TheFinancialBirder

I got a text around 6.45pm this evening from Geoff Farwell that a Greater Yellowlegs was on the main Lake area. He had been text by fellow birders but the problem was the light. Evenings are drawing in now and so it was a decision whether I should risk going or not because I didn’t know if there would be enough light to see the bird. I looked out the window, noticed a full moon rising and so I went.
I got to the car park around 7.10pm and ran all the way to the lake to join a couple of fellow birders. One well-known birder pointed out where the bird was at the back of the lake. He also said it was feeding with two Spotshanks and was the most least active of the three birds. I immediately got onto the Greater Yellowlegs, noticing its orangy yellow legs in the gloom and slightly smaller bill. Though the light was very poor, I was convinced that this was the Greater Yellowlegs, my 405th ‘Lifer’ species and most probably, the same bird that was in Lincolnshire the day before.
Astonishingly, the bird was found at 3.10pm on the Deeps and then seen to fly off into Langstone Harbour. The bird was then refound on the Lake but why oh why wasn’t it reported earlier to fellow birders or even Rare Bird Alert. One of the chaps tonight was furious that neither wasn’t done and as I walked back to the car with him, he had a right old moan though I tried to convince him that it would probably be around tomorrow morning so therefore a dawn start for me tomorrow.

It was a dawn start this morning to hopefully have a better look at the Greater Yellowlegs on the lake at Farlington Marshes. It was dark when I arrived at the car park around 6.30am but at least a dozen cars were present as expected. A fairly large crowd was to turn up to glimpse this American wader and I joined the twenty strong birders overlooking the Lake from the seawall.
It was going to be a gorgeous day with no clouds in the sky but it was very cold. Thank god I had my gloves and hat! Back to the bird. At first, there was no sign of the Yellowlegs and a lot of people were losing confidence that the bird was still around. I clocked the two Spotshanks that were present last night and as the light got better, a group of three birds consisted of a Redshank, a Spotshank and something else inbetween. Some chap to my right was also curious and so I kept my attention on this bird. Looking at the bird closely, the bird looked more delicate than the Spotshank and longer billed than the Redshank. Then I noticed the bright orangey yellow legs. Something then spooked the birds and they took off. I noticed the bird had a white rump but it didn’t protrude up the back and also the call. As described in the field guide, it clearly sounded like a Greenshank with a triple note call with the last note on a downscale in tone. I was convinced that this was the bird. The bird disappeared in a North west direction along with the Spotshank and wasn’t seen again during my stay.
Controversy reigned again when a lot of the birders to my left then said that the bird which was with the Spotshank was the Greater Yellowlegs as I thought, so the birders to my right were in uproar that no-one pointed it out! Maybe I should of said something a bit more conclusive, I don’t know, but I reckon the bird will turn up again today for a second time. Fingers crossed!
While the Yellowlegs was on show, at least two Spotshanks were present and possibly a third bird too. A juvenile Little Stint then landed on the Lake with three Dunlin, which I dutifully pointed out to a fellow birder. A real surprise was a Lesser Redpoll, which flew over our heads heading to the bushes area of the marshes. I heard yesterday that there was a strong movement of both Redpolls and Siskins over Hengistbury.
The tide was well out within Langstone Harbour and everyone’s attention was drawn to the flock of Knot feeding with Black-tailed Godwits, totalling around 60 birds. On the way back to the car, I text Geoff Farwell and Barry Collins about the bird. I do hope the bird reappears so I can get another look but I will probably try Titchfield Haven for the Long-tailed Skua, which was seen again this morning.

I arrived around 11am at Titchfield Haven NR and parked up by the sea wall only to be joined by a fellow birder who was also looking for the Long tailed Skua. He, apparently, missed the bird by around ten minutes this morning but did see at least two Arctic Skua’s.
I picked out my first Eiders of the month, a total of around 20 birds bobbing on the high tide within the Solent. A brisk north westerly made the sea a little choppy but a good number of male Eiders were seen amongst the group. A single Great Crested Grebe was also seen nearby on the sea.
Keeping an eye out for any Tern movements, the number of Terns has greatly reduced as Autumn moves on. There were a few distant Terns going through the Solent then one flock of around 10 Common Terns flew close by heading west. The Long tailed Skua, a dark morph juvenile, likes to chase the Terns but there was no sign of the Skua while I was there. It was later seen in the afternoon today by one lucky birder although very distant.
While chatting away to this nice fellow birder, I looked through a flock of around 40+ Turnstone resting on the beach and found a single winter plumaged Dunlin amongst them. Nearby, my first Rock Pipit of the month was searching for insects on the shoreline and showed well perched on a fence post. A Clouded Yellow butterfly showed very well by the edge of the road but it was too close to the road for me to photograph safely!
Up to three Spoonbills were showing from the Spurgen Hide yesterday and though two were present today, I didn’t fancy paying the entrance fee and doing the long walk as I promised to take my dog Scruff for a walk today.

At two o’clock I took a walk with Scruff around Old Winchester Hill. The weather had turned a lot more overcast and windy but it didn’t dampen my enthusiasm to hopefully get a few more month ticks. One of the fields on the way to the Hill held around thirty Red-legged Partridges, my first for the month, though many more were
seen in the fields from the south side of the fort. There was a ‘shoot’ on this afternoon as I could hear the distant sound of guns and Land Rovers dotted around in the fields.
Along the main footpath, a Common Buzzard flew overhead, one of at least four birds seen on my walk. A large mixed Tit flock held several Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests but the calling Marsh Tits eluded me though I did see at least three on the way back on the return journey.
Around the south side of the fort, the wind had eased and good number of Meadow Pipits was seen feeding in the grass. A flock of at least 200+ Goldfinches took off from the small bushes and landed on a single bush on the fort. Many more Goldfinches were seen in the area but not much else. A female Kestrel entertained us while we sat on a chair overlooking the valley below. The bird hovered close to where we sat then circled us then flew off.
I finally caught up with my first Yellowhammers of the month, with at least four birds seen close together on the footpath back to the car. One male bird was showing very well perched on a bush close to the footpath, giving its ‘sip’ call. I bumped into the Voluntary Warden earlier and he told me that another birder had a Ring Ouzel earlier today. Then he went on to tell me that the male Red-backed Shrike seen earlier this Spring, was present for at least a week! Apparently, he despises twitchers and keen birders as they trample everywhere and destroy butterfly habitats and eggs! I could see his point but most organised twitches are in good order I think.
Unfortunately, there was no further sign of the Greater Yellowlegs today at Farlington Marshes but a Firecrest in the bushes and a Spotted Crake on the Lake was some compensation for those he went there.

Piczo