JANUARY 2020 UPDATE
How have our intrepid photographers fared in their first month?
In Hampshire the New Year got off to a rather damp and gloomy start, with decent photographic weather very limited. The BPOTY team has been making the most of these windows of good weather and venturing out to capture images on the rare occasions there has been a glimpse of sun.
By the standards of a typical winter, temperatures have been mild and so we haven’t seen much evidence of coldweather-related influxes of winter thrushes – Fieldfares and Redwings; those that we have encountered have been skittish and unsettled. In Hampshire, as elsewhere, our garden birds are also influenced by the weather and most of the team notice a fairly obvious and inverse correlation between the numbers and variety visiting feeders and temperature.
So, as yet our various garden lists are rather uninspiring and comprise mainly the tally of usual suspects – tits, Robin, Dunnock, Blackbird, those sorts of species. However, Rob has managed to notch up a variety of species including Rook, Stock Dove and Bullfinch right outside his kitchen window, while Paul has had several Marsh Tits visiting feeders on a regular basis.
For many birders and photographers the Hampshire coast is at its most rewarding in the winter months, and early 2020 looks as good as ever – for birds, if not for photographic weather. Brent Geese are present in their thousands, and are remarkably tame in some places. Other winter wildfowl – Wigeon, Teal, Pintail and Shoveler – are rather thinly spread, but if we get a cold snap then that could all change and numbers could build up.
There are a scattering of unusual species to add to the list – five Cattle Egrets, a Bewick’s Swan and even a Great Bustard among their number. Here and there
Short-eared Owls add a little spice to the mix; two hunting individuals rounded off a day-out nicely in the first week of January. A large Starling murmuration was another of this month’s highlights.
At the time of writing, the team have photographed 69 species during January – a great start considering the challenging weather.
Visit the BPOTY website and follow the link to the Hampshire 150 page to see some more of the images taken by the team as the challenge progresses.