gryllosblog   Gryllo's (aka Ian Lewis') blog. All things to do with travel, wildlife especially birds, history, architecture and anything else that interests me.

I had an excellent day in Hampshire today chasing new birds for my year list.

I started at Beaulieu Road Station in the New Forest where after a bit of searching I found the Great Grey Shrike, a scarce but regular winter visitor to the UK. I continued onto Eling on Southampton Water, the site of one of the last tidal mills, where a Black-throated Diver was seen.

I was pleased to hear that a Shore Lark had been seen yesterday on Hayling Island, I very much wanted to see this bird, as with our car break down in Norfolk we failed to see the species there. On arrival I met a local birder who had just located the bird on a shingle island, it was too distant for photos but I got great views through the scope.

Next, I continued on to nearby Warblington where a Cattle Egret showed well with a group of Littles before I braved the traffic of Portsmouth where a second winter Iceland Gull was feeding with Herring and Great Black-backs in the region known as Old Portsmouth.

I concluded the trip with a quick visit to Blashford Lakes, where a beautiful sunset ended a rewarding day.

The Beaulieu Road area of the New Forest is a wonderful mixture of bogs, heath and forest

A distant Great Grey Shrike

The Eling tidal mill

The Black-throated Diver was in the shadow of Southampton docks.

Little Egret (left) and Cattle egret (right) at Warblington

The Spinnaker Tower was adjacent to my next quarry. There has been an influx of Iceland Gulls to the northern and western isles this winter but few have made it as far south as the south coast.

Second winter Iceland Gull. Iceland Gulls are daintier with more rounded heads and finer bills than the similar Glaucous Gull.

Great Black-backed Gull

A Blashford sunset