......

Saturday 1st December 2007


chaffinch

I had such a great time at Blashford Lakes this morning. We arrived just after 9am, the sun was shining and the wood beside the visitor centre was just as I like it...... full of birds, including:


nuthatch
siskins
mistle thrush
green woodpecker (2)
great spotted woody (2)
buzzards (3)
long tailed tits
chiffchaff
goldfinches plus all the other usual tits, finches, wrens, robins and blackbirds.


fungi

After checking out the three hides we headed across to the area recently opened to the public, with two new bird hides overlooking Ibsley Water. On the walk over I saw this Peacock butterfly - not bad considering it's the 1st December.



I have to say I was very impressed with the hides and with Ibsley Water. Blashford is better than ever now and another new hide is due to open sometime soon.

There was lots of activity on the water including....

black necked grebe
goosander
tufted duck
goldeneye
gadwall
shoveler
teal
wigeon
pochard
little grebe
great crested grebe



I also have a new bird for my year list after finally locating the Great White Egret on Mockbeggars Lake. That white blob really was a Great White Egret!!

149. Great White Egret