26th January - Killdeer - Ripley Reservoir, Hampshire

On Wednesday the 21st January news broke during some hideous weather that a Killdeer had been found in the west of the county in a field close to a reservoir on farmland just outside Ripley.  Once confirmed it became only the second report of Killdeer in Hampshire, the last one being in September 1980 at Iley Lane in Pennington.  Such is the rarity of the bird this would also be the only mainland Killdeer in the United Kingdom since 2013

Many saw it despite the rain over the next few days, but due to family and birthday events I was not going to be able to get to it until today.  I watched as it continued to be reported over the weekend, but was a little worried when I went out last night and could see the moon in a clear sky.  Nevertheless on Monday morning as I was getting ready to leave the report came in that it was still present in the same spot.  Game on!

An accident on the A31 had me driving through Emery Down and on to the A35.  I finally found a parking spot along a small country Lane known as Anna Lane and then followed the direction walking along the footpaths.  The area is used as a pheasant shoot so there were warnings about straying from the paths, but they were easy to follow.  The reservoir was used for irrigation and had shoveler and Wigeon present and on the other side of the path was a pig farm.  The sun was just out and I was advised to initially look from a distance and picked it up on the far side of the reservoir, the distinctive double breast bands of the Killdeer.  It has been reported as a first year bird but I can't see how this could be determined, it looked very much in adult plumage.

I walked around to the west side of the reservoir where there we several birders watching the bird,.  The light wasn't so good from here, but the bird was marginally closer.  The double breasted bands are diagnostic, but you couldn't help thinking it was just a slightly bigger Ringed Plover!

With the distance away from us and the light, photography was never going to be easy and these images will never win any prizes, but they are a record of a very rare bird to the United Kingdom and Hampshire.  The last time I saw one was in Yellowstone in 2015, which tells you something about there favoured habitat.

My initial views, again distant, but confirming the bird

So what is a Killdeer?  In North America it is classified as an upland plover, similar to the Ringed Plovers, but slightly larger and being found around farmland and baseball fields, so this was ideal habitat for this one to turn up in, it even had the squeals of the local pigs as they were fed to make it feel at home.

While the double breastbands are unmissable it also has an orange rump and tail which unfortunately wasn't visible in the hour and a half I was watching it.  There is also a red eye ring in the manner of the eye ring seen on a Little Ringed Plover.

The name Killdeer is bound to raise some eyebrows - but this has nothing to do with deer the mammal.  Instead, the name is an onomatopoeia that refers to the bird’s piercing call, a shrill kill-dee! that it shouts while in flight. In fact, you’ll often hear a Killdeer long before you see it noisily wheeling about the sky with its pointed wings, which is how I remember the bird when seen in North America.

The Killdeer’s loud calls have inspired many of its names over the years. In the 18th century, naturalists referred to it as the Noisy Plover or the Chattering Plover. And its species name in Latin, formalized by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, is vociferus—which roughly translates to “shouting” or “yelling.”

Although they’re considered shorebirds, Killdeer aren’t solely found near water. In fact, they favor a wide range of open areas like agricultural fields, tidal flats, pastures, and grass lawns. As a result, Killdeer are often seen feeding and even nesting in habitats that are close to people, like golf courses, baseball fields, and children’s playgrounds.

Invertebrates can make up more than 90 percent of a Killdeer’s diet. These birds love chowing down on everything from beetles and grasshoppers to earthworms and snails. Pay attention to a Killdeer while it’s foraging, as it moves in a pattern typical of plovers: The bird runs a few steps, stops abruptly, and tilts its head to look and listen for prey before seizing it with its bill. After eating, the bird quickly gets back on the move, looking for its next meal. Killdeer have been known to follow tractors to eat the stirred-up insects in their wake.

When it comes to migration, Killdeer are divided between travelers and homebodies. Some populations breed in Canada and the northern United States and travel south in the winter, while others spend the whole year in the southern parts of the country. Interestingly, the birds that do migrate end up skipping over the ones that stay put, traveling past the southern U.S. in favor of places like Mexico and Central America. This pattern, which scientists call “leapfrog migration,” can be observed in various other kinds of birds. 

So has it been the recent storms that brought this bird in or did it reach Europe following teh autumnal storms, we will never know, but it was a welcome bird amid some dire January weather here in the south of England.

