WEEKLY SUMMARY

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Divers: On Nov 12 six Red-throated were seen in Christchurch Harbour while just across the channel on Nov 11 there were 26 of them at one site on the Normandy coast. On Nov 9 two Black-throated were off Bexhill and on Nov 12 one was seen at Christchurch Harbour and on Nov 14 singles were seen at Dungeness and Sandwich Bay. Great Northern are becoming relatively numerous with 10 off the Devon coast on Nov 8 when 2 were in Weymouth Bay and 1 in Southampton Water. Nov 14 brought another single in Southampton Water, one near Hurst Castle off Lymington (though this one seems also to have been reported as a Black-throated), two in Christchurch Harbour, three in Studland Bay and four off Selsey Bill.

Grebes: At least 99 Great Crested were in Langstone Harbour on Nov 6 (and 45 were seen from the Hayling Oysterbeds on Nov 12) while a count of 376 was recorded at a Dutch site on Nov 14. One Red-necked was at Dungeness RSPB on Nov 11 and another wnet past the observatory on Nov 14. Three Slavonian were in the Lymington area on Nov 8 (with one in Langstone Harbour on Nov 12). There have been no reports of the Langstone Harbour Black-necks since six were seen on Nov 8

Petrels: One Storm Petrel and three Leach's were off Brittany on Nov 9 while the strong winds of Nov 14 brought five Leach's to the Portland area and three to Christchurch Harbour, even blowing one up the Severn estuary inland to Slimbridge

Bittern: In the three days from Nov 10 to 12 there were reports of singles at Dungeness, Rye Harbour, Poole Harbour and Radipole (Weymouth). One was in Cornwall on Nov 14

Cattle Egret: The Pennington/Lymington bird was seen again on Nov 8 and 9. One was in the Saltash area of Cornwall on Nov 11 and one was back at the Dungeness RSPB site on Nov 14

Great White Egret: One was still at the Blashford Lakes (Ringwood) on Nov 14 and another at the Dungeness RSPB reseve on Nov 11. Over on the continent a total of 43 were seen at half a dozen sites on Nov 9, and on Nov 10 one was in Devon

Glossy Ibis: Two are still based at the Dungeness RSPB reserve where they first appeared on Sep 22. Over in Holland two Sacred Ibis are still present

Spoonbill: No news of the Pagham Harbour bird since Nov 7 - maybe the bird seen at Hook/Warsash on Nov 11 had come from Pagham? Up to three have been seen at Lodmoor(Weymouth), on Nov 8 there were still 11 in Poole Harbour and on Nov 9 there were six in Devon and four in Cornwall

Bewick's Swan: When I started to take an interest in birds in Hampshire in the 1980s a regular large winter flock of Bewick's could be expected in the Avon Valley (I think the peak count was 275 birds on 11 Jan 1986) but we are lucky to have a count of 10 birds nowadays (in 2008 ten were present for one day only and in 2009 there were 10 there on three days between Feb 14 and Mar 4). The first report for the valley this winter is of 3 there on Nov 10. Elsewhere the first migrants were reported in Holland on Oct 9 (just 3 birds), the first 14 birds reached Slimbridge on Nov 1 and on Nov 2 there were at least 56 at three continental sites followed by two reaching Dungeness on Nov 4 (four there next day)

Brent Goose: I think a new wave of birds arrived in the English Channel on Nov 9 when 3748 were reported off Pointe du Hoc on the Normandy coast (on Nov 11 there were more birds than I expected on the Langstone South Moors shore - possibly new arrivals still moving west) but these have brought no indication of a good breeding season with them.

Pale-bellied Brent: One had been seen off Thorney Island on Oct 14 but not reported since - maybe it has moved to Fishbourne Channel of Chichester Harbour where one was seen on Nov 10

Black Brant: Nov 5 brought the first report of one in the West Wittering area but I suspect this may have been a sighting of the bird which was first seen around Thorney Island on Oct 14 (but not mentioned again after Nov 17)

Shelduck: The first count to exceed 100 this winter was of 149 off Pointe du Hoc (Normandy) on Nov 9 and this may reflect the major arrival of birds in our area for this winter

Wigeon: On Nov 6 Jason Crook estimated that 250 were present around Farlington Marshes and on Nov 11 I had my highest count (76) on them in the mouth of the Langbrook Stream off the Langstone South Moors

Teal: Of local interest in Havant the recent rain has brought floodwater back to the pony field south of Wade Court at Langstone and on Nov 15 more than 75 Teal were there for the first time this winter. Nov 14 saw a good count of 124 on Alresford Pond upstream from Winchester

Pintail: Further evidence of a major wildfowl arrival on Nov 9 is in a count of 634 off Pointe du Hoc in Normandy. The count at Slimbridge was 60 on Nov 11 and up to 110 on Nov 14

