Pants Birding part 2!!!

Well a week on exactly from the Squacco Heron Friday 31st May and another good bird breaks. A Red Necked Phalarope had been found down at Pennington Marshes on Fishtail Lagoon. Albeit not that rare and a bird I have seen 3 or 4 times in Hants it's always nice to get a spring summer plumage adult and yet again I was in a shop, this time not as bad as IKEA but Halfords in Hedge End.

Being my girlfriends day off I don't think she was too keen on me going out but I said I wouldn't be long and I would like to see it so she eventually agreed. 

I set off west along the M27 and it was clear the traffic was going to be a nightmare. I came off and foolishly headed into Lyndhurst, big mistake!!! I turned off and done abit of a de tour around the minor roads and back through the forest and eventually nearly 2 hrs later arrived at the car park at lower Pennington lane. 

I wasted no time and got down to Fishtail Lagoon quite quickly and immediately met a group of birders who were already watching the Phalarope amongst the wader flock which consisted of Dunlins, Knot, LRP's, Avocets and Black Tailed Godwits. I stood at fishtail for around an hour watching the Phalarope in hope it would come closer but it didn't seem like it was going to happen meanwhile my old school headteacher Mr Barrett turned up who is also a birder and not long after I was joined by Kelvin Pearce while others came and went. 

It was approaching 15:45 pm and I was contemplating leaving when 2 birds flying in caught my attention. One was a BHG but the other looked different. Even to the naked eye it looked interesting so I put up my bins and couldn't believe what I saw. It was a tern, black cap, thick set structure and the bill was chunky and Black! Immediately I switched from binos to camera shouting GULL-BILLED TERN desperately trying to obtain a record shot incase it carried on through. Thankfully I did and even better it landed so everyone present could get on it. Literally shaking I put the news out immediately on what's app to alert local birders and then on Twitter and birdguides alike. Unfortunately it didn't hang around long only some c45 mins but it enabled some closer hants birders and some that had just left to get back before it flew off in a N/W direction. 

Some panicked flight shots of the ad Gull-billed Tern before it decided on pitching down.

Gull-billed Tern may not be a mega rare bird in Britain but on a county level this is a pretty decent bird. By the looks of it most records may be one observer and a lot were back in the 60's and 70's and probably not one photographed but I'm not 100% on these facts. A quick look on goingbirding showed only 1 birder had Gull-billed Tern on their Hampshire list before this bird so regardless of where it was in the country it would be a pretty good find but even sweeter in my home county and bringing me up to 303 for Hants. 

This little beauty was the target bird which ended up being over shadowed. Red Necked Phalarope.

 


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