#lower test

02/11/2019-Lower Test and autumn leaves out the back earlier (first picture)

Other pictures from Lower Test today: More yellow autumn leaves, two view of a full River Test, another view and two of Grey Wagtails. 

Usually when I don’t have much to say in the photoset and blog of the day I am selective and only chose four of my pictures from the day. But today I selected all seven as if I’m honest the photography side of my interest carried the walk here and my hobby side of the day today a little. I didn’t see a great deal of birds, hindered by limited time due to some other commitments and a flooded board walk only allowing us to get so far at Lower Test. It was slightly less wet and windy than I thought today though so I’d rather written off the day perhaps for photos like last Saturday but I did manage to take some I was really happy with so I just felt like sharing them all on here. 

11/08/18-Pig Bush in the New Forest and a quick Lower Test call in

We came to Pig Bush one of my favourite New Forest places today and on a grey and wet afternoon I as indicated by my wildlife sightings summary below saw a good variety of birds I thought. I have remarked before how at Pig Bush you do see an immense and quality variety of birds compared to other similar walks and I think for me it’s got the best track record for birdwatching anywhere on the open forest.

One of my targets today was seeing a Willow Warbler and just after the shower we arrived in I spotted one, this was a year tick for me and my 176th bird of the year. It felt great to see this bird one I had been waiting for a for a while in 2018, quite often some really nice yellow ones come into the forest in huge numbers in mid-late summer and just like in 2017 it was Pig Bush where I caught up with them. This lead to a bit of a repeating pattern on my year list as two weeks ago today Green Sandpiper followed the rarer Wood onto my year list and today meant the commoner Willow followed the Dartford Warbler seen at Thursley Common on Sunday onto my year list. Another of my favourite birds the Sedge Warbler and Curlew Sandpiper appeared very recently too.

The Willow as a year tick today was very similar to the Dartford on Sunday in that I first saw it quickly but very closely, went on to see a few in the day and got an ID standard camera shot later on to help me pick out specific markings. The latter was also a similar feature to my Sedge sighting in July, all three showing the value of having my up to 400mm lens and all three and some other birds I saw recently were on my list of birds I was actually targeting so I am happy to have seen all this. That list now stands at one in hope of doing what I did last year and catching up with Lesser Redpolls in December at hotspot for them Blashford Lakes as well as birds I am very hopeful to see when we go to certain places. This along with my year list being one behind my 2014 total my third highest ever currently continues to show how proud I am of my year list by my standards.

As we walked round I took the pictures attached to this photoset, a Redstart in a tree and purple and green scenes against the dark sky on the heath. The heather looked lovely and purple here as it did at Thursley on Sunday. It was interesting looking in my current folder of pictures seeing the second picture in this photoset and the one with purple heather I took on Sunday as last year my two prominent purple heather pictures and perhaps two of my best ever were the hill in today’s picture carpeted in it and a fairly similarly placed shot at a different part of Thursley so it’s like a couple of reincarnations.

On the way back we had a very quick call into the pull in at the bridge by Lower Test marshes, watching Lapwings and Oystercatchers for a bit brightened up a dark afternoon and in recent weeks I have really enjoyed seeing Oystercatchers well.

Wildlife Sightings Summary: (Pig Bush) My first Willow Warblers of the year, Whitethroat, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Reed Bunting, Redstart, Robin, Swallow, House Martin, Raven, Woodpigeon, Gatekeeper butterfly and an unidentified dragonfly. (Lower Test) Feral Pigeon, Black-headed Gull, Oystercatcher, Lapwing and Canada Goose.

4 big visiting of reserves anniversaries I have coming up in 2018 

As you know from Twitter and Tumblr I love looking back on things that happened on certain days and months in past years within my wildlife/photography hobby. Ever since September 2016 this has become a tad more interesting as I began birdwatching properly in early 2007 I always say but the interest started which would spark the whole hobby in September 2006. Those big 10 year anniversaries are something I can’t quite believe have happened so I love to celebrate them big time on here. In 2008 our second full year of birdwatching we visited four places for the first time among many, two local and two much further afield, which would go onto become truly very special and magical places for us for seeing wildlife, taking pictures and generally taking in their beauty. 

