Winter 2021/2022 – Page 3 – Birding with a Sketchbook

Saturday 29th January 2022

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A sea watch first thing was quiet other than the five Slavonian Grebes, a single male Eider, the customary Razorbill or two and at least 10 Great Crested Grebes strung out along the Solent.

From the Sailing Club 10 Spoonbill were loafing on Inchmery Saltmarsh and just in front of them the Purple Sandpiper (see arrow below) was resting in the Dunlin roost.

Over at the bottom of Exbury Fields the juvenile Peregrine was in one of her favourite trees. I’ve spoken to two birders this week who have both said that they have seen two Peregrines around the point which suggests that at least one of the adult birds is still around but I haven’t seen either of them myself.

Also on the other side of the river the male White-tailed Eagle G393 appeared to be checking out a nest site. As the oldest of the eagles we get at Needs Ore his bill is looking pretty yellow now.

While watching De L’Orne Scrape from the Sluice Gate a Spotted Redshank called once as it flew over my head. I’ve had a few late autumn/November records but this is my first January record and my first definite winter record since 30^th December 2020.

Spotted Redshank over the Sluice gate

Nearby an adult Herring Gull was sat on the number 5 post. Some adults retain streaked heads into February although most are white-headed by now.

While scanning the Brent flock from Park Lane a Treecreeper called from the trees at the bottom of Rye Errish Copse. With a decent image you can separate Common Treecreeper from Short-toed Treecreeper. Here you can see the buff markings half way along the primaries create a clear blackish right angle (see arrow below) whereas on Short-toed Treecreeper these buff marks are uniformly stepped to create more of a smooth buffy edge.

I regularly see a pair of Kestrels here and the male posed nicely for me today.

Eight of the Spoonbills headed west past Park Shore and there were at least eight Red-breasted Mergansers just off shore.

There was plenty of shooting going on nearby and large flocks of dabbling ducks had escaped to the safety of the sea. On the shingle islands there were 53 Mediterranean Gulls all facing into the wind. Most were adults (49), three had the black primary tips of 2^nd winter birds and there was just one 1^st winter bird.

Park Shore gets a few larger gulls mainly Herring Gulls and I often photograph them to double check that other similar but rarer gulls aren’t appearing. On this 2nd winter individual you can see the clear pale window on the inner primaries, brownish (as opposed to blackish) centres to the secondaries, a thick tail band which doesn’t particularly contrast with an off white rump which has dark marks and a head that is not particularly white.

Thursday 27th January 2022

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I hadn’t seen any Goosander at Needs Ore until 28^th November 2021 but I’ve seen three since then and then this morning a flock of five red-headed Goosander flew west fairly close in shore. Even in flight you can see the sharply demarcated brown heads and photos help with also seeing the neat white chin, the lack of black bar across the secondaries and the cleaner flanks.

Throughout the day there were good numbers of Eider on the sea. There was lots of comings and goings and so it’s difficult to be certain of numbers but I’d estimate 25. A single Slavonian Grebe was joined by three more arriving from the west.

Over at the hides 63 Golden Plover appeared from the north spooked by one of the White-tailed Eagles. The flock wheeled over the Gins for several minutes before appearing to land on Gins West. I later saw the flock on the flooded Gins looking north from Venner Hide.

Black-tailed Godwit photo by Brian Fairbrother

The Scaup was on Black Water with a pair of Pochard and as I scanned further right I was delighted to see two pairs of Mandarin Duck.

They were in the middle of Black Water looking flighty and I think they may have just arrived. Over the next 15 minutes they swam around the edge of the water flushing out anxious looking Teal from the reeds. Once the reed edges were clear they quietly disappeared into them and they weren’t seen again. This is the first Mandarin Duck at Needs Ore for three years and a patch tick for me.

There were 60 Brent Geese feeding in Middle Field, the first time I’ve seen them grazing in the fields alongside the Main Hedge.

On Gull Island the juvenile Peregrine was still present but again no adults. There were 57 Pintail on Inchmery and the two paired up White-tailed Eagles were together on the marsh. The male appeared to have a kill or carrion.

From the Sluice Gate I counted 32 Linnet on the fence overlooking De L’Orne Scrape and a male Sparrowhawk was watching from a post along Kingfisher Ditch.

