Martin Down and Sixpenny Handley - Tue 31 May

After a good morning I headed back towards home and stopped off at Martin Down, a reserve right on the Hampshire border. A decent walk around the site failed to produce any Turtle Doves, the main reason for my visit. However, there were a few birds about such as Yellowhammer, Linnet and Lesser Whitethroat...but nothing that unusual.
The strong wind and cloudy conditions meant that there were not as many butterflies on the wing as I was hoping. Loads of Small Heaths were flitting around and were by far the commonest butterfly. A couple of Common Blues were seen and a cracking Adonis Blue was also present. After spending well over an hour at Martin Down I drove south-west to Sixpenny Handley.
Parking by the water pumping station I was hoping to hear the Quail that had been in the area for a week or so, but again I drew a blank with the wind not helping. A Red-legged Partridge was feeding on the roadside and several Skylarks were singing and a pair of Lapwings were also present. A Small Blue was the only butterfly I saw so with nothing happening I took that as a sign to get on home so started back at 4.00pm. Just as I was leaving Sixpenny Handley a Red Kite flew over the car.

Acres Down and Bratley View - Tue 31 May

A fairly early start and I left Ellie in bed as I headed down to the New Forest. After a ninety minute drive I parked at the car park at Millyford Bridge. This meant a fairly long walk through the forest and up to Acres Down. Along the way a saw a Redstart and a Cuckoo, and eventually I reached the top of the hill and set up my scope ready for a bit of rapter watching. Before long I had located a couple of soaring Goshawks, and over the next hour I noted at least six birds. I was also fortunate enough to see a couple of displaying Honey Buzzards as well as sightings of three more birds. So all in all a good start to the day. Also at Acres Down I saw a Tree Pipit and a fly-over Siskin.
I then set off through the forest on a roundabout walk back to the car, and it was a good job I had a map with me as the various trails were not signposted. Along the way I saw three more Redstarts, including a brilliant male bird. An outbreak of noise in the canopy attracted my attention to a Hawfinch harassing a Jay. A couple of Wood Warblers were heard singing.
Eventually I found my way back to the car and drove back west. I parked at Bratley View and walked out across the heathland. I was hoping that there would be a couple of Dartford Warblers about, but the severe winter weather has really taken its toll on these birds. I did see a couple of Stonechats and a Meadow Pipit. But with not much else about I headed off and left the New Forest after a really good morning.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 29 May

Two visits today, a very brief and uneventful morning trip whilst Ellie was at choir was so unproductive I ended up popping home after just ten minutes and doing some chores!
However, a late afternoon visit with Ellie proved much more interesting as we headed for the meadow at the south of the reservoir. Despite a pretty strong wind and a fair amount of cloud when the sun did break through we were treated to a few butterflies on the wing. We soon picked out a good number of Common Blues as well as a couple of Small Tortoiseshells and our first Meadow Browns of the year.
We also noticed a few orchids, which I think are Spotted Orchids, but I'm not entirely sure.

On the bird front we coudl hear a Reed Warbler singing and a Reed Bunting was also in full song. At least four Grey Herons were present, one of which was seen in flight with a duckling in its beak! Opposite the hide an unexpected visitor in the form of a Little Egret was fishing, and three Mute Swans were on the water.

