LRP nailed but an untickable one too....

Finally saw LRP (125) on Ibsley water today, plus a Ruff, and two Med Gulls flew over Snails Lane, but the biggest frustration was a very early Hobby over the Lane too - except I saw it while driving back home from the HOS Members' Day in Winchester. And yes, I did get out and check....mega early, but not the only one in Hampshire today.

Stake-out

A friend was due round for dinner at 7:30pm yesterday evening so it probably wasn't the most sensible thing on my part to belt out in the car at 7 to check if two wader species reported at Micklemere (22 miles return!) were still present... but I did it anyway. Birds-per-minute in a 7 minute(!) visit were top drawer - not only were the waders happily settled down for the night but a spanking adult/near-adult Iceland Gull materialised in front of me as the site's pre-roost dispersed! And I was only 8 minutes late for dinner.

Spurred on by this good fortune, I pedaled back out there at 6am this morning - the Black-tailed Godwit (118, and my first in Breckland, hence not annual) was still asleep when I arrived 50 minutes later, and the 3 Ruff (119) soon fell into place too. No large gulls (Iceland already OMN-ML anyway, so no worries there) but a Blackcap (120) singing nearby completed a very satisfying haul.

Percentage of target to date - 77%

Distance cycled - 235.2mls / 378.5km

Latest addition - Blackcap (120) 31 Mar

Dusk ride to a secret location....

Ah, Google Earth rocks. What bird species could possibly be found in an arable field with two massive cleared squares in it like this? Well, not yet, alas, but this will be somewhere to return to in a couple of weeks. I seem to recall reading that Wessex "Gruffaloes" generally return about 10 days later than the East Anglian birds....

BUT - the ride (returning at 2100!) was far from fruitless. Yellowhammer (121) and Red-legged Partridge (122) were predictable enough, but far more exciting were over 200 Golden Plovers (123 - including several in full sum. plum.) and a spectacular (by Hampshire standards) 24 Corn Buntings (124). So I draw level with Moran on % of the annual year list.....