Peter Jones Wildlife blog

A couple of recent trips in what has been a relatively slow Autumn for birding. First was a visit to Dungeness, after seeing the Beluga whale on the Thames. Dungeness is a top venue, always with something out of the norm. Highlights were 5 Heron and Egret species within about an hour! (Great White Egret, Bittern, Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Little Egret) including the 3 Egrets pretty much simultaneously.. Little being the last to be found amazingly. Garganey, and Ruff the other highlights, plus Great Northern and Red- throated Divers offshore. This was followed by a weekend around Cley in North Norfolk. Another premier location, but the going was tough this weekend with terrible weather on the Saturday (Great Skua, Arctic Skua, Great Northern and Red-throted Diver, Common Scoter, and Jack Snipe the highlights, plus 10 Ruff, and Pink-footed Geese). Sunday's weather was fine, with a hint of easterlies, and many migrants appeared on the coast throughout the day. My best was a Ring Ouzel...

Fairly long walk around Keyhaven / Pennington / Normandy a couple of weeks ago. A red-necked Grebe was the star bird, found the day before, and relayed to me when I was less than 100m from the shoreline which spoilt a surprise slightly! Plenty of waders around with quite a few Avocets in the area. Spotted Redshank was another nice surprise, plus a Red-Breasted Merganser on an inland lagoon. Ruff, Golden Plover, Marsh Harrier, and Bearded Tit rounded off a nice morning.

A super weekend at the Somerset Levels. An area which seems to be improving year on year with some amazing breeding birds. This visit was fairly typical for the area with a number of Great White Egrets sighted, plus 3 Bitterns, Grey Heron and Little Egret. Other highlights were Water Rail, Marsh Harrier, Cetti's Warbler and Bearded Tit.

I am aiming to take advantage of the family membership of Calshot camping club, and devote some time this Autumn to vis-mig from the Calshot coastline. Previous vis-mig from nearby Badminston was ok, but nothing ever spectacular, and sadly the gravel pits are now converted to fishing and bird life looks to be much reduced there. This season will be interesting in comparison with 2015 which I spent watching from the Test Valley, inland. The inland viewpoint could just make out Fawley tower and the Isle of Wight, and many birds, mainly Woodpigeons, could be seen over the Calshot area. Will the numbers and species share some common ground? Calshot also has the advantage of sea, albeit, obstructed slightly by the Isle of Wight. This weekend paid dividends with a single Manx Shearwater the highlight, a bird not recorded anywhere else along the Hampshire coast the same day which is interesting. (My only better seabird seen in Hampshire was a Leach's Petrel, again from Calshot!). Other hi...

Singing Melodious Warbler on the Ile D'Oleron. Took a while to become familiar with the song. Was thinking Sedge Warbler initially, until I saw one. As the week went on, I realized they were quite numerous in the area. This one showed well, but distantly, and the grass was too long to use the ground as a steadier rest, thus the shake. https://youtu.be/ZXoA2qcIHrw

Visited the ile D'Oleron in France for a family holiday. A lovely island on the west coast of France connected to the mainland by a fairly impressive bridge. The habitat on the island is dominated by ditches, canals and man-made ponds, quite unlike anywhere I have ever been in Europe, perhaps reminiscent of Israeli fishponds, and the wildlife was pretty cool. One highlight on the journey down was a brief glimpse of a Polecat in the headlights, plus a couple of Black Kites. The island was far enough South to have some nice birds including Short-toed Eagle, Hoopoe, and Night Heron. Melodious Warblers were numerous, and Scops Owl was heard most nights. The commonest birds on the Island were Serin, Turtle Dove, Black Redstart, Cattle and Little Egret, Nightingale, and Marsh Harrier. Cirl Bunting and Short-toed treecreeper being the other highlights. Best of the dragonflies and damsels were: Southern Emerald Damselfly, Scarce Emerald Damselfly Dainty Damselfly Southern Migrant Hawker Sc...

A brief recording of a singing Firecrest at Chilworth. One of my favourite bird songs, and they seem to be spreading fast across the County. I know of up to 12 territories in a 2 mile radius of my house this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIpsU_xHheY&feature=share&list=PLu3NpdzVwJ9ll0VYae1mhKy53ytka9987&index=2

Chilworth Conservation area seems like a nice, often overlooked area. I had a good walk around over the weekend, hoping to find Adder which is mentioned on all the information boards.. "BEWARE Adders!" but I have yet to find one. Stock Doves were a nice bonus, presumably nesting in the woodland fringe, and at least 4 Firecrest territories was another sign of how this species is expanding. A walk around Chilworth Golf Course now would get you at least 8 Firecrests (if you had extremely good hearing!)

