With Kev @kev07713 away with his wife Karen in Cornwall and on the Scillies, I looked around for what to do on Saturday. There had been a rosy starling down on Keyhaven Marshes, Lymington earlier on Friday but it had flown at a little after 2.00pm. There wasn't anything else within reach - all major bird activity looked to be on pelagic trips or from distant seawatch sites.
Instead I opted to make my way down to RSPB Otmoor to see the leucistic juvenile marsh harriers reported through July - late to the party as usual - there are two individuals likely exhibiting the genetic condition called leucism. This causes a reduction in pigmentation, resulting in birds that have much paler feathers than normal but retain some colour, unlike albinos which have no pigmentation at all. One of the harriers is noticeably larger than the other, indicating they may be of different sexes. Additionally, an adult male with unusually pale plumage has been observed on the reserve. However, a source on X suggests that this colouration might result from inadequate or unbalanced nutrition and/or stress during the growth of juvenile feathers. This could have led to the feathers becoming fragile and resulting in pale and translucent patterns. I'd seen photos and it was worth connecting with them.
I arrived at 6.15am to find I was the first on site; it might be the first time this has happened as even when in the dark previously, someone got there first. I made my way to and along the bridle path, hearing and then seeing a couple of green woodpeckers but seeing little else. A roe deer welcomed me as I reached the kissing gate to make my way down to 1st Screen, soon prancing further out into Greenaways.
I could see another birder with a camera back down the track, but I decided to push on to 1st Screen and set up and wait for the marsh harriers. It wasn't long before I was joined by Paul Mallarini and we exchanged sightings - a bit sparse. There wasn't anything of note on the water either. We could see a couple of distant marsh harriers but not those I was waiting for, and though they flew briefly, much of the time they just roosted on top of far bushes. While there was little of note, the species count ticked along. A kingfisher landed directly in front of Paul but as we raised cameras it spooked and departed out across the water. Eventually Paul and I decided to leave - he headed back to the car park while I continued down to 2nd Screen. As we left Peter Barker and Co arrived and we exchanged pleasantries before I set off listening to and seeing a number of sedge warblers, green woodpeckers, and chiffchaff along the way.
I got to 2nd Screen and immediately saw all three egrets (little, great white and cattle) roosting on exposed mud; they were all preening and in the company of a grey heron.
The great white egret is a larger and less common species than the little egret, with an all-white plumage, long black legs, and a yellow bill. It has been increasing in numbers in recent years, with breeding first recorded in the early 2000s, they are now seen regularly.
The cattle egret is the rarest of the three egret species - smaller than the great white and more robust than the little egret. It has a stockier build, with a short, thick neck, and during the breeding season, they display distinctive orange-buff plumes on their head, chest, and back. There were c.12 individuals which I think was about half the number reported the previous day. The first recorded breeding of cattle egrets in the UK occurred in 2008 in Somerset. This marked a significant expansion of the species into the UK, reflecting broader changes in bird distribution patterns across Europe, likely influenced by climate change.
In front and to the right were handfuls of snipe and a single common sandpiper; the ringed plover from the previous day had departed. I heard water rails call but there were no views. Within ten minutes Peter and his posse arrived, joining the search for anything in the fringes, but nothing was found.
I started back to the 1st Screen and soon after I got there one of the leucistic juveniles appeared across the reedbed on the far hedge line. It dropped and perched on a bush, just before the second appeared. For a minute or so both birds took to the air but never close enough for me to get them in the same frame. At this distance and with a grey sky I was only ever going to get record shots - they were beautiful. After another few minutes they dropped from view.
I walked back to the bridleway and met another birder - we walked and chatted, occasionally splitting but eventually joining up again. I could see one of the leucistic marsh harriers across at the back of Greenaways, but it didn't venture into range and soon dropped from view.
We reached the car park and I decided that I'd take a stroll down Long Meadow and see if I could find any common redstarts. I saw a single willow warbler and a few chiffchaff, but no redstarts. I started back and spotted a couple of birds dropping into a bush in the meadow and through bins could see they were lesser whitethroats. They left into the hedgerow along the edge of the meadow, and I walked on.
Looking back I saw another four lesser whitethroats drop in and then two blackcap, a spotted flycatcher, and a bullfinch - quite a haul for a single bush! Soon they all departed and were replaced by two more lesser whitethroats, likely the pair from earlier.
The weather was not improving, and a very light drizzle started to fall - not enough to make you wet. I checked out all the bushes again on my return down the meadow but added nothing more, failing to locate a redstart.
A decent species count for the morning at 52.
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