3 Oct 14 - Return To Blashford Lakes

Back in the Spring I visited Blashford Lakes to look for a Mealy Redpoll, but I had no success on the day: having left it for a long time before making the effort. At the time I was fairly fazed with UK Winter Birding, having just had a long trip to India & the Andamans. This trip was followed soon after by a trip to Morocco & the Western Sahara. Having known the area since the early 80s when it was a selection of unmanaged private lakes & working gravel extraction pits, where it was only possible to check some of the lakes from the road, it's great to see what they have done with the Wildlife Trusts reserve here.

Great Crested Grebe: Adult. Looks like it uses Barbour wax on its back

The reason for straying out of Dorset was I had been arranged to meet up with regular blog reader, Clare, who is an ex-pat currently living, working & Birding in Delhi. Over the last few months, Clare has sent a number of interesting emails of short Birding trips to Kashmir & Bhutan, as well as, emails on the problems of Birding around Delhi during the recent hot Summer. But being back in the UK for a short holiday, the plan was to met up for Clare's first UK Birding. The New Forest seemed a suitable compromise, being vaguely inconvenient for both of us to get to: Blashford Lakes was the first destination. The great thing is the how good the hides are for general photography compared to the Studland & Middlebere hides that I normally frequent. The first stop was the Tern hide as the mist was clearing, where they were a few Photo Ticks to deal with.

Grey Heron: 1st Winter. The grey forehead, crown & nape & lack of any ornamental long crown feathers indicates this bird was born this year

Grey Heron: 1st Winter. It obligingly stretched out so I could get the reflection in as well. It's not often I wish I had a smaller lens than the 400mm

Grey Heron: 1st Winter

Egyptian Goose: They are quite common in the Avon Valley these days, but only about one sighting a year in Poole Harbour (just about the right frequency, especially as they rarely hang around)

Tufted Duck: Female

Coot

Lapwing

Lapwing: The head markings are great from the front

Then it was onto the Southern side of the reserve. The Woodland hide was disappointing on this visit with few birds coming to the feeders. But this Coal Tit & Nuthatch made up for it on the feeder by the visitors centre as both were Photo Ticks.

Coal Tit: With a Blue Tit above

Coal Tit: The white nape is the key feature for separating Coal Tits from other Tits

Nuthatch: One of my favourite UK birds

12 May 14 - All Quiet On The Western Front (Of Poole Harbour)

I've been visiting Middlebere quite a bit recently, but it's all been pretty quiet on recent visits. While still pretty quiet today, at least a few species were a bit closer than usual.

Little Egret: This has been commonest Heron in the Poole Harbour area for over a decade now

Little Egret 

Little Egret: It will take a lot of these incredible small morsels to stop a Little Egret from going hungry

Spoonbill: Immature with black wing tips. There are still up to 10 individuals that have been seen in Poole Harbour this month. All the birds I've seen have been immatures that haven't got around to heading back to the Dutch breeding site they were probably born in (based upon colour ringing schemes) 

Shelduck: Pair. The male on the right has a knob at the base of its bill. I'll leave you to do the cheap jokes

Blue Tit: The local Blue Tits are being kept busy trying to find food as this individual looks like its got chicks in a nearby nest. The British Isles has its own subspecies, obscurus

24 March 14 - Birding Over The Border

While I was in India, a couple of Mealy Redpolls appeared at Blashford Lakes in the Avon Valley, which is just over the border in Hampshire. Quite a few local birders saw them about that time & after that the number of sightings reaching the pager dropped off & I never got around to making the trip to see them. Also, there is always that thought, if there are some on the Hants/Dorset border, then perhaps this is the winter when some will be pinned down in Dorset. Anyway, a recent report on the pager finally made me realise that they were still around & so I decided to head over there. Spent a couple of hours looking from the Woodland hide where small parties of Redpolls were being lured into with the promise of their favourite niger seed. Whilst, I had no joy with the Mealy Redpolls, there were good numbers of Redpolls, as well as a number of other common species to photograph. The woodland hide is a good trip providing you can get there & avoid the numbers of people who decend at the weekend, as there is a limited viewpoint for people with cameras.

Blue Tit

Chaffinch: Male

Chaffinch: Female 

Brambling: Male with black appearing around the face 

Brambling: The second male

Brambling: Female

Redpoll: Sexing Redpolls is difficult, but I think this is a male given the extent of the red & pink 

Redpoll: Another probably male

Redpoll

Siskin

Goldfinch

Bank Vole: They are superficially similar to a Wood mouse, but they are warmer brown, have shorter rounded ears, a broader head & a shorter, fatter tail 

Bank Vole: There were at least 3 close to the feeders

Grey Squirrel