Pochard: A count of 230 at Slimbridge on Nov 13 is another 'highest count so far this winter'

Scaup: Five were at Abbotsbury in Dorset on Nov 10 after three had been seen there on Nov 6 (both counts are the highest so far in southern England this winter)

Eider: Another 'highest so far' is a count of 27 in the Pegwell Bay area of east Kent on Nov 9

Long-tailed Duck: One passing Spurn Point in Yorkshire on Oct 16 was the first I know of for this winter and it was followed by one in Devon on Nov 1 and one in Cornwall on Nov 8. In this setting the appearance of two in Langstone Harbour on Nov 12 (seen from the Oyster Beds) is significant. Latest news is of a single male in Freshwater Bay (IoW) on Nov 14

Goldeneye: The first of the winter in the Channel area were seen on Oct 13 (Warsash) and Oct 14 (south Hayling) but so far the highest count has been of 7 (including 2 drakes) at the Blashford Lakes (Ringwood) on Nov 12. The first in Langstone Harbour was seen on Nov 6

Red-breasted Merganser: 56 in Portsmouth Harbour on Nov 4 seems to mark the first major arrival with Langstone Harbour having 68 on Nov 6 and 77 on Nov 12

Goosander: On Nov 14 the count at the Blashford Lakes went up from 16 to 20

Rough-legged Buzzard: There is a confident report of two flying in off the sea at Hastings on Nov 9 but these may, like the Woodpigeons, have been making a minor detour from a south westerly path across Europe to Iberia and probably did not remain in England (on that day 4 separate singles passed over continental sites)

Osprey: Also on Nov 9 a late Osprey was reported passing over Belgium (the first anywhere since Oct 28)

Water Rail: One was at Portland on Nov 12 and two were there on Nov 13 indicating that this species is now moving to winter quarters and this was backed up by the arrival of the first of the winter at the Eastleigh Lakeside country park, also on Nov 13.

Common Crane: It would appear that the major departure of these birds from north west Europe started on Nov 2 when Trektellen carried reports from five separate sites with counts of 82, 57, 21, 16 and 1 birds passing. By Nov 10 this had stepped up to counts of 164, 118, 54, 47 and 2 birds. No reports from southern England since one was on the Isle of Wight on Oct 26 and 27

Avocet: The number at Farlington Marshes was up to 11 on Nov 6 and 7, with 21 there on Nov 12 - whether all these will stay there through the winter is not certain but last winter there were 32 or 33 there on Jan 1 (2009) with 29 still around on Feb 11

Purple Sandpiper: The first report from Southsea Castle this winter was of 9 birds on Nov 9 with at least 6 there on Nov 10. A count of 37 at Pegwell Bay in Kent on Nov 8 seems to indicate an influx of which the Southsea birds were a part. On Nov 12 there was another count of around 34 in the Thanet area of Kent and on Nov 14 there were 25 in Cornwall

Dunlin: The Nov 9 entry in Brian Fellows' Emsworth Wildlife Diary ( http://www.emsworthwildlife.com/0-0-0-wildlife-diary.htm ) has an account (with photos) of a Dunlin recently seen at a Norfolk coastal site with a Cockle attached to its foot. It seems likely that the Dunlin had flown a good many miles carrying this unwanted weight and this story reminded me that quite a few shore birds are less lucky than this one, losing whole feet to shell fish (or frost). As shorebirds have to feed when the tide drops to expose the mud (and every other tide is during hours of darkness) they often have to search for food using their sensitive bill tips when it is too dark to see clearly where they are placing their feet - if they happen to 'tread on the exposed face' of a Clam- type shellfish the clam not unexpectedly closes its shell very rapidly and can cut of the bird's foot in the process. Feet can also be lost when the bird is sleeping - waders have a mechanism to cut off the flow of blood to their legs to maintain body temperature, and if the mud on which its numb foot is resting freezes during the night the bird may be unable to pull itself free when it wakes up and needs to take off - should it wake up and find a predator about to grab it the bird can only pull itself free at the expense of losing a foot.

Snipe: A count of 95 at Farlington Marshes on Nov 12 was unusual (counts there did not exceed 33 in the previous autumn and did not reach 100 until March in 2008)

Jack Snipe: On Nov 14 one landed close to birders at East Head in Chichester Harbour who were waiting to see the Snow Bunting

Black-tailed Godwit: The number at Farlington Marshes (which had peaked at 760 on Oct 4 this autumn) dropped back to 400 on Nov 6. By comparison on Oct 1 there were 1215 birds at Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour.

