Peter Jones Wildlife blog

Black-Necked and Slavonian Grebes off Lepe Singing Firecrest at Calshot Siberian Chiffchaff still looks the part - but no call Arrived at Lepe shortly after dawn for a pleasant stroll along the coast before the crowds arrived. Always lots to check out here. Today's highlights were the 3 Black-Necked Grebes relatively close to the shore and 3 very distant Slavonian Grebes, probably on the limit of identification with a 60x eyepiece. (Great Crested and Little were also present giving me 4 out of the 5 regular UK species). Also offshore were 2 Eiders and 4 Red-Breasted Mergansers. Not as many Med.Gulls today, but some of these were approaching full Summer Plumage. and ducks included quite a large number of Pintails plus Teal, and Wigeon. Black-Necked Grebes off Lepe Late morning, I checked out Calshot beach. Very little offshore here, but the Firecrest was singing in the pines, and still a single Chiff Chaff in the area. Finished the day in warm sunshine at the Sewage treatment works

Possible Tristis - Photo slideshow Have spent a few recently grilling a Chiffchaff at the local Sewage works (Just South of Horsebridge). This venue has always been the pick of the local Sewage works for birds with a good turn out of Thrushes, Pipits and Wagtails on any calm, sunny winter morning. Highlight so far was a Water Pipit seen just once in the winter of 2010/11. (Other nearby sewage works include Romsey which is a larger complex but always seems to have zero birdlife for some reason, and Nether Wallop which is better for Pipits and Wagtails, but I have never found anything unusual there. There is a fourth works just North of Stockbridge where viewing is dificult, and further afield the works at Downton look excellent) The works at Horsebridge have 4 Chiff Chaffs present this winter. Two are bog standard olive coloured Collybita, the regular species seen pretty much everywhere in England and regularly overwintering. A third bird is a very pale grey and white oddity with orange

Black Necked Grebes offshore at Lepe Firecrest still at Calshot Golden Plovers check in at Hoe Lane Eastern Chiff-Chaff  Jack's Bush devoid of Raptors and Owls Sparrow Twitcher mistakes me for someone who gives a damn! Started out pre-dawn in temperatures of -8Deg C. Fortunately, it didn't affect the birds on the coast with some good numbers of Waders at Lepe. Mostly Dunlin, with a few Turnstones, Oystercatchers and Curlews thrown in, and a couple of Ringed Plover and Grey Plover. Gulls were slightly more interesting with good numbers of Med. Gulls (60+) and a single Yellow Legged Gull. Best of the birds offshore were 3 Black-Necked Grebes, and 4 Mergansers. Calshot had some good photo opportunities with Teal and Little Egret close to the road. The wintering Firecrest is still present joined by a Chiff-Chaff today. As temperatures crept above freezing, I checked out Hoe Lane and was pleased to see the pair of Stonechats still present in the field of rough grass, with 42 Golden

Seems a few of my recent Surfbirds blog posts got lost in migration to Blogger.. The tail end of 2011 will be remembered for a couple of great finds at Lepe: A Black Brant, (a lifer for me) found amongst the Dark-Bellied Brents at Lepe car park. Black Brant is always a bird I have looked out for (and frequently dipped many years ago in Norfolk!). Great to get a stunning individual on film.. This weas followed the next weekend, at the same location, by a Turkey Vulture! probably THE heart stopping moment of my birding life as it looked to have no jesses, and we had just come off the back of a very strong weather system from the USA. However, close cropping of the camera gave away it's captive origin as a leather strap was present on both ankles.

Completes the archive of posts from my previous blog.. "Peter Jones's Hampshire diary" which resided for 6 years on the Surfbirds Blog site:   Any missing pictures will be in the folder: Surfbirds pics   • Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - More from Calshot Sunday morning, back to Calshot. Plenty of Waders on Ashlett Creek at dawn, but nothing exciting amongst them. 2 Greenshanks about the best on offer. A noticeable drop in Terns around Calshot, and only 3 Swallows seen all morning. The Solent was pretty quiet too except for a single Common Scoter heading West. The scrub, power station, and Marshes weren't much better. The Linnet flock is now merged with a few Chaffinches and Greenfinches, and a single Wheatear was by the footpath. Turned my attention to photos and managed to get fairly close to Brent Geese without spooking them. Also a very distant Adult Winter Mediterranean Gull, and a confiding Rock Pipit. All taken in pretty overcast conditions. Comments (0) ::