A Day Out With the Country Set

Another fabulous dinner last night, this time at The Pig, Brockenhurst, such a renowned restaurant it had taken a full 2 months to get a reservation. Tonight we were in company with

Ray & Lydia (top left hand corner) who have recently visited India with Hugh & Janet (sitting either side of me), while others included Daryl (left foreground) Hugh and Janet's eldest son,

and his partner Cath (in white). Again the star of the show was a Pole, this time in the form of the Sommelier, who's knowledge of wine was well worth listening to! The food was also excellent, but if I had to choose between our 2 outings, it would have to be The Three Tuns, so much so that I will be taking them all for a revisit on my next visit.

Today's activities may cause some controversy among the readership, but after all this is the countryside, so feel that as I'm in Rome so will do what the Romans do! The annual Pheasant shoot kicked off with a

Merlin preceding us down the farm track, very much in hunting mode. The photo is from the archive.

The Guns meet to discuss tactics before the hunt begins.

Bare winter branches reveled a redundant Goldfinches nest,

as Redwings were also easy to see resting in the tops.

One Man & His Dog. It was at this point that the only Woodcock* of the day was flushed from cover, but quickly disappeared back into the wood.

There were a few Common Snipe about

and a Cormorant but it was now time for

lunch of cured ham & homemade pickle sandwiches, chocolate brownies with sloe gin - that'll do for me Tommy!

Back to the beat and a few

Roe Deer were seen along with a

Grey Heron,

Moorhen

plus one of several Common Buzzard seen during the day.

The Year (January) List now stands at 137

The Lord of the Rings

Last nights dinner at the 17th Century Three Tuns Coaching Inn and Restaurant, a belated birthday treat for Hugh (and for the rest of us I might add), turned out to be an unforgettable experience for all of us,

Hugh, Janet, Gill and Norman (plus myself)

The food was some of the most inventive and palatable I have ever experienced, certainly the best Pub Grub albeit 'Gastro-Pub', and so not to bore you with the whole menu I'll just describe my own choice. The starter comprised crispy duck served with savoury noodles which arrived in a small waxed box, an absolute delight, followed by 10 hours cooked pork and vegetables. The pièce de résistance was indeed the pudding that was advertised as Eggs & Soldiers,

comprising this boiled egg shaped and sized bowl full of delicious white fondant with an orange flavoured yolk, while on the side was a poached egg shaped panna cotta with a small edible 'sack' of apricot cream. The soldiers were made of candied pastry making for the best pub food I have ever eaten. Mention should be made of our Polish waiter who, we all agreed, had that certain charisma that brought an extra dimension to the proceedings - Thank You young man!

Another gruelling 'day at the office' in bright sunlight, barely a breath of wind and a new chill to the air, was mostly spent in the New Forest where there was potential for half a dozen additions to the Year List.

Climbing the hill out of Ringwood, over the top of the forest Redwing and Fieldfare were everywhere

and as I turned onto the Fritham road dozens of Rooks were feeding by the roadside. Of the possibilities Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was always going to be of 'needle in haystack' proportions, while it was hoped an early Goshawk might be on the wing. Neither of these were seen so I drove to a mature stand of Holly trees where last year I found a Long-eared Owl at roost, and a few Woodlark besides. The Owl was not in residence but walking across the heath 3 birds were flushed, a Skylark, a Meadow Pipit and a Woodlark*.

Only a short distance away is Eyeworth Pond already visited this trip, but I was hoping for a few photos on this visit.

At the far side of the pond this male Goosander was cruising up and down, but closer to hand

were a pair of magnificent Mandarins.

male Mandarin,

female Mandarin. This done it was time to travel a little further east and to territory very familiar to me. Gosport was where I joined the Royal Navy in 1961 at HMS St Vincent. Situated on a main road with no chance to stop there was no hope of a photograph of the Main Gate, but further on (at the Ferry Terminal) both the

Spinnaker Tower on Southsea Common and

HMS Warrior, the first power driven warship, could be clearly seen. Driving through the district of Forton also brought memories streaming back, particularly to our weekly moment of light relief from our gruellingly physical training regime. It was Thursday evenings when the local young ladies were invited to the establishment, closely chaperoned, in the name of teaching us equally young matelots the skills of Ballroom Dancing. These young women were collectively and respectfully known as The Forton Follies.

