4th April - Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

It was drizzling as we drove around to Titchfield Haven, the rain easing as we arrived but the wind remained extremely blustery.  There was space along Cliff Road and we walked back to the visitor centre.  From there we walked the boardwalk along the east side up to the Knight's Bank hide.

From the hide the Kestrels were performing, first the male was hunting and managed to catch a vole which it flew past the hide showing off.  Then the female appeared close to the nest box.

Then the male joined her, but the male sat on the top of the box with the vole.

Moved to the nest box opening.

Then the female flew to the perch, at this point it wasn't sure where the male was.

Then she flew off with the vole and took it to the fence post alongside the gate.

She then attracted the attention of five Magpies and at one point she took off to mob the magpies, but without the vole. it wasn't clear if she had cached it.  However as we walked back later Ian saw a dead vole on a branch which was then taken by a Magpie.

There are four Exmoor ponies on the meadow and two of them were chasing each other around the meadow and grappling with each other.

We decided to walk around to the west side.  The tide was high and we stopped at the sailing club spit, the water was very high and there were Turnstone and Sanderling negotiating the high water, trying to feed in the surf.  We had to stop for some photographs.

They were being splashed by the surf and would shake the water off.

As the surf broke the camera created some interesting shapes, it looks like it might be attacked by a sea slug!

Looks her like they are walking through snow.

Something found in amongst the shingle.

And didn't give it up when the surf arrived.

We pulled ourselves away from the Sanderling and walked to the Meon Shore hide.  The water levels in the bay were still high as the River Meon still continues to run high, but on the south scrape they have fallen quiet a bit.  First though was the number of Black-headed Gulls, the numbers seemed higher than many previous years.

There were Avocet around the scrape and several Black-tailed Godwits, there was also quite a few battles taking place.  These godwits can be quite aggressive and they have large and long bills.

Were they targeting the eyes?  They came close here.

The attacker was forcing the other down by jumping on its back.

Pushing the head down into the water by clasping the back of the neck.

The fight wasn't to the death and they broke up and parted.  A calmer image was that of this drake teal snoozing on the small island in the front of the hide.

From the Meon Shore we walked around to the Pumfrett Hide and the Mediterranean Gulls were covering the cause way.  A surprise was a pair of Wigeon by the causeway.

There were plenty of Mediterranean Gulls on the causeway, but it seems that these are sub adults, not yet ready to breed.  The black in the primary tips indicating that these may be second winter or third summer birds.

Roosting Shelduck on the causeway close to the hide offered an opportunity to get some close up portraits of what is a spectacular duck.

Avocet were on both scrapes and would move between the two.

This individual was bathing and preening close to the hide.

A nice wing flap and jump out of the water.

From the Pumfrett we walked to the Spurgin and sat and waited for the Marsh Harriers to appear.  A male spent some time over the Frying Pan, but it was this female that came the closest drifting in the strong breeze which meant that it almost hung in front of us.

It flew as far as the north scrape and then returned, meeting up with a Buzzard that it didn't appear to like sharing the area with.

After flying around the tree it started to get closer dangling the talons which the Buzzard definitely did not appreciate.

The Buzzard eventually flew off and the Marsh Harrier disappeared.  Things quietened down once again and I decided it was time to go home.  Not a bad day, shame about the gloom this morning but we did manage to see the plover and to get the Yellow-legged Gull.  This afdternoon some interesting action on both sides of the reserve

4th April - Warsash, Hampshire

An American Golden Plover had been found on the Hamble Estuary just east of the village of Warsash.  It had been around for a few days and this weekend was the first opportunity to go and try and find it it.  As I was driving to Warsash positive news came in the bird had been seen early morning.  However the weather was awful with very low cloud and drizzle. 

I parked and waited for Ian who was arrived a few minutes after me.  From the car park we took the footpath that runs along the east side of the Hamble and goes through the area known as Bunny Meadows, a notable winter roost site for waders.

It was grey and the wind had picked up and was blowing quite strongly from the west.  There wasn't any sign of the plover to start with, there were plenty of Black-tailed Godwits feeding on the edge of the tide and a few Redshank, but no sign of any plovers, apparently it has been associating with Grey Plover.

We walked as far as the Chinese Bridge, a domed bridge over an inlet into the river.  Walking back I stopped for a pair of breeding plumage Black-tailed Godwits.

Walking back as far as the first bridge there was a birder viewing the mud with a scope and as we got closer we could see four plovers out on the mud close to a large mound, behind which they could have been as we walked past at the beginning.

There were three Grey Plovers and the American Golden Plover with them.

The light was poor and the plover was distant but it was possible to make out the distinctive features.  The overall tone of the bird was greyish with a prominent dark caop and a white stripe above the eye.  Overall the bird is slightly smaller than the Golden Plover with longer legs, but bigger than the other "Golden Plover" the Pacific Golden Plover, which I had been able to watch closely recently in Sri Lanka.  The wing tips extend beyond the tail, a clear feature.

There is a dark patch in front of the eye with a pale spot to the base of the bill.

We watched as it moved further away almost behind the mound where it sat with a Grey Plover and preened.

We waited to see if it would move once again, but it seemed set in the area with the Grey Plover.  We decided to walk around to the Warsash harbour where there has been an adult Yellow-legged Gull recently.  Th etide was coming in and there were more Godwits feeding around the mud.  We walked to the furthest pier where Ian found two large gulls perched on the pir railings.  A closer look the closest gull was a little darker grey on the mantle, but was also sporting a pair of smart yellow legs.

Both adult birds the question has to be was the Yellow-legged associating with the Herring Gull, if so and there were young this would be an interesting identification problem in the area.

The Herring Gull flew off, leaving the Yellow-legged Gull, showing off those smart legs.

Encouraged by the find of the gull we decided to head back for the plover, the sun was out and the light so much better.  On the foreshore were several Brent Geese, time now to enjoy them before they head back to Siberia later this month.

Walking towards the spot where the plover had been there were several Black-tailed Godwits in the shallow water, as we passed they took off giving some nice flight shots all the birds in their smart breeding plumage.

We were then greeted with the news that the plover had come closer and we could see that the weather was changing with the mist returning putting us back in the gloom once more,  The American Golden Plover was with the three Grey Plover, maybe a little closer than earlier.

There have only been eight records of American Golden Plover in Hampshire, with the last being at Farlington Marshes in June 2021, an adult in summer plumage.

This was the best image I could get in the gloom.

Not a life or UK tick, but a county tick which is always nice.  The drizzle was picking up and the plover moved further away once more.  As a result we decided to move on, hopefully being able to return on another day soon when the light is better.