7th November - Hill Head and Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

It was a cold start but the forecast mist wasn't too bad.  There was a haze on the sea when I arrived at Cliff Road, but the high tide was still and the visibility not too bad.  I scanned the sea and found two Brent Geese, but along side them was a smaller bird.  It lacked the white you would normally see in a Great Crested Grebe and wasn't as big as an Eider.  I took a few record shots that were not conclusive.

I could see it was a grebe and immediately thought it could be the Slavonian Grebe that had been present a few days earlier and put the report out.  I walked down to the sea wall and the grebe was a little closer and I doubted my identification.  An upright head with an upturned beak and from behind I could see white patches either side of the neck.  I changed my report to a Black-necked Grebe.

It was heading west so I dashed around the harbour to the sea wall by the Sailing Club spit where ic ould get a better view, not a stunning shot but it definitely was a Black-necked Grebe.

This was the second I have seen here at Hill Head.  

Also on the water were several Great Crested Grebes, this one close in.

I walked back to the Cabin where I was meeting Ian.  The tide was high and the Turnstone were looking for roosting sites.  The low sun and early morning mist gave a tinted glow to the silhouettes of the birds on the harbour groynes.

I walked up to the Brownwich Cliffs but there was little about, a good sized flock of Stock Dove in the field and a Buzzard sat on a straw bale in the middle of the field. Walking back the clouds and stillness of the Solent made for an impressive seascape.

From the cliffs we made our way to the Meon Shore hide, where for once there was a Black-tailed Godwit roosting on the Snipe island.

Reed movement on the right hand side of the hide revealed a pair of Bearded Tits, the male showing well as it emerged from the reeds.

The Bearded Tits were to put on quite a show later on and they will be given their own post as I took quite a few photographs of these photogenic birds.  The pair flew across in front of the hide to the reeds on th eleft hand side,

But it wasn't all about the Bearded Tits there was plenty going on around the scrape, which was looking splendid in the now lovely autumn sunshine.

High tide sees the Oystercatchers coming on to the islands on the scrape and they gather together calling all the time.

A Lapwing around the island in front of the hide.

The scrape was flushed by a male Sparrowhawk that flew to the predator fence to sit, preen and watch before flying off towards the West Hide.  It was back later and seen chasing the godwits which surely were a little too big for him.

The Black-tailed Godwit was replaced by a Redshank in almost the same place.

Two drake Pintail flew in the one still in partial eclipse and this one that looks in full breeding plumage.

While the Snipe were dropping in to join the others on Snipe island.

Also on the move were Black-tailed Godwit.

And Lapwing.

The Water Pipit that was seen on Thursday was showing in front of the Spurgin hide so we decided to walk up there and see if we could find it.  On arrival it had disappeared but did return and after a short wait it appeared.

The Water Pipit is a large and stocky pipit and similar to the more common meadow and rock pipits. They are slightly larger than a meadow pipit, have a paler colouration and are much less streaky, though they can be more difficult to separate from rock pipits.

The Water Pipit then flew off with a Grey Wagtail and a Pied Wagtail.  In the break a Cetti's Warbler showed in the reeds to the north side of the hide, showing well as it caught insects close to the water.

The Water Pipit returned and this time came closer to the hide.  At one point it caught a Common Darter and spent some time eating it and then after that, standing still as it digested the insect.

After about twenty minutes it started to move about once again.

Water pipits have a greyish-brown back and pale underparts (whiter than a rock pipit's), with the dark streaking mostly on the breast. They usually have a distinctively bold, pale stripe above the eye

It doesn't breed in the UK, but is a winter visitor, mainly to southern and eastern England. It breeds in the Alps and other mountains of central and southern Europe.

The water pipit was once considered to be a subspecies of rock pipit, but was given full species status in 1986.

Photographing Water Pipits has not been easy over the years, they are almost always distant and difficult to approach.  Today it showed really well and in some lovely autumn sunshine.

Walking over the fallen reed stems.

And some lovely reflections in the still water of the mere.

I left the Water Pipit after it flew off once again and walked back to the Meon Shore hide where the skies were still looking impressive, this time in black and white.

A third bird roosting on Snipe Island, this time a Snipe.

And a Snipe feeding at the shore in front of the hide.

Walking back to the car the view across the Haven looked impressive in the autumn sunshine.

A great day with the Bearded Tit s yet to come.