Before heading home I dropped in to Great Marsh. I flushed five Snipe as I walked around the western side of the scrape. It also looked good habitat for Jack Snipe. A Red-throated Diver was out on the sea from the Beach House.

A quick stop at the Reedy Ditch produced a Treecreeper at Warren Farm and what may well have been the same bird followed me all of the way to the Droveway where I watched a Firecrest in a pine tree in the garden of Black Water House.

January 2022, Winter 2021/2022

Sunday 23rd January 2022

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I headed to Park Shore and my first drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker of the year greeted me as I got out of the car. Just opposite, in the field towards Bergerie Farm, 24 noisy Egyptian Geese were squabbling and a Buzzard looked for worms.

I walked the lane between Errish House and Rye Errish House. There is a short line of conifers here and the copse opposite has been particularly productive for crests and chiffchaffs. There were at least two Firecrests and three Goldcrests and the group of three wintering Chiffchaffs were feeding in the conifers.

Every few minutes I picked out the paler beige-coloured Siberian Chiffchaff, a subtle green tinge was noticeable across all of the wing feather edges – greater coverts, primary coverts, alula, tertials, secondaries and primaries. Unfortunately it didn’t call although at one stage it did react strongly to a tristis recording I played. None of the chiffchaffs reacted to the standard collybita recordings and none of them called. The chiffchaffs appeared to be keen on this area as they were still here when I drove back several hours later.

I kept hearing a distant Fieldfare and eventually saw it in the tree tops. The two Cattle Egrets were in their normal field close to the horses around Park Farm and a Coal Tit and a Treecreeper were calling from the pines around Little Marsh Lodge.

female Marsh Harrier photo by Dimitri Moore

Down on the beach the shingle islands which are revealed at mid and low tides are particularly good for Mediterranean Gulls and there were at least 25 today. Out on the sea a tightly formed group of four Slavonian Grebes drifted back towards Mary Monts and a fifth bird was nearby, this is the peak count so far this winter. Auks were represented by single Guillemots and Razorbills. In the distance, just beyond the old wooden pier to the west, there were four Red-breasted Mergansers.

female Kingfisher photo by Ian Williamson

Back at Needs Ore a female Kingfisher was perched along Kingfisher Ditch and on De L’Orne scrape there were 86 Black-tailed Godwit. This is my highest count on the reserve although I can see from historic records (10-25 years ago) that there have been counts of 500+ in the past.

female Reed Bunting photo by Dimitri Moore

A female Reed Bunting perched close to Venner Hide and over on Venner Island a Little Egret was showing plumes on both the neck and the wings and so it is at least a 2^nd winter bird. Nape plumes if they were present (not visible in this photo) would make it an adult.

The first winter female Scaup was still on Black Water, she was first seen on the 27^th October and so has been with us for nearly 13 weeks. The number of Tufted Duck was up again slightly to 23.

Although this is clearly a Greater Scaup the stretched wing allows you to look for one of the key Lesser Scaup features. On Lesser Scaup the bright white bar across the secondaries ends abruptly and is replaced by a grey wing bar on the primaries. On Greater Scaup, as shown here, there is a gradual transition from white to grey.

At the Sailing Club a Grey Plover was standing on Sluice Gate Saltmarsh as I got out of the car. I often stop at the Sailing Club for lunch and it is almost always accompanied by this confiding Robin. I showed the image to Graham who commented that “it is difficult to be sure of its age. Six greater coverts are visible and uniform, but the ones out of view could be different. The alula looks pointed and a tiny bit frayed, which could make it a first-winter. I would leave it un-aged.”

Out on the sea four Eider were flushed by a speedboat, they wheeled around before heading west. The juvenile Peregrine was perched on one of the taller posts towards the end of Gull Island, she was facing away looking over towards Lepe. It’s now seven weeks since I’ve seen either of the adults.

birds, December 2021, Monthly Summaries, Winter 2021/2022

Highlights December 2021

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On the 4^th a Red Kite drifted over Bergerie Farm. Virtually all of my Red Kite sightings have been in the spring and so this was a little unusual. At the same time my first ever wintering Black-necked Grebe was spending the 4^th and 5^th off Mary Monts and a Gannet was also in the Solent on the 5^th. Later that day at Park Farm a pair of Redpolls flew over calling.

