A small number of Brent Geese were fairly close in shore on a flat calm sea out from Mary Monts. With swimming Brents it’s harder to be certain but I think this is a well-marked Dark-bellied Brent Goose as opposed to a Pale-bellied Brent.

A large group of 40 Cormorants flew over Mary Monts Pools as I started sea watching, this is my biggest count on the reserve, they had probably roosted around Venner. I spent 30 minutes sea watching, it was flat calm but visibility was poor with sea mist and my scope eyepiece was constantly steaming up. I watched 10 Eider appear from the Lepe direction although they landed before they were close.

Although Needs Ore and Hampshire aren’t great for large gulls I regularly keep an eye out for Yellow-legged Gulls and so I often photograph flying Herring Gulls. On this wing tip photo you can see the long grey tongue on the eighth primary (P8) and the tiny black mark on P5, these are typical Herring Gull features. Yellow-legged Gull shows a more extensive black triangular wing tip with a very short grey tongue on P8 and a much more extensive black bar on P5.

Looking over my shoulder to check whether there was any activity behind me a silent Dartford Warbler flew around the back of the sea watching bush. I managed a photo. The spiky tail feathers, worn primaries, dull brownish iris and dull brown orbital ring all make me think this is a 1^st year bird. Another two Dartford Warblers soon joined it.

With little happening on the sea I headed to the hides. As I arrived at the Viewing Gate a flock of waders appeared out of the mist from the Black Water direction. They were Golden Plover and one or two of them called but only briefly as they went overhead. They tacked back around to Black Water and appeared to land on the Gins.

I later saw them on De L’Orne Scrape and I was better able to count them, there were 71 which is my highest count at Needs Ore. There were also 404 Lapwing on the scrape and a single Spoonbill. Lapwing numbers are certainly lower than recent years.

Also at De L’Orne a Water Rail squealed from the left hand side of the hide and then appeared briefly at the water’s edge.

On Black Water there had been an arrival of Tufted Duck with seven males and five females. Also a single female Pochard and the resident female Scaup completed the diving duck group. Otherwise it was good numbers of Teal, Shoveler, Mallard and Gadwall.

A male Great Spotted Woodpecker was working its way along the oaks opposite the Shore Hide car park.  

After a brief stop at a very misty Sailing Club I walked the old spit to the cottages, around Thrift Corner and then back to the Sailing Club. I then decided to head back to Mary Mont’s just as the sun finally broke through and suddenly all the morning mist started to evaporate. I decided to walk the spit. 

Out to sea I picked up two distant grebes and in the bright sun their cheeks gleamed white. This was my first double count of Slavonian Grebe this winter. They gradually swam closer and although the light was harsh it was nice to get some closer photos. They stayed very close together throughout. 

As I was watching the Slavonian Grebes drifting towards me I noticed a silhouetted sawbill and assumed it was a Red-breasted Merganser. A few seconds later I took another look and this time thought the chunky profile looked more like Goosander. As at moved out of the line of the sun I could see more detail and it was indeed a female Goosander, maybe even the bird had I seen with Ian at Park Shore on the 28^th November.

Three Red-necked Grebes had been reported together on Thursday at close range inside the river from the Sailing Club. There was no sign today although the mist had closed in and from the Sailing Club I couldn’t see the other side of the river! Out on the sea I did see a couple of scruffy and dusky looking very distant Great Crested Grebes which were worth a closer luck. Even at this long range, however, a Red-necked Grebe would show a dusky grey neck front framed by white cheeks and chest. Also a much shorter neck and less of a horned appearance.

The wintering Purple Sandpiper was still showing very nicely on the muddy fringe directly out from the cottages.

While walking back along the spit a male Marsh Harrier headed over the saltmarsh drifting further inland. It was clearly a male although not a full adult given the browner underwings.

The Teal and Wigeon lifted up from the bay just east of Teal Point. A few seconds later I picked up the immature female Peregrine powering along the beach. You can see the pale edgings to the brown upperparts and although not visible in this photo it showed pale nape patches and streaking (as opposed to barring) on the underparts. In the last few weeks the only Peregrine I’ve seen at Needs Ore has been this young bird. 

An unexpected Peacock showed briefly in sunny conditions on Wheatear Corner and a Siskin called overhead as I stopped at the Reedy Ditch.

