Blashford on the TV Tonight

A quick reminder that the Autumn Watch filming done over the weekend at Blashford will be shown tonight on BBC2, the show starts at 20:00. I don't think it will be much more than three minutes, but that still leaves us with twelve minutes of fame for later.

TV and Another "Tick"

All sorts of goings on today, despite a pretty cold night there were a few moths in the trap this morning including beaded chestnut, "November" moths, feathered thorn, red-green carpet, grey-shoulder knot, large yellow underwing, turnip, red-line quaker, yellow-line quaker, shuttled-shaped dart, large wainscot and mottled umber, the last a very well marked one and pictured below.
Today saw the team from BBC Autumn Watch on site to film a piece about common garden birds filmed on the feeders around the car park at the Centre and at the Woodland hide. I understand things went well so you can see Blashford on TV on Thursday next at 20:00 on BBC 2. The team can be seen below during a break in filming.

I also snapped a couple of shots of birds at the feeders myself, including this great tit, an adult and one of the birds that was ringed last winter.

I also got a coal tit at the same feeder and by coincidence this bird was also one of our ringed birds.

For some a visit from the BBC would be quite enough excitement for one day, but not for me, the highlight was actually nothing to do with the TV. It came in the form of yet another bird "tick" for Blashford, at least for me, I have not looked up the records yet. This came in the shape of a group of 3 red-breasted merganser, all red-heads, actually I think young birds. Below is a poor shot of the party, but at least you can just about tell what they are.

Other birds today included a green sandpiper on Rockford Lake with perhaps 700 coot and a good number of wigeon. From the Ivy North hide a singing Cetti's warbler and a couple of blue tit behaving like poor man's penduline tit, in that they were pulling apart the seedheads of reedmace, perhaps the real thing will turn up, perhaps, maybe, one day.

Towards dusk on Ibsley Water the young female peregrine was testing out the gulls for weakness, although did not find any easy enough to catch. The gull roost was as large as ever and I saw at least 2 yellow-legged gull along with the thousands of lesser black-backed gull like the ones in the picture taken from the Goosander hide.

The Day Ends with a Bang

A lot going on but not much to report, at least as far as the wildlife goes. A few redwing flying over early on and a single redpoll going west were the most interesting. Even the moth trap did not contain much, a late and very tatty setaceous hebrew character and a few each of yellow-line Quaker, "November" moths, feathered thorn, large wainscot and a single beaded chestnut.

The Lower Test volunteer team were working on the reserve again today and they have completed putting up the wire to exclude rabbits from the millennium meadow so the grass will grow better and give better habitat for mini-beast hunting.

Looking ahead we have a visit from BBC Autumn Watch coming up, I will post the broadcast time when I know. They are coming to look at birds on the feeders, I just hope there are some to see as this is about the quietest time for our feeders, most of the birds are out in the woods eating natural seeds. Actually I think this is going to be a bumper season for the woodland hide feeders, but not yet. The numbers of finches about are high with good numbers of siskin, redpoll and brambling in the country and they will be looking for food come the New Year so a visit in February could be very productive. There are also lots of waxwing "up north"and who knows perhaps we will get a few if we are very lucky.

At the end of the day a loud band near Ivy Lake gave a brief worry about illegal shooting, but it was probably an early firework set off near Rockford Lake, the wildfowl were througly spooked though and I expect they will be jumpy for a day or two after tonight.