Hampshire birding and beyond

After a long day out yesterday it was another early start but this time to the Isle Of Wight. Frustratingly they had scored with a Great Spotted Cuckoo which for us Hampshire birders was rather annoying and yet again re iterates what could be if it wasn't for the IOW covering most of the Hampshire coastline. I drove the short distance from my home to the red funnel terminal and caught the 9am crossing from Southampton to East Cowes. The crossing takes roughly and hour and un surprisingly there wasn't anything to be seen which is fairly typical of the Solent. Ellie was a right handful running around the deck jumping in puddles almost continuously from when we left to when we docked.  On arriving at East Cowes it was only a 30 minute drive across the IOW to the southern end of the island. After navigating the twisty steep roads we arrived into Ventnor and parked at Wheelers Bay car park. There was a steep descent down onto the seafront which on the way back killed me pushing Elli

Saturday 23rd March and I had planned a trip to Durlston Head for Peregrine and then onto Radipole and Lodmoor for the long staying duo of Ring-necked Duck and Lesser Yellowlegs that were now both showing well and in far better plumage.  Jess had work so me and Ellie headed off early arriving at Durlston Head Country Park at 7:15am. Durlston isn't the most pushchair friendly place in Britain and it was a hard going walking along the coastal path where I could only get to tilly whim and beyond that is impossible with a pushchair and I certainly wasn't going to risk my daughter walking along the cliff edges. This is my 3rd attempt for the Peregrines and yet again I drew a blank, the weather was my great so perhaps didin't  help my cause however I did see a smart male Black Redstart, Northern Wheatear (1st of the year) and it was also nice to see a few seabirds like Razorbills, Guillemots, Shags and Fulmar's.  Black Redstart Rock Dove Shag Fulmar Jackdaw's 10am came an

Around Christmas time I was informed of a reliable Kingfisher site situated along the River Stour. For a long time Kingfisher has been high on my list to photograph well bu5 despite trying hard at various locations they always seemed a bit too skittish or no real pattern.  Before Xmas I tried Anton Lakes in Andover as they usually have a regular showy female but due to mantainence work on site the bird seemed to have moved on so I was very keen to get down to the River Stour. My 1st visit was with my daughter so I was limited on time however I did get some stunning views and at the time I thought pictures.  On my 2nd attempt I had more time therefore managed to understand the birds habit/routine a bit more and this time I decided to get lower on the riverbank itself to get a cleaner background and also level with the post it was using. This made an incredible difference in what the pictures looked like and my photos from my first visit really are not worth posting.  On my 3rd visit the