Blashford Lakes

Last week my work took me back towards Hampshire so a couple of hours at Blashford Lakes helped fill in some time between jobs. The Lakes had been quite busy up until the day before, little gull, water pipit, little-ringed plover and osprey all appeared on the notice board. Not on the day I visited though. A few noisy redshank and a common sandpiper were the only waders of note on Iblsey Water, a pair of goldeneye, 5 common tern and 3 greylag finished it off.

Yellow-legged Herring Gull

Photographed recently on the Isle-of-Wight, this appears to be a normal argenteus type Herring Gull but with distinctly yellow washed legs. I believe they do occur in small percentages of the population along the south coast but this is the first I've come across.

Cirl Buntings, Devon

Going to see my accountant down in Devon isn't all bad. A quick detour to a regular Cirl Bunting site proved worthwhile with two pairs feeding quite close on the ground. Here are a few shots of the male birds:

Lovely birds and helped make up for the fact that I was missing the Black-winged Stilt at Abbotsbury.

Little Dipper!

A trip down to South Milton Ley over the Easter weekend proved uneventful. The Little Bunting, which had been happily feeding up to two minutes before we arrived, disappeared not to be seen again until late afternoon. By that time we'd moved on to try and catch up with a pair of Garganey on Slapton Ley - no joy there either!  On to Yarner Wood for pied flycatcher (yes!) and a fine bunch of Mandarin duck by the car park hide too.

Finally back to Budleigh Salterton, last stop of the day to try and see the purple heron that had been showing on and off for the last few days. We were directed to a ditch where it had vanished an hour ago...things were not looking good!  We finally gave up and headed back to the car when a final glance across the field produced...

a very distant purple heron in the murky light skulking along the edge of the ditch.

Med Gulls - Isle of Wight

A week's holiday out of the region in the Isle-of-Wight before Easter brought my first swallows and this stunning adult Mediterranean Gull at Ryde.

Not to mention one or two common locals as well...

Iceland Gull, Chard Res

Super bird for the res, found by Kevin Harris a week ago and returned today for its third visit:

It's a gull thing...1st Winter Caspian Gull, Axmouth, Devon

I've been trying to catch up with this beauty for a while now and finally managed to get a few shots of it on the river near the tram sheds...

Also an adult summer med at Coronation corner along with a decent smattering of waders including black and bar-tailed godwits, some in full breeding plumage.

Chard Reservoir, Tuesday 6 March 2012

Well, it isn't every day you go to Chard Res and see something special...and today was no exception. Despite sand martins and swallows being seen all around us, there was no sign of any in Chard today. The res was very quiet, the only birds of note were 18 Little egret, 17 Teal and at least 4 reed buntings by the duck feeding area. Very obliging they were too.

As was this great crested grebe...

...and this very smart lesser black-backed gull

America Wigeon, Exminster Marsh, Devon

Showing well....earlier in the day. Actually it was showing well through a scope but too distant for anything other than a poor record shot through my 400mm lens.

It's the one bang in the middle, front

Cropped but a little easier to see...

Lovely bird though and well worth another look if it hangs around a bit longer.

Blashford Lakes Bittern

My work took me out of area today (perhaps I should call this Four Counties Wildlife?) so took advantage and dropped in to Blashford Lakes in Hampshire to see if the Bittern was showing. It took a while but eventually appeared...

Lovely bird, plenty of ducks around too:

Drake Gadwall

..and his partner

Loads of Pochard, including this obliging duck

Close by (although distant) at Harbridge...

One of six Bewick's Swans

The whooper

...and a few of the Greylags present

I'm almost ashamed to put this photo up but it's still a record shot of the drake Garganey on the river just south of the church at Shapwick in Dorset. The light was poor (drizzling too) and the birds were very nervous, which added up to a few grabbed shots before they sped off down river and out of sight. Could be an escape but there have been a few around and sightings of summer migrants already. That and its nervous behaviour make me think it could be a genuine bird - well worth seeing.

Iceland Gull, Axmouth - Saturday 18th February 2012

Found by the local team around Midday and still sitting there happily when I managed to get down there at 2pm. A very pale 2nd winter bird and a lovely sight.

So this is why they're called 'white-winged' gulls

More Yellow-browed photos

More pictures of the Pudleigh Yellow-browed on the dedicated page.

Yellow-browed Warbler and tristis Chiff Chaff at Pudleigh Sewage works

Yellow-browed warbler - found late on Saturday by Henry Squire

I also found this tristis type chiff chaff - good day for Chard!