Very Different Days

I was at Blashford again today after a couple of days off. I was last in on Thursday, when it rained all day and I left in a thunderstorm with hail and torrential rain. Today was quite different, warm, often sunny and altogether very pleasant. Both days produced notable migrants though, despite the very different conditions. On Thursday I arrived to find an osprey perched on the stick in Ibsley Water, the one that Ed Bennett and I put out there for the very purpose of giving an osprey somewhere to rest, it is always good when it works!

an osprey in the rain

Also in the rain a pair of Mandarin landed outside the new Tern Hide, they did not look much happier than the osprey.

Mandarin in the rain

Today was more about butterflies, I saw good numbers of peacock, speckled wood, brimstone and orange-tip. But there were still migrant birds too, today’s highlight was a flock of 12 adult little gull, some in full breeding plumage and with a pink flush to their underparts, surely one of the best of all gulls in this plumage.

The other top birds today were the brambling, with 100 or more around the Centre and Woodland Hide area, many were feeding around the Woodland Hide giving great views, even I could get a half decent picture.

male brambling

There are still small numbers of all the winter duck around, although numbers are declining day by day now. Today I saw nine goldeneye, although I am pretty sure there are still 11 around, there were also goosander, wigeon, teal and shoveler in small numbers. A few pairs of shoveler have been regularly in front of Tern Hide allowing the chance of a picture.

drake shoveler

Next week will see some further work at the Centre, with car park resurfacing and landscaping. There will also be some work at the Tern Hide at the end of the week, which is likely to mean that it will be closed for a day or so.

Also next week, In Focus will be doing optics sale in the Tern Hide on Tuesday.

Advertisement

…and a fun filled bird spotting time was had by all!

Yesterday’s Bird Trail, run in conjunction with  Hampshire Ornithological Society was a huge success, with approximately 80 children and young people aged 6 to 18 and 16 adults taking part in the newly resurrected event here at Blashford Lakes.

Eight teams, including Wildlife Watch and Wildlife Explorer groups, our Young Naturalists, a Beaver Colony, Wellow School and a group headed by Christchurch Harbour Ornithologial Group took up the challenge, following a set route around the reserve, visiting a number of hides and spotting as many different bird species as they could.

To make sure there was enough to keep everyone busy and we weren’t all trying to visit the same hides at the same time, we were joined by a static display of birds of prey courtesy of Liberty’s Owl, Raptor and Reptile Centre, a bird ringing demonstration by BTO ringers Brenda, Kevin and Jack from the Christchurch Harbour Ornitholigical Group and pond and river dipping, owl pellet dissection, moth trap “rummaging” and a tree fact and identification trail run by our very lovely Trust staff and volunteers.

Each team was joined by an expert HOS volunteer birder, with more stationed in the hides ready to point eager eyes in the direction of some great sightings. The final scores were incredibly close, with first place going to Bartley Water (Stanley’s Own) Beaver Colony for spotting a whopping 56 species, second to the Titchfield Haven Wildlife Explorers and third to the Havant Wildlife Watch Group, followed closely by our very own Young Naturalists and Blashford Wildlife Watch groups, with 51 and 49 species recorded respectively. A fun filled bird spotting time was had by all!

Here are a few photos I took whilst out with our Young Naturalists and our very knowledgeable HOS volunteer Mike:

Poppy bird spotting from the Woodland Hide

Our Young Naturalists watching a Kingfisher on Ivy Silt Pond

Kestrel, one of the many birds of prey in the static display provided by Liberty’s, a definite hit with everyone

We were joined by HOS President Chris Packham, who very kindly gave up his time to speak to the children at the end of the event, award prizes and join in with team photos:

Our Young Naturalists ‘Great Grey Shrike’ Team, with volunteer Nigel, HOS volunteer Mike and Chris Packham, taken by Amanda Boss

We would just like to say a huge thank you to Dr. Patricia Brown (HOS volunteer), Dawn O’Malley (HIWWT Education Officer) and of course Jim (Education Officer at Blashford Lakes) for all the hard work they put in to organising the event and making it happen, along with all the Wildlife Trust and HOS volunteers who joined us on the day, running some of the activities, accompanying groups on the trail and staking out the bird hides to make sure we all saw as many species as we could!

Thank you to Chris Packham, HOS President, for giving up his afternoon and joining everyone involved for a finishing ceremony, prize giving and photos.

Thanks also to BTO ringers Brenda, Kevin and Jack, Liberty’s Owl, Raptor and Reptile Centre for their static display and the following sponsors for supporting the event:

In Focus, Christchurch Harbour Ornitholigical Group, Pearsons Estate Agents and Hampshire Swifts.

We’re already looking forward to Bird Trail 2017!!

Yesterdays visitor sightings…

…and better pictures than mine!

Thanks to Andy for his e-mail and photo’s:

Red kite by Andy

“We had just stepped out of the Woodland Hide, and the red kite was gliding just over the tree tops at about 13:30 today (yesterday).  A lesson to keep eyes peeled all around.

We also noticed a lot of wrens on show not being too shy at all.

This one below (and another) kept us amused for a few minutes prior to entering the Woodland Hide.

We also noted:

firecrest in Tern Hide car park entrance

gold crest just before Woodland Hide

black necked grebe (great in the new bins!)

We missed the bullfinches beside Ivy South.

Thanks for hosting the bino man, we bought a couple of 10x42s and the difference over our 10x25s is like poor SD VS sharp blu-ray. It really does help to try out a few.”

Andy is referring to the “In Focus” event yesterday. Keith from In Focus “rents” space in Tern Hide once a month to demonstrate and sell  a great range of binoculars and telescopes. A small income for the reserve and, we believe, a valuable service to our visitors. It really does help a lot when spending out on new optics to be able to try them out in the field and not just in a shop or looking out the door along the high street. In Focus hold monthly events at Blashford, normally on the first Tuesday of each month but as this can change it is always worth checking for any changes on their web site if planning a special trip:  http://www.at-infocus.co.uk/south_west.html

Also note worthy yesterday was Ed and Bob’s count of 1600 wigeon on Ibsley Water.