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.

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.

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.

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.