Naturetrek 1-3 March 2013 Eurasian Bittern Hawfinch Poplar Bracket Fungi Marsh Tit Report & images compiled by Jon Stokes Naturetrek Cheriton Mill Cheriton Alresford Hampshire SO24 0NG England T: +44 (0)1962 733051 F: +44 (0)1962 736426 E: info@naturetrek.co.uk W: www.naturetrek.co.uk
New Forest in Winter Tour Leader: Participants: Jon Stokes Phil Aylen Jem Donald Anne Dean Irene Kemp Jean Silver Claire Locker Liz Collison Day 1 Friday 1st March The group gathered in the hotel before dinner and we planned the weekend. The weather looked quite good, cold but dry and there are birds to find so looking forward to the morning and finding some! Day 2 Saturday 2nd March First light was grey and cold, but there were hints of spring around as there were the calls of many Blackbirds and Song Thrushes. Our first stop for the morning was just outside the forest boundary, in the market town of Romsey. Just 2 miles from the edge of the forest, there have been unusual birds here over the last few weeks. Due to the lousy spring last year, most of the seed crops of the trees failed and so this winter the birds have been desperate to find food. What this has resulted in, in Romsey, is a movement of Hawfinches out of the forest to an area of Damson bushes. Over the last few weeks this large flock of Hawfinches has been present and this morning they were still around. Arriving, the first Hawfinches could be seen from the van windows and over the next hour, 30 or more Hawfinches showed extremely well to all the group members. With a national population of only 400 birds, there was approximately 10% of the entire British population on display today quite astonishing! This was an outstanding view of Hawfinches, and never before had the guide seen them as well in Hampshire! The supporting cast on site was Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Siskin, making for a truly finch-filled hour! There was also a rare fungi Cushion Bracket growing on one of the Damson trees. Our next stop was Blashford Lakes, where as usual the feeders were covered in an array of birds, mostly Blue Tits and Great Tits, but with the occasional Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Coal Tit and Dunnock. On the woodland floor Wild Daffodils were flowering and the beautiful Scarlet Elf Cap fungi were in their usual site. In the trees overhead, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker drummed on an old birch, and then showed himself briefly as it flew amongst the treetops. On the main lake, thousands of duck were visible Tufted Duck, Pochards, Teal and Goldeneye, plus Great Crested Grebes and many Gadwall. However despite much looking, the wintering Bitterns didn t show. Returning to the van, and almost departing, we heard news that the Bitterns were in fact showing well on a different pool, and over the next 30 minutes, we had superb views of these beautiful birds, in strong spring sunshine. Naturetrek March 13 1
A picnic in the forest yielded a Kestrel, and then at Bolderwood, we found the extremely rare fungi, Poplar Bracket, growing on an old fallen poplar tree. With still a few hours of the afternoon to come, and with glorious sunshine, we stopped to photograph a pair of Willow Tits, who frequent a picnic site, and then to Denny Wood, where large numbers of forest birds come to find food. Here Nuthatch and Coal Tit sparred with Chaffinch and Blue Tit. Nearby there had been a report of a Great Grey Shrike, so next we went for a walk on the heathland in the setting sun, whilst the shrike remained elusive, Treecreepers, Long Tailed Tits and Tree Pipits added to the forest bird list. Finally, back at the hotel, a good dinner and conversation rounded off an excellent day... Day 3 Sunday 3rd March Today dawned overcast but dry and we set off after breakfast. The guide had received word of 10 Waxwings back in Romsey, so we agreed it was worth going to look. Unfortunately by the time we had arrived, they had departed, so we again went to look at the Hawfinch. For the second morning running they didn t fail us, giving excellent views to all. Heading to the van, a Brambling was sitting atop a tree in full light, adding another colourful bird to the morning. As the last three of the group were boarding the van, the guide heard an unmistakable trill, which revealed 5 Waxwings, sitting less than 40 feet from the van in a small garden. Somewhat stunned, everyone rapidly disembarked the van and had amazing views of these occasional winter visitors. After about 15 minutes, and accompanied by their beautiful calls, they departed, but not before the unique sight of Hawfinch and Waxwing, could be seen in the same binocular view. We arrived at Acres Down in the hope of seeing a Goshawk. Late Feb/early March is the best time of year to see these spectacular birds of prey, and as we arrived we had hope... However discussion with a few birders suggested that nothing much had been happening but two local birders then put us onto a male Goshawk sat in a tree, which we watched for a couple of minutes, before it took off, and began to soar over the woods. We had excellent views and all within 15 minutes of arrival! All the other birders that had been there since 9am, then abruptly left, as they had got very cold, waiting for 3 hours for the same sight. We were lucky Having collected lunch we were on our way to eat it, but stopped briefly in case the shrike was on view. It wasn t but a Raven flew over turning from a speck in the distance to flying just feet over our heads. A fabulous view of a cracking bird! Then we headed on to our final site of the day Pennington Marshes, where waders and ducks were our targets. As usual the site didn t let us down with Avocets, Ruff, Redshank and Plovers in abundance (both Golden and Ringed), plus Brent Geese, Pintail and both Jack and Common Snipe. A Water Pipit was poking around on the edge of the marsh and loads of Egrets enlivened the scene. Just as we were starting back for home, the guide picked up a sparkling male Green Winged Teal, which was feeding with Teal on the back of the pool. This American duck, had been reported at the site briefly a few weeks ago, but hadn t been seen for a while. However there he was in the sunshine, as fine a bird as you could wish to see, and taking the weekends tally to 100 species. This then rounded off our weekend, where the bird highlights were many, but for the guide the magic of Waxwing, Brambling and Hawfinch, will live long in the memory 2 Naturetrek March 13