Wilson's Phalarope: One was at Slimbridge from Nov 7 to 11 (at least)

Grey Phalarope: Eight reports of eleven birds between Nov 8 and 14 - the only Hampshire sighting was in the Lymington area on Nov 14

Little Gull: We have seen very few in southern England so far this autumn but plenty are now passing along the French coast with a peak count of 2144 off the Normandy coast on Nov 9 when other nearby sites recorded counts of 1499, 637 and 348. On Nov 14 high winds blew a few onto our shores but the peak counts were only 7 birds at each of Portland and Milford (west of Lymington)

Sabine's Gull: On Nov 14 high winds blew a young bird up the Severn estuary to be recorded at Slimbridge - two others were seen that day at Portland and in the Scillies

Common Gull: Although there have been counts of more than 200 on the continent since Oct 9 the first large numbers are only now being seen in southern England - on Nov 4 there were 126 at Badminston pits near Calshot, on Nov 5 Portland recorded 400 and on Nov 14 there were 220 inland in Hampshire are Alresford Pond north east of Winchester

Herring Gull: Hampshire saw more of these this week with a count of 504 passing south over the Test Valley north of Romsey on Nov 12

Auks: Two Razorbills were in the mouth of Chichester Harbour on Nov 1 but across the Channel there were 835 mixed Auks on Nov 2 and 959 on Nov 9. England has fared better with Little Auks of which a maximum of three have been reported from the continent this week while Cornwall had 12 on Nov 8, Spurn Point had 4 on Nov 9 and one was in Southampton Water on Nov 10 (Cornwall had another on Nov 14)

Wood Pigeon: Locally Jason Crook watched 2960 of them fly west over Broadmarsh at Havant on Nov 6 and similar numbers are still being reported along our south coast (e.g. 2840 over Poole on Nov 8) while big numbers are still moving on the continent (on Nov 9 five sites in Holland and Belgium had counts of 22434, 10046, 7526, 6302 and 5557)

Shorelark: Last week (Nov 5) one was seen briefly at Sandy Point in Hayling before it flew east but the only report since then is of one at Swalecliffe on the north Kent coast on Nov 8

Swallow: Seven reports between Nov 6 and 14 with two on the north Kent coast on Nov 14 when two more were seen in the Scillies

House Martin: Three new reports this week with the latest being of two at Reculver on the north Kent coast on Nov 14

Wren: These are normally seen singly by day though two are often seen confronting each other so the sight of a cluster of six perched on one bush in the company of a tit flock on Nov 11 was reported as unusual. I suspect that these may have grouped together (as most bird species do) for company on their travels (perhaps they had just come across the Channel with the Tits?) but even when settled for the winter we have all heard reports of numbers like 50 crammed together in one nest box for mutual warmth on a freezing night.

Common Redstart: One seen in east Hampshire on Oct 25 seemed to have been the last of the year until I saw a report of a late female still present in Devon on Nov 5

Whinchat: One seen at Folkestone on Nov 10 was the first to be reported since Oct 23 - it was probably a late migrant but Whinchat have been known to winter in England

Wheatear: One at Southsea on Nov 9 was the first anywhere since Nov 5

Ring Ousel: Two were still in Dorset on Nov 9 (at Lodmoor and Ballard Down) and one was in Holland on Nov 11

Blackbird: These are still arriving from the continent daily with a peak of 100 (plus 50 Song Thrushes) at Portland on Nov 9

Fieldfare: A total of 4531 were found in the New Forest (total from 32 sites) on the weekend of Nov 7/8 (2000 flew over Slimbridge on Nov 7)

Redwing: A total of 7224 at 32 sites in the New Forest on the weekend Nov 7/8

Dartford Warbler: 107 were found in the New Forest on Nov 7 during the first of this winter's surveys - last year there were 103 found by a similar survey on Nov 23 (shrinking to 84 in the next survey on Dec 21). Similar counts in 2007 were of 77 birds on Nov 18 and 59 on Dec 15.

Taiga Flycatcher (Ficedula albicilla): Photos of what might have been a bird of this species appeared on the Cornwall Birding website after it had been seen on Nov 6. If the id had been proved this would only be the third record for the UK after two individuals were seen in 2003 (one in Yorkshire and one in Shetland)

Brown Shrike: The long staying bird was still at the Staines Moor site near Heathrow on Nov 7

Great Grey Shrike: Just one was recorded during the New Forest wide search for them on Nov 7/8

Brambling: A flock of 100 was at Barrow Moor (just east of the Rhinefield Ornamental Drive in the New Forest) on Nov 11. This is the first large flock in Hampshire this winter but there were 125 passing over Durlston on Nov 2 and 562 passing Hamburg in Germany on Nov 7

Greenfinch: Maybe a few more have arrived from the continent to bolster our diminished stocks - back on Nov 5 around 150 were on Pagham spit, on Nov 6 Christchurch Harbour had 125 with 89 there on Nov 11 and there were 70 at Shoreham Harbour on Nov 13

Twite: A group of five have been on the east Kent coast since late October but maybe more are on their way as there was a count of 60 on the Dutch coast on Nov 14

Common (or Mealy) Redpoll: One had been caught and ringed at Sandwich Bay on Nov 4 and another was reported from Durlston on Nov 11 while four were seen in Holland on Nov 14

Parrot Crossbill: First report for this winter comes from Hamburg in Germany where 6 birds were seen on Nov 12

Bullfinch: Latest reports of migrants come from Farlington Marshes (two birds there on Nov 6), Hastings (six passing on Nov 9) while on Nov 11 six were seen together in Ashdown Forest and 7 in a copse on the eastern edge of the New Forest adjacent to Hythe.

