Geese, Goldeneye and Gulls

Not the best day, it rained a lot and got steadily colder as it went on. There was some evidence of arrivals of winter birds, redwing were scattered in the trees and the siskin flock, now numbering over 200 birds included at least a few redpoll. On Ibsley Water the goosander included three drakes and there were at least 11 goldeneye, including two adult and one immature drake. Ibsley Water briefly hosted 85 black-tailed godwit and there were also 2 dunlin and 2 green sandpiper. I suspect the godwits had been flushed from the valley by shooting, which went on for much of the day, this was probably also the reason for there being 472 greylag and a single bar-headed goose.

It was a bit of a day for mammals, a party of fallow deer beside Ibsley Water included one quite fine buck. The north shore of the lake had a fox, as it often does. The least seen, if not rarest, sighting was of a stoat crossing Ellingham Drove.

Towards dusk the gulls gathered as usual and included at least 9 yellow-legged gull, 2 common gull and a 2nd winter gull that probably must have been a Caspian gull. It was the right shape, with the right plumage features, bill etc, but looked a little dark on the mantle. I think this was just because the light was fading, as all the other features looked right for Caspian and wrong for other species. It was not the bird of the same age seen by me the other day, as the bill pattern was certainly a little different. Oh, the joys of trying to identify gulls at the end of a dull day.

As it was getting really dark I was locking up the Ivy Lake hides, a Cetti's warbler was singing by the north hide and a water rail was calling. The reeds in the north-west part of the lake held a mass of chattering starling gone to roost.

A bit of late news from Friday was of a great northern diver on Ibsley Water in the morning.

Wind, Rain and Volunteers

A vigorous start to the day with wind and rain, I suspected that it might have put off the Thursday volunteers, but they are made of stern stuff and nine turned up to work. We were helped by the rain conveniently stopping about ten minutes before we started. We did not venture too far, as heavy showers were forecast, however we need not have worried and we got a good bit done. As though to prove the charmed existence of the Blashford volunteers, it started to rain about fifteen minutes after we stopped work.

Not a lot of wildlife to report today. A drake goldeneye on Ibsley Water was a new bird, I think, I am now certain that the group on Monday were migrants as there has been no sign of them since. At dusk the gulls were good an close to the Tern hide, but despite good views the most unusual birds were 3 common gull and 5 or 6 yellow-legged gull.

Tonight Blashford was on Autumnwatch, note I now have the name of the show right, it is all one "word", I'm afraid my posting of the time was also wrong as it actually started at 20:30, but you probably knew that if you watch the show. It concentrated on garden birds on the feeders, in fact there was one other sighting of note today, the first siskin on a feeder that I have seen this autumn.

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.

Something Black Out of the Blue

A great day to be out, cool, bright and blue. Woodpigeon moving over from first thing, I only saw a few hundred but this usually means thousands on the coast. Such movements also usually indicate that there will have been other species on the move overnight and sure enough there were a few redwing about and I heard both brambling and redpoll calling from the trees near the Centre. I am getting ahead of myself though. I started at the Tern hide as usual, nothing of great note but there were 3 dunlin, 3 black-tailed godwit and 2 green sandpiper and then the one that got away as I was more or less certain I heard a rock pipit call, but I could not find it anywhere and I don't think I can claim it at Blashford on call only.

On the way to the Ivy North hide I looked across, as I always do on such mornings, toward the Wessex Water treatment works. Why I look is because the south side is in the sun and looks ideal for a black redstart, today it paid off, there really was a black redstart. It was a female spending most fo the time on the railings of a walkway at first floor level, too far away for a picture. Not a Blashford "tick" but a Blashford first fro me and the first for some years, also another bird for the BTO Challenge total.

The other hides were opened without incident, but looking into the water below the Ivy South hide I saw a small pike, then another and then two more. They were lying just below the surface next to the fallen trees. Two of them had leeches attached, one at least a dozen. I just about got a picture of one, not easy into the water without a polarising filter.

I did a bit more work on the sight lines at the Ivy North hide around the middle of the day, if there were bitterns they kept a very low profile, but a Cetti's warbler sang loudly at me and there were 2 water rail calling. The water is getting pretty deep now so this will probably be the last tweak of the season so I hope it works.