Arriving at the Gosport Boating Lake the prospects looked good as there were plenty of Gulls awaiting the next bag of bread,

with a distant scan already showing Common Gull which can be confused with my target species.

A little closer, and there was no mistaking the

Ring-billed Gull a vagrant from the Americas that has visited this site for a number of winters now.

I was armed with some bait which every other bird in the vicinity was attracted to,

except for Fella' My Lad, but even at a distance the photographs were proving good.

Eventually it too took to the wing and homed in on the sliced bread,

making for some striking posses at the same time. By now the 'spun-yarn radio' was breaking into life with some tentative, but as yet unproven, news of another Yank somewhere in the Meon Valley Foothills, not too far away.

Even if there wasn't a bird, the drive through this part of Hampshire is 'stunning' to say the least.

Unfortunately the camera cannot always capture the full magnificence of these beautiful rolling hills,

where it is always worth looking out for a Red Kite. With thousands of acres of scrub and brush to search the bird was never likely to be found, but 1 I'd had the pleasure of the fantastic views and 2 I was now in close proximity of my old shipmate, if he was at home.

As I have reported in the past Micheal (Huck) Hutley and I joined the RN together, undertook our full year training together, then served aboard HMS Keppel (Arctic Patrol) and HMS Eskimo (Persian Gulf Squadron). A total of 5 years made us firm friends indeed, so we were both equally delighted when we got together, shook hands and departed 30 minutes later. ALWAYS GREAT to see you my friend - have a good year and hope to see you again soon!

Again the journey back was via Blashford Lakes, and on entering the first hide

a Peregrine* was perched on a shingle spit, but

soon took to the wing, harassing the local Lapwing population,
before flying off to the south.

All else was a Yellow-legged Gull, centre with white head, and good numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

The Year (January) List now stands at 136

The Land of Make Believe - Bucks Fizz

So, I'm finally back in my beloved Dorset and it would seem just in the nick of time. Part of my return plan was to stay over at Parley Court with the family Dampney for just one night, but seems I have arrived in the heart of 'party time' and as most of you know I love to go to ALL of the parties so it looks like something of a longer stay.

With a number of very rare or scarce birds in the county there was only one place to start and that was

Longham Lakes. However, the weather was against any sensible birding with high winds, outbursts of heavy showers

and severely agitated surface water.

This Tufted Duck gives some idea of how disturbed the lakes were,

while this female Goosander

wasn't getting it all her own way either. Soon after taking these shots a redhead (female) Smew was spotted half way across the water with no chance of a photograph, and when the dapper black & white male also appeared there was great frustration that their images could not be captured.

Mute Swans seemed to be fairing a little better, probably due to their bulk, while smaller wildfowl such as

Coot and

Pochard sort some solace and shelter in the lee of the reed-bed. All of this was alright, but I, along with all other 'birders' that I met, were having difficulty finding the object of our desire. Deciding to take something of a break by driving to Blashford again, I found the main road at St Leonards closed by the police due to a fallen tree so thankfully returned to Longham. There in the eye of a continuing gale I found the

Blue-winged Teal*,

not surprisingly in the company of a pair of Shoveler. These were also impossible to photograph so have turned to the archive again for these shots.

This Little Egret flew overhead just before leaving, but a single Grey Wagtail* was a more welcome sight. During the walk I met up with long time birding friends John & Mo Down, plus avid Blog readers Derek & Kay Bull whom I had never met before - very nice to see you all I must say. Now was the time to return to Blashford Lakes, via an alternative route, being met by this

Robin and many of the other small birds the same as yesterday. A Green Woodpecker put in an all too brief appearance just before I entered the North Ivy Hide armed with information received. It was said that the fairly long staying but illusive

Ferruginous Duck* was showing from time to time (the small duck centre shot).

There was just one lady 'birder' in the hide, so you can imagine my delight when I located the duck!

In my determination to get her to see it as well. I briefly took my 'eye off the ball' and lost it completely. Giving some time to relocating it, I was starting to think it may have been a figment of my imagination and wandered off to the South Hide to try my luck.

By the time I returned it had been re-found and my worries were over, but bad light and distance precluded any decent shots.

A feeding Great Crested Grebe was fitting finale to a good day,

Diving Now!

The first of a series of parties is this evening, so I'd better go get my curlers in and leave you with

The Year (January) List now stands at 131