Snow Bunting: After a report of 13 at Sandwich Bay on Nov 8 there were 16 there on Nov 10 followed by a flock of 31 in the Thanet area on Nov 11. Also on Nov 11 one was seen at East Head near West Wittering and that one was still there on Nov 14

Corn Bunting: 8 were found in the Longwood Warren area (below Cheesefoot Head to the east of Winchester) on Nov 8. As with the group of 5 seen at The Burgh on the Sussex Downs near Amberley on Nov 6 some of the males gave intermittent song

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85 species found flowering in the first half of November, including Sweet and Early Dog Violets, Golden Samphire, Green Alkanet, Mouse-ear Hawkweed, Common and Ramping Fumitory plus Weasel's Snout (or Lesser Snapdragon). Latest additions on Nov 15 were Cow Parsley and Shining Cranesbill in the Langstone/Warblington area

Fungi: A number of Field Blewits have appeared in the Havant Eastern Road cemetery (and at Durlston) this week along with the first Amethyst Deceivers of the autumn and a Tricholoma species that may be T. argyraceum (I have recorded it as T. atrosquamosum, Dark Scaled Knight, as T. argyraceum is not listed in the list of English names for Fungi though it is still listed by the Hampshire recording group with seven records in Hampshire!). On my lawn the Deceivers, Mycena flavo-alba, Snowy and Parrot Waxcaps have now been joined by a number of Orange Mosscaps (Rickenella/Mycena fibula). By far the most important fungal news this week relates to a couple of fungi found several weeks ago in Danbury Court (off Westbourne Avenue in Emsworth) - until this week their identity was disputed but we now have an expert opinion that they are Neolentinus lepideus, an uncommon fungus causing drastic rotting of coniferous wood which has not been sufficiently protected by creosote. It's official English name is Scaly sawgill but I prefer the unofficial name of 'Train Wrecker' which comes from its ability to turn railway sleepers to powder and thus derail trains. Three other fungi were found at Durlston on Nov 13 - Jew's Ear (now Jelly Ear), Candlesnuff and Dead Man's Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha).

After writing the above I made the cycle trip described in my diary for Nov 15, adding Rhodotus palmatus (Wrinkled Peach) to my finds for the week - that was in Pook Lane at Warblington and in the same lane there was the remains of a large show of Agrocybe cylindracea (Poplar Field Cap)

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This week I have changed my procedure for gaining information about continental bird movements. Previously I have gone to the Trektellen website and laboriously looked through the complete reports from all the sites in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain (and occasionally other countries such as Germany and Spain), selecting what I considered to be interesting items (not necessarily those highlighted as 'exceptional' by the reporter. This week I went to the Trektellen home page and just selected 'Remarkable' (leftmost entry on the second row of options at the head of the page). This takes you to a page showing all the entries for one day, selected at the head of this page, which have been highlighted as 'unusual' by the observers. These entries have been sorted by species so you see e.g. four reports of Great White Egret from different sites, followed by reports on the next species, on the selected day (each line gives the Site name, the country it is in, the species name, and the reported count). Using this list I get most of the information I want for my summary with minimal effort though I amy miss reports of species that I would think to be of interest but which are not exceptional at the reporting site. In the near future I hope to update my Links page to show all the sites from which I get news for my summaries.

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Divers: Among other reports one Red-throated flew west off Worthing on Nov 1 and six were on the sea off Rye Harbour by Nov 5. One Great Northern was off Sandy Point (Hayling) on Nov 3, and a Black-throated was seen at Dungeness on Oct 31. Great Northern are becoming relatively common with thirteen reports this week including one in Southampton Water on Nov 8 and six in Weymouth Bay on Nov 6. buth there have only been two sightings of Black-throated - one west past Dungeness on Oct 31 and two off Jersey (Channel Isles) on Nov 4

Slavonian Grebe: There have been several reports of sinlge birds during October but early November has brought two to Wemouth Bay on Nov 4 and two to the Lymington shore on Nov 7

Bittern: More are now appearing on the south coast. The first site to have more than one was Dungeness RSPB with three on Nov 4 and on Nov 8 the Kent Stour Valley had its first winter arrival (one was booming there in June)

Cormorant: A new Dorset county record was set on Nov 2 when 687 Cormorant were counted in Poole Harbour (481 going to roost on Brownsea Island)

Bittern: Three were seen at the Dungeness RSPB site on Nov 4 (all other reports of Bittern so far this autumnhave been of single birds)

Little Egret: Our coastal birds will soon be heading inland for the winter and a report of one at Fleet Pond in north Hampshire at dusk on Nov 1 may be a first indication of this. Confusingly the report says .. "left N to roost; unusual at site." .. leaving me uncertain if the 'unusual at site' referred to the presence of the bird or the direction in which it left - I presume the former and that this was the first Egret seen there for some time (I have no reports of Egrets at this pond over the past three years).

