Back from the sunshine and the warmth and back on the A32 heading towards the south coast and Titchfield Haven. It was a cold start after clear skies overnight. It required a hat, coat and gloves when I arrived. A report had come in that the Yellow-browed Warbler seen the day before was still calling in the area of Hammond's Bridge on the canal path. I headed straight there, ignoring the sign that said the path was closed. There was a group of Stonechats fly catching and chasing each other in the bushes at the start of the footpath.
Away From Four Marks
Monday 14 October 2024
13th October - Titchfield Haven, Hampshire
Saturday 12 October 2024
4th - 11th October - San Lorenzo, Sicily, Italy
Back in June, Helen and I had a week in Sicily, the trip then had two objectives, one to visit the eastern side of Sicily, an island of Italy we had both always wanted to visit, the other to check out the area we would be staying with the extended family later in the year. Fast forward and Friday the 4th October saw us setting off at an unholy hour to arrive at Gatwick around 5.00 am where we met the family and flew to Catania. The morning was not without its struggles but we finally arrived at our beautiful Villa in a little urbanisation close to the fishing village of Marzamemi and about 25 minutes from the city of Noto, both of which we visited in June.
I didn't have my camera but was able to capture some of the wildlife around the garden of the villa with my phone camera and record some of the interesting bird sighting in and around the villa.
The days are much shorter than they were in June and the sun being lower in the sky meant that the sunsets were going to be quite spectacular and this was certainly the case on our first evening.
The following morning the sun was rising at just around 7.00am, and very quickly things warmed up and the lizards came out on the wall in the sunshine. These are Italian Wall Lizards, there is a sub-species known as the Sicilian Wall Lizard.
There were plenty of butterflies about, mostly blues flitting around the flowers. But the first good picture I could get was of a Small Copper.
Late afternoon, Yellow Wagtail were calling and flying around the vineyard, while Swallows were moving through heading south. The Stone Curlew were wailing once again after sunset and later in the evening there was a Caspian Tern calling overhead, curtesy of the Merlin app.
Here a 360 degree video clip of the garden and villa accompanied by the end of a "Certain Romance" by the Arctic Monkeys
The following morning the sun rise was challenging the sunset for the best colour.
Thursday 3 October 2024
2nd October - Titchfield Haven NNR, Hampshire
I was back at Titchfield Haven today, following the same pattern as the day before. However walking from the visitor centre to the West gate I ignored the likelihood of anything on the beach behind the sailing club.
What did catch my eye was a Grey Heron, statue like, in a small inlet in the reed bed, waiting for something to pass by that could be food.
So from the Meon Shore I walked around to the Spurgin Hide. There were quite a few people in there when I arrived but I managed to find a place on the left hand side. Looking out across the mere the view was much the same as the day before. I settled in for the long run and hoped secretly that the Kingfishers would show today.
It was quiet to start with and the only thing of interest were the Jays flying to and fro, this one without an acorn.
There was then a long spell when pretty much nothing happened, the harriers didn't show and the Kingfishers kept away. One bit of amusement was this Grey Heron that dropped into the mere and decided to have a bath.
Then the Kingfisher returned and probably another different bird, this one having breast feathers that appear to be abraded and dirty, not the immaculate orange seen in the others.