Species List Birds March Common name Scientific name 1 2 3 1 Little Egret Egretta garzetta 10 2 Bittern Botaurus stellaris 2 3 Grey Heron Ardea cinerea 1 10 4 Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis 1 5 Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus Many 6 Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo Many Many 7 Mute Swan Cygnus olor 1 1 8 Brent Goose Branta bernicla Many 9 Canada Goose Branta canadensis Many Many 10 Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 10 11 Teal Anas crecca 1 12 Green Winged Teal Anas carolinensis 1 13 Shoveler Anas clypeata 10+ 10+ 14 Goldeneye Bucephala clangula 1 15 Pintail Anas acuta Many 16 Pochard Anthya ferina Many 17 Tufted Duck Anthya fuligula Many Many 18 Gadwall Anna's strepera Many Many 19 Shelduck Tadorna tadorna 2 Many 20 Widgeon Anas penelope Many 21 Red Breasted Merganser Mergus serrator 1 22 Goshawk Accipter gentilis 1 23 Sparrowhawk Accipiter nissus 1 24 Common Buzzard Buteo buteo 4 5 25 Kestrel Falco tinnunculus 1 26 Pheasant Phasianus colchicus 2 27 Moorhen Gallinula chloroplus Many Many 28 Coot Fulica atra Many 10+ 29 Lapwing Vanellus vanellus Many 30 Knot Calidris canuta 2 31 Ruff Philomachus pugnax 5 32 Curlew Numenius arquata 1 33 Golden plover Pluvialis apricaria Many 34 Grey plover Pluvialis squatarola Many 35 Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta 2 36 Ringed plover Charadrius hiaticula 2 37 Oystercatcher Haenatopus ostralegus Many 38 Turnstone Arenaria interpres Many 39 Spotted redshank Tringa erythropus 2 40 Greenshank Tringa nebularia 1 41 Redshank Tringa totanus Many 42 Dunlin Calidris alpina Many 43 Bar Tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica Many 44 Black tailed Godwit L. limosa Many 45 Snipe Gallinago gallinago Many 46 Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus 1+ 47 Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus Many Many Naturetrek March 13 3
March Common name Scientific name 1 2 3 48 Great black backed gull Larus marinus Many 49 Lesser black backed gull Larus fuscus Many 50 Herring Gull Larus argentatus 10+ 51 Common gull Larus canus 5 52 Woodpigeon Columba palumbus Many Many 53 Stock Dove Columba oenas 4 54 Feral Pigeon Columba livia Many Many 55 Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto Many Many 56 Tawny Owl Strix aluco H 57 Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major 1 1 58 Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos minor 1 59 Green woodpecker Picus viridis Heard 60 Skylark Alauda arvensis 1 61 Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis 1 1 62 Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta 1 63 Rock pipit Anthus petrosus 1 64 Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis 1 65 Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba 1 1 66 Wren Troglodytes troglodytes 1 1 67 Dunnock Prunella modularis Many Many 68 Robin Erithacus rubecula Many Many 69 Blackbird Turdus merula Many Many 70 Song Thrush Turdus philomelos Many Many 71 Mistle Thrush Turdus viscivorus 2 72 Redwings Turdus iliacus Many Many 73 Fieldfare Turdus pilaris 1 74 Waxwing Bombycillia garrulus 5 75 Goldcrest Regulus regulus 1 1 76 Marsh Tit Parus palustris 6 77 Blue Tit Parus caeruleus 10+ Many 78 Great Tit Parus major 10+ 10+ 79 Coal Tit Parus ater 10+ 80 Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus 10+ 81 Nuthatch Sitta europaea 10+ 82 Treecreeper Certhia familiaris 3 83 Starling Sturnus vulgaris Many Many 84 Jay Garrulus glandarius 1 85 Magpie Pica pica Many Many 86 Jackdaw Corvus monedula 1 Many 87 Raven Corvus corax 3 88 Carrion Crow Corvus corone 1 Many 89 Rook Corvus frugilegus Many Many 90 House Sparrow Passer domesticus Many 91 Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs 1 Many 92 Hawfinch Coccothraustes coccothraustes 30+ 30+ 93 Brambling Fringilla montifringilla 1 94 Siskin Carduelis spinus Many Many 95 Greenfinch Carduelis chloris 10+ 10+ 96 Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis H Many 97 Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula 3 1 98 Redpoll Carduelis flammea Many H 4 Naturetrek March 13
March Common name Scientific name 1 2 3 99 Linnet Acanthis cannabina 1 100 Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus 1 Receive our e-newsletter Join the Naturetrek e-mailing list and be the first to hear about new tours, additional departures and new dates, tour reports and special offers. Visit www.naturetrek.co.uk to sign up. Naturetrek Facebook We are delighted to launch the Naturetrek Facebook page so that participants of Naturetrek tours can remain in touch after the holiday and share photos, comments and future travel plans. Setting up a personal profile at www.facebook.com is quick, free and easy. The Naturetrek Facebook page is now live; do please pay us a visit! Scarlet elf cap Naturetrek March 13 5