Great White Egret: My impression that Great White Egrets are relatively common just across the English Channel is supported by Trektellen reports for Nov 1 when 12 Great White were at Hageven Lommel in Belgium with five other sites reporting counts on that day of 6, 3, 3, 1, 1 birds

Glossy Ibis: Two remained at the Dungeness RSPB site up to at least Nov 7 and two others were near the North Walls of Pagham Harbour on Oct 30 and 31. Maybe one of these was seen at Ferring Rife (behind Worthing) on Oct 31

Spoonbill: The young bird was still at Pagham Harbour on Nov 4 and 14 were based at Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour from Oct 27 to Nov 2 at least while four were in the Scillies on Nov 1

Bewick's Swan: 14 (possibly 18) of these arrived at Slimbridge on Nov 1 when they had to struggle against a strong headwind to complete their 2,600 km journey from Siberia. They were a week later than expected. Just over 50 newcomers were seen on the near continent on Nov 2 and to have continued to arrive there (15 reported on Nov 7)

Whooper Swan: These have been arriving in small numbers since the beginning of October but current news is of one satellite tracked bird arriving at Caerlaverock in Scotland on Nov 5 (just in time for the morning feed!) after completing an 800 km non-stop flight from Iceland in 14 hours (record for this trip is 11 hours)

Whitefront Goose: On Nov 5 a skein of 9 (possibly a total of 24) flew east over Christchurch Harbour heading for Hampshire but so fa no further news of them/

Canada Goose: A very leucistic bird (seemingly pure white from a distance) was seen on Nov 4 flying east over the Warsash area with 80 other Canadas, probably heading for Titchfield Haven. This bird has been at the Haven over the last two winters and is now returning for at least its third year there. What I presume was a different white bird was seen in the 5ortsmouth area during several winters in the 1990s (?)

Shelduck: Winter numbers are now building up at south coast sites to judge by a count of 57 at Newtown Harbour (IoW) on Nov 2 (highest previous count this autumn on the south coast was 38 off south east Hayling during the Oct 17 WeBS count

Pintail: Around 90 were at Pulborough Brooks on Nov 2 was also a highest count for this autumn following 53 in Langstone Harbour on Oct 4. Since then 76 dropped off at Hook/Warsash on Nov 7 but flew on west.

Scaup: Three newly arrived at Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset on Nov 6 (up to four there last winter)

Red-breasted Merganser: 56 were in Portsmouth Harbour, seen from Gosport, on Nov 4 - this is another highest count with 26 in the south of Langstone Harbour on Oct 14 being the previous peak

Goosander: ... and another peak for this autumn was a count of 16 on the Blashford Lakes at Ringwood om Nov 1 (previous high of 12 at that site on Oct 20

Ruddy Duck: ... and another peak with 12 at the Blashford Lakes on Nov 1 (8 there on Oct 6 and 10 on Oct 31)

Honey Buzzard: The latest ever seen in Dorset was over Corfe Castle on Nov 7

Hobby: Another late bird was seen in Dorset on Nov 4

Common Crane: No more news of the young bird seen in the Isle of Wight on Oct 26 and 27 (presumably an off course migrant) but over on the continent the main autumn passage seems to have got underway on Nov 1 when 18 flew over a Belgian site, followed on Nov 2 by a count of 82 over one Dutch site and counts of 57, 21, 16 and 1 at other sites

Avocet: Three were at Farlington Marshes on Nov 2 and 4, and eleven were there on Nov 6

Lapwing: 2100 flew over one Dutch site on Nov 4 (a total of 1850 seen on Oct 28 was the previous peak movement)

Purple Sandpiper: a count of 37 in Thanet (Kent) on Nov 8 is the highest anywhere so far this winter (previous peak was 14 in Cornwall on Oct 12

Curlew Sandpiper: A late bird at Christchurch Harbour on Nov 4 was the first anywhere since Oct 26

Black-tailed Godwit: More than usual are feeding in the Emsworth area this autumn - 130 at Nore Barn on Nov 5

