Peter Jones Wildlife blog

Nexus7 waterproofed and loaded with spreadsheet checklist for #Hants100

Saturday morning, I went on two walks in the New Forest. I saw 30 species, which I was happy with as this will be the start of my aim to see 100 species in a day, in a couple of months. Highlights were Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, Crossbill, Woodlark, Marsh Tit and Goshawk. Did miss Hawfinch, Firecrest and Dartford Warbler, but these are definitely present along my two walks. In Spring they should also be joined by Cuckoo, Redstart, The Pipit, and Wood Warbler, which should get my day total off to a good start. Also Fallow Deer and Roe Deer gave good views

First trip of 2015 to Hurst. A few birds "missing" from the end of 2014. Notably Black Redstart, Raven, and Black Throated Diver.  Did see Two Peregrine, a couple of Hundred Dunlin, Red-Breasted Merganser, Pintail,  distant Gannet, and a 1st Winter Male Common Scoter on the sea, which had me confused at first. #Hurst #seawatch

Bargain for £20 on ebay. These yeti gaiters are brilliant for winter birding, and prolonging the life of walking boots. I've found, as a birder, I can go thru boots fairly quickly as we don't tend to walk the regular paths, but scramble over rough ground and thru undergrowth! My last pair of gaiters lasted over 10 winters, so hopefully these, (despite being ex-army!) will last a few years. Boots underneath look as good as new.

Wildlife watching hopes for 2015 (originally posted onto Birdforum)... I have a couple of targets for the year: 1. First is well overdue, and is to see 100 species in a day in UK, (without twitching to make it a little harder). I'm surprised I've never managed it before to be honest. Looking thru my records I've seen 87 on a couple of occasions. So, towards the end of April / early May I'll go out with the sole intention of racking up numbers, and putting this to bed. I should also attempt this within a 20 mile radius of my house, but this shouldn't be too much of a handicap as it includes all the likely target areas, Coast, Keyhaven, Newforest, Farmland etc. 2. I hope to eventually (not in 2015!) see all European "regular" species, (again without twitching to make it a little harder). I have a week in Lapland that should edge me 3 species closer all being well. (2 of which have currently been present in the UK in the last week!) 3. I have a fantasy target...

Nice start to the New Year with a trip into the farmland north of Andover this morning. Started at Tidcombe, but cut my walk short due to fog. Did see 10+ Chaffinch and 6 Yellowhammer in the pheasant cover. Changed my plans due to the fog, and drove to a site in Wiltshire where I have previously found Tree Sparrow. Had a bit of good fortune here, as I got lost, but heard Sparrows calling when I stopped to get my bearings. They were Tree Sparrows, lots of them, visiting a garden feeder. These are my closest birds to home now.. 32.5 miles away in a straight line! Elsewhere, 4 Kestrel throughout the morning, a Wigeon and Marsh Tit at Dunbridge, a nice flock of ~40 Linnet off Hoe lane, plus Grey Wagtail, Stock Dove and Tawny Owl heard. The garden is having a nice run with 14 Chaffinch, 8 Goldfinch, and a single Greenfinch. We also had a Little Egret drop into the brook behind the house.

Another morning at Hurst. This time in quite a strong west wind. More birds moving along the coast than previously, but not much quality. Shag reached double figures, and Red-breasted Merganser totalled 9. A Diver was seen briefly, almost certainly one of the Black-throated from a couple of weeks ago. Heading back along the spit, a Black Redstart flew past heading back towards the buildings where they usually occur. Finally a big flock of Brents to sift through, but no surprises.

Should bring with it a Lapland Bunting or two! Originally shared by Met Office - Weather You might have seen headlines today talking about a #weatherbomb   heading towards the UK. This animation shows a developing area of #lowpressure off Greenland which will bring windy weather this week. Keep on eye on the latest severe weather warnings at http://bit.ly/1aRItgD What is a 'weather bomb'? A 'weather bomb' is not a perfect #meteorological term but is defined as an intense low pressure system with a central pressure that falls 24 millibars in a 24-hour period. A better description can be more directly linked to the meteorological #phenomena known as rapid or explosive #cyclogenesis. You can learn more at http://bit.ly/1G9jS7V

This morning at the very iconic Hurst castle. Weather was mild and the tide falling. The sea was very quiet for bird life. 6 Common Scoter, 2 Eider, and 2 Black-throated Diver were the highlights. The Divers called as they flew past giving a nice brief image of northern Scandinavia, and conveniently confirming them as Black-Throated beyond any doubt. (Divers in flight being tricky at the best of times). Overhead a Skylark called. Never had any real vismig going on at this location Elsewhere the scrub around the castle was quiet. The saltmarsh was full of waders and wildfowl. A Greenshank was the best I could manage amongst the many Dunlin, Curlew, Turnstone, Brents, teal and Wigeon. A pair of Stonechat completed the morning. #seawatch #Diver

A couple of good sightings including Pomarine Skua, and Little Gull, plus a rare glimpse of me hard at work on the bridge during this latest Newhaven - Dieppe survey for Marinelife http://www.marine-life.org.uk/newhaven-dieppe/2014/11/15

Local migrants.. 1 Meadow Pipit over the house was a cool surprise, I did record a small number overhead during a pretty big movement a couple of years ago, but otherwise they are fairly rare over the house.. and very common about 200 yards away on the paddocks! The other side of the village, I ventured into the Flexford Road fields on a dog walk, mainly for a look at what the habitat is like these days. Mainly 6 foot high corn crop at the moment, but a few Meadow Pipits, and Linnets, plus a reasonable sized tit flock, with at least 10, probably closer to 20 Chiff Chaffs. Didn't have binoculars, but saw them all well enough to be sure nothing else was lurking amongst them.

