27th April - Pig Bush Inclosure, New Forest, Hampshire

Another warm sunny morning and having receives some news on the possibility of Nightjar in the New Forest at Pig Bush, I made my way there.  Car parking charges are now in force around the New Forest and this was my first visit since they came in.  I was pleased to see that they have made arrangements for payment, should there not be any signal in the area and that the main payment method was through Ringo.  I successfully made payment and then set off around the wood.

As I came out at the bottom of the wood a Willow Warbler was singing at the top of a small bush and allowed me to get quite close.

Note the length of the wings, the primary tips extending beyond the rump, the similar Chiffchaff's wings are shorter, only reaching the rump

This was the first of many Willow Warbler i heard singing around the inclosure, numbers appear to be a lot higher than in previous years.

As I walked along the outside of the wood I came across a Nuthatch foraging along the branches of an Oak tree.

I crossed the open heath and then into the next wooded area.  A Cuckoo called from the trees to the north.  On reaching the tree where the Nightjar is seen I searched all the branches without any luck.  I also used the thermal camera which was not that easy with the sun warming the boughs of the Oak.  Eventually I gave up and decided to return later.  Walking on, this Song Thrush appeared in front of me, clearing having been searching for food for young, traces of mud on the beak.

I walked into the small copse close to the railway line and explored the area where there was dead wood.  There wasn't any sign of Redstart here, but I could hear one singing over by the cattle gates.

It took some time to locate, but I eventually found ithigh in an Oak, not the best views of the lovely summer visitor.

As I sat and listened and watched the Redstart I took the chance to have lunch, as well as the Redstart singing there was also a Treecreeper singing close by.  The song, a light whispery trill.  It was in a fallen tree that was still in leaf and showed quite well as it sang and foraged around the bark.

The Redstart had moved to a position in the open once more, but still quite high up in the oak.

As I turned to walk back I noticed what I thought was a Redstart at the foot of a tree a fair way off.  But a closer look revealed the bird to be a lot chunkier with a large head and bill.  Taking a record shot it turned out to be a Hawfinch.  However as I got closer it flew up into the tree and out of sight, so this remained the one piece of evidence for the sighting.

As I walked back across the heath I hoped for Tree Pipit, but only got Willow Warblers.  AS I entered the main wood known as Rowbarrow, I did pick up a male Redstart at the base of a tree.

It flew up and out of sight, so I walked on and checked the tree once more for Nightjar, again without any luck.  I was going to head back tot he car, but a Redstart singing close by had me searching for it and this time it showed low down on the lower branches of an Oak and stuck around to continue singing.

A bird of deciduous woodland, the Redstart gets its name from the colour of its tail, 'start' being an old colloquial name for tail.

The Redstart is a summer visitor to Britain & Ireland, arriving in April and departing through September and October for its wintering location in trans-Saharan Africa. The male is a striking bird, pinky-red below with a black face, silvery-white forehead, grey back and striking red tail, whilst the female has pale orangey-red underparts, pale brownish upperparts and slightly duller tail.

Redstarts can be found breeding across the UK, although their strongholds are in the west. However, this species is only a rare breeder in Ireland. UK numbers declined in the late-1960s due to drought in this species' Sahelian wintering grounds. Numbers subsequently recovered, and now fluctuate.

It could be that these birds have already paired up and have a mate sitting on eggs, they like to nest in holes in trees and later into May will be seen feeding young.

Leaving the REdstart I walked back across the heath.

There is a line of trees that follows the Bishop's Dyke and the small stream.

With forty minutes left on my car parking I decided to have a look at the heath area on the other side of the road.  Again I was hoping for maybe a Tree Pipit, but this time found a Meadow Pipit, this one carrying a caterpillar for young close by.

Stone chat were calling from the top of the gorse.  This one a male.

While here both the male and female at the top of a gorse bush.

There wasn't any sign of Tree Pipit and a Cuckoo was calling far way to the east.  A Buzzard took off from a tree, but struggled to get good lift and ended up circling in an attempt to get height just above my head.

