RALPH HOLLINS WILDLIFE HIGHLIGHTS – 2001 WEEK 52 DEC 24 - 30 BIRDS: SUN 30 DEC John Clark was in the Avon Valley today and has put out a brief report saying that he could find no Whitefront at all, and only 8Bewick’s Swans (compared to reports from Sussex today of 40 of these Swans regularly roosting near the Arundel WWT reserve, and others recently telling of perhaps two or three dozen birds in the Pulborough/Amberley area upstream). Going back to the Avon Valley John reports a total of 770 Teal on the Blashford Lakes and a female Scaup on Snail’s Lake plus 17 Goosander coming to roost on Ibsley Water. Alistair Martin was at the Hayling Oysterbeds at 15:30 this afternoon and enjoyed a ten minute hunting display by a Barn Owl in the field immediately adjoining the pools, west of the Coastal Path – possibly worth a tick on New Year’s Day? At that time I was on Thorney hoping to see a Barn Owl which John Shillitoe saw last Friday (Dec 28) inside the military fence when he was on the main road just north of the guard post at the deeps –even more exciting was a Red-throated Diver flying east low above the deeps. I did not see the Barn Owl but did see two of the up to four Short-eared Owls which John saw – as with his sightings one bird was west of the road (in Eames Farm meadow bordering the deeps – the bird appeared to fly within a few feet of the trees around the guard post) and the other was to the east over Thornham Marshes. I saw little else here but did have an unusual fly over of 21 Canada Geese above my garden early this morning – presumably they are having difficult in finding inland water that is not frozen. While writing these notes I have just had a phone call from Tim Doran, a regular watcher of the IBM Lake at Portsmouth, to say that a drake Ferruginous Duck had been there this afternoon and that he had seen it closely and was certain of its identity, though Tim was not aware of the hybrid which has been a regular sight at Farlington Marshes and Budds Farm over the past year or so (I have heard nothing of it for a couple of months now). Hopefully it will stay on the IBM Lake until my next WeBS count visit on Jan 12, but I doubt it! Other news from Hampshire today is of three Blackcaps (2 males and a female) in Eastrop Park at Basingstoke (just inside the ring road west of where the M3 spur join it) and of the first two Gadwall back on Budds Farm pools (where Mike Collins again found 210 Teal). From Sussex comes news of 3 Purple Sandpiper at Shoreham and of 190 Shelduck and 196 Golden Plover seen in Pagham Harbour by Lawrence Holloway today from near the North Walls. SAT 29 DEC Trevor Carpenter was in the Cams Bay area today and got within 100 metres of a flock of 120 Canada Geese which had among them 8 Brent, 1 Pale-bellied Brent and 1 Brant giving a perfect opportunity to observe and compare. They were off the public path, just south of Cams Hall, at approx SU 589058, but Trevor says that walkers are unlikely to be accosted if they do not obstruct the golfers. In Cams Bay there were 13 Goldeneye, and on fields to the east of the bay Trevor found over 200 Golden Plover. Two other Brant were reported to be at Keyhaven this morning, and over in Sussex Mike Collins saw one Brant that has been reported for a few days in the Pagham area on fields north of the church. The total of nearly 200 Great Crested Grebe that was in Langstone Harbour this autumn sounded very impressive, but I see that today there were 370 of the Grebes off the East Sussex shore at Pett (just east of Hastings), and that 20 Red-throated Divers were with them, but this flock is as nothing compared to the seabirds that were off Worthing yesterday (Dec 28). Figures from Richard Ives sent to the SOS website list 5250 Auks, 950 Kittiwake, 900 Gannet and over 200 Cormorant (one flock of 115) plus a single Little Gull. These figures are not just a one off but are the most impressive observation from a number of reports coming from various places along the West Sussex coast in the past few days. Sussex news for Dec 27 comes from Barry Collins on Thorney Island where 7 Barnacle Geese flew east to Hayling. These are presumably the flock which was first seen on Hayling Island on Dec 15 then on Thorney on Dec 16 and had 2 juveniles with 5 adults. Also on Dec 27 Barry saw 10 Avocet still in the Thorney