A couple of hours around Lymington this morning. I started off East of the River which is pretty underwatched, and I soon found out why as the area is popular for wildfowl shooting.  That aside, I saw a good stream of Meadow Pipits moving South, 1 Common Sandpiper, 30-40 Lapwing, and a few Brents, Wigeon, 2 Pintails, and a Peregrine before the rain started.  I headed on to Pennington, which was fairly quiet except for Black-Tailed Godwit and Snipe. Off shore a mixed flock of Waders included Bar-Tailed Godwit, and Grey Plover, plus a Common Tern. Black-Tailed Godwit..

Myotis Bat identification problems Visited a known New Forest Maternity roost of one of the UK Bats I have never seen before.. Bechstein's Bat.. The roost location itself is not publicised, rightly so, but I thought I would try my luck in the approximate area. Didn't take long to find a small group of 4 to 5 Myotis bats circling round the edge of Oak woodland just above head height. Now the problems start as Myotis Bats are pretty much impossible to identify by Bat detector alone, all having a long straight (Frequency modulated) echolocation call.  The only clue I did get was of a decent sized bat, so ruling out the tiny Whiskered, Brandts and Alcatoes'. The behaviour was not typical of Daubenten's that spend their evenings hovercraft style above water, so I'm left with either Natterer's or Bechstein's. A typical Natterer's is on the left of the attached pic, my bats on the right.. and they look good for Bechstein's with a slower echolocation, and mo...

Scillies 2014 Spent a few days on St.Agnes, Isles of Scilly 15-19th September 2014. Weather had been strong easterlies for a couple weeks which had me hoping for Scandinavian migrants, but despite large numbers of common species, especially wheatear, I found the bit of quality you hope for on the islands hard to come by. First two days were really hard going with just a Grasshopper Warbler to show for my efforts. Plenty of Wheatears, and a few Whinchats though so there was always hope of something rarer. Waders were providing some bonuses with 6 or 7 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Little Stint, Greenshank and 2 Ruff seen well. Finally towards the end of Wednesday the quality arrived.. I opened my tent to be greeted by a Wryneck sitting on a stone wall in front of me. Got great views, and a couple of distant shots before watching it forage at the foot of a wall in the middle of the campsite. he didn't stay long though, picked a very busy area to forage. This proved to be the high point, with a...

Great day on Lundy, performing the Wildlife Officer role for #Marinelife http://www.marine-life.org.uk/ilfracombe-or-bideford-lundy/2014/09/13wlo

Pretty good Marinelife survey with the bonus of a few hours birding in France. #marinelife http://www.marine-life.org.uk/portsmouth-le-havre/2014/08/06-07

More magic! Nice to see some migrants had arrived this morning, after a slow start around the horse paddocks, I eventually found a Whinchat, quickly followed by 2 Redstarts. Given this good start, I took the dog for a long walk along Hoe Lane and Packridge Lane. The small dell between the two lanes often has some migrants, and today there were at least 3 Spotted Flycatchers, plus a couple of Chiff Chaffs. Wheatears seem to be in short supply for me this year.. I've only seen one, none locally!

Magical morning.. Quick walk round horse paddocks before work. Some of the paddocks are looking quite overgrown, and attractive to Warblers.. Mainly Whitethroats, and Chiff-Chaffs, with a Female Blackcap the last couple of days. Was hoping that overnight rain would have brought a migrant or two down but no joy. (These fields can be pretty good for common migrants after overnight rain. I recall a fall of double figure Wheatear and a Whinchat a few Springs ago). Today started very quiet, and a heavy downpour didn't exactly help! until... a quite amazing run of sightings unfolded above my head: First a Hobby passed thru twice, the second time very nearly grabbing a Goldfinch. This was followed by a Sparrowhawk, and also another Bird of Prey which looked like a Peregrine, but was always going away. Two more Sparrowhawks appeared over the treeline, and another Falcon, this one definitely a Peregrine. A good day for Raptors as Kestrel and Buzzard was also in the area. I'd no sooner f...

Always enjoy the Newhaven Dieppe Marinelife Survey. On this occasion, I missed the only Cetacean sighting, but some good birds to make up for that. #marinelife   http://www.marine-life.org.uk/newhaven-dieppe/2014/08/16

Skyping the birdtable! Set up my tablet at the birdtable so I can watch the birds anywhere anywhen :) Robin and Jackdaw visited today within a few minutes of starting winter feeding. #garden