The 9th February marks 10 years since I first went to Blashford Lakes where I had an amazing year at in 2017, the first picture in this photoset of a Robin last January one of my best pictures there last year. Then 11th May much later marks 10 years since our first Lymington-Keyhaven visit to a fare/open day at Pennington, the second picture in this photoset of two of one of my favourite birds the Brent Geese there last January a standout 2017 picture there. Going back to 2008 by that point our actual nature reserve list was dominated by Titchfield Haven, Farlington Marshes and Totton reserves Lower Test and Testwood Lakes as well as the Hayling Island Oysterbeds. All of these reserves hold a special place for me today, Titchfield Haven is always going to be special as the first reserve I ever visited and I love Farlington so much too, Hayling Island has seen a growth in importance to our now varied especially across the New Forest base of locations to visit. But I think its fair to say over the years Blashford and Lymington-Keyhaven aided by their sheer diversity of wildlife to see have identified themselves as my two favourite local nature reserves. 

Thankfully then I have specific dates for their first visit which I lack for Farlington for example and 10 years on in February and May I fully intend to do Tumblr posts accompanied by tweets celebrating the anniversary. This will include some of the greatest pictures I’ve taken at these spots and explanations of what makes them so good and just general memories. Aided by an ultimate Wildlife Sightings Summary for each which will use this listing feature of what I saw in a day at the end of my regular blogs to show some of the greatest mostly birds I have ever seen at these places. Some mammals and butterflies might just creep in too.

The two big journeys of 2008 took us to Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire where I returned for the fifth time last June capturing the third picture in this photoset of another of my favourite birds the Guillemot as well as Rutland Water for the Bird Fair as shown last August in the fourth picture in this photoset. I did take memorable wildlife pictures there too last year I just felt I needed a landscape in this overview post as well and landscapes will feature in any celebration of 10 years of first going to all four of these reserves. 27th May marks 10 years since we first landed on Skomer and the usual August date will mark it for Rutland Water. Since the areas of these two special places have both staked a huge claim to be my second home so to speak. 

29/10/22-Lower Test and bits at home 

It was nice to visit Lower Test for the first time in a while today and see a good selection of birds; Meadow Pipits I took the seventh picture in this photoset of one, Stonechat, Blue and Long-tailed Tit with Stonechat and Blue Tit together on a bush at one point a smashing show of bright colour, and making a lot of the birds fly up was a majestic Sparrowhawk. A delight to see flying through, they were special views of a bird I love. Another raptor in the form of a Red Kite soaring high was great to see too. I was also delighted to see loads of Little Egrets on the marsh, a treat seeing these birds I adore so well and in numbers.

We briefly saw a Roe Deer and I was also delighted to see a Common Darter dragonfly flitting around at the start some great views of it on a humid day for the time of year. I believe we saw a Migrant Hawker in the same field that we parked near towards the end and right at the end of the walk we got a smashing view of a Red Admiral butterfly. I took the eighth picture in this photoset of it. A special species to see capping off a nice few days of butterflies for me in these extraordinary temperatures for this time of year. 

Tansy one I love seeing I took the second picture in this photoset of some, ragwort, groundsel, lots of hogweed in flower in the field which looked great the first picture in this photoset shows this, cleavers seen well again lately, a lovely bit of ivy which I enjoyed seeing after a fascinating film I saw on it and life within it on Autumnwatch this week it had some nice flowering, hawksbeard type flowers and shadows of dock were memorable plants to see on the walk. I also enjoyed rose hips and a little mushroom. There were great views of this marshy habitat and down the river with some pleasing bits of autumnal sunshine. The tide was high and coming in so it was memorable seeing such high water levels especially from the board walk feeling well and truly immersed in the landscape. It made for an entertaining walk. It was interesting seeing the hawksbeard type flowers, dock and most entertainingly some little circular yellow flowers which I believe are buttonweed surrounded by or below water I thought these were tansy first of all but realised they were not when home I took the fourth picture in this photoset of them. I took and tweeted on Dans_Pictures tonight a photo of one bit of dock surrounded by water that was an interesting lonely dock. I took the third, fifth and sixth pictures in this photoset of more views here today.

