Spanish Delights in Hampshire

Male Spanish Sparrow.

I team up with Michael and Dan on Saturday 14 Th and headed down to Calshot in Hampshire for the now TV and newspaper famous Spanish Sparrow , we joined the already assembled birders at about 7.30 am and as luck would have we stood in the right place as after about 20 mins the Sparrow appeared although not very well right in front of us , after about 10 minutes it eventually climbed through the hedge and appeared out in the open for all of us to enjoy , it was also calling which sounded very much like House Sparrow to me , i have seen plenty abroad but this was a very welcome British tick for me , a really striking bird . chestnut crown , white cheek patches and delicate small white supercillium , the upper breast and flanks were heavily streaked black , it has breed with the local House Sparrows as there are 2 or 3 hybrids around .

Spanish Sparrow.

The Spanish Sparrow stayed in the bush for a while then flew over the road to another bush where it showed well before flying off to the locals gardens , we then went to the village hall and tucked into some bacon sarnies and a hot mug of tea , if only all twitches were this good !!!!  , On our way back to the car Dan picked out a Peregrine perched on top of a distant tower , so with a spring in our step we headed off to Hawkhill enclosure in the New Forest .

Dark Eyed Junco . 1st winter male.

Our target here was the Dark Eyed Junco , we were onto the bird as soon as we got there however the views were very brief at first , we bumped into Nick and Russell .G. at this site and they had already had some good views of the Junco , they were just about to head off for the Sparrow so we said our goodbyes , after about an hour we had some really good views of the Junco both on the ground and perched on top of a dead tree , there were several Common Crossbills here which showed well at times plus at least 3 Goldcrests and approx 25 Reed Buntings along with several Chaffinch , Great and Blue Tits , we had a good time at this site before we headed off to Blashford Lakes , we called into these lakes to hopefully see the Ferruginous Duck , we arrived at the South Hide and were almost straight onto the bird , it was sleeping for the first few minutes then it sprang into life in pursuit of a female Pochard even displaying at one point , these are smashing ducks , lovely warm chocolate brown plumage with a striking contrast with its white undertail coverts and very noticeable white eye.

Drake Ferruginous Duck.

We did not add much more from this hide other than a fine distant Green Sandpiper , we decided to check out the woodland hide which was truly amazing , they have set up lots of bird feeders and a host of finches and tits plus Great Spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch put in an appearance .

Siskins on one of the feeders.

Michael has got some smashing photos on his blog which is well worth a look http://sussexbirders.blogspot.com/ , this is a really smashing reserve , we added several species here including 6 Goosanders , Goldeneye , Little Grebe and good numbers of Wigeon , Teal and Pochard.We then had a short drive to Harbridge for the herd of wild swans , we saw 1 Whooper Swan and 6 Bewicks's Swans mixed in with lots of Mute Swans . 

Cattle Egret.

Our final destination of the day was on the way home when we popped into Warblington for the long staying Cattle Egret which like everything else today showed well , it showed a little bit of buff colouration on the crown which you can just about make out in the above photo , there were at least 6 Little Egrets here , just like to thank Michael and Dan for their company on this great day out .