Channel east of the island – they have been around for some time but the numbers seen vary from day to day. On his way to or from Thorney Barry also saw 2 adult Med Gulls on the Slipper Mill Pond at Emsworth. Back on Dec 19 I first read (on the SOS website) of an adult Brant with four juveniles seen at West Wittering and I see now that these young are definitely regarded as hybrids. They may not be easy to spot among some 1300 Brent but there are also 2 adult Pale-bellied birds among the mass of Brent. FRI 28 DEC The winter flock of Bewick’s Swans in the Avon valley may at last be buildiing up with the sighting by John Shillitoe of 8 at Ibsley Bridge yesterday and 10 seen by Paul Winter today – both sightings included two first winter birds. Previous sightiings of Bewick’s in the Avon valley this winter have indicated that the birds tend to move up and down the river from Sopley in the south to Fordingbridge in the north, and if the pair with 5 young are still somewhere in the area there could be 17 birds present (but equally the five young may have died, or the family moved away) Richard Carpenter was at Titchfield Haven today to see a Red-throated Diver on the river in the reserve. Most birds which appear on inland water are oiled or sick, and although this one showed no signs of oil it was constantly preening. Also in the reserve the Pochard flock had increased to 62 (but only 4 Tufted Duck) and the male Marsh Harrier was seen today, as was a Peregrine which gave an impressive flying display, but neither Biittern nor Mandarin have been seen since Dec 26 In Gosport a redhead Goosander was back on Anglesey Lake (the westernmost, dammed off, tip of the Haslar/Stoke lake creek running west from Portsmouth Harbour entrance) where it was seen by Trevor Carpenter today for the first time since Lee Marshall saw it on Dec 9. Over in Portsmouth Brian Fellows still has not seen a Purple Sandpiper at Southsea Castle where even the Sanderling were down to just two today, and the Swans on the Canoe Lake are only at half-strength (48 there today as against 80 last December), but he found the ten Barnacles with the Snow Goose and the hybrid Bar-Head had decided to come back to Baffins Pond for Christmas (and looked as if they might stay for the New Year!). The Shoveler flock there is down to 17 birds but there are still 108 Mallard with 34 Tufted Duck, 16 Canada Geese and 5 Cormorant (not to mention some 20 each of Coot and Moorhen plus a Heron) At least 51 Egrets flew into the Wade Court roost this evening between 16:10 and 16:50 and one new feature of this site was the arrival at dusk of a dozen or more Lapwing from the saltings, though t was by then too dark to see if they settled in the pony fields. THU 27 DEC The SOS websiite reports some 300 Auks with 50+ Gannet and a Red-throated Diver following a shoal of fish along the shore off Worthing (Ferring area) today. Another Red-throated Diver with only 3 Guillemot was off the Bembridge Foreland (Isle of Wight) with at least 4 Med Gulls in that area and a female Velvet Scoter off Seaview on the north east corner of the island. Brian Rickwood tells us that some Hawfinch are still showing well in Romsey and that he saw 7 Brambling nearby (presumably at the Fishlake Meadows) – further up the Test at Horsebridge he saw a Kingfisher, two Water Rails and 20 Greylag. At Woolmer Pond the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was once more seen by Richard Ford and at Titchfield Haven Dave Pearson saw a Jack Snipe near the new Knights Bank Hide as well as the Marsh Harrier, 2 Chiffchaff and 3 Reed Bunting, and from the Isle of Wight ferry passing Calshot John Fiirth saw a Great Northern Diver and a Slavonian Grebe The ongoing court martial of the Grey Wagtail, accused of eating things which are not listed in the BWP, heard new evidence today from Brian Fellows showing that the bird has been seen, in his Emsworth garden, demonstrating dereliction of duty not only in eating seed rather than insect food, but even eating crumbs of sausage rolls scattered on the ground by birds eating the remains of the rolls on the bird table. No one can accuse a Merlin of such wanton ways, and Trevor Carpenter will vouch for the good behaviour of one flying over the Old Turnpike road at Fareham (alongside the A32 just south of the M27).