I liked seeing ragwort, hogweed and autumnal colour, which was present at Lower Test too, on the way to and back from here. Sweet William, the big rose in the back garden, hebe, fuchsia, groundsel outside the back fence where we get a few things sometimes, other flowers, a little snail on the door, Goldfinches, House Sparrow, Starlings as shown lined up in the ninth picture in this photoset on the roofs of the garages, autumn leaves outside and fantastic and varied sky scenes including a beautiful sunset with nice red colours and bits of layered cloud I took the tenth and final picture in this photoset showing this were enjoyable to see from home today.

29/11/20-Walk at Lower Test 

We had a walk at Lower Test this morning/early afternoon in glorious winter sunshine on a crisp and chilled morning. It was a lovely walk around the reedbed and river habitat quite a wet place. A really lovely way to spend the early part of a Sunday a very pleasant and beautiful walk where I took a lot of pictures including the first in this photoset of autumn leaves and third, fourth, fifth, ninth and tenth of various nice watery views and eighth of flowers and seventh of Missy swimming. We got today the right way round as we had our team playing football at 2pm on the TV against the local team actually so we went out this morning and watched the football this afternoon. A hugely useful thing to do as that glorious sunshine disappeared for the rest of the day on the way home so had it been a normal Sunday we’d been at home doing our usual Sunday morning things in the house in sunshine then out into overcast conditions which you can obviously still have a great time in watching wildlife and taking photos, but the sunshine really made this set yet another memorable one this week I think. 

Wildlife highlights on the walk today included one of my favourite birds the Little Egret flying over, a brilliant view of a Grey Wagtail in the sunshine by the boardwalk we see them so often here and both Cormorant (shown in the second picture in this photoset) and Grey Heron sat in trees (shown when it flew onto the ground in the sixth picture in this photoset) over the river by the bridge and beside the boardwalk respectively it was nice to take photos of both. It was also good to get great Wren views and see Mallard, Mute Swan, Black-headed Gull, Robin, Starling and I heard a Cetti’s Warbler.  It was nice to see the Greylag Geese, Pied Wagtail and other birds well in my old secondary school field on the way home today.

05/01/19-Waxwings at Totton, Lower Test and Eyeworth Pond in the New Forest

We headed out quite early for another full day of birdwatching today, to go to….Asda car park at Totton in Hampshire. I’m sure you can work out especially with the title what it was to see, as we have a big influx of Waxwings here at the moment the birds that favour retail areas for the berry bushes when they come in winter. As we drove up approaching 9:30am I was thrilled to spot these beautiful birds in a tree, my 41st bird of the year and for sure best yet. I then enjoyed fantastic views of 11 of these birds, as they were fairly settled in a large tree that was fairly close but kept flying down into a smaller tree with berries right in front of us, allowing for such precious moments with these birds and I got the first three pictures in this photoset of them.

It was a great atmosphere again today seeing them. This was Waxwing sighting number five for me in my life, and three years running now which I am happy about. One of the sightings was in someone’s garden in Burghead, Moray in Scotland last year, the 2013 ones were by a field in my hometown Eastleigh but after my first ever at Lordshill, Southampton in 2010 in Sainsburys car park and some in 2017 at Whiteley by big name brand shops its three now that have been in a retail and/or supermarket car park. This just makes for a great time seeing them as it unites people, whether birdwatchers, photographers, both, shoppers or just members of the public people have a good look and some take an interest who normally wouldn’t and as such a beautiful species it engages people in nature a bit which is lovely. Its also meant more times than not we’ve seen the birds incredibly soon after turning up to see Waxwings and that continued today. Its definitely a top early bird in my year, I then went into Lower Test and the Waxwings flew as we left Asda but when leaving in a street near Lower Test the 11 Waxwings had flown here and were in a tree in someone’s garden where my Mum and her husband had seen them in midweek so I got a another view of them.

