27th April - Pig Bush Inclosure, New Forest, Hampshire

Another warm sunny morning and having receives some news on the possibility of Nightjar in the New Forest at Pig Bush, I made my way there.  Car parking charges are now in force around the New Forest and this was my first visit since they came in.  I was pleased to see that they have made arrangements for payment, should there not be any signal in the area and that the main payment method was through Ringo.  I successfully made payment and then set off around the wood.

As I came out at the bottom of the wood a Willow Warbler was singing at the top of a small bush and allowed me to get quite close.

Note the length of the wings, the primary tips extending beyond the rump, the similar Chiffchaff's wings are shorter, only reaching the rump

This was the first of many Willow Warbler i heard singing around the inclosure, numbers appear to be a lot higher than in previous years.

As I walked along the outside of the wood I came across a Nuthatch foraging along the branches of an Oak tree.

I crossed the open heath and then into the next wooded area.  A Cuckoo called from the trees to the north.  On reaching the tree where the Nightjar is seen I searched all the branches without any luck.  I also used the thermal camera which was not that easy with the sun warming the boughs of the Oak.  Eventually I gave up and decided to return later.  Walking on, this Song Thrush appeared in front of me, clearing having been searching for food for young, traces of mud on the beak.

I walked into the small copse close to the railway line and explored the area where there was dead wood.  There wasn't any sign of Redstart here, but I could hear one singing over by the cattle gates.

It took some time to locate, but I eventually found ithigh in an Oak, not the best views of the lovely summer visitor.

As I sat and listened and watched the Redstart I took the chance to have lunch, as well as the Redstart singing there was also a Treecreeper singing close by.  The song, a light whispery trill.  It was in a fallen tree that was still in leaf and showed quite well as it sang and foraged around the bark.

The Redstart had moved to a position in the open once more, but still quite high up in the oak.

As I turned to walk back I noticed what I thought was a Redstart at the foot of a tree a fair way off.  But a closer look revealed the bird to be a lot chunkier with a large head and bill.  Taking a record shot it turned out to be a Hawfinch.  However as I got closer it flew up into the tree and out of sight, so this remained the one piece of evidence for the sighting.

As I walked back across the heath I hoped for Tree Pipit, but only got Willow Warblers.  AS I entered the main wood known as Rowbarrow, I did pick up a male Redstart at the base of a tree.

It flew up and out of sight, so I walked on and checked the tree once more for Nightjar, again without any luck.  I was going to head back tot he car, but a Redstart singing close by had me searching for it and this time it showed low down on the lower branches of an Oak and stuck around to continue singing.

A bird of deciduous woodland, the Redstart gets its name from the colour of its tail, 'start' being an old colloquial name for tail.

The Redstart is a summer visitor to Britain & Ireland, arriving in April and departing through September and October for its wintering location in trans-Saharan Africa. The male is a striking bird, pinky-red below with a black face, silvery-white forehead, grey back and striking red tail, whilst the female has pale orangey-red underparts, pale brownish upperparts and slightly duller tail.

Redstarts can be found breeding across the UK, although their strongholds are in the west. However, this species is only a rare breeder in Ireland. UK numbers declined in the late-1960s due to drought in this species' Sahelian wintering grounds. Numbers subsequently recovered, and now fluctuate.

It could be that these birds have already paired up and have a mate sitting on eggs, they like to nest in holes in trees and later into May will be seen feeding young.

Leaving the REdstart I walked back across the heath.

There is a line of trees that follows the Bishop's Dyke and the small stream.

With forty minutes left on my car parking I decided to have a look at the heath area on the other side of the road.  Again I was hoping for maybe a Tree Pipit, but this time found a Meadow Pipit, this one carrying a caterpillar for young close by.

Stone chat were calling from the top of the gorse.  This one a male.

While here both the male and female at the top of a gorse bush.

There wasn't any sign of Tree Pipit and a Cuckoo was calling far way to the east.  A Buzzard took off from a tree, but struggled to get good lift and ended up circling in an attempt to get height just above my head.

My time coming to an end I made my way back to the car.  I hadn't succeeded in finding my target bird today, but did manage some great views of Redstart once more.

25th January - Wherwell, Bransbury Common and Fishlake Meadows, Hampshire

This morning I was meeting Ian in the village of Wherwell, which lies to the south east of Andover in north Hampshire.

Wherwell sits on the River Test, which has more than one channel nearby, and a wide flood plain, which flows through the village in parallel with the High Street.

The name Wherwell is thought to derive from its bubbling springs resulting in the Middle Ages place name “Hwerwyl” noted in AD 955, possibly meaning “kettle springs” or “cauldron springs.” Pronunciation of the name has ranged from “Hurrell” to “Wer-rel” to present-day “Wher-well.”

Before the Dissolution, the parish of Wherwell was in the hands of an important abbey of Benedictine nuns, whose abbess was Lady of the Manor of an area much larger than the existing parish.  Today there is Wherwell Priory.