My time coming to an end I made my way back to the car.  I hadn't succeeded in finding my target bird today, but did manage some great views of Redstart once more.

25th April - Elmley Marshes NNR, Kent

After the success with the Nightingales early on we then headed to Elmley.  As usual it was a slow and watchful drive along the entrance track.  Conditions were once again very dry, but there was plenty of activity with many Lapwing close to the car.

And amongst the adults were several chicks, already up and running around, but under the watchful eyes of the parents who could be seen chasing crows off over the marsh.

Another marshland wader that nests here is the Redshank and they were also showing well.

Nice to see them in the grass as well.

Close to one of the pools, a pair of Oystercatcher.

While on the pool a drake Shoveler.

From the car park we headed down the track towards the Brickfields.  We stopped for a young Hare that was in the woodland, but scurried away as we tried to get a better view.  A Green Woodpecker called and appeared in the tree partially obscured by the branches, they are frustrating birds.

Down at the Swale there is an area of old concrete and scrub, it is warm and there were several butterflies that I was pleased to see were Wall Browns.

The underwing is quite lovely with the several swirls and main eye.

Out on the saltmarsh a preening Oystercatcher.

We walked around the sea wall path which had freshwater pools on the inland side and there were several Pochard, two of the drakes displaying to a female by extending their necks.

Reed Warbler were singing in the reeds and every so often there was the "ping" of Bearded Tits and they could be seen flying over the reeds.  By waiting in one place the Bearded Tits slowly came closer and showed through the reeds.

Some gymnastics.

I thought that they might be feeding on the ground or catching insects having changed their diet for the spring and summer.  We also noticed that it was all males.

Then we saw one male collecting pieces of reed, so we had to assume that they were nest building.

Some of the reeds were flattened and it was in this area that I finally managed to get some better views.

The males then seemed to disappear and females were being seen but they were a lot harder to photograph.  They too were collecting nest material.

Eventually we made our way back around the sea wall, a female Marsh Harrier came up out of the reeds and as we walked up the path I picked up a Hobby over the main meadow.  When you consider the views I had at Fishlake this week, not the best photograph, but a record of the Hobby.

It was lunch time and then a walk down the main path towards the hides.  Again there was a lot of song in the reeds.  In the areas where there was small hawthorn bushes there were Sedge Warbler singing, while in the reed beds mostly Reed Warbler and a few Reed Bunting.  On the lake was a lone Wigeon, you had to wonder why it was left behind.

The Sedge Warblers became a challenge for Graham, I managed this one on a reed stem.

The Reed Bunting showed well, this one in a bush, when I thought the Sedge Warbler was imitating it.

This one singing in the reeds.

The Reed Warblers were impossible, staying low in the reeds, but we eventually got an acceptable Sedge Warbler at the top of a hawthorn.

And another Reed Bunting that replaced the Sedge Warbler.

Then a male Reed Bunting on a post with the perfect background.

A Lapwing seemed to be concerned about something close to the ditch on the side of the path and would fly around calling and twisting and flipping over in the air.  Their aerobatics are amazing and it became a challenge to catch some of the performance.

Calling as the tricks were performed either the right way up or upside down.

This must have consumed a lot of energy and it wasn't clear what was making the Lapwing do so.  Here a back flip.

Eventually it settled back to the ground and we will never know why we had been able to witness the display

Graham still wanted the perfect Sedge Warbler and with Mediterranean Gulls calling above us we came across another in a Hawthorn bush.

The Sedge Warbler would sing and then explode into the air, but rather than drop into the reeds as all the others had done it returned to the bush and then did it all again.  This gave me the chance to catch the bird as it parachuted back down to the bush.

Another impressive aerial display.

It was time to leave, but also a chance to explore the entrance track once more.  I was after a Yellow Wagtail and there were two, with one sitting in the open, but the light and heat haze did not help so I was left with only a record shot.

A great day with some excellent birds, it was lovely to experience Elmley in the still warm conditions and of course the Nightingales first this was so special.