On a shortened visit today I headed to the beach first but couldn’t resist the pink twilight sleeping Mute Swans at Reedy Ditch.

On the walk to the beach an immature Goshawk broke through the trees near the information board being chased by a smaller Carrion Crow. There were still 10 Turnstone on the shoreline, only a few remain into April and May.

Oystercatchers were mating and it was clear that there had been a further clear out of Brent Geese, Teal and Wigeon. There were 11 Avocet on DL’O scrape and, later, a similar number on G Marsh. Linnets and Reed Buntings were singing in the NP area.

Linnet and Reed Bunting

With the recent northerlies there appeared to be no significant increase in spring visitors with five Willow Warbler, 2 Sedge Warbler and 2 Reed Warblers singing round the reserve. A male and female Marsh Harrier were both seen carrying nesting material down into the reeds at the back of B Water and at one stage the female mobbed a Red Kite who had appeared suddenly.

female Marsh Harrier carrying nesting material and later mobbing a red Kite

The Red Kite broke away and quartered over DL’O lagoon and was then mobbed by the Black-headed Gulls who have settled on the rafts. Based on primary moult, breast markings and tail wear this appears to be a different Red Kite to the one I saw last Thursday.

Red Kite

A lovely fresh Small Tortoiseshell was basking on some flattened reeds, my first at NO and the only butterfly I saw all day.

I relocated the female Garganey on the edge of JV and Ian dashed across from the beach for a patch tick. Soon afterwards the constantly moving Garganey was off again.

female Garganey on the edge of JV, right hand photo by Ian Williamson

Eight Swallows and a House Martin passed through heading east and a Stoat, my first here, ran across the road near the parking area.

Joost was in the car park when I arrived and so we headed down to the beach together to see if yesterday’s Little Ringed Plovers were still around. Just down from NP hide we walked the length of the ditch and unexpectedly flushed a Jack Snipe. I’m sure it must be newly arrived. It flew silently and low and I could just about tell where it landed. I used my thermal camera to try and relocate it before we got too close so that we could get a photo without flushing it. Unfortunately the Jack Snipe was hiding deep within thick grasses and I couldn’t see its thermal image and managed to flush it again. Nice flight views but not the photo I’ve been hoping for.

The Little Ringed Plovers had moved on but a ringed Dartford Warbler showed nicely in the morning sun while a Sedge Warbler was singing energetically from the reedbed and a new Wheatear flitted along the beach fence-line.

After a quick coffee in the car I headed over to the hides. Ian had seen one of the Russian White-fronted Geese yesterday and I managed to relocate it swimming on JV. I assumed all four of the birds had headed back to Russia and so this was a surprise. It looks like it is the 1st year bird who has been left behind.

Collared Dove, Linnet and Chiffchaff

Just behind me a snatch of song was clearly a Willow Warbler and I turned around to see it working its way through the sallows.

On the way back along the walking trail Brown Hares were playing chase in the adjoining fields and I heard a very close and quiet sub song which I thought was a sylvia warbler maybe Blackcap. I followed the sound and glimpses of the bird as it moved slowly back down the other side of the hedge. I decided to walk further ahead of it to the end of the hedge so I could look back along the length of it. The bird flew past me and it was the first Whitethroat of the year and my earliest ever.

distant Whitethroat, first of the year

At around 11am Dad and Ian arrived and we walked the beach loop again. Three Bar-tailed Godwit were new for the day and a flock of 100 Dark-bellied Brent Geese showed that there were still a few around. We were almost back at the car when a Green Woodpecker called in the distance.

During our three hour Peregrine watch a young Mediterranean Gull and a young Spoonbill both flew close by and a House Martin was new for the year and along with lots of this year’s common spring migrants it was my earliest ever.

immature Spoonbill photo by Ian Williamson and 1st year Mediterranean Gull

Today was the first day of our Peregrine monitoring. Ian and I had a shift from 8am-11am and so I got there at 6:30am to have 90 minutes around the hides before heading to the sailing club.

It was pretty cold with the wind having swung around to the north and it felt as though spring migration may be halted as a result. Yesterday’s Reed Warbler was singing again near B Water gate and a Blackcap and a Cetti’s Warbler were singing from where JV hide used to be. As I was heading back across the cattle field I heard a Sedge Warbler behind me, I headed back. I tracked it down to the white flowering Blackthorn near B Water hide and although I got a recording of its song I didn’t see it. This is my earliest ever Sedge Warbler.

an early Reed Warbler

I chatted with Clay on the way back and so I was slightly late back to the sailing club to join Ian. The Peregrine monitoring was uneventual although not for a Woodpigeon who appeared from the west in the talons of the male. The male handed over his catch to the larger female and she spent the next 90 minutes devouring it while the male stood with back turned 20 yards away.