Green Sandpiper: The longest period when this species was not reported somewhere in the south this year was from May 6 to 27 and groups of up to 34 were seen on several dates in August so a report of two birds at Budds Farm in Havant on Nov 2 and one flying over the Hermitage Stream in Leigh Park (Havant) on Nov 4 is of local interest only but probably marks the start of regular winter sightings in the Havant area (so far no news of wintering Common Sandpipers in the Havant area)

Little Gull: 413 were off the French Normandy coast on Nov 5 and on Nov 7 two sites there reported 813 and 1250 birds (with another 637 on Nov 8)

Great Blackback Gull: 96 were seen at Sandwich Bay on Oct 16 (presumably just pausing on passage) and 45 were similarly resting in a coastal field near Worthing on Oct 20 so a flock of 99 resting on the HMS Sultan playing fields at Gosport on Nov 1 may well have been a passage flock (last year there were 42 there on Nov 9). In 2007 Rye Harbour reported 700 on Oct 27 while Christchurch Harbour had 109 on Dec 18 seeming to indicate that some of these large 'one off' gatherings are of birds remaining in the south coast area through the winter and this is supported by two isolated counts in the early months of 2007 (100+ in the Sussex Cuckmere Valley on Jan 31 and 1200 there on Feb 10 with 343 at Rye Harbour on Feb 1). No similar counts in early 2008 but this year I saw a report of 300+ in the Cuckmere Valley on Jan 25

Sandwich Tern: Five were in the Langstone Harbour entrance area on Nov 3 - wintering birds

Common Tern: One in the Hook/Warsash area on Nov 3 was presumably a late passage bird

Auk species: A mixed bag of 835 Guillemots and Razorbills was off the Brittany coast on Nov 2

Razorbill: 504 reported off Cabo Ajo (between Bibao and Santander in north Spain) on Nov 3

Stock Dove: More now being seen in southern England. 79 over Christchurch Harbour on Nov 2, 60 over Durlston on Nov 4 when 160 (presumably new in from the continent) were seen from Hastings country park. On Nov 5 Christchurch Harbour had 146 over

Wood Pigeon: 14,990 flew west over Constitution Hill in Poole on Nov 2 when Christchurch Harbour had 7300 and Portland reported 4000 (though probably many more passed over as on Nov 3 Portland did not give a count but reported many flying over at the limit of naked eye vision (around 8,000 feet or 1.5 miles up). Highest of six counts on Nov 4 was 8,000 over Portland (and 7879 over Blairgowrie in Scotland). On Nov 5 Lee Evans saw 2,500 passing over his home in Buckinghamshore and summed up our knowledge of these autumn movements, saying that the birds we see each autumn come from Fenno-Scandinavia (few if any British birds are involved) and head for Iberia and Italy. For some unknown reason they return in spring by a different route which does not take them over Britain. Since theses mid-week reports passage has increased and the highest counts have been 27300 over Christchurch on Nov 5, 29600 over Dorset on Nov 6, 26800 over the mouth of Poole Harbour on Nov 6, 22800 over Christchurch on Nov 6 and 20,000 + over Hastings on Nov 6. Here in Hampshire 10380 went over Southampton on Nov 6 and there have been other large counts across Britain including Scotland.

Swift: Two were seen over Belgium on Nov 1 when another was near Calais

Little Swift: One was calimed in Cornwall on Oct 31

Hoopoe: The bird seen near Brighstone on the Isle of Wight on Oct 15 and 16 was reported to be still there on Nov 2

Shorelark: One was on the Hayling Beach at Sandy Point on Nov 5 but soon flew east into Sussex (the only other reports from England this autumn have been one on the Isle of Wight from Aug 29 to Sep 5 and one on the Lymington Marshes on Oct 13)

Skylark: Continental birds still arriving in moderate numbers - at Sandwich Bay 120 were seen on Nov 2 and 28 were seen to fly in off the sea on Nov 3

Swallow: 12 Novermber reports this year including 7 over Portland (and 2 at Dungeness) on Nov 2, then one over Hook/Warsash on Nov 3 (another report of one there on Nov 4 - maybe someone has the wrong date?). Nov 4 saw six over Christchurch Harbour and 27 at Sandwich Bay. On Nov 5 one went west at Pagham Harbour, one was seen at Portland and three at Rye Harbour. Latest so far are two at Sandwich Bay on Nov 6 and two at the South Foreland on Nov 7

House Martin: One at Dungeness on Nov 2 and one at Cap Gris-Nez on Nov 4

Richard's Pipit: One at Langston Herring in Dorset on Nov 4

Olive Backed Pipit: One in the Scillies on Nov 1

Red-throated Pipit: One in Cornwall on Oct 28 (when another was seen in Holland) and a 'possible' at Durlston on Nov 2

Water Pipit: There have been many reports of ones and twos since the first autumn reoport on Sep 26 but a count of 24 at a Dutch site on Nov 6 seems to mark the arrival of a new wave of birds/

