Hampshire Patch Listing 2012

With the sole aim of getting me out and about locally I have decided to join in the fun and take part Hampshire Ornithological Society's patch list this year http://www.goingbirding.co.uk/hants/list.asp?year=2012&type=2. I have chosen a 5km x 5km square that includes some of my bird ringing sites, for example Botley Wood, Curbridge amd Manor Farm Country Park, so at least I will be able to add to my list whilst ringing. My highlights to date were a Red kite, Little Owl and Grey Wagtail on the 7th January and Blackcap on the 8th.

Any plans for bird ringing today were ruined by the arrival of yet more windy weather, so I opted to nip down to Curbridge to try and add a few more species to my patch list to date. The tide was just falling and so birds were starting to arrive on the inter-tidal when I got there. The first new bird for my patch was a Common Redshank, quickly followed two Oystercatchers and a Common Sandpiper.

Common Redshank - Curbridge

Three Little Egrets were roosting in the over hanging trees, floating down onto the mud as it became exposed, and a flock of 28 Eurasian Curlew dropped onto the mud, before climbing up onto the nearby pasture.

Little Egret - Curbridge

Little Grebe, Mute Swan, and Canada Goose were all new additions and a lone Great Black-backed Gull drifted overhead. The blustery conditions made looking for passerines extremely frustrating, but a very obliging Grey Wagtail was nice.

Grey wagtail - Curbridge

By the end of my visit I had added 9 new species tacking my patch list total to 62..... a pretty poor total but its still early days!