Exmoor - Sat 28 May

An early start as myself and three mates headed up to north Somerset for the day. Our first point of call was Hurlestone Point where we spent an hour or so sea-watching. It was pretty quiet out to see, with just a single Gannet, some twenty or so Manx Shearwaters, and just four Razerbills passing through. On the slopes there were a few Wheatears and both Rock Pipits and Meadow Pipits.
Leaving the coast we headed on to the moors and were met by low cloud and drizzle. A stop at Chetsford Water was brief but produced a Whinchat and a Cuckoo. But we didn't hang around too long instead carrying on to Cloutsham and another quick stop, this time at East Water where we saw both Dipper and Grey Wagtail.
Another quick drive and we parked up at Webber's Post and a walk down the valley to Horner. Along the way we saw a few Pied Flycatchers and Spotted Flycatchers as well as a Wood Warbler. Another Dipper was seen on the river. When we reached Horner we stopped for a quick cream tea to build up some strength before undertaking the hike back up to Webber's Post.
Our next stop was to be at Nutscale Reservoir, but I took us on one my infamous shortcuts, but it reaped rewards as we saw four Redstarts, including two smashing male birds. We also picked up another Pied Flycatcher and one more Wood Warbler. When we reached Nutscale we took a short walk in strong winds and other than having the car blocked in in the car park there was nothing else of note. With the weather closing in again it made the decision to head back home.

Ham Wall RSPB - Tue 24 May

So it goes like this, if at first you don't succeed, try, try, again. So I suggested to Ellie that we go for a walk up on the levels as soon as I finished work and so I picked her up from home and we were at Ham Wall just after 6.30pm.
We walked straight out to the first viewing platform where by pure chance I raised my bins to my eyes and saw the Red-footed Falcon dip behind some trees. We then walked on to the second viewing platform in order to get a bit of exercise and along the way had five seperate Bittern sightings as the birds flew low over the reedbeds. We also saw a Spotted Flycatcher, my first of the year, and as we returned to the car the female Red-footed Falcon put in another appearance, this time showing much better as it hawked for insects over the reeds.
So with the target safely ticked off and a pleasant evening stroll completed wwe were back at the car and heading back home.
UK list for 2011 now at 227 species.

Ham Wall RSPB - Sun 22 May

I was on call all weekend so it somewhat limits what I can do and where I can go, so imagine my frustration when I got a text message mid-afternoon telling me that a female Red-footed Falcon was showing really well at Ham Wall. I couldn't turn off the work phone until 6.00pm and it was then time for dinner and so I didn't get to leave the house until 6.45pm. A quick call to my mate Steve in Yeovil meant a slight diversion to pick him up and we arrived at the Ashcott Corner car park at around 7.30pm and were met by a couple of birders who had seen the falcon some fifteen minutes earlier.
We walked out to the first viewing platform at HamWall and were again told that the bird had been seen some twenty minutes ago, but despite giving it until 9.00pm we failed to relocate the Red-footed Falcon as it had presumably gone off to roost.
That being said we did have a pretty productive evening. At least six Bitterns were seen in flight, some affording prolonged flight views. A small party of six Shelduck flew over heading north and there were hundreds of Common Swifts overhead.
A drake Ring-necked Duck was some compensation for missing the Red-legged Falcon and it showed well on the pool behind the viewing platform with some Tufted Ducks. Despite the poor light and my somewhat limited photographic ability I still managed a record shot with my mobile phone:

Other birds of note included a drake Garganey, which spent most of its time asleep, a couple of Barn Owls hunting over the edge of the reedbeds in the distance, and a female Marsh Harrier. We did see a very brief Hobby which got us interested for a split second and all in all it was a pretty good evening, just a shame we missed the class act!

Sutton Bingham - Sun 22 May

I had to dodge a few showers during this mornings visit whilst Ellie was at church, but it was still nice to get out and about for an hour, especially as being on call over the weekend meant being somewhat limited with regard to where we could go.
A quick stop at West Pool produced just a singing Reed Bunting so I headed on down to the southern end of the reservoir where a further two Reed Buntings were in song. 

After a brief run in with a couple walking their dog, having obviously missed the numerous "No Dogs" signs, the sun broke through and a couple of Common Blues took advantage of the sun to spread their wings:

It was very quiet on the water, but there were over fifty Great Crested Grebes present, some of which were still in the throws of courtship dances:

Other birds of note included a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a brief flurry of House Martins and Swallows after the rain, a very vocal Whitethroat, and a couple of Grey Herons:

A few Common Buzzards were soaring high in the sky, and just as I was getting ready to head on back and pick up Ellie a rather unseasonal Peregrine.