 |
| Smew (Mergellus albellus) Romsey |
I won’t be getting out much other
than locally for the next couple of weeks and like a few other birders I've been doing my best to see the good birds
on offer in Hampshire over the last few days.
Today ACJ and I arrived a Bickerley shortly after first light with a view to seeing the Great Egret that can apparently be seen at roost from the viewpoint by the brewery. Perhaps we were too late but we didn't get it here and later heard that it had been on the other side near Bickerly road at dawn… pants. GWE is always a bogey bird for me and seeing this returning bird never seems to run smoothly. It’s a nice site though and the Glossy Ibis was on show most of the time from the bridge.
The Bittern at Ivy Lake, Blashford was next on the list but things didn't look good as we arrived in the hide where condensation on the windows made viewing pretty hard work. Luckily Andy quickly picked out a Bittern off to the right from the open side window and I had good scope views of it eating a fish before it wandered off back into cover.
It was a long shot but we figured it was worth putting in a little time looking for the Dipper that had recently been seen near Bicton. It was needle in a haystack stuff frankly there is a lot of habitat and much of the land is private and flooded, Water Rail and Chiffchaff were new here though. The Bewick’s Swan was on the floods at Ibsley bridge and back at Bickerley for another bash at GWE the Ruff was on show as well as the Ibis but no sign of the Egret.
Romsey had Smew and Hawfinch to offer and it didn't disappoint with very good views of both species. So overall a good days Hampshire birding which finished with dusk at Chichester harbour entrance, Guillemot, Shag, GN Diver and Sandwich Tern were visible before dark.
The end of today’s trip out sees me on 118 species.
Here is my list!
Today ACJ and I arrived a Bickerley shortly after first light with a view to seeing the Great Egret that can apparently be seen at roost from the viewpoint by the brewery. Perhaps we were too late but we didn't get it here and later heard that it had been on the other side near Bickerly road at dawn… pants. GWE is always a bogey bird for me and seeing this returning bird never seems to run smoothly. It’s a nice site though and the Glossy Ibis was on show most of the time from the bridge.
The Bittern at Ivy Lake, Blashford was next on the list but things didn't look good as we arrived in the hide where condensation on the windows made viewing pretty hard work. Luckily Andy quickly picked out a Bittern off to the right from the open side window and I had good scope views of it eating a fish before it wandered off back into cover.
It was a long shot but we figured it was worth putting in a little time looking for the Dipper that had recently been seen near Bicton. It was needle in a haystack stuff frankly there is a lot of habitat and much of the land is private and flooded, Water Rail and Chiffchaff were new here though. The Bewick’s Swan was on the floods at Ibsley bridge and back at Bickerley for another bash at GWE the Ruff was on show as well as the Ibis but no sign of the Egret.
Romsey had Smew and Hawfinch to offer and it didn't disappoint with very good views of both species. So overall a good days Hampshire birding which finished with dusk at Chichester harbour entrance, Guillemot, Shag, GN Diver and Sandwich Tern were visible before dark.
The end of today’s trip out sees me on 118 species.
Here is my list!
No comments:
Post a Comment