Singing Lesser Whitethroat (Audio only, unless you have incredibly good eyesight!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDDMHuQKAVw&feature=share

A good weekend locally with a small number of migrants touching down. Tree Pipits at both sides of the village plus Wheatear. Whitethroat and Blackcaps establishing territories along with Chiff Chaffs and a Willow Warbler. A Lesser White throat singing was also a nice find. One of the Tree Pipits photo'd below:

Out on foot first thing this morning, checking the local area. No rain, or reason for numbers of migrant birds to stop their journey North, but i did see one Wheatear. A few Blackcap were holding territory, and two or three Whitethroats. Rownhams wood had two singing Firecrest, and two Tree Pipits, plus a brief burst of Willow Warbler

Spent the Easter weekend at Whitegate, near Holmfirth, on the edge of the Peak District. Weather was mainly cold, windy, with frequent showers, but some nice bird sightings. Good to see breeding Lapwings, and Curlew on the moors. A Snipe, 2 Oystercatcher, and a few Golden Plover were also seen, plus a Red Grouse.

One that got away this week... My annual BTO breeding bird survey was going well. A few Lapwings the highlight of the first section, followed by a fairly quiet second half. Then on the final 100 metre section, I saw a bird high in the canopy flying away from me, then fly-catching high in the trees. I got dark brown above, white below, and what looked like a very broad white wingbar. Suspect a Pied Flycatcher, which I don't recall ever seeing in Hampshire before, although we do get the odd one. Sadly it flew further from the track and I couldn't relocate or confirm. These things happen from time to time. Elsewhere, a Great Black-backed Gull over the house was a garden first! Just waiting for a break in the weather, preferably with some overnight rain, to hopefully bring down a few spring migrants into the area. Swallow, Chiff-Chaff, Blackcap, and Willow Warbler, being the only arrivals close to home so far.

Nice footage of a confiding Yellowhammer in Devon yesterday. Cirl Bunting in the background, which was also seen distantly. Also Stonechats were numerous along the coastal path, with Fulmar offshore. Further down the coast at Slapton, Great Northern Diver and Red-throated Divers were seen along with Common Scoter. The Humpback Whale, present now for three weeks, showed well in the scope later in the evening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp8CC8dc2CA&feature=share

So 2017 got off to a typically quiet start for me. However, a stunning Firecrest on a dog walk thru Toothill was a good start to the year. No winter Thrushes today, but a few Goldcrests in the hedges, and a Grey Wagtail outside the house completed a nice walk.

Great White Egret showing well at Testwood Lakes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ema60R4N-80&feature=share

Spent the morning at Pennington marshes, dutifully recording all my Sightings on the excellent BTO birdtrack app. By midday, I had seen 60 species, so decided to go for an optimistic 100 in a day! Best of the birds at Pennington were Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Knot, Sandwich Tern and Spoonbill. Testwood added Great White Egret, Whinchat, and Common Sandpiper. The early afternoon, I headed into the New Forest which would make or break the attempt! Slowly the woodland species were ticked off.. Siskin, Crossbill, Nuthatch, Firecrest the highlights, and the open heath got me Stonechat and Dartford Warbler. Mid afternoon and I was on 90! And still had a whole range of common birds missing.. Grey Wagtail, House Sparrow, Green Woodpecker, Redstart, Skylark, and plenty more. For some reason, Redstart and Green Woodpecker eluded me, so I headed North to farmland. A surprise Tawny Owl got me to 97. Then a single binocular view got me Blackcap, and Yellowhammer, and I just needed a Partridge or a La...

A surprise this morning with a young Firecrest around the garden, plus at least one adult present. First confirmed breeding record I know of in the immediate area, although suspected for a couple of years now. We also have two or three territories in local woodland. We've also heard a Spotted Flycatcher calling fairly regularly, but have yet to see him.

Short-tailed Vole the highlight of the latest Mammal cam. This time deliberately set well away from woodland, although the triggers were still dominated by Wood Mouse. Elsewhere, the dormouse tubes are all empty, but a Firecrest is still holding territory in local Woodland. A couple of walks round Fishlake haven't added any interesting insects.. Just Azure, and Large Red Damsels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXGNU0gdY9g&feature=share

A tiring day seawatching at Hurst beach, then searching for stuff at Keyhaven. Seawatching seemed pretty slow, but I did see Great Skua, plus Arctic Tern, Common Scoter and Little Tern. Keyhaven was good with a roosting Spoonbill, plus Little Tern and Two separate sightings of Cetti's Warbler. My main reason for visiting was to hopefully catch up with a Hairy Dragonfly.. I eventually saw one, but with awful views. Only identified by virtue of the fact that the Hairy is the only hawker/Dragonfly on the wing! Still it is a start! Mammal cam has been deployed in a few locations around the village now, with the same results at each venue: Bank Vole, Wood Mouse, and the occasional Brown Rat. I've set it in a totally different habitat this week, but still the Wood Mouse persist! https://youtu.be/1s-F5AZZTZE