Patchlist: 75% Woodcock - 24th February

Well the Malthouse Farm area is fast becoming one of my favoured areas of the patch; there is a good view over a large area that takes in farmland, woodland and views of Sleaford reservoir. So far the Goosander and Ruff have been found from here and yesterday I picked up another Red Kite, tens of Buzzards and managed a new high count of ten Goosander.

Just about got all ten in one picture, they're Goosander believe me!

Tonight I was there again for an hour at dusk with a view to targeting Barn Owl hunting the farmland. Sadly that was not to be though at Sleaford Res a pair of Goosander almost certainly roosted along with 7 immature Mute Swans and 45 Canada Geese. Both Little and Tawny Owl were calling and two Woodcock flew over me and out into the farmland to feed. Species no. 75 so three quarters of the way to my original target for the year before the end of February!

Patchlist: Kites are like Buses - 21st February

Record shot

I had a wander around the part of the Straits Enclosure, Alice Holt Forest that is included in my patch yesterday with little to report though there were several Marsh Tit. It will definitely be worth coming back to this area in the spring and summer as I have had Turtle Dove and Lesser Whitethrout here in the past and it must also have a chance of harbouring breeding Firecrest so a bit of a rekey more than anything.

Today I briefly stopped in at Sleaford Res to check on the Goosander, still three birds present. Even better though I stopped by a road on the western side of my patch and had a scan around for raptors. Straight away I was pretty sure I had a distant Red Kite and scoped it to confirm, a nice patch tick that I was pretty sure of getting but they are still a scarce bird locally. I hung around a little longer and got the total up to four with three of those together. It seems they’ll be a common site soon then, I’ve seen as many today as I had seen in my corner of Hampshire ever before!

Patchlist 2012 - 18th February

I had a couple of damp hours on the patch today with not a great deal to show for my trouble. At Kingsley sandpits I had several Mandarins and a Cormorant along with the female Wigeon again, though it flew of and I later relocated it at Stubbs Farm ponds where there was also Moorhen, Coot, Mallard, Tufted, Gadwall, Canada Goose and Mute Swan so as good a selection of waterfowl as anywhere on my patch. The most interesting bird here however was a hybrid Tufted x Pochard which I suspect is the same bird mentioned at this location in the 2010 Hampshire bird report, so it has been around for years and I am therefore surprised that I have never encountered it before on any of the other local water bodies. Anyway I still need Pochard so does it count as half a tick!?

Patch Mega - 16th Feb

A brief spell on the patch today was really productive. The footpath that runs west from Malthouse farm is mostly within my patch and affords good views to the north over the Straits enclosure, part of Alice Holt Forest and the surrounding farmland. It is also possible to stand in my patch here and scope Sleaford reservoir. By doing this I had already found a drake Goosander last month. Once in position I started to scan the area, really with a bonus raptor in mind and concentrated on the sky. There were plenty of Buzzards around but the hoped for Red Kite has yet to be seen. After a while I scanned the reservoir and picked up a drake Goosander straight away but another bird slipped out of view before I could id it, though it later appeared and proved to be a female, nice a pair! Before long another drake slipped into view, and by the time I had left I had managed to see six Goosander here which included 4 drakes, there may be more. Goosander is a scarce bird locally though perhaps not anymore!

There were at least 100 Skylark in the stubble here 30+ Linnet and a few hundred winter thrushes too. As I had arrived I had noticed a flock of Lapwing south of the reservoir but not paid them too much attention, they were occasionally getting up in the air and flying around, I stuck my bins on them and noticed a smaller wader among them, initially I took it for a Golden Plover but as I watched it spiral round with the flock at some distance something didn’t fit. 

I noticed the birds feet extended beyond its tail and as it descended the white tail sides were obvious, it landed and quickly started feeding actively quite unlike the Lapwings and everything fell into place, a Ruff, an almost unheard of bird locally and another patch mega!!! 

Patchlist 2012 - 6th-15th Feb

Last week I did manage a few hours on my patch over two or three days. I added Snipe at Shortheath Common thanks to Tony Davis’s detailed knowledge of the site and also Reed Bunting at two different sites. Other highlights were a Little Egret roosting at KSP south and a pre roost flock of 140 Linnet in Oakhanger as well as 26 Golden Plover and 200+ Skylark in one flock near Wyck.  On 15th I also added Red-legged Partridge and Yellowhammer, two in a  Chaffinch flock in a stubble field with 5 Reed Buntings and the first singing Yellowhammer I have heard this year a few hundred meters away. So things ticking over nicely and some interesting hard weather birds bring me up to 72 species.

Patchlist 2012 - 4th Feb

It seems winter has arrived so a few hours out on the patch this afternoon seemed in order since more than a few winter birds are still missing from my list, due to the mild weather. Hopefully things will change in the coming days as the weather around the country moves a few birds around. Just as I was about to leave the house I had a text from Andy Davidson to say that 12 Golden Plover were near Kingsley and within my patch. There is usually a local wintering flock but I had yet to catch up with them and so I made these my first stop. 12 Golden Plover (later 30) with a few Lapwings, nice.  

The northern pits at Kingsley were quite frozen but I was pleased to find a good count of 39 Gadwall keeping a small area ice free in the company of 5 Mallard, 3 Lt Grebe, 3 Coot, 1 Teal and best of all a Wigeon probably the same female that was around at the end of last year, where has she been! The big south pit was ice free?! and attracting a lots of BH Gulls (180+) and a Common Gull to bath, the expected waterfowl were present but 15 Mandarin is more than usual on this pit. It started snowing around 16:15 so visibility was poor but I tried a few places for Barn Owl all the same, with no success, good views of Little Owl and a Tawny sat on the hedge was nice though.