Amazing to see a White-tailed Eagle in the tree next to the Crop Strip field as I drove along Warren Lane, definitely the closest I’ve been. It flew away almost as I was underneath mobbed by several Jackdaws. I later saw three White-tailed Eagles roosting in the trees at the back of Long Pits.

Lots of Redwing again today, a very tricky bird to photograph as they always seem so keen to keep moving. No Fieldfare again today.

As I headed over towards Mary Monts six Barnacle Geese flew over Pullen and on towards Black Water.

I met up with Ian at just after 8am to do some sea watching. Highlights were four Guillemot including a group of three together on the sea, 2 Common Scoter heading east, a single Red-throated Diver and a Razorbill. Last winter I didn’t see any Razorbills at all but this winter so far I’ve recorded 28 bird days!   

We headed to the hides and chased 10 Bullfinch along the main hedge, this is the best location on the reserve for this species and it is my highest count at Needs Ore.

From Venner hide there were 60 Curlew and three Black-tailed Godwit feeding on Wigeon Fields. The Scaup was still on Black Water and a skittish Grey Heron lifted up from one of the new islands out from the NFOC hide.

On De L’Orne Scrape there were now 13 Avocet. 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.   

In the distance over Inchmery Saltmarsh a group of around 100 Lapwing headed our way, a smaller wader was on the right flank, a Golden Plover, it peeled away and dropped down on to the saltmarsh. At high tide at least one Bar-tailed Godwit was amongst the Grey Plover and Dunlin. The juvenile female Peregrine was again on show, this time on the Inchmery side of the river in a dead tree.

After lunch we headed over to Park Shore. From the viewpoint at the top of Park Lane there were 800 Brent Geese and amongst them was the Pale-bellied Brent Goose again. Probably not as well marked as the two birds that wintered here last year.

The two Cattle Egrets were still around Park Farm.

From Park Shore there was little on the sea other than a 1^st winter Red-throated Diver heading east and a male Eider heading west. There are good numbers of Red-throated Diver in this part of the Solent this winter but I’m still to see a Great Northern Diver, I’d recorded four by this time last year.

No sign of the Russian White-fronted Geese today and no-one reported them yesterday either, perhaps they were just moving through.

I stopped at the Reedy Ditch layby hoping that I might bump into a Hawfinch again but no luck. It was cold and wintery and the trees were full of Redwing ‘bok’ calls and the more familiar high pitched plaintiff ‘tzeee’, there were at least 40 moving through.

Next stop was the Sailing Club where a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers were loitering in the river mouth and the juvenile female Peregrine was sat on a post on Gull Island again. Looking towards the Yacht Club 12 Avocet were feeding along the river edge, I later saw the same group feeding just over the sea wall on De L’Orne Scrape.

Looking offshore 5 Red-throated Divers included birds on the sea and also in flight. A Razorbill also headed west and there were another nine Red-breasted Mergansers heading east.

It was great to see a Shag on the sea. 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.

On the saltmarsh 31 Cormorants, many with wings outspread, was my highest count at Needs Ore. They were strung out in a long line and then peeled away in small groups as the water levels rose.

40 Canada Geese were resting in the Middle Field and I quickly realised that there were six Russian White-fronted Geese with them! There were four adults and two 1^st winters. It’s nice to think that maybe two of these adults are returning birds from last year. The four birds that over-wintered last year tended to associate with the Greylags. I first saw them on the 19^th December 2020, a very similar arrival date.

On De L’Orne Scrape a Kingfisher flitted between fence posts and 30 Shelduck was a good count. A Great Black-backed Gull rested with the Shelduck and the wintering Greenshank fed with a handful of Redshank.

A Little Egret walked along in front of the hide, an area that Adam has cleared and cut short to attract grazing dabbling ducks. I’m hoping it might also attract a Water Pipit.

Around Black Water a pair of Magpies was slightly unusual, the female Scaup was still around. The bleating of the Teal, the constant ‘crecking’ of Gadwall and the occasional Wigeon whistle provides the sound track here.

Around Venner Island there were a handful of Pintail, three Pochard, a Tufted Duck and at least 6 Black-tailed Godwit feeding with the Curlew on Wigeon Fields.

