Last Sunday was the last day before the Easter vacation at university properly started, so Dan and I decided to make the last trip a big one! Our planned route was go from home in Southampton, via Gosport hoping for a Black Redstart and Ring Billed Gull (both of which we saw a few weeks before) and on to Portsmouth for the Purple Sandpipers at Southsea Castle.
We arrived at Walpole lake, but had no luck finding the Ring Billed Gull - it hadn’t been sighted for a few days so this was a gamble! First ‘dip’. We were just about to leave, when Dan spotted a summer plumage Mediterranean Gull - the shot below shows the white wing tips and generally stockier appearance compared to the (winter plumage) black-headed gull on the water next to it.
As the only one on the lake, it seemed fairly ’shy’ and wouldn’t fly as close-by as the other gulls so we left for the Black Redstart, which we have seen before by the ‘Explosion!’ museum in Gosport. We searched for a good 30 minutes but no sign of the Black Redstart, so a second dip of the day.
So on we went to Portsmouth, hoping that the Purple Sandpipers hadn’t left the area around Southsea Castle - I don’t why I’m trying to make this suspenseful, you’ve presumably seen some of my photos when getting to this page!
Here are a couple of my favourites from the day:
These birds seemed really tame, and we counted about 16 individuals in total - before discovering this place, we had only seen this species at a distance from the top of a cliff at Portland! So a Hampshire tick for me and a year tick for Dan!
In slightly higher spirits, we decided to check out Titchfield Haven on the way back to Southampton. Third dip: Garganey. This was a potential lifer for me, and a year tick for Dan so it was a shame that the bird had moved from the scrapes in the main reserve up to the flooded valley out the back. We weren’t able to locate the bird around the valley, but before leaving I did get a couple of shots from the Meon Shore hide.
Shoveler:
Courting Black Headed Gulls - the combined courtship of a few hundred gulls isn’t exactly the most relaxing noise in the world, so we left fairly agitated! Still, funny behaviour to watch:
All in all a great day in the sun, lovely light for photographing the Purple Sandpipers, which definitely rescued what would’ve otherwise been quite a quiet day!
Sam.
Tags: Birding, Birds, Birdwatching, Photography, Purple Sandpiper, UK, Wildlife
Hi Sam,
Superb photos. You should have come up to Old Alresford Pond for the Gargany. Nice to meet you and Dan the other day at Acres Down. Thanks for all the info as to where to look.
Hilary.
Thank you Hilary, it was nice to meet you both too.
I have heard of the Garganey there, how long do you think it could hang around for? I am currently at ‘home’ home in south Wiltshire, and getting around at the moment isn’t too easy, Dan is the only one of us three with a car at the moment! I will check it out anyway, thanks for that.
And thank you for the comment. Hopefully I will have a regular stream of photos and stories of our birding trips. We’re going to Portland for the easter weekend so I may be rather busy after that! Fingers crossed!
Sam.