Totton Sunday 6th jan

[Joe stockwell]

I wish as i sit here as i type i could say i had a brilliant day... but i didn't the hide s....es were frozen over and appart from a sandpiper popping in for a very brief visit that was it for the hides.
walking around the reserve rewarded me with 100+ teal and thousands of wigeon plus a pochard, a few waders all of the usual redshank, sandpipers, 1000+lapwings and a cerlew ever present are the little grebes and they seem to vary in size too, plus a bonus green woodpecker popped up for a photo, around 15 little egrets seen plus neumerous comarants and herrons but that is all really.
i hope it perks up a bit towards the end of the month
Joe

[AndyB]

Hi Joe, I guess that is sometimes the lot of winter time birding. However, 15 Little Egrest sounds pretty nice. I remember twitching my first in the early 80s at Titchfield when they were still a national spring vagrant. Me and a friend had to walk a few miles from the nearest bus stop and then climb a tree, hold your binoculars with one hand whilst not letting go of the tree with the other to get a shakey look at the egret through some reeds. It was a mega Hants bird at the time! Titchfield had some strict entrance policy back then I seem to remember. Not sure if it's any better now.

[Brian S]

Hi Joe

Andy and I used to bird together, so I too remember the good old days of Totton, Eling and Dibden Bay (when it was good, with Twite, etc.). I found five Little Egrets togther on Beaulieu Mill Pond in the mid 1980s, 1986 I think, little did I know what was to come.

Brian S

[Joe stockwell]

The nice thing is that 15 little egrets is a regular sometimes in the spring you can expect more its great!