The village is associated with the Cockatrice, a mythical beast, essentially a two-legged dragon, wyvern, or serpent-like creature with a rooster's head. The story is that the cockatrice terrorised the village until it was imprisoned in the dungeons below Wherwell Priory. A prize of land was offered to anyone who could kill the creature. None were successful, until a man named Green lowered a mirror into the dungeon. The cockatrice battled against its own reflection until exhausted, at which point Green was able to kill it. Today there is an area of land near Wherwell called Green's Acres. For many years a weather vane in the shape of a cockatrice adorned the church of St. Peter and Holy Cross in Wherwell until it was removed to Andover Museum.

We we were here for the reports of up to twenty Hawfinch around the churchyard of St Peter and the Holy Cross, We walked down Church Lane and crossed the river and then into the churchyard with a view in the winter sunshine of the church spire.

As we entered the churchyard we met a lady coming out who told us she hadn't seen any that morning.  Not the best news but we continued on.  The church yard consists of yew trees and tall beech trees at the back.  As we came around the church the top of the beech tree was in the sunshine and a Hawfinch flew on to the top of the branches.

We then discovered a group of Hawfinch in some trees away from the churchyard, we counted at least fifteen, in this picture there are eight.

They were mobile but would return to the trees where the sun was catching the branches, it was a cold morning.

We walked around the area and managed to get some different if distant views, here eleven Hawfinch

We had seen photographs of the Hawfinch feeding on the ground in the churchyard, but walking around the Yew trees appeared to be berry less now, so the Hawfinch were feeding elsewhere and unfortunately this was completely out of sight of us.  We spent the time looking up at the tops of the trees with this view.

We persevered for some time, walking around the village.  At least we were able to appreciate the thatched cottages and neat gardens.

Walking around a Buzzard drifted over along with a Red Kite that came quite low to check us out.

We decided to move on and took the short drive to Bransbury Common, an area of bog and farmland on either side of the river Dever.  You park off road and the walk down a footpath to an area of the river that used to be a ford.  In the fields on the way there were all five thrush species, a Goldcrest, a Brown Hare and good numbers of Roe Deer.

The river was flowing fast but was still not too deep, but deep enough to prevent crossing in wellies.

Ian found a female Kingfisher on the other side of the river, perched on a fence by a still part of the river.

There was little about, a Cetti's Warbler was calling from the reeds and there was a brief burst of song and we saw it move from the bushes.

Overhead there were Buzzards and distant Red Kite.  Eventually two Red Kite came overhead

Both birds were calling.

Then interacting, not sure if this was display or annoyance.

One flew off, the other staying overhead.

With little about we decided to head back, but stopped for a Muntjac Deer that was in a nearby field.

The small, Chinese muntjac deer was introduced to Woburn Park in Bedfordshire at the start of the 20th century and rapidly spread into the surrounding area. It is now a common animal across southeast England and can be found in woodland, parkland and even gardens. Muntjac deer are notorious browsers, eating the shoots from shrubs, as well as woodland herbs and brambles. This clearing of woodland understory has been linked to declines in species such as nightingales.

A very small, stocky deer, the muntjac deer is about the same size as a medium dog. It is gingery-brown, with a pale underside, darker stripes in its face, and small, single-pointed antlers.

Male muntjacs have short, unbranched antlers that slope backwards, and a pair of long canine teeth. They breed all year-round, but females usually only have one kid at a time. Muntjac deer are also known as 'barking deer' because of their dog-like calls.

Unnerved by us it ran away in a comical manner, a bit like a dog trying to run and then leap like a Roe Deer.

We had lunch and then decided to spend the afternoon at Fishlake Meadows.  From the car park we walked the canal path.  At the first view point a Great Egret was perched in the dead trees.

It was very quiet along the path until we reached the gate to the cross path.  A Marsh Tit was vocal and showed well around the bramble by the sub station

Despite its name, the Marsh Tit actually lives in woodland and parks in England and Wales. It is very similar to the willow tit, but has a glossier black cap and a 'pitchoo' call that sounds like a sneeze.  They're so hard to identify that ornithologists (scientists who study birds) didn't realise there were two species until 1897.

Walking along the cross path a Buzzard sat in one of the trees alongside the river.

The path to the screens was quite deeply flooded in places, the only birds were Gadwall and Teal in the pools and another Cetti's Warbler.  At the screens there were Greylag and a single Shelduck.  A Buzzard flew across the water, at first thought to be a Marsh Harrier.

From the back of the water a Great Egret flew towards us.

As it reached the reeds close to us it threw out its neck and called.

We made our way back to the canal path where we finally managed to see a female Marsh Harrier, but she quickly dropped into the reed bed.

Back home, later in the afternoon the sunset was quite spectacular and worthy of a mention here.

Some good year ticks today, but not the views I was hoping for.  The month is coming to an end, what will be next?