As it's been fairly quiet at Moor Green Lakes of late, a couple of trips further afield were the order of the day on the 12th June to Keyhaven/Pennington, Hampshire and 19th June to The Ridgeway at Streatley, Berkshire. The weather at Keyhaven/Pennington was cloudy with light rain with a moderate north wind. There was a good variety of birds present and of note were twenty EIDER, of which fifteen were males in various stages of moult. All three of the more usual Terns were seen, COMMON, LITTLE and SANDWICH and five MEDITERRANEAN GULL, of which two were splendid looking adults with three juveniles. I was surprised to see so many LINNETS there, they seemed to be everywhere, adults and juveniles, obviously a very successful breeding season for them. The water level at the back of Fishtail lagoon was fairly high which would account for the total lack of waders there, which was disappointing but to be expected, after the amount of rain that the area has had over the last few weeks. On the 19th, I made my first visit to The Ridgeway, which apparently is Britain’s oldest road, about five thousand years or so and is said to be eighty seven miles long, of which I walked about four miles. There is some wonderful panoramic scenery to be seen from the track, of rolling downs and farmland as far as the eye could see. Luckily the weather was sunny and warm with good visibility. During the walk I saw at least thirteen YELLOWHAMMERS, the area being an ideal habitat for them, as well as RED KITE, RED LEGGED PARTRIDGE, PHEASANT and KESTREL and farm buildings were being used by SWALLOWS and HOUSE MARTINS. On the 26th a quick trip to try and see a TURTLE DOVE at Bramshill Plantation, Hampshire, which had been reported the day before, revealed nothing. If it was still there it wasn't showing itself, ah well next time perhaps.
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