At the end of the day 4 common gull and at least 6 yellow-legged gull were the best I could do from the Tern hide. It was rapidly getting cold as I went to close the Ivy South hide and got this shot of the crescent moon over the silt pond, it is odd how it looks quite large in the sky but barely shows in the picture, something to do with the brain getting confused trying to compare the size of near and very distant objects I understand.

I set off for home and as I drove towards the bridge over the Dockens Water near Moyles Court there was an animal by the road, I am pretty sure it was an otter, but it disappeared into the bramble before I could really get a look. Even that was not quite the end of the day's wildlife, despite it being dark. Just south of Ringwood a barn owl flew low over the road, now that is a bird I could do with for Blashford.

The Wildlife Trust is 50 (nearly)

A quick extra post tonight, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is now coming up to fifty years old. Fifty years that have seen huge changes in habitats, conservationists and attitudes to the environment. Shortly after the Wildlife Trust was formed it took on the management of Farlington Marshes, very much as a move to try and secure the future of a fabulous wildlife site that had been under real threat. Saving the best from loss was very much the story in the early days, now we are taking a more landscape scale look at habitat and species survival. This history is traced in a new book produced to celebrate the anniversary, more about this book can be found here.

There are also all kinds of event planned for the fiftieth year, more on these can be found here. Some will be happening at Blashford and others may well be coming to a venue, perhaps quite and unexpected one, near you.

Water, Water

I was busy with various things that kept me largely in the Centre today, considering the weather not the toughest choice. In very heavy rain first thing all I saw of note from the Tern hide were 2 dunlin flying about. I could only see 2 goldeneye, it could be that the others were lurking out of sight, but it could be that yesterday's arrivals were actually just en route somewhere else when they were forced down by the wind and rain in the early hours.

When I went to lock up the Tern hide a kittiwake had just been seen over the lake, another new bird for the BTO Challenge. Sadly there was no sign of the ring-billed gull reported the other day, although the gulls were mostly in the north-east corner of the lake and so hard to see well. There was a flock of dunlin, numbering at least nine, but I think more.

The heavy rain today caused the Dockens Water to flood for the first time this season, it overflowed into the alder carr and thence into the main body of Ivy Lake. This input of acid New Forest water into the more neutral to alkaline water of the lake both raises the lake level and changes the pH, at least a little. This last point may have something to do with the increase in Crassula helmsii in the last two years. This plant likes more acid conditions and in the last two years no river water has been added to the lake from the Avon, but the Dockens Water has flowed in several times. The other effect of this rush of water might be to pull the sea trout into the Avon and even into the Dockens, where they will eventually spawn.

Goldeneye Blow In

A remarkable change in the weather this morning, I set off from home in a gale, arrived in rain and within an hour it was almost flat calm and sunny. Looking out from the Tern hide first thing there was a group of 12 goldeneye, including three adult drakes. Yesterday there were just three redheads, so they had obviously arrived overnight. Given the dreadful weather in the latter part of the night they must have set off early. There was also a steady movement of woodpigeon heading east, I saw some 700 in about fifteen minutes, they usually tend to move west at this time of year. I also saw 3 dunlin flying about, later there was one on Ibsley Water, possibly one of these three. There were also 2 black-tailed godwit which flew over heading south.

It turned out yesterday that there was a report of an adult ring-billed gull, along with an adult Caspian gull on Iblsey Water during the mid-afternoon. Despite a tentative claim today it did not seem to have returned and the only Caspian gull was the second winter bird that has been seen a few times recently. There were also at least 8 yellow-legged gull, I saw 7 adults and a first winter bird, along with 2 common gull. The lesser black-backed gull roost included a variety of shades from dark mid grey to nearly black. Some of the last must be intermedius type birds, who knows perhaps some might even be the elusive Baltic gull, although the best candidate birds for this that I have seen have all been much earlier in the autumn.

Finally and only long after I got home I read of a large white bird with long neck and legs seen flying towards Blashford at the end of the day, perhaps a spoonbill? If it was and it is still there tomorrow we might have another bird for the BTO Challenge. I could also do with confirming the ring-billed gull and firecrest records made recently as both of those would be new for the year as well.