White-tailed Eagle in Hampshire.....and Med Gull in CWP

26 Feb - After a bit of a wait in showery weather, the immature White-tailed Eagle at Old Basing appeared and soared for a few minutes late morning, viewed from Blackland's Farm. Very large, with "barndoor" silhouette and prominent head. An impressive bird. The Buzzards (6+ seen) and Red Kites (3+ seen) mobbing it appeared puny by comparison. Photo, copyright Steve Copsey. Another 3 Red Kites seen en route home between Hungerford and Ramsbury.
In the evening a brief check on pit 12 at the CWP revealed a very smart summer-plumaged Mediterranean Gull in the roost - pleasing but not especially surprising in view of the spring movements in recent days, including several birds arriving at Slimbridge.

A Garden Sparrowhawk, and Shorncote revisited

20 Feb - A female Sparrowhawk (1,2) that visited the garden in the morning decided to hang around and preen for the camera.....later a walk before dusk at Shorncote in watery sunlight (3) gave views of the regular Barn Owl (6) perched in the line of old willows. Over a hundred Teal (4) were on the pools, with 13 Shoveler (5) and 45+ Wigeon. Song Thrushes and Reed Buntings were singing in anticipation of spring. 150+ Lapwings flew over heading south. A couple of wary Roe Deer were in the rough grass (7).

Oriental Turtle Dove in Oxfordshire.....

18 Feb - Good views, after a short wait, of the Oriental Turtle Dove in Chipping Norton, only 45 mins from home. I first saw it fly across the road, then it perched on a fence viewable from a neighbouring driveway where we were kindly allowed in to use as a viewpoint. Overall, more blue-grey in tone than the European Turtle Dove. Fortunately, as it was a weekday, a small, civilised crowd of perhaps 50-60 present. Upper 2 photos show the Dove, a UK tick.
On the way home, a drake American Wigeon (lower) was seen distantly at Rushy Common reserve along with 2 redhead Smew and a Green Sandpiper. Late afternoon, 2 Ringed Plovers, 3 more Green Sandpipers and an Oystercathcer at Radley Ash pit (but no white-winged Gulls).
All photos courtesy of the Oxfordshire birdblog.

Forest of Dean and Wentwood

12 Feb - sunny weather, so a brief trip to the Forest of Dean, and 3+ Goshawks (1)displaying from the New Fancy viewpoint, together with a Sparrowhawk, 2 Ravens and 10+ Buzzards. Unfortunately, the Forest car rally meant there were loads of people and a lot of noise, so no chance of any Hawfinches. Two female Crossbills flew over New Fancy view as did 10+ Siskins.
Wentwood forest produced a very brief sighting of the Great Grey Shrike (2) early afternoon, with a flyover Goshawk and 4 Crossbills over, including 2 red males (3). Ravens were displaying here overhead, rolling and calling.
A quick check in the Water Park late afternoon revealed a pair of Smew (3) on pit 29, giving excellent views in the low sun, together with 22 Red-crested Pochard; and 8 Goosander on pit 30.

Shorncote.....local patch

11 Feb - A pleasant hour-long walk in cloudy but mild conditions, a reasonable selection of birds included 5 Yellowhammers with 25+ Reed Buntings, a singing Cetti's Warbler, Water Rail calling, 12 Shoveler, a pair of Shelduck, 100+ Teal, 80+ Wigeon, a Snipe and over 200 Fieldfares moving south.

Waxwings in Covingham

9 Feb - A very brief stop en route to work, and good views of approx 40 Waxwings outside the Coleview community centre in Swindon, taken in early morning light. The birds were fairly flighty and trilling constantly, feeding in a berry bush when not disturbed by pedestrians.

LB Dowitcher

7 Feb - a superb photo of the Poole Long-billed Dowitcher (in proper daylight.....) copyright Tim Balmer.

Exe Estuary boat trip....and a Dowitcher

5 Feb - A very windy day, but the boat trip from Topsham (2) with my friend Julia went ahead, and the sun came out. We had close views of the waders as we cruised between the mudflats at low tide. At least 300 Avocets (13-16) were the star attraction, but Black-tailed Godwits (10) and Dunlin were in good numbers, with lesser numbers of Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwits, Curlew (12), Redshank (11) and Knot. There were good views of Red-breasted Mergansers (3-6) and a flock of 7 Scaup. Other species photographed include Great Black-backed Gull (8), Common Gull (9) and Shelduck (7). A flock of Brent Geese were seen in flight. Due to the wind and rough seas, the Scoter flock off Exmouth could not be located but were presumably still present. A Kittiwake was offshore from the estuary mouth.
An early morning stop en route at Poole gave me views of the wintering Long-billed Dowitcher, the same bird I first saw at Lodmoor in November, and I had very brief views of a first-winter Ring-billed Gull.

CWP - Bittern etc

3 Feb - A fine sunny morning, and no sign of the female Ring-necked Duck reported at pit 57, but a Bittern (1) showing well perched out in the reeds, shown to me by Kim Milsom. A Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming and a Skylark singing were foretastes of spring. Good numbers of Teal (2,3) and a few Shoveler (4) were seen from the hide at Shorncote, together with a couple of pairs of Reed Buntings and a calling Water Rail.

Mediterranean Gulls.....

3 Feb - A flock of Mediterranean Gulls last w/e at Portland allowed good studies of the different plumages of this three-year gull, one of my favourite birds. The above photos show these variations. The top photo shows 2 adults with characteristic white primaries, one with a more advanced hood than the other; alongside 3 second-year birds with black in the primary tips. The second photo shows adult and second-year birds in more detail.
The third photo also includes a first-year bird (left), with dark bill, dark eye mask and more extensive black on the wings but with a pale midwing panel. It has the typical shape and jizz of Med Gull, and can be seen closer in photo six. Picture four shows the pale wingtips of an adult in flight, when the very pale upperparts and fairly broad wings are also noticeable. Photo five shows another adult bird, with a summer hood developing, and a fairly advanced second-year bird with little black in the primaries.
All in all an instructive group of birds and set of photos.