Ring-necked Ducks

Today was a Rooksbury Mill revisit to see if we could improve the records that we had in December. However, we stopped off on the way at the delightfully named Pinglestone Farm water cress beds. A Water Pipit had been reported and I still haven't got a reasonable shot of one. When we arrived the temperatures were hovering above freezing but it was a bright crisp morning, a good day to be out. There seemed to less birds about than on our previous visit, we did manage to find a couple of likely candidates but given the distance we couldn't achieve a positive ID.

On to Rooksbury Mill near Andover, with the weather remaining clement we were hopeful of some decent photography. The birds weren't difficult to find, more or less where we had left them on our previous foray. This time though there was a small flock of Tufted Ducks, a pair of photogenic Gadwall and a family of Mute Swans.

 

On the journey home we called in at Pinglestone but there had been no improvement save for eight Little Egrets, smaller birds were absent yet again. After a detour through Petersfield we made our way to an old favourite, the Little Owl at Stapelash Farm, he may have been in residence but if he was he wasn't showing. Similarly the Hawfinches in the trees next to Yew Tree Cottage were obviously foraging elsewhere and I didn't fancy a slog along the path. Then we had a tweet that the Glaucous Gull was back at the gull roost at Goring and as Martin needed the tick we made our way home.

Out on the gap the Glaucous Gull showed well but as I got the camera out it promptly sat down and went to sleep - so no improved shots. By now the biting north-wester was cutting to the bone and the toss up between a steaming hot cup of tea and a shot of a plain white gull was a no brainer. Really nice to be out on a day when the sun shone and that the grey clag has been banished.