5th November - Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

After Tuesday's uninspiring walk down the Canal Path I decided today to head straight to Hill Head.  There had also been a report of a Red-throated Diver off the Sailing Club and I was hoping I could catch up with it.  

Needless to say there wasn't any sign of the diver, only Great Crested Grebes, but there was some action off the beach spit with the wader roost being spooked, probably by the high tide.  This meant the Turnstone, Sanderling and Ringed Plover would fly out across the water and then look to find a safe place to settle back down.  The light wasn't good, it was a gloomy overcast day and photographs once again were a challenge.

There are 49 Sanderling in this picture, and this represents about half of the flock so probably good numbers in excess of 100 in the roost.

My attention then went from the waders to a Black-headed Gull and Common Gull, the Common Gull was carrying something that the Black-headed Gull was interested in.  As the Common Gull dropped onto the water I could see what it was carrying, a Rat!

It was big for the Common Gull, so I am not show how the Black-headed Gull thought it was going to deal with it, but it tried.

I can't believe that the Common Gull killed the Rat, I can only assume that the rat was already dead and the gull picked it up.  It kept dropping the rat in the water and ten plunging its head in to the water to retrieve it.  It managed to turn the rat head first, but wasn't able to swallow it and eventually left it to fall to the bottom.

The water was quite clam and still and it was just after high tide and the beach was becoming exposed.  Sanderling, Ringed Plover and a few Turnstones were now on the beach while out on the sea were four Common Scoter, these had been reported earlier and were four females.

In to the Meon Shore hide there were a lot of Teal on the scrape.  Also of interest were two Greenshank at roost in the far north east corner of the scrape and a single Avocet feeding on the right hand side.  Black-tailed Godwits were coming in from the sea and flying around the scrape.

Stan picked up two Meadow Pipits on the east bank of the scrape and as we looked at these another slightly larger pipit was down close to the water.  Stan called it as a Water Pipit, I had a look through his scope and could see quite clearly that it was.  But it then decided to fly away and we lost it.  Pipits were flying around the causeway area and we decided to try from the Pumfrett hide to look for it.

There wasn't any sign of any Pipits from the hide, but we settled in and a male Pintail dropped on to the North Scrape.  This one was still showing signs of the eclipse plumage.

A female Marsh Harrier sat in one of the bushes alongside the north side of the north scrape.

While one of three Wigeon present was alongside the causeway.

The Marsh Harrier then moved across the scrape and down towards the river.  In doing so it flushed all of the North Scrape and some of the South, sending this Snipe up too.

The only other option open to us was that maybe the Water Pipit was on the islands from the Spurgin hide.  As we approached there were two calling Chiffchaffs and two Great Spotted Woodpeckers on the dead trees, this one staying after the other flew off.

There were no Pipits from the hide, Meadow or Water, but once again the Grey Wagtail flew in and perched on the perch in front of the hide.

At the moment the Spurgin hide is probably the best place to get good views of the Marsh Harriers, hopefully with the completion of the nee Suffern hide that will provide some too.  The female Marsh Harrier was hawking around the bushes and reeds and was clearly interested in something in the reeds.

This female is seen now quite regularly.

We wanted to go to the Brownwich Cliffs, but decided before we di to pop in to the Meon Shore hide once again.  The Shoveler were a little restless moving from the scrape out to the river bay on the other side of the reeds.  They look quite special in flight with the lovely sky blue speculum.

We were just about to leave when the Water Rail decided to come out of the reeds on the right hand side and fly across in front of the hide.  It was still gloomy so I was shooting with a very high ISO so everything looks quite grainy.

The tide was low now and there was a lot of the beach exposed.  Looking out from the first view point on Brownwich Cliffs the clouds looked quite impressive above a still calm sea.

We quickly picked up the Common Scoter, there was a group of seven very distant and viewed through a scope.  These included two adult drakes.  But closer were four females, making eleven out on the water.

There was a group of twenty two Eider and they were drifting east, as we watched them Stan picked up on a flock of twenty Common Scoter distant fly east towards Cowes where they finally settled on the water.

Walking back the Eider had drifted quickly and as I reached the Sailing Club spit they were quite close off shore.  Here all twenty two birds, only four female amongst the males that were displaying and calling.

Some closer views of the Eider.

Head bobbing and wing flapping from the males.

Not the best of days for photography, but some quality birds once again.