A full on weekend in Hampshire trying to better my previous personal best of 89 species in a day. Logistics meant that we were running Friday night to Saturday evening, (so cheating a bit !), and in the end we manged 87.. two short! Some really common birds let us down too, including Blackcap, Nuthatch, Green Woodpecker, House Martin and Turnstone! The last three species to add to the list were Stonechat, House Sparrow and Collared Dove!

Reading that list, you might be thinking, "how did you miss those, and what DID you see?!"

Well, Friday evening, in the north of Hampshire, 4 Stone Curlews showed pretty well albeit distantly, and Yellowhammers, Grey Partridge, Skylarks, and Whitethroats all gave a nice evening chorus. No Corn Buntings though which was a pity. Hope they aren't declining even further. This particular area was a pretty safe bet for them in previous years.

Saturday Morning we headed into the Forest and done really well with great views of Wood Warbler, Cuckoo, Tree Pipit, Redstart, and Garden Warbler, plus flyover views of Crossbill and Hawfinch and a heard Firecrest.

Keyhaven, just after high tide let us down for a really good total, with many waders failing to show on the day including Greenshank, CURLEW! and the recent Spotted Redshank. It was at Fishtail Lagoon that we had our quality bird of the day.. a very distant Wader leapt out as something out of the ordinary. I eventually got a prolonged view of it after collapsing my tripod to get below the wind, and thought Pectoral Sandpiper. The size was right, the breast streaking ended abruptly even at the extremely long range, but surely it couldn't be. Not in Spring!! At this point I bottled it completely thinking, "there's no way I'm putting that out to the news wires! but there is nothing else it can be! It's a Pectoral Sandpiper! Oh hell!!" It flew briefly, and I even got the black bar down the centre of the tail to confirm further, before losing it.

I contemplated going round the lagoon to a couple of other birders to discuss, then thought I'd just check my mobile for the day's birdguides sightings. Sure enough.. a Pectoral Sandpiper was already reported new in that morning. Quite ironic that I've now "found" the rarest bird on my UK self found list TWICE in 6 months!

I've read that this bird was initially down as a Temminck's Stint by the Original finder. People might think, "WHAT!?", but believe me, when it's just you, the bird, and a decision to make, it ain't easy. I got the ID right, but was seriously bottling going public!

Rest of the afternoon was fairly tame with a steady stream of new birds including great views of a Lesser Whitethroat, before Bieulieu Road let us down completely, and we ended up feasting on Steak in a pub instead of looking for Nightingales!

So, better luck at getting into the 90s next year!