The Killdeer never looked like coming any closer.  It was though still very popular with plenty of birds from around the country turning up.  As I left at least a dozen birders arrived to take my place.  I had been present for nearly two hours so decided it was time to me on.  As I left I was debating where to go next with back into the forest my main choice, but that was about to change.

24th January - Emsworth to Nutbourne, Chichester Harbour

Today was my birthday and we had taken the opportunity to have a weekend away, staying just outside of Emsworth on the border of Hampshire and West Sussex.  The one time I have been to Emsworth was December 2024, then for a Black-throated Diver on the Mill Pond.  Nothing like that around today, but we were off on a walk and to be honest I had no idea where we were going.

From the hotel we walked down Beach Road toward the water front, this being on the edge of Chichester Harbour.  The skies were blue, but with a very strong south easterly wind it felt cold.  There was a threat of rain later in the day so we were hopeful we could have a good walk before it arrived.  The tide though was low, with it just being low tide an hour ago.

A black and white view, looking east towards Thorney Island and West Sussex.

There is a path around the Mill Pond, but it was very blowy and exposed.  Black-tailed Godwits and Redshank were feeding in the channels and at the Mill there was a Black Swan amongst the Mutes.

We walked through the centre of Emsworth and eventually found the path around the Slipper Pond that took us through the marina and out on tt the sea wall that leads towards Thorney Island.  I was here just before Christmas, then it was also sunny, but cold and still, today the reeds were blowing.  Back in December I had great views of Bearded Tit, today I heard a few pings from the reeds but didn't see anything.

We walked on the lower path out of the wind.  It was very quiet.  At the Great Deeps there were plenty of Coot on the water, Teal, Wigeon and Black-tailed Godwits.  Looking up the channel there were two Greenshank roosting on the shore.

We had no intention of walking around Thorney, so turned back, this time on the higher path.  With the tide rising the waders were pushed closer.  There were a few Dunlin feeding on the mud

Out on the sea a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers bobbed on the choppy water.

There was the constant calls of Brent Geese out in the harbour and every so often there would be groups flying over the sea wall and towards the fields of Thorney Island.

 I watched this Oystercatcher chiselling away at something under the water.

Wigeon flying out towards the harbour.

We decided to walk across Thorney Island to pick up the Coastal path as it made its way around the sea wall.  Walking the footpath towards the coastal path a Green Woodpecker was flushed from the field alongside the path.  We headed east with the tide rising.  The sun was still with us, if a little watery now and cloud building up to the west.

A stream or rife as it is known in this area ran on the other side of the path and there was a feel of the same area at the North Wall at Pagham.  In the fields behind the Rife there were pools of water in the field and there were Curlews feeding and taking the opportunity to bathe in the freshwater.

The largest wader in the UK, they have an elegance about them.

A feeding group.

As well as the Curlew there was also a pair of Oystercatchers in the field, but they soon departed.

It was the case of checking the map and the weather, by turning north and heading towards the old A27 we had the option of a bus should the weather turn against us.  But while all was well we kept going passing the village of Southbourne and walking towards Nutbourne.  There was a footpath that turns north at a small bay.  We paused here as there was a selection of duck and few waders on the water and mud.  A pair of Wigeon close in.

There was a few Redshank and a single Black-tailed Godwit, but of greater interest was a pair of Pintail preening on one of the banks.

The footpath that led to Nutbourne followed a stream that had flooded the field.  There were a lot of Teal, mainly drakes who were trying to attract the attention of the few ducks with their whistles and head bobbing.

As we came up onto the main road we were delighted to find a cafe on the corner.  It turned out to be a really nice place.  From the cafe we decided to walk the main road west back towards Emsworth.  This was the bus route so we had the option to get the bus should we need to.  We kept going and made it all the way to Emsworth.  As we walked into the village centre I noticed this sign outside and old car garage.  This seemed to hark back to the sixties by the look of the decor, but it was the sign for National outside.  National was a petrol station I remembered from back in the seventies.  I had worked at one in my home village of Kennington just outside Oxford.  An iconic signage

I had to find out what happened to National so spent sometime when I got home researching them.

National was a petroleum brand used in the United Kingdom from 1919 to the 1990s. In 1957, the National Benzole Co. became wholly owned by Shell-Mex & BP (through British Petroleum) but continued its separate trading identity. In the early 1960s, National Benzole was re-branded as National and continued trading as a UK retailer of petroleum products until the early 1990s, when the brand was phased out by parent company, BP.

