11th - 20th June 2024

Thursday, 20th June: Bright but still chilly early on, in the light NE breeze, but it soon backed SSW 2-3 in pleasantly warm sunshine with some white cloud.

Elmer Rocks: A  brief visit this morning - effectively just a walk from the Kiosk to Poole Place and back - where predictably there was no sight or sound of yesterday's transient Reed Warbler, although 3 Whitethroats were still giving short bursts of song. There was nothing moving at sea except a distant gathering of gulls, but a Little Egret flew E along the beach and a party of 6 Oystercatchers flew in to settle on the rock islands at high tide. It was soon time to move on.

Barnham Brooks area: A Hobby, a Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk were all distantly hunting over the Brooks at various times, but it was generally rather quiet, with the majority of the flooded fields now having dried up. Some of the outer margins still hold some water and a few wildfowl as a result, with several Shelduck, 4 Teal, and c.50 Mallard and 4 Gadwall all present, the latter two species still with their broods of young (3 and 1 respectively). Whilst I was on the public footpath at one outer area, a somewhat agitated Lapwing clearly had young nearby and soon after a similarly agitated Pied Wagtail and young were discovered.

(above) agitated Lapwing in flight and (below) agitated Pied Wagtail and (lower) the reason....adult and very recently fledged juvenile.

Wednesday, 19th June: A grey and unseasonably cool start, with a fresh and rather chilly NE wind force 4, but gradually warming up through the day as sunny intervals developed.

Elmer Rocks: With migration now effectively over and the breeding season in full swing, many birds adopt a low profile and/or go quiet, with some species, such as ducks, even choosing this time to complete their annual moult. Even so, the odd  common bird can still offer a surprise, as was the case this morning. Reed Warbler is a common migrant which arrives from early April and nests in reed-beds, so quite what a newly-arrived bird was doing in the second half of June, singing stridently from a hedge, right beside the beach path adjacent to the Boat Club compound, I don't know....perhaps a dispersing failed breeder or even a very late migrant from the Continent.

Apart from this, 3 Whitethroats, a Blackcap and a Chiffchaff were heard giving a few snatches of song. On the sea were 2 Great Crested Grebes, whilst a lone Oystercatcher was on the beach. A short sea-watch produced a dozen Sandwich Terns (8E & 4W) with some stopping off to fish. Several Mediterranean Gulls also went E, as did 3 Common Scoter. A Kestrel was seen hunting over the set-aside corner, eventually catching prey before flying off. Finally, Carrion Crow is a species that rarely gets a mention, but on a previous visit and again today, an adult with 3 well grown young was on the beach feeding and teaching them - so interesting to observe.

 

Sandwich Terns off Elmer Rocks

Young Carrion Crows learning from adult, Elmer beach

Bilsham farm: Predictably quiet again today; on the reservoir were 6 Coots (including a nesting pair), 5 Tufted Ducks, 2 Mallards with their broods and 3 Pied Wagtails. The perimeter hedges held 2 Yellowhammers, a Blackcap and a couple of Whitethroats.

Monday, 17th June: Bright and sunny, with scattered cloud and a fairly light to moderate SW breeze 2-3.

Barnham Brooks area: Another visit - fairly early as my available time was a bit limited this morning - but it proved to be much quieter than yesterday. The Gadwall with her brood of young was again present, together with 3 female Mallards all with broods, and additionally a large flock of Mallard flew in to join others already present, resulting in a total gathering of  c.100 birds. A post-breeding flock of 20 Lapwings also flew around several times before eventually settling on a still-flooded field. Raptors were restricted to a single Kestrel and several Buzzards, whilst just a few Swifts and House Martins were present, as were 8 Little Egrets and 150+ Black-headed Gulls. A few bursts of song from the resident warblers was again noted, as yesterday.  

Sunday, 16th June: Rather cloudy and grey at first, still with a brisk WSW wind force 4-5, but becoming warmer as sunshine developed later and the cloud receded.

Barnham Brooks area: There were 80-100 Swifts this morning, plus a few House Martins, but the highlight was the appearance of a Hobby hunting them over the Brooks, soon to be joined by a second bird - a fine sight as they both chased their aerial prey. On the remaining floods, a female Gadwall with 8 small young in tow was joined by 2 Mallards, each with a similar brood. A Little Ringed Plover was present in one area whilst several pairs of Lapwings now have young. Some of the warblers have now gone quiet, but snatches of song were still noted from Reed and Sedge Warblers, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and 4 different Blackcaps.

 

Saturday, 15th June: After a night of torrential showers, a wet morning with some heavy rain and a near gale-force WSW wind force 7, gradually clearing to give some sunny intervals.

