I decided to Stay in Portsmouth for the weekend to save on the travel expenses, but unfortunately due to lack of wheels I had nowhere to go!! So two friends of mine Slash and Copsey kindly asked me if i wanted to do a couple of hours birding on their local patch, so i jumped at the chance.
Although the weather was terrible we saw a break and decided to give it a go. We heard reports of a Glossy Ibis in the Area and decided to go take a look, after a walk through a churchyard we came across this lone chap in a field happily feeding, we didn't want to get to close as to flush it, so just admired it from a distance, my second Ibis, a bird which should be in Africa for Winter.
After seeing the Ibis we heard of the local Celeb a "Spotted Redshank" so decided to go take a look, I have never seen one so good Spot for me. We arrived after a short wet walk through some fields, and there it was just happily feeding some 12 feet away, it showed it's winter coat, different from it's breeding colours, when that becomes a beautiful black.
The weather Closed in so we headed back to the safe confines of Copsey's car, a great mornings birding.
We did see Long Tail tits, Reed Buntings, Brent geese, Green Shank, the list goes on. Also great to see a large number of windfall chiffs from over the water.
Thanks to Slash and Steve C for a good morning!!
