Great -tailed Grackle at Holbury in Hampshire

 

Killdeer in Ripley Hampshire

Whilst sitting in the hide at Fishers Green yesterday news came through that a Killdeer had been found at Ripley farm reservoir in Hampshire. I contemplated going yesterday but the weather was awful and I didn't fancy the drive back in the rain so I put in hold seeing that the rain was forecast to be in all night and that just might keep the bird there.

I set off with Dad and Jimmy at 5.45 am and arrived in the layby at 8am to find one free space. The walk out to the reservoir was almost a mile but we made light work of it and on arrival found about fifty people had beaten us there but the news was positive and we quickly had the Killdeer in our scopes for our first new bird of 2026. There were a few Lapwing present and some Wigeon on the water. A Little Gull was reported in the large group of Black-headed Gull after we left.

Killdeer twitch 

Scoping the bird on the far bank

On the bank above the Mallards (honest)

A further crop to help with the record shot 

Just behind the left hand Shelduck

With the target achieved we headed off through the New Forest to see if we could find the Great tailed Grackle in Holbury some 22 miles away. As we pulled into the road the bird favours we found it from the car sitting on a garden fence so we parked up and enjoyed half an hour with the bird showing ridiculously well and calling from various higher posts. The bird isn't accepted as a true wild vagrant to the UK so isn't "tickable". It's thought that as the bird doesn't migrate it's likely it hitched a ride on a ship to get here and wouldn't get here naturally of it's own accord. I'm pleased we took the time to see it though whilst only 22 miles from it.

Great-tailed Grackle

A lovely morning down in Hampshire with Dad and Jim

Life list now 453

Year list now 135 ( plus the Grackle 😉)

Fishers Green Bittern

I've watched Bittern at Fishers Green for many years now and seen numerous birds use the site as a wintering ground over the years. Some show well and others are extremely elusive and this years bird is very cautious, it hides in the reeds and makes a very slow movement into the open to fish but quickly retreats back into the safety of the reeds as the first movement or noise. Today it was visible on my visit but only came out into the open for a couple of minutes during my stay. A local group arrived and the noise level lifted which didn't help their chances of good views but I managed to get a scope set up for them to at least see the bird hiding in the reeds.

I never tire of watching Bittern at this close range and watching their behaviours. Also on this visit was some Cormorants posing on the old logs under the bridge so I had to point the camera in their direction too on the way back to the car park. Whilst there news came in of a Kildeer in Hampshire but I didn't fancy the drive there and back in the rain so I'll watch it with interest and see if I can find the time and motivation to go see it if it hangs around.

Update: Bramfield, Dungeness a London tick and Fishers Green

The 16th saw me take the Jims to Bramfield in the hope of ticking Hawfinch which we dipped but we did add Green Woodpecker and Yellowhammer to the year list. Other birds of note were a pair of Sparrowhawk, Red Kites, Nuthatch, Goldcrest and lots of Fieldfare/Redwing.

Yellowhammer

On the 18th I headed down to Dungeness for first light on my own. At the hide I quickly year ticked Gannet, Razorbill, Guillemot, Kittiwake and Red-throated Diver before Owen popped out of the hide to out me onto a Red-breasted Merganser for another year tick. A Peregrine was on the pilons and I found three Great White Egrets around Burrows and Boulderwell. Two Whoopers were with the Mute Swans near Cockles bridge. At Midley I found a herd of c40 Bewick's Swan and lots more thrushes. At the railway crossing I found a large flock of seed eaters which contained c50 House Sparrow, 8 Tree Sparrow, 6 Yellowhammer, 2 Corn Bunting and 2 Reed Bunting. I drove back down to Lydd looking for White-fronted Geese and stumbled on 15 Cattle Egrets at Whitehall Farm.

Whooper Swans amongst the Mute herd

The journey home took me close to the Red-flanked Bluetail site so I opted to give that a go and ended up giving it more time than I wanted for what would turn out to be four fleeting flight views although I did add Blackcap too as a bonus. Crockham hill in Kent just about fits in the London recording area so the Bluetail makes it onto the Kent list and the London list although I've seen them better in Norfolk.

With news that a Bittern has been seen over the last few days at Fishers Green I took Jim over this morning whilst Dad went for a blood test. We quickly found the Bittern and Dad arrived in time for the year tick too. They picked up two more on me with Water Rail and Rook and we found 32 White-fronted Geese down by Holyfield farm.

Bittern

Bittern

Bittern

Bittern

Bittern

Goosander

Goosander

White fronted Geese

White-fronted Geese behind the Egyptian Geese 

Year list now 134

Kent list now 272

London list now 241

couple of hours local birding

I'm still busy with family commitments, running around trying to keep on top of things for everybody but in between I'm stealing a little time for the hobby. An hour at KGV with the Dad and Jim on 11th saw us add a few year ticks. Two Common Scoter were easily picked up in the middle of south basin followed by a distant Black Redstart scoped along the fenceline on the west bank. I picked up a 2cy Caspian Gull close in as we got about half way to the causeway, a smart bird that pleased the Jims as it saved them a trip to Snaresbrook to twitch the wintering bird there. Jim picked up a distant Black-necked Grebe and from the causeway I found the juvenile Great northern Diver to conclude the visit. On the way home we stopped to tick Mandarin at Connaught Waters and also found three Ringed Teal which of course are escapees which are not uncommon at this site. 

On the 14th I did the school run and then had an hour on the river wall at Rainham where I added Pintail and Skylark to the year list. I found a couple of Rock Pipits and three Meadow Pipits too and had a large movement of Fieldfare and the smaller numbers of Redwing passing through. The river was full of Teal and Wigeon and a good number of Lapwing and Redshank were present. A single Red Kite over and double figures of Snipe was the best of the rest.

Year list now 118

Caspian Gull is a new bird for my modest KGV (133) list and indeed the Lee Valley (169) list too. 

Fieldfare

Rock Pipit

Rock Pipit and Goldfinch

Rock Pipit and Goldfinch

Rock Pipit

Snow Goose in Lincolnshire

I've been watching news of the Snow Goose in Lincolnshire which has travelled south with Whooper Swans so has decent credentials for a wild bird. I've seen Snow Geese before but still fancied seeing this one so set off on my own this morning as the Jims had other plans and this was the only day I had for a while where I could set off early. I arrived before the sun came up over Deeping lakes and scanned the Whoopers finding no fewer than three Bewick's Swans amongst them. It would appear the Snow Goose has now found a new roost area as it wasn't present. I walked out to the hide and found two Long-eared Owls roosting in the ivy a few feet from the hide but they were obviously tucked in well. A guy came with a thermal and said there was actually four birds roosting in the tree.

The walk back gave me my first Chiffchaff of the year and I noted a well over a hundred Fieldfare and a few Redwings too. I drove around Crowland checking the Whooper flocks but couldn't find the Goose until I got to Gull farm where I managed to pick it up in a distant herd. On the drive out I found six Red Kites, Two Marsh Harrier and a pair of Raven feeding on what looked like a dead pheasant or goose.

I had nine Cranes fly over head as I drove out through Thorney and broke the journey home with a first time stop at Doddington Pits in Cambs where a couple of locals put me on the drake Ring-necked Duck for another year tick which took the modest list to 111.

Snow Goose with the Whoopers