Yellow Wagtail: A late female at Weir Wood Reservoir near Crowborough on Nov 3 (previous latest on Oct 28 at Portland)

Bluethroat: One in the Scillies on Nov 1 (one previously this year in Dorset on Aug 15)

Black Redstart: 14 reports between Nov 1 and 4 including one back on houses at the east end of the Hayling Eastoke Promenade (a regular site close to Sandy Point) on Nov 4 and 5

Wheatear: One in the Black/Sandy Point area of Hayling on Hayling on Nov 2 with later birds at Sandwich Bay on Nov 3 and Portland on Nov 4. Current latest was at Rye Harbour on Nov 5

Ring Ouzel: The only November reports have been of three in Belgium on No 6 and one at Hope Gap (Beachy Head) onNov 1

Black-throated Thrush (Turdus atrogularis): One in Dorset on Oct 27 and 28. This was the 23rd report for Britain but there is uncertainty about the status of the species. Taxonomists nowadays treat Black-throated Thrush as a subspeices of Dark-throated Thrush (classifying it as Turdus ruficollis astrogularis).

Fieldfare: 1704 in Yorkshire on Nov 4 with 1305 Redwing at the same Yorkshire site on Nov 4. By Nov 7 there were 2000 over Slimbridge and 1193 still on their way (over the Hamburg Yacht Basin in Germany with 1000 Redwing). 26 flying south over Old Winchester Hill in the Meon Valley on Nov 5 may indicate some settling on the south coast (previous reports here were probably of birds heading north from the continent

Blackcap: One feeding on fat and apples in a garden at Locksheath (just west of Fareham) on Nov 5 is claimed as the first wintering garden bird on the south coast

Greenish Warbler: One was in Cornwall from Oct 28 to Nov 1

Firecrest: Fourteen November reports indicat a good wintering population in southen England (maybe more of them than Goldcrest). On Nov 2 two were seen in Yews close to Stansted House and on Nov 5 (when there were 13 at Studland in Dorset) there were two at Sandy Point on Hayling and another three near the entrance sto Sinah Warren

Red-breasted Flycatcher: What may have been the bird that was at Selsey Bill on Oct 29 was seen for three hours at Seaford on Nov 7

Bearded Tit: A dozen were giving close views at Thorney Little Deeps on Nov 5 and half a dozen were seen at the Falrington Marshes Lake on Nov 6

Tree Sparrow: One seen at Ella Nore (near West Wittering on the shore of Chichester Harbour) on Nov 2

Brambling: The first three figure count in southern England for this winter was of 125 at Durlston on Nov 2 (passage birds, not yet settled as feeding flocks). On No7 another 562 were heading west through Germany (seen at Hamburg)

Greenfinch: Up to 150 were feeding on single vegetation seeds at Pagham Harbour spit on Nov 5 - almost like the recent years when such flocks of Greenfinch were commonplace along out shorelines in autumn.

Bullfinch: Reports from the Luton area of Bedfordshire are of 50 Bullfinch passing over on Nov 2 and 12 on Nov 3 - I have no idea where these came from or where they were going but it was certainly an unexpected observation. It could be that there are a large number of Bullfinch based in that area as 8 had been seen there on Oct 17 and 23 on Oct 28 but other reports (10 in the Test Valley near Romsey on Oct 13 and 6 over Hastings on Oct 28) indicate some autumn movment with birds probably arriving from the continent. Since writing that there has been a count of 59 in the Luton area and reports of small numbers from Hastings (almost certainly arriving), the Stour valley in Kent and Christchurch Harbour

Lapland Bunting: One was in the Pagham Harbour North Walls area from Oct 31 to Nov 4 at least. There were also sightings of singles at Christchurch Harbour and Durlston on Nov 2

Yellowhammer: As with Bullfinch there is encouraging news of these being seen in slightly larger numbers including a flock of around 30 at Upper Beeding in the Sussex Adur valley on Nov 7

(Skip to Plants)

(Skip to Other Wildlife)

74 species seen flowering in November so far

Ranunculus trichophyllus (Thread Leaved Water Crowfoot): This was still flowering in the Walland Marshes east of Rye on Nov 1. I see the plant was recorded in Sinah Lake on Hayling in 1976 but it is unlikely to be seen there now and is rare in Hampshire

Ranunculus penicillatus (Stream Water-crowfoot): Just managing to flower in the overflow sluice from the Bedhampton Water Works at Havant on Nov 4 despite the lack of any water flow (just puddles of rain water)

Early Dog Violet (Viola reichenbachiana): Four flowers seen in the Havant Eastern Road cemetery on Nov 4 (and one in my Havant garden on Nov 7)

St John's Wort: A couple of small plants with flowers in the Havant rail station carpark on Nov 7 (probably Perforate)

Sweet Violet: 50 flowers out in St Faith's churchyard in Havant on Nov 5

Meadow Sweet: I have already reported an isolated plant by the Lavant stream in Havant on Oct 26 and on Oct 31 Brian Fellows found one flowering in Brook Meadow at Emsworth

Holly: The most unexpected find this week was of flowers on a Holly tree in the Hollybank Woods at Emsworth on Nov 2 (photo with my Diary entry for that day).