Request to locals: To my knowledge, several pairs of Swifts have nested at the Beresford pub for a number of years, (they usually nest under eaves on the left-hand side, viewed from the front). However, whilst I have seen Swifts in the village, I haven't seen any coming or going from the pub area, so far this year. Could I ask you to keep your eyes open and if you see any activity around the area let me know - especially if they are seen entering under the eaves! Many thanks

Elmer Rocks: I didn't venture out until late morning, with a sea-watch (1110-1240hrs) from the shelter of the Kiosk area. The rough sea and varying light - going from bright sunshine to murky grey - made things a bit tricky, but there were just a couple of bits of interest. A single Gannet went W, followed soon after by a Fulmar going in the same direction. Then a small flock of 6 Sanderlings went E, before a Whimbrel headed W over the rough sea.

Whimbrel battling its way W over a rough sea at Elmer Rocks...the best image I could manage in the difficult conditions!

Friday, 14th June: A bright but blustery day of sunny periods and cloud, with a brisk SW wind force 5-6, then occasional showers by afternoon.

Elmer Rocks: The blustery conditions suggested that a sea-watch would be the best option this morning, so I put in a shift of about two and a half hours in a fairly sheltered spot. The main feature was a mass gathering of gulls in a bit of a feeding frenzy offshore, with one section of around 300+ birds a bit nearer than most, albeit still quite distant. Whilst the majority of the flock were Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, amongst them were also some Black-headed and several Mediterranean Gulls, a couple of Kittiwakes, at least 4 Sandwich Terns and 5 Gannets.

Apart from these there wasn't too much else, but a Great Crested Grebe was offshore, whilst a Little Egret flew E, 2 Whimbrel went W and 4 Oystercatchers dropped onto the shore briefly, before flying off.

Oystercatchers on the shoreline at Elmer Rocks

Thursday, 13th June: A bright and sunny start with a light breeze, but soon changing to a cool and grey day with an increasingly brisk SW wind, then rain sweeping in by late afternoon.

Elmer Rocks: I did a couple of hours this morning, before the weather started to go downhill, and although it was quiet there was a little bit of activity with a few birds of interest, as below...

Fulmar - 1E

Gannet - 2E

Little Egret - 1E

Common Scoter - 5E

Whimbrel - 1E

Kittiwake - 1E

Mediterranean Gull - 2W

Sandwich Tern - 3W

Kestrel - 1 hunting along back of beach & set-aside

Whitethroat - 1 singing in the usual spot by the rife

Linnet - 2

Wednesday, 12th June: A decidedly chilly start with a cool N wind again, though a bit lighter than yesterday. Dry with sunny intervals and cloud, the latter increasing later with the wind backing W/SW3.

Lidsey farm & WTW area: Swifts were again present in some numbers, with at least 250 over the WTW early on. The small reservoir nearby held 10 Gadwall, 10 Tufted Ducks, a Shelduck and 3 Little Grebes, plus a pair of Coots which are nesting on plastic floats. Although many of the nesting birds have now stopped singing, 2 Blackcaps were still going strong, but my highlight of the morning here was actually seeing my first Marbled White butterfly of the season.

Nesting Coot on plastic floats and Marbled White butterfly at Lidsey farm

Shripney area: Seven Egyptian Geese were together on the almost dry fields, together with 4 Little Egrets and a Shelduck. A few snatches of song emanated from the hedges and reed beds, although a Song Thrush and a couple of Cetti's Warblers were more strident. A male Yellowhammer settled briefly on the nearby power cables, before a Cuckoo appeared, calling from a tree top for quite some while.

Shripney this morning: Five of the Egyptian Geese, male Yellowhammer and tree-top Cuckoo

Bilsham farm: There were, surprisingly, only a few Swifts around by the time I arrived here, whilst on the reservoir were 11 Tufted Ducks, the 2 broods of Mallard and 4 Coots, a pair of which are also nesting on plastic floats!

Tuesday, 11th June: The fresh and generally northerly wind persists, keeping the temperature a bit below average for the time of year. A bright and sunny start, with cloud increasing through the day; mainly dry, bar a rogue shower, wind N/NW3-4.

Elmer Rocks: A large flock of (mainly) Herring Gulls was feeding well offshore this morning, but that apart it was predictably very quiet with no sea-bird movement. A single Great Crested Grebe was on the sea, but nothing else noteworthy was seen. At the back of the beach and along the hedgerows there was a little more activity; 6 Linnets included at least one breeding pair, a Chiffchaff and 2 Whitethroats were heard, 2 Green Woodpeckers were chasing about and calling, a Swallow went E and 6+ Swifts were high up over the back fields.

Barnham Brooks & Lidsey area: Swifts were present again today in good numbers - although not quite on the scale of the recent influx - but over the whole Brooks an estimate of 500 was realistic, with 'layers' of high and lower birds apparent. There was nothing much else of note here and the dried-up fields now hold far fewer birds.

Moving on to the still-flooded areas of Lidsey things improved, with egrets the main feature. A Great White Egret was a surprise, given the date, and I wonder where that came from and is breeding a possibility somewhere? At least 12 Little Egrets and 4 Cattle Egrets were also present in the area. At least 40 Mallard were on and around the floods (plus 2 broods of young) whilst 8 Teal and a dozen Shelduck were also seen, and c.120 Black-headed Gulls were feeding all around. 

Great White Egret at Lidsey and Swifts over Barnham Brooks