13th October - Blashford Lakes and Fishlake Meadows, Hampshire

Despite forecasts say it will be dry we were treated to drizzle amongst the mist this morning and it seemed even greyer than previous days.  I had a flu jab first thing in the morning, and after that a report came in of a Whooper Swan at Blashford.  So I decided to go there.  On the way there were more reports coming in on the swan but they were not positive.

I parked and walked to Ivy Lake checking the north hide first but there were no swans at all.  There were some familiar faces in the South hide, but unfortunately again, no swans.

I decided to sit it out and was treated to a Kingfisher fly past and a brief glimpse of a Mute Swan.  In front of the hide an adult and juvenile Great Crested Grebe showed well, the juvenile continually bleating to try and get the adult to feed it.  Every so often the adult would lunge to chase off the juvenile.

Losing the stripes of the humbug on the head.

Such an elegant water bird.

A Sparrowhawk flew over the lake prompting initial thoughts of maybe a Goshawk, but no it was a Sparrowhawk.

With no swan and the Otters not appearing I decided to try Ibsley Water from the Tern hide.  It wasn't much better there though, there were four Mute Swans and one dead one.  At the back of the lake a Black-necked Grebe and on one of the islands on the west side, three Goosander, a drake and two red heads.

It was still gloomy despite some glimpses of blue sky amongst the clouds.  I decided to head home and drop into Fishlake Meadows on the way.  I walked down the Canal Path and stopped by the bench before the first viewing platform.  I could hear a Yellow-browed Warbler calling from the trees and bushes.  A great start but could I see the bird.  It kept calling amongst Long-tailed Tits and Chiffchaff, but not showing, eventually it went quiet and I waited and waited.  I walked along the path, looking out over the reeds a distant Great Egret on one of the dead trees.

I was also scanning for any sign of the White-tailed Eagle that had been present for the last few days, but that too drew a blank.  I went back to the area where I had heard the Yellow-browed Warbler, but this time there was no call and the only birds seen and heard were Chiffchaff.

The day hadn't been one of the best and my confidence that I would see the warbler was very low, so in the end I decided to call it and headed home, hoping that the weather would improve tomorrow.