7th January - Blashford Lakes, Hampshire

It seems like it hasn't stopped raining since Christmas, but there have been a few days where the sun has appeared.  The forecast for the weekend was of more rain so Ian and decided to meet up at Blashford, several reasons, one the rain was moving west to east and the hope was it might clear through sooner in the west, the second reason, probably the most obvious, was there were hides and the third reason was there were a few birds reported that would help the year list.

So with heavy rain first thing and the reserve not opening until 9:00am it was not an early start and I met Ian at the entrance to the reserve just before nine.  It has been a while since we have visited the reserve, the  last time being a short visit last March to try and see a very elusive Bittern, it has been even longer since we have spent time in the hides.  We made our way to the Tern Hide over looking Ibsley water, the wind was from the south which meant there were significant rafts of duck in close view of the hide, nevertheless a scope here is essential.

Two duck that I have not spent time with recently are Tufted Duck and Pochard, and there were one or two close in.  A drake Pochard is quite a smart duck, unfortunately the gloomy light of the morning doesn't really do it justice here.

The black anmd white of the Tufted Duck though compliments the grey of the water. 

The grey blue of the bill and the white stripe at the tip was notable.

To the left of the hide there were large rafts of Wigeon and Pintail and in amongst them were several Goldeneye.  Towards the south shore of the lake were a lot more Pochard and dotted about were Gadwall.  What we could not find were Teal.  Scanning around the lake there were what looked like family groups of Egyptian Geese and a fair number of Lapwing on what islands there were in the high water.

We manged to find one or two Goosander in the north west corner of the lake and as I tried to digiscope the Goosander I noticed a small grebe diving in the background, returning to the scope I was able to confirm it was a Black-necked Grebe, the first of the target birds I was hoping for.  It was impossible to get a clear image, this was the best I could do as a record shot.

The rain came in waves and at times was very heavy.  There was only a limited amount of time you could scan around the lake and hope the duck would come closer, so when there was a significant break in the rain we decided to try somewhere else, before though we walked to the viewing platform top see if that gave a better view of the south west corner of the lake.  It didn't but we did come across this male Bullfinch in the bushes.

We crossed the road and walked to the Woodland hide, unfortunately the feeders were empty so there were very few birds, there was though plenty of food elsewhere, but more on that later.  From the woodland hide we walked down to the Ivy Lake South hide, which, incidentally is the only hide with out any tinted windows.  Again there was plenty of duck, this time with large numbers of Teal close to the shore on the left hand side from the hide.  It was mostly Wigeon with a few Pintail and several Gadwall.  At one point all the duck went up covering the sky.

Wigeon

Ian then pointed out a Great Egret in the reeds on the south shore, distantly from the hide.

Then the rain returned with a vengeance with very heavy showers some of hail.  From nowhere a Great Crested Grebe appeared in front of the hide.  The body low in the water as the waves and rain came down

The rain falling heavy here and you can see how low in the water it was.

Then in moments of calm

The rain returns.

Then the calm conditions returned and some wonderful reflections.

And here you can see the legs at the back of the body.

We continued to scan the rafts of duck and a couple of birders in the hide pointed out what they said was a strange duck amongst the Wigeon.  Checking with the scope it was a female Mandarin Duck, an unexpected year tick.

The duck all went up once again,. but as they returned Ian picked out another target bird a female Red Crested Pochard.  It stood out well amongst the Wigeon it was associating with.  Not only was this a year tick but a first for me in Hampshire.  This was a shot taken with the camera.

And these two were digiscoped.

There are some resident populations of Red crested Pochard around the United Kingdom. Originally thought to be a rare visitor, it is now thought that these are escapees from captive populations.

Aside from a Tawny Owl that was visible from the hide a few years ago, the birds today were the best I have seen from this hide.

With a break in the rain we made our way back to the car park and some lunch.  As we stood talking I could see what I first thought was a plane, but there were birds around it.  I mentioned it to Ian and we both got onto it as it banked and showed a huge wingspan and very broad wings.  No doubt, it was a White-tailed Eagle, one of the released birds from the Isle of Wight.  It was low over the tree tops and I rushed around to try and get a clear view but was only able to get this view.

But fortunately Ian managed some far better shots and has shared them with me and I post them here to capture the sighting.

Courtesy Ian Smith

Courtesy Ian Smith

Courtesy Ian Smith

In this photo you can see the satellite tracking on the eagle's back

Courtesy Ian Smith

Information from the Roy Dennis Foundation identified this bird as a female G318 who was released back in 2019, making her three and a half years old.  The yellow bill is a sign of approaching adulthood.

It was then lost to sight as it dropped below the trees, but it was clear it was about as flocks of duck streamed overhead moving from the Ivy lake area to Ibsley water.

We decided to walk around the area, checking the Ivy Lake north hide, but with no sign of the eagle, we assumed that it probably kept going heading towards the Avon valley where most of the fields were flooded and there were more duck and geese.

It was great though to finally catch up with one of these eagles, they have been around for about three years and finally we have seen one, hopefully now we will get to see more.

Walking from the north hide there was quite a bit of activity in the bushes.  There were at least four, maybe more Jay, this one foraging in the grass and lichen.

As we tried to get closer it was off

In the trees and bushes there was a large flock of Goldfinches and Siskins.  A path took us into an opening around which were three feeders all full of seed and with lots of birds coming to them.  The most numerous were the Siskins.

There was plenty of coming and going with Great Tits, Blue Tits and Coal Tits while every so often a Nuthatch would appear.

We decided to walk around to the Goosander hide on Ibsley Water, on the way there was a flock of Long-tailed Tits in the lichen covered trees, the hope was that one would pose there, but they were not that cooperative.  There was also a couple of Goldcrest, but while they were active in the lichen, the light was awful.

Entering the hide all the duck were well away from the hide.  We waited it out with more showers passing through.

Something disturbed the Goosander on the island and they moved out into the water then made there way towards the shore on the left hand side.  A smart drake and two red heads.  The drake followed the two red heads.

The image was distant with the camera so again I tried using the mobile camera and the scope and this time was pleased with the outcome.

The two red heads, one "snorkelling".

Male and female together

Probably the best of the bunch.

The smart drake taking a drink.

With the rain threatening again and the light now very gloomy we decided to head back to the cars.  Before leaving we walked down to the Woodland hide where we were very surprised to see these three Robin in close contact and seemingly tolerating each other.

After that we decided to call it a day and the rain on the journey home only went to reinforce the decision.  It was a day that could have been a right off due to the weather, but one that turned up some gems, our first eagle sighting, a first for my Hampshire list and some good year ticks, result!