6th May - Normandy Marsh and Pig Bush, New Forest, Hampshire

A beautiful morning where the edge was taken off by the temperatures, it was just above freezing as I left home just after 6:00am.  I had decided try and catch up with the returning Roseate Tern at Normandy Marsh, so parked close to Oxey Marsh and then walked around the creek.  It has been a while since I had been out this early in the morning and was appreciating the early morning light.  This was further emphasised when this Whitethroat appeared on the fence alongside the creek.

This was then joined by a male Stonechat on the same fence.

And then on a bush in the centre of the marsh a male Reed Bunting singing. 

There was very little on Salterns, an Avocet flying off towards Normandy.  As I reached the west side of the Normandy lagoon there were two Avocet chicks feeding on the dried out pool.  A little further along the path there was a group of 25 Dunlin feeding and with them was a single Curlew Sandpiper in partial summer plumage.  The light wasn't brilliant and I had to walk past them and look back to get the best shot.

Just as I was trying to get a little better light the whole flock flew off and settled on the islands in the middle of the lagoon.

There were plenty of terns around the marsh, mostly Common Terns there were also at least six Little Terns.  I walked around to the south side of the sea wall where the light was better and you also had a better view of the island the Roseates had bred on last year.  I had received a message that the Roseate had headed out to sea at just before 7:00am, so I settled in to wait and listen for it to return.

There was plenty of activity though to keep me occupied starting with this Little Tern that had just had a splash in front of me.

A couple of Sandwich Terns flew out to sea just past me.

And of course the Common Terns that would occupy th eisland, and also call and display above me.

Many were carrying fish or small sand eels as part of their display to the partner.

There is something about a Common Tern against the blue sky.

Remember the bright red bill with the black on the tip.

A pair off to chase each other around the skies.

It was very cold in the north east wind, I had thought the sun would provide warmth, it didn't.  I went for a walk along the sea wall.  There were several Avocet with small chicks feeding on the pools.

The chicks are independent, able to feed on their own.

However they still rely on their parents for safety and warmth.  Here you can see a leg hanging down between the Avocets legs, one chick settled in the body feathers.

The other chick then came over. 

And then joined it's sibling in the belly feathers of its parent.

I headed back to my original place and settled in to wait once again.  A small wader was out on the sand bar, It was a Sanderling with the start of its summer plumage. 

Not a place that you would expect to see in this location and interestingly I had seen one here last August and originally misidentified it as a Little Stint.  A Little Stint was reported yesterday here, probably though it was this bird.

Then the Curlew Sandpiper reappeared,this time in some wonderful light, showing off the colours of the breeding plumage.

Even better it gradually made its way closer.

Often seen on the autumn passage it is not usual to encounter them at this time of year.  The autumn birds though are normally first year juveniles

They breed on the tundra of Siberia and move north after wintering in Africa.  Eventually the brick red feathers will cover the white patches and the wader will look quite spectacular.

Then a high pitched "kreek" call announced the arrival of the Roseate Tern, coming in low over the sea wall and immediately headed for the island.

Differing from the Common Terns by the all black bill, the full black hood and longer tail streamers it headed to the island.

Last year both birds arrived together, this was around mid May.  This bird is ringed and that means this is the male.  It was calling constantly in hope of finding its mate here, but with out any luck.

Calling as it past over the birds settled on the island.

But all the calls managed to do was to attract the attention of the Common Terns who chased the Roseate away and back over the sea wall.

There is still time for the female to arrive.

Having managed to see what I came for I decided to head back to the car and to set off for Pig Bush in the New Forest.  Once again I was on the look out for some specialities, but didn't realise what a surprise I was in for.

As I walked back along side the creek a Common Blue settled in front of me, the first of the year.

After the short journey to Pig Bush I set off for the path that takes me to the wood on the left hand side of the car park.  You cross a stream and then walk across the heath.  I had the Emperor Moth lure with me so I walked through the heather without any luck.

I was heading for two oak trees just inside the wood.  Last year there were two Nightjars in here and the news was they were back.  However I searched and searched without any luck.  I gave it my best but decided to move on.  Redstarts were singing in the wood as well as Willow Warbler and a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker.  Coming out back on to the heath there were Stonechats and Meadow Pipits.

A Red Kite flew over and as I watched it I noticed what was a falcon hovering close to the willow trees alongside the stream.  At first I thought Kestrel, but as it banked the colour was a dark grey, not the reddish brown and grey I was expecting.  I quickly though Hobby, but corrected myself as Hobbies don't hover.  I then thought to myself, "I know what you are", but it then flew to the trees.  I had to check the Collins Guide.  Yes it was a medium sized falcon, same as a Kestrel or Hobby and more importantly, yes they do hover.  I thought right then I had found a Red-footed Falcon.

