25th March - Old Winchester Hill, Hampshire

Over the weekend there were reports of several Wheatear round the hill fort at Old Winchester Hill.  I made my mind up to go Sunday evening, but as the sun set the skies were clear and I wondered if they might leave before I got there.

Nevertheless I made my way there in the morning and set off along the top path towards the hill fort with Chiffchaff singing in the black and hawthorn.  The reserve looked a lot different to what I am used to.  This, like Martin Down, is a summer reserve and then there is plenty of grass and wild flowers with plenty of butterflies.  This morning it was bleak, muddy with hardly any grass, the south est wind was cold, but on a positive note the sun was trying to break through.

Up on the hill fort there were Skylark singing some in the air, others on the exposed anthills.

A lovely background.

I walked across the centre of the fort, scanning for the Wheatear, but there was no sign of anything other than Skylarks.  When I reached the west end of the fort, there were a Buzzard and Red Kite soaring in the wind, both birds using the breeze to soar.

The Buzzard being very distinctive with the missing tail feathers.

The Red Kite hanging in the wind.

The Buzzard now hiding the missing tail feathers, but you can see they have gone.

I had to decide what would be the best to do in the time I had.  I could have walked around the fort wall, but I also wanted to check the area at the bottom of the hill, so I decided to walk the sheltered north side and then walk down the hill.

Coming down the slippery slope from the fort, a male Kestrel dropped into the grass and seemed to be hiding or guarding something.

There was then some strange behaviour with the Kestrel taking off and flying around the area but coming back to the same spot.

Eventually it flew off as I became too close for it.  I walked on and made my way down the steep slope to the small copse at the bottom of the hill.  There were Pheasants in the grass and a Green Woodpecker was calling from the copse.

Walking through the copse there is a small clump of yew and spruce and in here a Firecrest was singing.  It came out of the conifers and into the elder bushes and showed very well.

Love this, the focus is on the bird behind the branch.

Again what a beautiful bird.

Nice to get some close portraits.

The darkness emphasises the flame orange crest.

Pretending to be a Reed Warbler.

Another portrait.

A classic Firecrest pose.

I hoped that the Green Woodpecker would show, but it stayed distant.  I did manage to get some views of a Nuthatch close to the gate at the bottom of the hill.

The path then walks along the bottom of the valley, more Chiffchaff were singing in the bushes and I flushed a pair of Song thrush.  Walking up the hill a couple of Red Kite drifted over.  The steep slopes mean that at times you can get views looking down on them.

And of course there are the overhead views

I continued to look for Wheatear as I climbed the slope towards the car park, but the place was very quiet.

In the scrub around the car park there were several Chiffchaff calling and showing very well.

This one by the gate from the steep slope.

One of the early summer migrants it is always nice to be able to photograph them without the branches and leaves getting in the way.

This one was in the scrub close to the car park, showing equally as well.

Every year with the arrival of the Chiffchaffs I like to point out one of the key identification features to separate Chiffchaff from the similar Willow Warbler.  The length of the primaries is much shorter in the Chiffchaff, with them not extending beyond the base of the tail.  The photo above and below show this well.

I wasn't successful today with summer migrants, but you can see why this place is a magnet for them in the right weather conditions.