One of the adult Peregrines was seen on the 5^th on Gull Island but there have been no subsequent sightings of adult birds since then. A juvenile female Peregrine was subsequently seen most days. It may be that the recent failed breeding attempts and the presence of the White-tailed Eagles have persuaded the Peregrines to move on.

Three Velvet Scoter were found from the Sailing Club during our WeBS count on the 5^th and the same group were seen in a similar area on the 8th, the first Velvet Scoter record for two years. The wintering flock of Grey Plover totaled 209 on the 5^th and included a single Golden Plover on 4^th.

The undoubted highlight of the month was a flyover Lapland Bunting from the Sailing Club on the 8th. This is the fourth record for Needs Ore after one in 2012 and two in the 1960s. I didn’t see the bunting well but a sound recording enabled me to eliminate the very similar sounding Snow Bunting.

Lapland Bunting calling over the Sailing Club

70 Redwing were feeding in Wigeon Fields on 11^th but the only Fieldfare during December was one heard near the Beach Gorse on the same day. 21 Eider were offshore on the 11th and a Goshawk powered over the Reedy Ditch on the 11^th.

Brambling calling near the Reedy Ditch

The crop strip field attracts good numbers of finches and a Brambling was heard calling here on the morning of the 14^th. Also in the Reedy Ditch area that day a Hawfinch was seen briefly over Black Water House and a Marsh Tit was also seen on the 14^th calling from the Reedy Ditch Bushes.

A Shag showed really nicely fairly close in shore on the 20^th. Compared to the much commoner Cormorants it was significantly blacker, with a shorter body above the water, a flash of yellow around the gape and a white chin. Nice to see it dive with an amazingly athletic leap before entering the water almost vertically.

One of the highlights of the month was a group of four adult and two first winter Russian White-fronted Geese which were seen on Middle Field with Canada Geese on the 20^th. The four birds that over-wintered last year tended to associate with the Greylags. I first saw them on the 19th December 2020, a very similar arrival date. This year’s group of six quickly moved on and weren’t seen again.

Five Red-throated Divers were seen flying west and also settled on the sea on the 20^th but there appear to be no wintering Great Northern Divers yet.

A group of six Barnacle Geese flew over Pullen on the 22^nd and later that afternoon the first Pale-bellied Brent Goose of the winter was seen at Park Farm. What may well have been the same bird was seen on the 30^th out on Inchmery Saltmarsh before flying past Mary Monts shortly afterwards.

Also on the 22^nd a Common Scoter was on the sea and a single Golden Plover was with the Grey Plover flock. Cormorants leaving their roost in the Black Water area totaled 40 on Boxing Day while later that morning a female Goosander drifted east on the rising tide close in shore.

In the afternoon the wintering Lapwing flock peaked at just over 400 birds on De L’Orne Scrape and sharing the scrape were 71 Golden Plover, no doubt part of the wandering flock from Pennington. Also on Boxing Day, during a sunny interval, a Peacock butterfly showed briefly on Wheatear Corner.

Towards the end of the month 51 Black-tailed Godwit on De L’Orne Scrape was a good count and very similar to my previous highest winter count which was 52 on 17th December 2020 (Exbury Fields). Also on the 30^th three Greenshank were seen together here, this is the first time I’ve seen more than two during any winter count (December and January).

Birds present all month included the wintering Avocet group which remained around the dozen mark often on the edge of the river south of the Yacht Club. This is a typical count and location for Avocet, there were 14 here in December last year. Numbers grew to 21 by early March, also feeding along the edge of the river. A further increase in numbers came in April with 37 on Great Marsh.

The two Cattle Egrets remained close to Park Farm and up to three Dartford Warblers were often seen or heard close to Mary Monts. Auks continued in good numbers with up to seven Razorbill and four Guillemot seen off shore.

The 1^st winter Purple Sandpiper, only the second for Needs Ore, remained on Warren Shore throughout December often showing very closely for those that made the long walk.

The first winter female Scaup remained on Black Water and Venner although rather strangely she was seen on Inchmery Saltmarsh during a WeBS count on the 5^th.

There were up to four Slavonian Grebes off shore during the month and the Spoonbill group totalled 14 adults splitting their time between Inchmery Saltmarsh and De L’Orne Scrape.