Within Lower Test I got 8 more year ticks to take my year list to 49, most of them really common but you have got to see them at some point so it was nice. Waxwing has beaten a lot of much commoner species onto my year list which is something that always intrigues me when starting a birdwatching year but Lapwing followed it onto my list which is funny given how similar the names sound. Less frequently seen birds of mine seen for the first time this year here began with Sparrowhawk, it’s the first time its ever been my first bird of prey in a year and 2019 is my first ever year list where neither Buzzard nor Kestrel were my first bird of prey seen in the year. As I said last year I have had harder times seeing Sparrowhawks before so this quick sighting felt crucial.

Onto a boggy area and I saw a Green Sandpiper dart past me, a bird I didn’t see until July last year or August the year before at the Bird Fair so this was a relief. But maybe the standout bird seen quickly in the bog were two Jack Snipe, a bird I really find a special one and have had a lot of luck with over the recent years. Probably only the second time it had beat Snipe onto my year list. I took the fourth picture in this photoset of a Pied Wagtail at Lower Test.

Eyeworth Pond as shown today partially frozen in the fifth picture in this photoset was our afternoon walk, where there was just enough water on the pond for me to see my first Mandarin Ducks and Gadwall this year, two key duck species. We went on the walk up to the road and back and on the way back saw my first Jay of the year, a fourth of my twenty four favourite birds seen this year my year list ended day 5 on 52. This is my fifth highest ever amount of birds seen after five days I found out, I am currently ahead of where I was last year although I know a year ago tomorrow and Monday I saw significant growth so my record year list will likely catch up with this year in the coming days. On the walk up I saw a group of Redwings which was nice, after some this morning seen at Lower Test that meant I had seen three sets of these birds in a week. Not something to write home about in itself, but quite significant giving I had unlike I usually might not seen a single Redwing this season so far before seeing some at Denny Wood in the New Forest on 1st January.

I have had a brilliant first two days of birdwatching to start my 2019 year list, with wildlife seen on working days in between. I am ahead of my Mum and her husband currently, something unlikely to last as my Mum only works part time so they have time to go out and see things when I work so I will make the most of it. I might just yet be able to keep pace with my incredible 2018 year lists’ opening days though as I have a week off work now. Tomorrow we travel to Gloucestershire for two nights, to visit all being well on my birthday on Monday WWT Slimbridge as we did early in 2017. I obviously hope to get many more year ticks there, with Sunday and Tuesday largely travelling days which may just feature a little birdwatching in some form and other places we intend to go until 14th January when I go back to work. Pictures and blogs will be posted either Tuesday night or Wednesday but I shall definitely tweet updates if I can on Dans_Pictures with some “back of camera” teases of pictures taken too maybe.

29/12/18-Water Pipit, Pink-footed Goose and more at Lower Test

Before a festive engagement this evening we had a walk around Lower Test near Totton this afternoon, hence why today’s pictures were tweeted a little earlier than usual and in a slightly different way. The clear highlight on the walk around the reserve were definitely one and possibly more Water Pipits seen. This was only my third ever sighting of one, a bird I had only seen once before 2018 which I have now seen twice this year after one at Blashford Lakes just over a month ago. It was a real late bit of joy to my birding year to see another and a really beautifully marked bird this one as the first picture in this photoset shows.

Before and after leaving we scanned the fields with Canada Geese in by McDonalds on the reserve, as there had been a Pink-footed Goose around, and we saw it on the later park up near here. We scanned the significantly more Geese here than before and I just noticed one far back that looked much smaller than Canada. Then it and Canadas flew closer to us and it was clear to see how much smaller it was and we kept on the bird to make out its unique feet and beak. It was brilliant to witness this pretty bird for a bit. I also took the second and third pictures in this photoset of the Pink-footed Goose today.

