17th December 2017 (Dorset and Hampshire)

With Lewis back in Yeovil for Christmas, we headed out for a days twitching. First stop was Leigh where we pretty quickly connected with 3 Hawfinches (1m 2f) in and around the churchyard. The only other noteworthy species were a Great Spotted Woodpecker and 2 flyover Common Gull.

Hawfinch - Leigh

Next stop was Portland Harbour. We started at Sandsfoot castle, and the first bird I scoped was the Red-Necked Grebe. As well as the usual Red-Breasted Mergansers and Mediterranean Gulls, scanning produced 4 Black-Throated Divers and a Great Northern Diver and eventually the 4 4 Black-Necked Grebes towards Hamm Beach.

Red-Necked Grebe - Sandsfoot Castle

Our next planned stop was Blashford Lakes for the gull roost but with the first 3 targets in the bag by 10:30am, we decided we had time to try for the barred warbler at Titchfield Haven, which Lewis has not yet seen. It would b tight, and it was worsened by traffic, however we managed to arrive at Titchfield Haven only 30 minutes later than expected. In the poorer weather, there were far fewer people present and the bird wasn't on show. After a bit of a tense wait, the Barred Warbler flew to its favoured feeding spot where gave much better views than it did yesterday.

Barred Warbler - Titchfield Haven

We arrived at Blashford Lakes by 2:15. On arrival the 1w Caspian Gull was on show but distant along with several Yellow-Legged Gulls (the final count came to no fewer than 4 individuals including the now annual dark-billed bird). Eventually the Ring-Billed Gull was picked out but it was again very distant. Also of note were 2 Egyptian Geese, 3 Goldeneye, 2 Goosander and singles of Kingfisher and Green Sandpiper.

Ring-Billed Gull - Blashford Lakes

Caspian Gull - Blashford Lakes

Yellow-Legged Gull - Blashford Lakes

The returning dark-billed individual.

All-in-all a good day with every target bird seen plus a bonus in the form of the barred warbler.