To sustain the success, an imaginative advertising campaign was developed, and in 1928, Mr Mercury – startlingly naked – leapt for the first time from the pages of the national newspapers.

Mr. Mercury, in National Benzole's black and chrome gold corporate colours, became one of the most powerful marketing images of this age. Almost every service station in the 1930s had a National Benzole pump, for single-brand sites were unknown in those days. Eventually, Mr. Mercury's head was used as the brand's logo. At the outbreak of the Second World War, all petrol brands gave way to pool petrol.

Mr. Mercury returned in 1953, now more modestly attired in the advertisements, though he retained his winged helmet, and National Benzole quickly re-established itself as a market leader.  

In 1959 Mr. Mercury's black and chrome gave way to a sparkling new yellow, blue and white sign which is what I was looking at today and remembering from the past.

We made our way back to the hotel still not needing to take the bus.  It was an interesting day, a lovely walk where the rain stayed away and despite the strong wind thoroughly enjoyable.  Then the opportunity to reminisce about old petrol brands before dinner and drinks to celebrate another year ticked off 

20th January - Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

From Lee-on-the Solent I drove around to Titchfield Haven.  Down by the sea the wind was quite strong, something I didn't realise while watching the Black Redstart.  After checking in I walked around to the harbour.  The tide was due to be high around midday, but with the fresh southerly wind it was already very high and there were Sanderling and Ringed Plover already on the beach on the spit on the other side of the harbour.

The Turnstone were already looking for somewhere to see out the tide as well and they were all over the pavement and road while a few were claiming the wall alongside the sluice.

On the other side of the harbour bridge there was a drake Gadwall enjoying the morning sunshine, safely tucked away from the wind.

From the Meon Shore hide there was a good number of birds on the south scrape, with the waters high after the recent rain.  With the islands almost under water the gulls were spread across the water, mostly Black-headed Gulls there were fourteen Common Gulls and a single Mediterranean Gull.

Once again there were good numbers of Lapwing across the reserve with large flocks seen over the distant meadow and quite a few on the south scrape.  Again with dry land a premium there were scraps between Lapwing.

A Snipe flew in and found some space amongst the old reed stems, avoiding the Lapwing.

Once again the Lapwing were constantly taking to the air and taking a lot of the other birds with them.  There was no predator threat so maybe they were just enjoying the strong wind and were playing?

The Lapwing were a trick to catch all together, but the Black-tailed Godwits put on a great show for the camera.

As they broke away I was able to catch some of the godwits away from the flock.

The light was perfect and the darker grey skies at the back of the reserve helped provide the perfect background.

These next two shots were my favourites.

Reminds me of the cover to "Shorebirds" that was published in the late eighties.

The Wigeon were also spooked and were circling the scrape.

Some of the Lapwing when the flew around the area close to the hide.

At one point there were four Great Black-backed Gulls on one of the small islands and they would be chased by the Lapwing.

Plenty of Shoveler around the scrape and they would fly into the bay behind the hide.

Once again everything went up and this time the Shelduck and lone male Goosander on the causeway moved onto the water of the scrape.

As it reached midday the light at the Spurgin hide was much better so I decided to walk around and spend some time, a chance to each lunch while waiting for the Marsh Harriers.

One appeared almost immediately.  I think this may be an immature male. it has the buff head but lacks any buff and orange in the wings.

But it then remained quiet and I was left with watching the Coot.  A pair appeared to have a grudge with a single bird and constantly chased it away.  I could see a ring on one of the Coot but couldn't get any clear view to read the details.  Not a bird I photograph that often.

Two Marsh Harriers appeared over the Frying Pan area.

The two birds interacting.

Watching the Marsh Harriers I picked up a single Fieldfare on one of the bushes.

With my time running out I walked back and popped into the Meon Shore hide to see if there was anything about.  For once the Wigeon were out on the water closer to the hide.

Despite the tide being at its highest two hours ago the sea was still splashing over the sea wall.  The bay on the other side of the road was calm and a Little Grebe was diving around the reeds.

Walking past the harbour the sea was splashing against the groynes.

The end of what was a really good day, a dry one in amongst some horrible weather forecast.  It was great to get some special flight shots, making a change from some of the standard photos.