31st January - Cirl Bunting - Wicor Mill Lane, Portchester, Hampshire

On Christmas Eve a male Cirl Bunting was found in the scrub area at the bottom of Wicor Mill Lane in Portchester.  Family commitments around the holiday meant I couldn't try to see it until the 27th December.  On that day Ian and I spent at least three hours waiting and watching, but not managing to see the bird.  In fact it wasn't seen again until last Thursday morning when it was reported once more in the same spot, the assumption has to be that it never went away but was just very good at hiding in the scrub and around the paddocks.

So it was Ian and I were meeting up just after sun rise and were making our way along the same track we had walked just after Christmas.  The sun was rising away to the east and lighting up the sky over the Portsmouth sky line and harbour.

There were four Royal Navy frigates in the harbour, three seen here.  They are Montrose, Monmouth, Westminster and Argyll.  Unfortunately I can't be sure what the names of these three are.  The ships are either waiting to go to scrap, or for sale to countries like India or Brazil.  Today they were lit up buy the morning sunshine.

We walked around to the spot that the bunting seems to favour, but a couple of birders there hadn't seen the Cirl Bunting.  I had some information about where it had been seen, it liked the area around the pond, but also along the scrub on the west side of the pond.  Leaving the other birders staring at the scrub behind the pond we walked along the path and immediately found the Cirl Bunting.

Rubbish photographs but a record of the bird because almost immediately it flew off away across the path and into the scrub.  The Cirl Bunting was formerly a moderately common but locally distributed.  Today it is extinct as a breeding bird and there hasn't been any record since 1985.  This represents the status of this bird in the United Kingdom, with, since the eighties, small pockets of breeding birds in Devon.  

Work by the RSPB has seen these populations recover and thrive and consequently we have seen over the recent years an expansion from west to east.  This recent and fairly rapid spread of Cirl Buntings in Dorset from Devon has seen in 2019  one wintering bird. In 2023 two pairs bred and in 2024 there were 9 confirmed pairs as far east as Ballard Down, with a pair also breeding in Durlston last year.  It would now seem likely that further birds will be found in Hampshire and hopefully breeding and continuing the march across the south coast.

Back to this bird we then re-found it in the area behind the pond.  It appeared in the hawthorn bushes where there were Greenfinches and Redwing.  Again not the best image.

And it was hidden by the branches.

It then dropped to the ground and we assumed it was feeding on the grass seeds.  We waited knowing that it would reappear and it did coming up higher in the hawthorn bush.

Here it was preening and even some short snatches of song.

A shake of the feathers.

Then finally the best shot, just before it flew off towards the paddocks.

We walked towards the paddocks in the hope of re-finding it, but circumstances contrived to bring my day to an end.  I had to return to home to support my daughter, a sad situation.  But the day wasn't a failure, to get Cirl Bunting in Hampshire has been a long dream and it finally came true today and I managed to get one acceptable photograph.  Two county ticks in the week, not a bad end to January!

29th January - Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

It was a misty morning after a clear night, but as I drove south the sun was breaking through, albeit with quite a bit of cloud still around.  I was Titchfield once again, but today I expected it to be a little different following the heavy rains of the last few days.  As I walked around the sea wall the river was high and with it being high tide there was nowhere for the water to go.

There was some beach and on the edge of the water there was a small group of Sanderling.  There had been someone on the beach behind the sailing club so they had probably been flushed from usual roost at high tide.

Sanderling on the beach, I couldn't resist them.  As I stepped down on to the beach I noticed that the steps that were recently covered by the shingle were now completely free, there must have been some tides.

So back to the Sanderling, hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

My favourite.

I dragged myself away from the Sanderling and waded through the water to Meon Shore hide and was greeted with this.

No central causeway, the north and south scrapes now combined into one large lake!  I don't recall ever seeing it like this before.  There were Canada Geese around the reeds and duck on the ground underneath the Pumfrett hide, so I walked around there.

The light wasn't brilliant but there was a drake Gadwall at rest just under the hide.

And the amusing sight of a Pied Wagtail surfing on the floating vegetation in the water.

I left the Pumfrett and head on to the Spurgin.  It was flooded but not to the same degree as the scrapes.

The Lapwing were constantly going up from the direction of the meadow and Frying Pan, but without any sign of a raptor to spook them.  I eventually saw a couple of Marsh Harriers, both female types, but they stayed around the Frying Pan area.  I heard the "pings" of Bearded Tits but didn't see them, then a Buzzard came over the the hide and headed off towards the meadow.

Enjoying the wind.

The Coot were the only water birds present and they were not getting on with each other.

A huge mixed flock of Lapwing and Black-tailed Godwits took off along with gulls and there were Teal flying past towards the scrapes.  Once again I couldn't see any raptor, but the melee must have spooked the Glossy Ibis and I saw two birds flying around and eventually dropping in the area of the Meadow Hide.

As a result I decided to walk around to the east side and to see what was going on in the meadow.  The water had receded from the path and it was easier to get around.  The tide was a little lower and out off the Rainbow Bar was a small group of Eider.

The wind was fresh and from the south east and the sea was quite choppy, hiding the Eider behind the waves.

Walking along the board walk there was the familiar call of a Great Spotted Woodpecker and I watched as it flew on to a very thin branch at the top of one of the willows.

Shows the grip of the claws on the branch.

I walked to the Meadow Hide where there were many Lapwing and it was also quite busy with Canada and Egyptian Geese.  Out towards the Duck Bay there were at least four Glossy Ibis on the pile of dead reeds, unfortunately just a little too far away.  I think the fifth was away to the left lower down.

Several of the crows around the reserve show some forms of leucism, but it only shows in flight.  I have seen them mobbing the Marsh Harriers at distance so it was nice to get this one closer and to be able to see the extent of the leucism which appears to be in the secondary flight feathers and the tail.

Plenty of Starling out on the meadow, frequently taking to a "bait ball" when the Lapwing took off.

With no dry land on the scrapes, the Oystercatchers were using the meadow to see out the high tide.  the regular leucistic Oystercatcher with them.

A fly past from the Black-tailed Godwits.

An uniquely I was able to capture the entire flock of 96 Black-tailed Godwits

Calls from the west side signalled the arrival of two Raven that came across the meadow and disappeared into the trees behind the Knight's Bank hide.

THe Lapwing were settling on the edge of a flooded area and for some reason I thought I would count them as I made my way through them I realised that there was a single Golden Plover amongst them.

Then when flushed it took off with them.

It returned but was soon off with them again.  It was quite easy to pick out amongst the Lapwing, the colour and shape distinctive.

Ian had joined me by now and there were at least four female type Marsh Harriers away to the north and a single male, but hey never really came close. Looking north the trees looked spectacular with just a little bit of the last rays of sunshine.

The leucistic Oystercatcher decided to come closer to the hide, showing the extent of the white plumage.

but a Buzzard surprised us as it came across the meadow and appeared to be trying to hunt the Lapwing without any success.

The Glossy Ibis had left while I was watching the Golden Plover and I could see where, but after another huge Lapwing spooking they appeared and started to drop back into the area close to Duck Bay.  The unmistakeable silhouette in flight.

This time all five visible.

All back together and in good view.

My parking was up and so was the light, it was also getting a lot colder so we left the hide and walked back to the car.  The rain has changed the dynamic of the reserve and it will be interesting to see what this means for the bird life over the next few weeks.  For the first time in three years I will be in the country for most of February, I hope I don't regret it.