24th February - Titchfield Haven Canal Path and Reserve, Hampshire

The weekend saw some welcome weather on the Saturday and today was also forecast to be spring like.  It wa a bit misty as I drove south, I was meeting Ian at Bridge Street car Park and we were going to have some time along the northern part of the Canal Path.  First though we checked the paddock area to the north if Bridge Street.  It was still flooded in places and the canal had burst its bank by the church and water was pouring in.  There wasn't any bird life of note though so we turned back and headed south toward the Bridge Street Floods.

Here there were good numbers of Pintail, more than I can recall at this site and plenty of Wigeon and Teal.  In amongst the Black-tailed Godwits we could only find two of the Glossy Ibis.  There were many noisy Black-headed Gulls on the water, but scanning through them we couldn't find the Little Gull that has been around over the last few days.

From Bridge Street we walked on, a Chiffchaff was singing, the first this year and plenty of Great Tits and Blue Tits in the willows.  Cetti's Warblers were also trying out their explosive song, but were not really too concerned about territory yet.

At last it was possible to see water on the Posbrook Floods after the drought of last year.

One of two Red Kite drifted overhead, coming quite close.

A pair bred close by last year and there has been a pair around with what might be one of last year's young.

There wasn't any sign of the Tufted Ducks and the Ferruginous Duck seen over the weekend, they seem to go missing so quickly.  There were more Black-headed GUlls, but no LIttle Gull.  The duck present were Gadwall Teal, Shoveler and Wigeon.

A little further along from the floods a male Kestrel was hunting the flooded meadow.

A Marsh Harrier drifted north and out of sight and above us Skylark were in full song.  A small flock of Fieldfare were disturbed from the trees on the east side, by the river and flew over us towards Posbrook Farm.

Plenty of Reed Bunting were in song, this one was close to the path.

We walked as far as the thatched cottage, about halfway, then turned back.  The light was better for seeing.  A Song Thrush showed well from the trees as it sang.

At Posbrook once again there were two Green Woodpecker calling and we came across quite a few Nuthatch calling and singing from the tops of the trees.

A male Brimstone flew past us, the first butterfly of the year and like all Brimstone at this time of year it didn't stop.  There was the classic view looking north along the Canal Path of the oak trees at Posbrook.

A Peacock butterfly was flushed as we approached the car park and then flew away over the trees.  Back in the car park it was time for lunch and then we headed off to the reserve.  We started off on the east side where it was quite busy.  A Tawny Owl called from the adjacent gardens and there was a male Blackcap in the bushes.

Of significance was at least two pairs of Firecrest close to the Suffern hide turn.

Just before the Walkway Pond there was another Peacock and this time it settled on a branch for us.  Another first for the year, the first butterfly photograph

We walked to the Knight's Bank hide.  the water levels on the meadow had dropped a lot and as a result there was not the numbers of birds that had been present a week ago.  Canada Geese and a few Greylag and Egyptian were out on the meadow.  A single Curlew and a few Oystercatcher, plus the numerous Lapwing that seemed to constantly fly over the reserve.  

Marsh Harrier and Buzzard hunted over the reeds and the Kestrel pair were around the nest box.  The male showing in the tree to the right hand side of the hide.

We could see plenty of birds over the scrape so we decided to walk around to the west side and the Meon Shore Hide.  Along the way there was a large roost of Sanderling on the Rainbow Bar.

The water levels on the scrape was also falling, the central causeway had appeared so there was now a north and south scrape once again.  One island was visible and a few of the posts and letters were being used as vantage point by the gulls.  Wigeon, Black-tailed Godwits and Lapwing could be seen on the east and west banks.

On the water were Black-headed, Common and Mediterranean Gulls while there was plenty of duck, mostly Shoveler, Gadwall, Mallard and Teal, with a few Shelduck.  It was the Teal that were closest to the hide, looking splendid in the afternoon sunshine.

With the water still high it was nice to see a Little Grebe in front of the hide.

Now almost in full breeding plumage.

The drake shoveler were still fighting over the females.  They make a distinctive noise when they take off to fly a short distance to intercept a female or chase off another male.

Shoveler are normally seen filter feeding with their large bill and sometimes they will upend to feed, but today we observed some unusual behaviour, something I haven't seen before, they were diving like a Long-tailed Duck, the wings used to pull them under water.  Here a short video showing this.

The Lapwing were conducting their acrobatic displays over the scrape.

There was a perch in front of the hide that was just showing and this drake Teal used it to settle on and to preen.

A nice close up of the beautiful colours in the head.

The Marsh Harriers were staying well to the back of the scrapes, if they came any closer they would receive a Lapwing escort.  At the moment there isn't the incentive to come any closer, but that will soon change.

The Little Grebe was diving just under the hide and came up with what looks like a small Eel or Elver.  The head was smashed on to the surface of the the water until eventually the grebe was able to swallow it.

Some more video of the Little Grebe dispatching the small eel.

And with that the day came to an end.  Wonderful to have the warm sunshine, great to hear the birds singing and it is always nice to get February butterflies.

21st February - Elmley NNR, Kent

A weekend away in Kent and the chance to visit Elmley once more.  After overnight rain it was clearer as we drove into Kent, a drop off in Snodland and then the drive onto Sheppey and down the entrance track.  There was a lot more water around the reserve than on my last visit in December and as a result there were a lot of geese, duck and waders out on the marsh.

Where there are high numbers of birds then there is likely to be predators and we could see Marsh Harriers distantly on the marsh and on ethe fence posts several Buzzards.

The sun was trying to come out and as we drove the last part of the track two Brown Hare crossed the track and raced into the field.  After a short spa they then jogged across the field.

We learnt that there are leverets about and these two were probably females.

A last look back at the car before disappearing into the longer grass.

From the car park we headed down past the Old School where there wasn't any sign of the Little Owl.  Walking to the reed bed there were three Marsh Harriers quartering the reeds, here a male and a female.

They continued to fly over the reed bed, but frustratingly at some distance.

We walked to the Swale and with the tide low there was a gathering of Black-tailed Godwits on the mud.

A little further along was a small group pf Avocet.

We walked the sea wall path and were able to hear Bearded Tit, but frustratingly we were not able to see them.

At the end of the path you get a good view of the fields and marsh that is distant from the entrance track.  Another Brown Hare sat on the top of the ridge.

Marsh Harriers came low over the field probably looking for any sign of the leverets.  Large flocks of Wigeon were moving over the marsh.

Walking back a Marsh Harrier appeared to be interested in a particular area of the reeds, it wasn't clear what was there though.

The tide was much higher and the godwits were pushed closer together.

On the open water amongst the reeds were three Pochard, a male and two females.

A Reed Bunting on the path leading back to the car park.

And passing the Old School the sun had brought the Little Owl out on the bricks.

After lunch we headed east towards the hides.  There were huge flocks of duck, mostly Wigeon flushed from the marsh and heading out on to the Swale.

Four Gadwall flew past quite close and out on the marsh there were lots of Curlew and Lapwing.

We walked towards the Southfleet hide where there was a large group of Brent Geese, as we came close they took to the air, surprisingly silently.

They had been scarce so far but along the track there were now several Stonechat, the males looking smart right now.

The walk back was into the wind and we were left with the image of the Brent Geese flocks against the windmills.

The flocks of geese and duck was impressive once again, but it was a quiet day once again, apparently there are eight Short-eared Owls in the area around the car park, but they are more nocturnal now.  Driving out of the reserve there were more Marsh Harriers and large flocks of Lapwing and Godwits.  At the gate the two Kestrels were on duty, but by then we had packed the camera gear away.