I walked across the heath, which was dry after the many weeks of no rain.  As I got to about halfway to the trees I saw a falcon fly up and I tracked it as it flew towards the railway line.  It then stopped and hovered and this was my chance to get photographs and confirmed my identification.

Here you can see the grey colour and reddish feathers around the legs.

In this shot you get the barring on the tail which suggests a first summer bird, the central tail feathers are not barred which I was informed indicates that this was a first summer male.

There has been a significant movement and arrival of this smart little falcon in the last few days, with a group of six reported from Carlton Marshes in Sussex, and several around Cambridgeshire and some south in Dorset.

There breeding range extends from Estonia, Slovakia and Hungary, east to north west China, they winter in the south of Africa.  May and June is the prime time to see birds here in the UK as they overshoot on their way to their breeding grounds.

After hovering for a while it dropped and then headed off over the trees in the direction of Denny Wood.  I put the word out and several arrived in the hope of re-finding it.  It was seen later over the heath towards Shatterford, but remained distant before disappearing once again, not to be seen again.

In between this sighting I walked over to Shatterford in the hope of seeing it, coming back I stopped for the several male Redstarts that were around the dead and fallen trees in the little copse.

Several of the guys who had turned up had been here early morning and had found the Nightjars.  I caught up with them as I made my way back and went with them to be shown where they were.

At first they couldn't remember the branch but eventually found one laying along the bough in the middle of the tree I had painstakingly searched earlier.  The camouflage of this bird is amazing.

My thermal camera was no good at all. the bough it was sitting on was showing heat from the sun, and because I knew it was there I could just see a slight heat spot above it.

I was able to get closer in to appreciate the beauty of detail on the Nightjar's feathers.

Walking back to the car park there was a Spotted Flycatcher on the edge of the wood, my fifth year tick on what has been quite a superb day

5th May - The Blue Tit Story

Last Christmas, my daughters bought me a nest box and camera set.  Over the last few years Blue Tits have nested in a box that was installed outside the window, or what was my home office when I was working and now a spare bedroom.  The camera would now allow me to watch them if they were to breed again.

Just before we left for Costa Rice I set everything up, and I was able to watch the nest box on my phone via the internet and bluetooth.  The prime time to put up nest boxes is at the latest the middle of February, so all was good.

I would check every so often, but almost always was presented with an empty pine box.  Then on the 21st March I saw this:

Things moved slowly at first with the moss and feathers being brought in and strangely taken out.  But it wasn't until the start of April that the serious nest building kicked in and one Blue Tit started to take up residence, creating a hollow at the back of the box.  This was taken in the evening of the 5th April, probably the female settling in.

Then a sight of the first eggs on the 9th April, two at least

The female would cover the eggs before leaving the nest box.

On the 15th it was clear that there was now a good number of eggs, but the eggs were covered as usual when the female left the nest.

Then on the 16th we could see that there were eight eggs in total.

Incubation then started the female being seen on the nest, but not just sitting but fidgeting and continually digging down to turn the eggs.

Then on the 29th we had chicks, only four to start with.  Both adults started feeding the babies, the female however staying in the box for much of the time to brood the chicks.

Eventually it was clear that all eight chicks had hatched but by now there was definitely a size difference between the eldest and the youngest. 

The chicks were growing and it was now possible to see the pin feathers on the wings, although the eyes were still closed.  Turning the volume up it wasn't possible to hear them, but every so often the mouths would open showing off the yellow bill and the orange gapes.

By the 3rd of May the adults were bring in food, caterpillars and even some of the mealworms we were feeding the Robins and Blackbirds.

The following day the weather changed.  I didn't look at the nest box cam until there early evening and I didn't like what I saw.  The camera was on infra red and there was no adult in the box.  Hoping that they were out looking for food I didn't worry, but when I checked at around 21.00 there wasn't any sign of an adult, the chicks were still moving, but no longer begging.

Next morning I checked and was faced with the sad sight of all eight chicks dead in the nest.  We will never know what happened to the adults, why did they abandon the nest.  Was it because of the Starlings close by that finally spooked them, or was one of the adults, maybe the female predated by a Sparrowhawk.  There is a lot of activity with the starlings around the house and this surely has attracted one.

The sad thing is we will never know.  This hit me really badly, I am not sure why, I cleaned the box out this morning and buried the little chicks.  I removed the camera and installation and packed everything away for another year.  I left the box in place, I know it won't be used again this year, but with it in place, it is a familiar sight, all I have to do is fit the camera in next spring.

So a rather sad end to what I had hoped would be an fascinated journey following the early lives of these little birds.