Just got back from a few days staying at a mates in Portsmouth. Saturday Weather was a bit wet and windy but we managed to see a few Med Gulls(400 pairs nesting there!!!),Little Terns,Sandwich Terns,and Common Terns.A quick look at Farlington Marshes in the rain produced a couple of Little Egrets but no sign of any Cettis or Bearded Tits in the appalling weather conditions.We decided to abandon birding for the day in favour of the nearby beer festival where every pint sold contributed 10p to charity. Sunday A rather late start due to our very generous contribution to charity the previous day we decide to concentrate on a local woodland just outside Portsmouth.We were rewarded with 5+ Nightingales,excellent views of Honey Buzzard,several Hobbies,Peregrine,Osprey and Turtle Dove plus all the common warblers.We also saw at least 20 Slow Worms,a couple of sunbathing Common Lizards and a few Grizzled Skipper butterflies Monday We manage a reasonable early start and headed off to the New Forest.First stop was a stretch of woodland that held several pairs of Wood Warblers,and good views were had of a couple of birds.Next stop was a raptor watchpoint where we had at least 3 Goshawk,some prolonged views and even a couple of birds perched up in a nearby conifer.A couple of flight views of Hawfinch as well.Next stop was an area of mainly conifers where we saw several Firecrests.Then on to an area of gorse where we located a family party of Dartford Warblers.Finally we tried another area of woodland where we had several Redstarts,Tree Pipits,Marsh Tit and another Firecrest.Cuckoos were every we stopped.In the evening we went to a clearfell area of forest again only a couple of miles out of Portsmouth.A Hobby was hunting as we got there,and as dusk descended we had at least 5 churring Nightjars,including good views of a couple of males before the light went.We also saw Roe and Fallow deer during the day. Tuesday On the way home 23 Red Kites from the coach on the M40.