In the hide Adam and I watched an amazing interaction between a female Marsh Harrier and a Brown Hare. The two were within 2 feet of each, staring. The Brown Hare barely moved the whole time while the Marsh Harrier rotated its head inquisitively leaning back and forward trying to work out what was going on. Eventually the Marsh Harrier jumped into the air leap-frogging the Brown Hare, the Brown Hare dashed away soon afterwards and the Marsh Harrier followed half-heartedly finally realizing it was too large a prey item.

A sea watch from Mary Monts produced a Guillemot and a Razorbill, four more Red-breasted Mergansers and an obliging Turnstone which I think is an adult as there is no moult contrast in the coverts which all look like adult type feathers lacking the neat buff fringe of retained juvenile feathers. Having said that the coverts all look worn which you wouldn’t expect if they were newly moulted adult feathers, lots to learn.

There has been a Red-necked Grebe at Pennington and one or two Long-tailed Ducks near Hill Head, I’ll cross my fingers and keep watching the sea!

I stopped near the Crop Strip field hoping for a Brambling. Ian had seen them here in the past, there have always been plenty of Chaffinches when I walk along this stretch. There’s no place to park here and so I would give it until the next car came down Warren Lane. I got out of the car and amazingly one of the first calls I heard was the wheezy buzz of a Brambling. It flew over several times, I didn’t see it as it was 7:45am and still pretty dark. Frustratingly by the time I had set up my sound recorder the bird had moved on.

Alan had seen a Hawfinch around Black Water House on Saturday and earlier in the year he had seen several others in this area. As I walked past the duck pond a Hawfinch flew over from the Bee Eater tree direction. I lost it as it headed towards the Droveway. I scanned the trees from several different viewpoints at several times during the day but no luck. It seems that there might be a very small population here with some food source attracting them.  

From the Reedy Ditch there was a good count of 18 Black-tailed Godwit feeding with a similar number of Curlew on Wigeon Fields.

A dark looking diver was sat out off Mary Monts. It was on the verge of being too far away to identify. The bill was held up tilted and it flew with an exaggerated vertical movement of the head. Undoubtedly a Red-throated Diver and a juvenile given the dark dusky head and neck. The only other sea based highlights were five Razorbill between the Sailing Club and Mary Monts and a male Eider heading west.

While I was sea-watching a Dartford Warbler called from the brambles and a couple of Green Woodpeckers were calling from the Pullen area.

On the way back to the car several Siskin were calling as they headed over the Wedge Field. As I arrived at the Sailing Club I could see a large group of Spoonbills on the marsh. There were 14 altogether, you can just about see them all in this photo. This is the only site in Hampshire which regularly records more than 10 Spoonbill.

The tide was 2.6m which was still high enough to ensure that the waders hadn’t dispersed too far although you’re never very close whatever the state of the tide. There were plenty of Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Grey Plover and nine Knot was good to see. Most of the high winter WeBS counts of Knot are from further east at Lepe.

Approximately 50 Linnet flew over the Saltmarsh towards Warren Shore. I keep listening out for Twite although they are a major rarity in Hampshire now. The juvenile Peregrine was sat on one of the signs on Gull Island, paler patches on the head and nape give away its age. It looks like a female from the large size. She was still there over an hour later when I returned to the car. It’ll be interesting to see if she is driven away by the adults.

A colour-ringed Curlew appeared on the saltmarsh on a raised section. I’ve sent the record away for more information although I’m not confident that I could have accurately recorded the colour combinations. I attempted a digiscoped iPhone shot, pretty awful but at extreme distances probably preferable to the camera.

One of the eagles put up the wildfowl from the Venner area and the Greylags settled on the marsh, there were 199 altogether.

I returned to the Reedy Ditch later in the afternoon hoping to get a Brambling call recorded and to see if I could re-locate the Hawfinch. No luck with either although I did find a calling Marsh Tit. Most of the Marsh Tits I’ve seen at Needs Ore have been along this short stretch of Warren Lane between Black Water House and the Paddock.

Eagle update – Adam has been in touch with Steve Egerton-Read at the White-tailed Eagle project. He confirms that over the last month there have been 13 different eagles on the Beaulieu River with a maximum of 8 on one day! It seems that four eagles have settled on the estate – G393 (our 2019 male), and 3 of the 2021 birds G547, G814 and G818.