I had to leave earlier today and I was almost home when, at 11:42am , Clay reported a pair of Little Ringed Plover on the pools near MMs house. I quickly u-turned and texted Clay and Ian to ask them to stay on the birds if possible. Thankfully they were still present when I arrived and I joined Ian at around 12:10pm.

Little Ringed Plover pair bottom left photo by Ian Williamson

Amazing to think these attractive waders may have been in Senegal just a few days ago. They certainly looked tired as they rested on the mud below the sea-watching bush.

I was meeting Adrian Bicker at Lepe at 10am to help him with his Nathusius Pipistrelle research. To give me a few hours at NO first I got there for sunrise. I headed over to the beach and it was clear that there were lots of newly arrived Linnets. It was also the lowest tide I’ve seen so far and there were 68 Mediterranean Gulls strung out along the shoreline. They were all adults other than a single 1^st year bird, perhaps their breeding success wasn’t great last year or the younger birds were elsewhere. Along with increased numbers of Linnet I heard at least five Siskin overhead.

A Blackcap was singing opposite the gate near the NP hide and the two Wheatears which had been along the fence line had moved on. I scanned from the gate before the cattle field and noticed a distant raptor on the fence posts beyond JV hide. I switched to scope and was delighted to see it was a Red Kite. Heading around towards JV hide I managed closer views before it took to the air mobbed by crows. It spent the next few minutes quartering over the water meadows behind B Water. There has been a noticeable passage through Hampshire in late March and this is only the second one I’ve seen at NO.

Red Kite

Out from DL’O hide the Black-headed Gulls were showing interest in the rafts with 35 of them congregating in the area. 15 Avocets were feeding, broadly in pairs, on the lagoon and on DL’O scrape. One of the Avocets had colour rings which confirmed that Graham had ringed it at NO as a chick in July 2014. In its first year it made a tour of RSPB Reserves to the east, being seen at Pagham Harbour, Minsmere and Titchwell, before returning to Hampshire. It has returned to NO every summer and it has once been reported wintering in Poole Harbour in Dorset. The last sighting was in April last year when Graham saw it at NO.

Avocets

There were at least 10 pairs of Lapwing in the fields either side of the walking trail hedge with several of them already incubating eggs.

An adult Great Black-backed Gull came over low down. In certain lights mantle colouration can be difficult to assess and unless size and bill shape is easy to judge it can be tricky to separate Great Black-backed Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull. A useful non mantle shade ID feature is the amount of white in the primary tips. Great Black-backed Gull has extensive white mirrors on both P9 and P10. Lesser Black-backed Gull has a very slim small white spot on P10 only.

incubating Lapwing, Great Black-backed Gull and Oystercatchers

I got back to the car at 9:15am and headed over to Lepe to meet Adrian. I am running three AudioMoths for him. I need to change the batteries, reset the AudioMoths and post Adrian the SD cards back every three weeks. We installed one at Lepe and two at NO, at the Warden’s Hut and on the beach fence-line. I’ve also ordered one for my own use and will move it around the reserve to see what other species we have. There has been very little bat monitoring here in the past.

Back at NO the first Swallow of the year drifted past me at S hide, always a thrill. There were at least five others during the afternoon with all of them heading east with some purpose. Presumably they cross over to Lepe and head inland at some stage after that.

first Swallow of the year

It was a particularly high spring tide and at least 47 Curlew were driven down the river to roost on G Island. A Peacock and Red Admiral were on the wing in sheltered sunny spots and a Spotted Redshank called in the distance.

Highlight of the day was a distant White-tailed Eagle which appeared over Inchmery being mobbed by a Buzzard, which it dwarfed. The eagle drifted over in the B Water direction perhaps over Buckler’s Hard and St Leonard’s Grange. Two Sandwich Terns were calling over the Wardens Hut as I tried to relocate the eagle.

White-tailed Eagle photos by Ian Williamson

To finish I headed back over to B Water. As I got to the hides junction a Reed Warbler jumped up into the bushes opposite. It quickly disappeared but started singing nearby. This is, by two weeks, the earliest Reed Warbler I’ve ever seen.