19th December - Titchfield Haven, Hill Head and Brownwich Pond, Hampshire

The gloom has lifted after the heavy rain of the day before and it was sunshine all the way to Titchfield.  The tide was high, even with still a couple of hours to go until high tide.  I checked in and decided to walk up the east side of the reserve.  It was my intention to use the thermal camera but I hadn't turned it off the last time I used it and the battery was dead.

I walked to the Knight's Bank hide where out on the meadow were Oystercatcher and two Curlew amongst the Canada and Egyptian Geese.  Looking across to the trees alongside the river there were four Fieldfare present.  There were three Marsh Harriers about, all female types.

I left the hide and walked back to the sea wall.  With the tide high the Sanderling were roosting on the beach behind the sailing club.  It looked like they had moved from the usual spot as a result of a fisherman.  They were then subjected to an attack by a dog that sent them out over the water.  After awhile, once the dog was gone they settled back on the beach.

I met up with Ian and we popped into the Meon Shore hide.  The water levels was very high with all the islands having shrunk in size.  The Lapwing were settled on the wooden bars and posts.

Snipe island was just about able to provide some dry land and there were a few Snipe on it.

A Marsh Harrier was along the right hand side and then drifted out across the scrape and away towards the fields at Brownwich.

We had always decided to walk to Brownwich across the cliffs.  As we walked up to the beach, the Sanderling had obviously been disturbed from their spot on the sailing club spit and had gathered at the edge of the water.

A chance for some Sanderling photos in the lovely winter light.

The reason for the walk to Brownwich was the report of a drake Ferruginous Duck on the pond along with the drake Goosander.  There was little about along the cliffs and absolutely nothing out on the sea.  On arriving at the pond, the Ferruginous Duck was at the back of the pond with some Tufted Duck.

With the Ferruginous Duck still distant on the far side of the pond we were distracted by a pair of Grey Wagtail that dropped on to the railings by the sluice.

With the pond surrounded by trees there was plenty of shade and dark water, this proved a lovely background for the white water fowl such as this Mute Swan.

The male Goosander that has been seen at Titchfield appears to commute between the two areas.  Here it to was showing off in the black water under the trees on the far side of the pond.

We left the sluice area and walked down the side of the pond.  The hope was we could get a little closer to the Ferruginous Duck.  It was closer but required some patience as we had to try and focus through the branches of the surrounding trees.

The Ferruginous Duck is also known as the Ferruginous Pochard, Common White-eye or White-eyed Pochard.  It is a medium-sized diving duck, the breeding male is a rich, dark chestnut on the head, breast and flanks with contrasting pure white undertail coverts. The females are duller and browner than the males. The male has a yellow eye and the females have a dark eye.

The Ferruginous Duck prefers quite shallow fresh waterbodies with rich submerged and floating vegetation with dense stands of emergent vegetation on the margins. In some areas it will use saline or brackish pools or wetlands. On passage and wintering will also frequent coastal waters, inland seas and large, open lagoons.

These are gregarious birds, but less social than other Aythya species but where common it can form large flocks in winter, often mixed with other diving ducks, such as Tufted Ducks as here and Common Pochards. 

Its always nice to get a wing flap following a preen.

The breeding range is from Iberia and the Maghreb east to western Mongolia, south to Arabia, although in the west is now scarce and localised and locally extirpated in some countries. The duck winters throughout the Mediterranean Basin and the Black Sea, smaller number migrate into sub-Saharan Africa via the Nile Valley.

After venturing into the middle of the pond it quickly returned to type and made its way back to the shore and the shelter of the low branches.  Satisfied with the images we had we walked back to the sluice area.  The Grey Wagtails were back on the fence around the weir and sluice.

The walk back was much like the walk to the pond, quiet aside from a large flock of Brent Geese that were originally on the sea, then flew to the fields.

The day wasn't done yet, but this seemed an appropriate place to stop for now, the Ferruginous Duck was a big bonus and a chance to get some better images than those from the start of the year. 

14th January - Warblington, Posbrook Floods and Chilling, Hampshire

So after leaving Pagham my first stop was just in Hampshire on the border with West Sussex in the village of Warblington.  I was here for the Cattle Egret and after not being able to find them in the fields opposite the farm, I saw some cattle in a field closer to the round-a-bout.  I walked up to the gate and could see five feeding around the cattle.

From Warblington I was off to a new location, a group of lakes on Milton Common.  This was on the western side of Langstone Harbour.  I drove to the end of Moorings way and then walked the short distance to Swan Lake.  I found the Greater Scaup at the first viewing area.  There were three present, two females and a first winter male.  All three had their heads under their wings, but this female woke up.

Larger than the Lesser Scaup and Tufted Duck, it is the larger of the Aythya duck.  It is a diving duck and more maritime than the Lesser Scaup.

Like the female Tufted Duck, the female Greater Scaup is a rufous brown and has a white patch at the base of the bill like the Tufted Duck, but in the Greater Scaup the white patch is larger and more pronounced.

The first winter male was showing signs of acquiring the breeding plumage, grey speckled upper parts and the black head.

Waking up the male had something to say.

Moving around with the two females.

Whilst it swam off with them it returned to a roost position but continued to paddle to keep up.

I left the scaup, they looked settled and will probably be around for awhile and hopefully the male will look quite smart.

I set off for Bridge Street and Posbrook Floods.  From the car park I walked along the canal path and quickly found the Glossy Ibis, only two were present and they showed briefly and did not allow any pictures.  There was another duck I was after.  I originally turned up on Normandy Lagoon at the weekend, but then relocated to Brownich Pond yesterday.  It had been reported today so I drove the short distance to the car park and Chilling Barn and set off along the footpath to the pond.

The area of the field close to the car park was quite muddy and there were several Pied Wagtail feeding around the puddles and also a nice Grey Wagtail.

On reaching th epond there are only a few places you can view the water.  I stopped at the first place and scanned the water.  The Ferruginous Duck, a drake stood out amongst the Tufted Duck, the obvious feature was the white flank at the back of the tail.

Another feature is the peaked crown and white eye.  The colouring on the flanks and head give the duck its name, while the back is a darker brown.  The duck appeared to be displaying to the Tufted Ducks, lifting the head in the familiar displays of ducks.

It followed the Tufted Ducks across the pond, getting further and further away.

Just after Christmas Ian and I had come here to see a drake Goosander, it was still here, preening on the far side of the pond.

I moved around to the weir and eventually the Ferruginous Duck came out following the Tufted Duck once again.

After some preening there was the obligatory wing flap.

The duck was my fifth Aythya diving duck of the year, there are twelve species around the world, with the Western Palearctic having five of them, other familiar species are the Canvasback, Redhead and Ring-necked Duck, all found in North America, but are also vagrants to the Western Palearctic.  Other members are found in Asia and Australasia.

Walking back to the car a Great Spotted woodpecker was quite vocal in the bare trees along the footpath.

A great day, catching up on some difficult year ticks.  Am I year listing?  I am not sure yet, I always keep a list, but have never been completely focused on the task, not sure if I will this year, but I am off to a good start.