Hants Birding - 26th July

Very little birding going on for me of late but today I did get out and twitch a rather unseasonal Red-backed Shrike a cracking male showed reasonably well near Cheriton. Since I was out I figured high tide at Farlington could be worth a look. There was nothing unexpected on the lake but a Short-eared Owl hunting the grassland to the south of the lake was a nice surprise. It was using the fence posts and posing in the evening sunlight. For photography purposes it could have been closer, this is heavily cropped but I can’t complain really!

Farlington Lake at this time of year attracts passage waders which gather here at high tide when they can’t feed out on the mudflats of Langstone harbour. It’s a good place to check for something unusual but also if the high tide coincides with a sunny evening it can be an excellent place to photography birds in flight (BIF) in this case waders coming off the lake to return to the harbour. The light, wind and tide were just right this evening to bif some waders, here’s some examples below.