Wednesday, February 02, 2005

A plastic goose chase - 89 species in total

Well, the title says it all really! 68km to the north-west of Winchester this afternoon in search of a Greylag flock and a reported White-fronted Goose near Hurstbourne Priors - no sign of either. So I pedalled on to Andover, visiting Anton Lakes LNR for the first time. It truly is a contender for Most Horrid Urban Nature Reserve 2005, and had no interesting birds. The other lakes to the west in the Anton valley were even less appetizing, but did have a (totally plastic) Greylag - with a white frontal blaze. Utterly birdless (apart from a few Tufted Ducks and a Little Egret at Longstock, and a Blackcap in a hedge on the outskirts of Winchester), I returned home..... Not even a Yellowhammer or a Red-legged Partridge to show for my efforts!