5th January - Bridge Street and Posbrook Floods and Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

The cold spell continues, but I didn't expect the scene I woke up to this morning, about a couple of centimetres of snow.

I had arrange to meet Ian at the Bridge Street car park and initially thought the snow might delay me, but I was able to get away, the main roads being free, the only problem around home.  The drive down the A32 and the Meon Valley was stunning, coming into West Meon there was mist and a low sun, and then towards Corhampton, mist hugging the river as it wound its way towards Titchfield.

Ian arrived just as I did and we walked to the horse paddocks on the other side of the street.  There had been a dusting of snow on the already frosty ground and there wasn't any sign of the Glossy Ibis, but a bonus was a single Water Pipit around some of the open water.

The greyish head, supercillium and the whiter breast separating this pipit from the similar sized Rock Pipit.

We walked to the view point to look over the Bridge Street floods.  Unlike Posbrook these floods are fed by the river so was relatively ice free.  Posbrook relies on the water flooding from the floods and as a result was frozen.

With open water there were Shoveler, Teal, four Pintail, and Egyptian Geese.  Waders were represented by Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwits and snipe hidden amongst the vegetation.

Walking back to the car park there were two Glossy Ibis feeding in a filed at the back of the area.

We walked down the Canal path, there was a dusting of snow on the path and the fence posts were covered in frost.  This Robin sat on the post and remained there as we walked past

As we walked towards the bridge two Glossy Ibis flew up from the field on the other side.  This used to be a horse paddock, but now it is fenced off as a housing estate will eventually swallow it up.

As we walked along the path Snipe were pinging up from the bulrushes, but then we flushed a small snipe form the side of the path.  It flew up and was smaller and with a much smaller bill, bingo, Jack Snipe.

The Glossy Ibis dropped into the field on the east side of the path, where of course the light was poor.

As I tried to get to better light they flushed and then bizarrely landed on the canal path and walked towards the bridge.

I was then distracted by a Grey Wagtail that dropped onto the bracken alongside the canal.  It didn't stop long.

We had lost the Glossy Ibis, so I searched the fenced off field.  There were three Snipe in the grass.

We walked up the path towards Greater Posbook farm with Goldcrest and a pair of Bullfinches.  The male showed briefly then the pair disappeared.

But back at the canal path we came across them again and this time the male showed in the open, albeit with an annoying branch.

Another Glossy Ibis flew from down the valley and dropped out of sight in the vegetation.  Back at the car park we decided to walk back to the paddocks.  The Water Pipit was still present but as I tried to get a better view it flew off high towards the floods.

There were two Glossy Ibis close to the path.

There have been six Glossy Ibis around the paddocks over the last few days.  There have been at least two adult birds, they show much more glossy feathers than the immature birds like these that still have the plumage developing.  They still look impressive though in the winter sunshine.

They walked to behind the horse stables and I was able to photograph from the road.

The ground quite soft here after the sun has warmed it up.

We left Bridge Street and drove around to the sea wall at Hill Head.  The tide was high and there was plenty of ice in the bay, covered with a dusting of snow.

Plenty of gulls settled on the ice, here mostly Black-headed Gulls

And more Black-headed Gulls and a few Common Gulls.

there were about twenty plus Sanderling on the beach at the base of the rainbow bar.

With the scrapes frozen over we decided to walk down the east side of the reserve to check the meadows.  We walked all the way to the Knight's Bank hide.  One of three Marsh Harriers was flying out over the meadow.

There were Canada and Egyptian Geese out on the meadow with four Greylag Geese amongst them.  Two Curlew were feeding towards the Meadow hide.

A Sparrowhawk flew in front of the hide and it made a token effort to take a Snipe that flushed.  A little later a Kestrel flew past the hide in the other direction carrying what looked like a field vole.

It settled on a post where we have to assume it dispatched the vole because a little later in was hovering in front of the hide.

We were waiting for the White-fronted Geese that have been around for the last few days to drop in, but they didn't so we decided to leave, it was cold and the sun was dropping.  A good day, shame about the geese.

30th December - Testwood Lakes and Lower Test Marshes, Hampshire

Ian and I had arranged to meet today, but plans changed on Monday night as Ian had to take his van in for a service issue, this was near to Testwood Lakes so we agreed to meet there.  It was a lovely morning, cold but sunny.  In the car park Redwing flew over and we were surprised by a pair of Rose-ringed Parakeets that flew over calling and quickly disappeared from sight.

We walked around to the hides, stopping to watch the thrushes including Redwing and Fieldfare along the way.  A young buck Roe Deer appeared at the back of the field as well.

Opening the windows in the hide spooked the Wigeon feeding on the grass bank and they all took to the water, there was around a hundred present.

They quickly returned to the grass bank to feed.

The view wasn't brilliant with the low sun shining intot he hide.  Looking around the pools were Teal, Lapwing, Shoveler, Mallard and a few Gadwall.  Moving to view Meadow Lake there were quite a few Cormorant, the closest taking in the sunshine and drying wings on the posts.

Good numbers of Coot feeding around the Wigeon.

A Great Egret flew in from behind us and settled on the grass in front of the hide.

Once upon a time this was one of the places you would come to to see Great Egret, now they turn up almost everywhere there is water.

Then flew off with a lovely black background.

With little else around Ian and I decided to walk around the lakes.  Plenty of alder catkins were an attraction to a good sized flock of Siskin.

A Grey Heron standing high up in a willow tree.

As we picked up the main path towards the car park there were several Chiffchaff catching insects from the bramble bushes.

As we watched the Chiffchaff we heard the Rose-ringed Parakeets again, they appeared to be behind us and a dead Oak tree looked a likely candidate.  Once we eventually found them they flew into the bushes below which made it a little difficult to photograph them.

They were definitely a pair, the male, the one with the black chin markings appearing to be feeding the female.

The female, lacking the dark markings.

They then flew back up to the old oak, the female going to a suitable nest hole.  Eventually she went inside.

While the male sat close by.

The male then went to the nest hole, staying outside.

Rose-ringed Parakeets start nest building in January and will lay eggs early in the year.  The nest is lined with bark and chippings.

The male spent a lot of time like this and appeared to be chewing away at the wall of the hole inside and on the edges.

At last a chance to see the whole bird, body and beautiful tail streamers.

The male then flew off and the female appeared at the hole.

And eventually I got the money shot with a lovely shadow.

They both flew off and we walked back to the car park. After lunch, with Ian's van still under investigation we decided to walk around Lower Test Marshes.  we walked down the path and over the river.  We remarked that the few times we come here we usually see a Grey Wagtail at the start of the board walk and one duly appeared!

The boardwalk was officially closed but we walked as far as we could.  The bird life was almost non existent, a Kestrel the only highlight.  Looking across the reeds there was a stark contrast between the reeds of nature and the docks of man!

Coming back a male Stonechat was on the posts.

We decided to walk in the other direction towards Redbridge, this was probably even worse.  A few Meadow Pipits and Long-tailed Tits and closer to Redbridge groups of Canada Geese and Greylags.

Turning back we headed to the dealership where Ian's van was having to stay in overnight so I took him back home to Stubbington.  What could have been a dire day was brightened by the presence and plumage of the Parakeets.