Hampshire birding and beyond

Early January and it's that time of year when you can get to see some Waxwings further south as they strip berries from the north and move down searching for more food. A flock of 11 were found just down the road from me in Totton so I couldn't help but have a look. Typically in a shite location but they show3d very well in the Asda car park. One of my images has since been used on the tv. ITV meridian.  After getting my fill of the Waxwings I decided to head down to Thorney Island when the numbers of people built up. Thorney was very quiet so I decided to head back and take a walk around Farlington Marshes. No sooner had I turned left out of Thorney Island I spotted 4 birds perched next to the road in a tree, I had a hunch so pulled over down the road and out up my bins and to my delight it was 4 Waxwings.  Always nice to find your own birds so I drove back and pulled into the Sussex Brewery Car park where I located a Rowan tree which they were feeding on. I spent the rest of

I had been tempted by this bird for some time and finally in December it proved too much and I booked the euro tunnel crossing for a superb price of 43 pound return. I had done the Netherlands once previously with Ash Howe and Dan Houghton where we saw Hawk Owl, Pygmy Owl, Caspian Plover and more. This time it was Me, Dan H, my dad and Ian Wells their 1st time to the Netherlands.  Once we had all met up we set off from Southampton to folkestone for a midnight crossing. 2.5hrs later we arrived at the euro tunnel le shuttle where everything went smoothly and half hour later we were in France heading rapidly east towards Belgium. Quickly through Belgium and into the Netherlands we arrived at the Nutcracker site before dawn so got our heads down for a bit. Dawn rose and so did we where we headed over to a small patch of grass between some flats and the road. On arrival there was a group of Dutch birders who had just seen it fly out, phew relief it was still present but a nervous half hour

Over the winter months it's a good time for Short Eared Owls on the south coast. At a local site with at least 3 present I made multiple visits to try and get some pics. Mostly they have been very frustrating and either coming out late afternoon in grim light or coming out earlier in bright sunshine which at this location doesn't help to much either. Foxes are also fairly showy here as a local house owner feeds them most nights.  Whilst waiting for owls one afternoon I heard this call. Initially I couldn't pin point what it was but knew I had heard similar before. I managed to pick it up in flight and it was rather large and when it dropped down into the rough grass there was only one thing it could be. A Richard's Pipit. Happy days!! Always nice to get a new self found bird and although not exactly rare it was still a buzz. I managed to get a few record pics before it flew west and landed in an inaccessible field. Incredibly a couple of weeks later I went back and hear