Thrift (Sea Pink): Durlston reported this in flower on Nov 1

Yellow Pimpernel: A few flowers on this were another unexpected find in the Hollybank Woods at Emsworth on Nov 2

Apple of Peru: One plant flowering in a flowerbed outside the United Reformed Church in central Havant on Nov 7 - I doubt it was intentionally planted

Grey Field Speedwell: One flower seen in Havant St Faith's churchyard on Nov 5

Dwarf Thistle: Flowering at Durlston on Nov 5

Greater Knapweed: Flowering at Durlston on Nov 1

Fox: At 7pm on Nov 5 a Fox was seen running along the promenade past Brighton Palace Pier at a time when many people were also walking here and Fireworks had probably started. The Fox did not seem perturbed by the people watching it.

Red Squirrel: One still out and about at Fort Victoria in the Isle of Wight on Nov 5

Snails: Two species get a mention on the Durlston website when they were seen taking advantage of the wet ground on Nov 1 to make their way from A to B for unknown reasons. One was the Lapidary Snail (Helicigona lapicida) and the other the Pointed Snail (Cochlicella acuta) in which I have a personal interest having watched two colonies become seemingly extinct. The Pointed Snail is a small 'spire shaped' animal 15mm high by 6mm wide which is unusual in being an air breathing landsnail which likes to live by the sea (often in sand-dunes but also in coastal calcareous grassland). It is not a rarity but is only found in isolated colonies (apparently it has got to Australia and become a pest species in both arable and pasture fields there). I first came across it at the Portsmouth IBM HQ site which is on land only reclaimed from the sea around 1970 when the M27 was built across the reclaimed part of Portsmouth Harbour - the snails were presumably there before the reclaimation but instead of being destroyed by it they thrived on the mass of chalk brought to build the motorway foundations across the mud (chalk being essential to shell building). In the 1980s these snails could be found there in thousands but by the mid 1990s when I ceased to have daily contact with the site they seemed to have vanished. I then found another colony on the inside of the high seawall bank which holds back the hightide of Chichester Harbour from flooding the west end of the Great Deeps on Thorney Island but in the last few years I have been unable to find live specimens there.

Fungi: A visit to the 'Sling' area of Stansted Forest by the Havant Wildllife Group on Oct 31 listed 35 species and my own visit to the Hollybank Woods on Nov 1 found at least ten more species not on their list while my own garden lawn us given me another half dozen. These finds seem to show that the continuing relatively warm weather coupled with plenty of rain (at last) is giving us a good season for finding fungi. Pick of the bunch (my personal choice!) from the Stansted Forest list are the Porcelain Fungus and Oyster Mushrooms growing on trees, the decorative clusters of Shaggy Pholiota at the base of tree trunks, Magpie Fungus, Clouded Agaric, Wood Mushroom and Wood Blewit standing boldly on the ground, and the Hedgehog Puffball (Lycoperdon echinatum) - this is the only site I know of for this one - joining many smaller species including the colourful Mycena pura (lilac) and Mycena crocata (which at first glance seems to be another of those little brown jobs but which exudes a bright orange/red juice when its yellowish stem is broken), Ramaria stricta (yellow), Verdigris Agaric which has a slimy blue-green cap (and which looks a bit like the Aniseed Toadstool Clitocybe odora but which lacks the strong and distinctive scent of that species) Snowy Waxcap (pure white) and the black and white Stags Horn or Candlesnuff Fungus. The species found by myself can be found, with some photos, in my diary entries for Nov 2 and Oct 31. Also this week Brian Fellows has found the first examples this year of Agrocybe cylindracea on old willows at Brook Meadow in Emsworth and John Goodspeed has seen Bay Bolete (B. badius) on the Crookhorn Golf Course on Portsdown. On Nov 7 two scruffy specimens of Fly Agaric could be seen at a regular spot in a flowerbed at the Havant Rail Station forecourt (seen as you come up the steps from Market Parade). Also on Nov 7 I collected a single pure white specimen from roadside grass where an old oak used to stand beside Wade Court Road (at its junction with South Close). I had seen it there several days ago when it was fresh and lone so I did not collect it until now when it must have completed its sporulation - at first I was uncertain if it was Tricholoma Columbetta or T. album (the White Knight) but decided in favour of the latter as it is the commoner species in Hampshire and does not have any of the blue spots which normally develop on Columbetta