This was a year tick, my 196th bird of the year as my record breaking 2018 for birds personally is not quite over yet. Like Clouded Yellow my 42nd butterfly of my highest ever list of them in a year, Pink-footed Goose becomes my latest ever year tick in a year beating my first ever Velvet Scoter sighting in December 2013 by a day. If this figure and bird is what I am to end this extraordinary year on then I am thrilled. 

This was also only my second sighting of this bird ever joining Water Pipit and amazing birds such as White-tailed Eagle and Iceland Gull on a star studded now 8 strong list of birds only seen for a second time or on a second occasion a part of my year I am proud of in birds especially. Like Black Tern one of those birds, the Pink-footed Goose was a life tick for me only last year at Blashford Lakes seen much further away than today so I was thrilled with this afternoon. I am always proud in a year if I can see again some of the life ticks of the last year. Last year’s and indeed this year’s list more so of new birds had few easy to repeat sightings of so I am proud of these two really. 

18/11/18-Testwood Lakes and Lower Test 

We mainly came to Testwood Lakes near Totton today which looked glorious in the sunshine as shown in the second picture I took today in this photoset. It was lovely soon into the visit to see a Buzzard soaring against this sky, and then see the shadow on the grass and then make out a dragonfly. Most probably a Common Darter but it was very flighty so I didn’t see too much of it as would be expected for this time of year. I saw one when I eventually reached the Sand Martin hide which was even more flighty so I didn’t even guess. 

A little bit further on it was really nice to see a Brimstone butterfly, and then see a Red Admiral in the binoculars from the Sand Martin hide. These were my first butterflies since the 21st October so for almost a month, and they meant I had seen butterflies in 10 months of the year just like last year. Any butterfly I see now is hugely likely to be my last this year, and this year more than ever that is something I am enjoying because I really want to savour as with the extraordinary weather shifts and more butterfly species seen than I ever had in a year before this was my greatest ever year for butterflies. 

When in the hide I was happy to see another Great White Egret, and then another with to begin with one on each lake and then they eventually both went to the one the Heron hide overlooks which was visible from the Sand Martin hide. This was my second double sighting of them in as many Sundays, and for a bird I may hope to see only once in a year sixth sighting this year. I genuinely have been seeing them more than one of my favourite birds the Little Egret in recent weeks. You can have good years for birds but 2018 feels something of a game changer for Great White Egret numbers in the area with so many reserves and places having them not just Blashford Lakes and I am excited to see how the story develops going forward and how key this becomes to the inevitability of them becoming as common as Little Egrets and Grey Herons. 

Today it was interesting to see them up against a Grey Heron for size comparison like my second Blashford sighting of one this year last month, and see how notifiable they are in flight and what a massive wingspan they have compared to the Little Egret especially. I probably hadn’t seen them fly a great distance ever before so from this vantage point it was reminiscent of Common Cranes flying when I saw them especially the first of that species I ever saw at Slimbridge in 2014.  

When walking from one hide to another and back it was great to see so many Long-tailed Tits looking so nice in the sun. At the visitor centre before leaving it was nice to see Boris the Siberian Eagle Owl up close as shown in the first picture I took today in this photoset. Before going home we had a very brief look at the marshes at nearby Lower Test from the bridge car park. 

Wildlife Sightings Summary: (Testwood Lakes) Two of my favourite birds the Buzzard and Great Crested Grebe, one of my favourite butterflies the Red Admiral, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Great White Egret, Coot, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall, Mute Swan, Lapwing, Black-headed Gull, Pied Wagtail, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Robin, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Rook, Brimstone, two unidentified dragonflies but one most probably Common Darter and Grey Squirrel. (Lower Test) One of my favourite birds the Little Egret, Little Grebe, Canada Goose, Wigeon and Mallard.