November and Early December

November and Early December



Well, November seems to have passed me by without seeing a single bird of any note while much of the UK seemed to be awash with rare ‘s. I have barely managed to get out due to work commitments and a general low ebb in my birding enthusiasm, this comes to me once in a while and I am sure it will soon pass, I see it as a natural cycle after which my interest will be rekindled.

A short visit to Pennington Marsh on 7th November produced good numbers of the usual wintering species. It was good to see that the Brent Goose flocks seem to have a large number of juveniles in them following a poor breeding season in 2017.

There were around 250 on the grazing marsh at Lower Pennington Lane, my first of the winter.

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Brent Goose – Pennington Marsh

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Brent Goose – Pennington Marsh

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– Pennington Marsh

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Wigeon – Pennington Marsh

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– Pennington Marsh

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– Pennington Marsh

I did a couple of short stops at Beaulieu Road Station early and mid-month looking for the but had no luck and saw little but for three Crossbill and small numbers of Redpoll. On 11th November Sarah, Tobias and I went for a short walk, dodging rain showers, in Denny Wood. There were few birds to be seen but for half a dozen and small numbers of Redwing and . The forest was spectacular and at the peak of its autumnal colouration.

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Denny Wood, New Forest

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Denny Wood, New Forest

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Denny Wood, New Forest

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Fly Agaric – Denny Wood, New Forest

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Fungus Sp. – Denny Wood, New Forest

On 17th November the night was very mild with southerly winds and so I ran my trap in our Romsey garden, a rare occurrence these days. I caught very little but did get this slightly worn Oak Rustic, a new species for me.

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Oak Rustic – Romsey, Hampshire

On 4th December on a beautiful warm and sunny day I dropped Tobias at school and had a short walk around Fishtail, Butts and Jetty Lagoons at Pennington Marsh. There were good numbers of wildfowl on the lagoons and I spent much time enjoying the displaying with their strange squeaky calls, they really are a fantastic looking duck. The Shoveler were actively feeding deploying both their body flat to the water technique and up-ending. A single Chiffchaff was present and calling frequently. There were small numbers of Black-tailed Godwit and Golden Plover present while numbers were probably in their high hundreds. Although the sea was millpond calm there was little to be seen, six Red-breasted Merganser, a dozen or so Great-crested Grebe and a single Eider but no sign of the regular Slavonian Grebe. It was a lovely couple of hours but I needed to tear myself away and head to work.

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Shoveler – Pennington Marsh

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Pintail – Pennington Marsh

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Pintail – Pennington Marsh

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Shoveler – Pennington Marsh

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Shoveler – Pennington Marsh

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Pied Wagtail – Pennington Marsh

 

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Simon Colenutt

Simon Colenutt

I began birdwatching at the age of nine when living on the Isle of Wight. After obtaining a copy of the Isle of Wight Bird Report from 1976 I realised that Manx Shearwater, Arctic Skua, Pomarine Skua and Black Tern were regularly seen at St.Catherine's Point, only five miles from my home village of Chale Green. To a nine year old these birds were near mythical and so I just had to go and try to see them. Little did I know that these birds were seasonal and after a long winter of seeing nothing I eventually started to bump into other birdwatchers as March drew to a close. It was then that Dave Hunnybun, Dave Wooldridge, Paul Castle, Peter Gandy and Audrey Wilkinson introduced me to the art of seawatching and the joys of bird migration, I have not looked back since.

Simon Colenutt

Simon Colenutt

I began birdwatching at the age of nine when living on the Isle of Wight. After obtaining a copy of the Isle of Wight Bird Report from 1976 I realised that Manx Shearwater, Arctic Skua, Pomarine Skua and Black Tern were regularly seen at St.Catherine's Point, only five miles from my home village of Chale Green. To a nine year old these birds were near mythical and so I just had to go and try to see them. Little did I know that these birds were seasonal and after a long winter of seeing nothing I eventually started to bump into other birdwatchers as March drew to a close. It was then that Dave Hunnybun, Dave Wooldridge, Paul Castle, Peter Gandy and Audrey Wilkinson introduced me to the art of seawatching and the joys of bird migration, I have not looked back since.

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