Proper May Birding in Hampshire – 4th May

Male Whinchat,
Sinah Golf Course, Hayling Island

I have managed a few days out in the field over the last week. I had a good sea-watch on Monday and I’ve seen most of the migrants that I might reasonably expect to have done. Overall the weather has been poor and the birding not much better considering this should be the best time of year. Today however was a good one with admittedly no major quality but plenty of quantity. I was out of bed late due to lack of enthusiasm frankly, though on arrival in the west corner of Hayling island it was quickly apparent there had been a reasonable fall of migrants. Fiveteen Wheatear in a very small area of the public golf course was a good start and these quickly became twenty five with at least six Whinchats among them, including a couple of males which are always worth seeing. A quick look at the sea then produced a distant Great Skua sat on the sea bathing and flapping around for a bit before it flew off east, I’ve seen several Arctic Skua and a couple of Poms this week so a Bonxie was a welcome addition. The lure of land birds was strong and the sea too quiet so I was soon back bashing the scrub. The Kench and Sinah Warren area was heaving with birds to keep the bins active. Many of the Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Whitethroats and Blackcaps were perhaps breeding in the area but many were clearly migrants. On top of these I had Redstart, Garden Warbler, Sedge Warbler and at least five Spotted Flycatchers to keep things interesting.

Spotted Flycatcher at The Kench, Hayling Island

There has been a group of five White Storks roaming the south of England over the last few days and they have been threatening to enter Hampshire airspace. I refused to chase them around Sussex yesterday and aborted a twitch once I had heard they were back in the air. Hampshire is a different matter mind you and with late news (there’s a chance I could have scoped them from where I was, frustratingly) of them flying over Havant towards Portsdown, I decided it was worth a scan from the top of the hill. I didn’t give it long but I also spent a while driving the fields north of Portsdown hoping to find them on the deck with no joy.

By this time news had reached me of a quality bird on my proper patch of Woolmer pond. Steve Mansfield had found a Bar-tailed Godwit there mid morning and this would be a Woolmer tick for me if it hung on for long enough. There is no doubt I literally over looked and looked over this bird initially since I didn’t expect it to be mostly motionless and at such close range! 

Bar-tailed Godwit, Woolmer Pond

The pond has benefitted greatly from the recent rain and is looking very attractive for waders now; the six Common Sandpipers also present seemed to agree. Clearly it had been a good day for migration and there had to be a chance of finding Common Sandpiper nearby on one of the pits at Kingsley for the patch list. Two Common Terns and three Common Sandpipers on the south pit was a welcome sight and Whitethroat and Cuckoo were also new additions for the patch-yearlist. All in all a pleasant days Hampshire birding.