17/11/2014 Blashford Lakes and Franklin's Gull again

Monday 17th November 2014
Blashford Lakes

Paul, Alastair and I headed west into Hampshire on a wet and cold Monday morning hoping to catch the Ferruginous Duck and the Franklin's Gull at Blashford Lakes.   If it was still there, we also planned to go to Hengistbury, near Bournemouth, in Dorset to see the Isabelline Shrike.


With no news from Dorset we made for Blashford Lakes first.  Here, at least, we could shelter from the rain in the hides. We searched Ivy Lake for the Ferruginous Duck but to no avail.  Then we moved to Kingfisher Lake but again we drew a blank.

• Our only hope was the Franklin's Gull so we moved to Ibsley Water in good time to get prime seats in the Tern Hide.  True to form, the lovely gull arrived at 15.30 and landed just in front of us but half way across the lake.  This was still much closer than on my previous visit a couple of weeks ago and, with the light the best it had been all day, we got great views.

• Whilst we were waiting for the star item to arrive we managed to find some other, interesting birds on the lake.  The Long-tailed Duck was perhaps the pick of the bunch but there were also male and female Goldeneye, Goosanders, Ruddy Ducks and a Black-necked Grebe.

Several birders arrived from Dorset and confirmed that the Isabelline Shrike had left and that the weather there had been as bad as it had been here.  We felt vindicated in deciding not to travel there.



Today's species list:
Franklin's Gull
Long-tailed Duck
Herring Gull
Little Gull
Black-headed Gull
Yellow-legged Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Egyptian Goose
Mute Swan
Greylag Goose   (10)
Canada Goose
Wigeon
Gadwall
Teal
Pintail
Shoveler
Mallard
Tufted Duck
Pochard
Ruddy Duck   (20)
Goldeneye
Goosander
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Black-necked Grebe
Cormorant
Grey Heron
Sparrowhawk
Common Buzzard
Kestrel   (30)
Moorhen
Coot
Green Sandpiper
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Kingfisher
Green Woodpecker
Robin
Wren
Dunnock   (40)
Blackbird
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Nuthatch
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Greenfinch   (50)weather
Goldfinch
Siskin
Bullfinch




A great day out with friends Paul and Alastair.  In such atrocious weather we were lucky to get the rich birding experience we did.  

The close views of the Franklin's Gull alone were worth the long journey and the range of birds seen provided an added bonus.