6th October - Pennington and Blashford lakes, Hampshire

What is it about Saturday's?  It seems that they always become rainy days sandwiched between clear blue skies on a Friday and a Sunday.  It was this thought going through my head as I drove along the M27 in mist, along with why driver's insist on putting their fog lights on at the slightest sign of reduced visibility.  To be truthful I was probably more annoyed by the glaring red lights than the weather!.  Coming through Lymington the visibility improved a little and as I pulled into the car park at Lower Pennington Lane it wasn't too bad, although it was not going to be a day for sharp photographic images, or so we thought.

The forecast was for rain to come along mid morning, and we had planned to search the Pennington marshes first in hopefully dry weather, before heading up to the lakes at Blashford.  Getting out of the car, it was the first time this autumn I really felt the cold, it was definitely a morning for hat and gloves.  It was very gloomy as we walked towards the Jetty from the car park, Robins sang from the bushes by the path, and on Pennington Marsh there was a large herd of cattle.  We have had very little rain over the last months, and it will take quite a bit to fill up the marshes to the conditions we would expect for the winter.

The tide was well up, and in the mist everything was still and calm.  There was the odd whistle drifting across the marsh, signaling the presence of Wigeon, their numbers beginning to build slowly.  On the jetty Lagoon there were a few waders amongst some feeding Teal, we scanned through a small group of Dunlin for the recently seen Temminck's Stint, but could find anything.  A small group of Black-tailed Godwits were roosting and preening at the back of the lagoon, their reflections in the still shallow water.

As we walked around towards Fishtail there was the sharp sound of gun fire from across the Saltmarsh at Keyhaven.  As we reached Fishtail we could see through the mist a couple of Wildfowlers and their dog walking across the marsh.

It seems totally bizarre to me that here we are in what is often stated as one of the most important nature reserves along the south coast, and wildfowlers are allowed to not only shoot the birds, but walk across the marsh disturbing everything as they go.  It is the same at Farlington, apparently there is an agreement that allows shooting from agreed spots.  It is totally frustrating.

The presence of the wildfowlers was probably contributing to the lack of birds on the lagoons, and for those that were there their flighty behaviour.  The Dunlin present would frequently fly around the lagoon, settling for a short while, then setting off again.

A pair of Spotted Redshank were feeding in the deeper water of Fishtail.  The image enhanced due to the mist.

As I said early it was not a day for the perfect images

We walked on to check Keyhaven lagoon, where Ian picked out a Spoonbill feeding in the open water.

An immature bird, it fed in the gloom before flying off in the direction of Efford Lake.

Checking the weather radar on my phone it was clear that we would not have much longer before the rains came, so we decided against walking to Keyhaven, but turned back to check the lagoons once again.  I was really hoping to find the Temminck's Stint, it had not been reported in the week, but was around last weekend when it had been very mobile around the lagoons, so there was a chance it could still be about.

Goldfinches were all along the side of the sea wall, perching on the thistle and teasel heads, there were quite a few juvenile birds, lacking the red face markings, but a bit of patience turned up an adult in classic Goldfinch pose.

The tide was still rising, and you could see the water flowing around the saltmarsh as it flooded up to the sea wall.  We stopped to watch a Little Egret that we could only consider was adopting a different hunting technique.  Normally Little Egrets will walk around in the water using there feet to stir up the bottom, or literally chasing their prey around before stabbing at it.  This Egret though was stationary in the water, with the head parallel to the water, its bill just touching the surface.

Around the bill we could see bubbles, and we wondered if this caused by the egret, or just the water catching the tip of the bill.  Either way we suspected that this was the egret using the conditions to attract small fish close in.  Every so often it would slowly open the beak, but remained perfectly still.

As we walked alongside Butts Lagoon a Water Rail flew from the reeds, and quickly across the mud before disappearing into the reeds once again.  On Jetty Lagoon, the godwits were still there, along with Lapwing and a number of Dunlin.  However on a small island in the middle of the lagoon there was a very small wader, and as I stopped to get a better view I could see it was the Temminck's Stint.  As record shot of the bird in the gloom. 

Similar in size to the Little Stint, but with shorter legs and longer wings the Temminck's Stint has a distinctive horizontal appearance.  What can't be seen in these photographs is the yellowish legs and white outer tail feathers which help to pick it out from the Little Stint in flight.  For a stint it comes across as rather drab, with mainly brown upper parts, a sharply defined breast and white under parts.  It gets its name from the Dutch ornithologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck

This is only the second one I have seen, my first being a single bird on the old lagoons at East Tilbury back in the late 1980's, so understandably I was please to finally catch up with one here in Hampshire.  Here you can get a size comparison with an associating Dunlin.

I spent some time watching the stint feeding around the lagoon, moving about amongst the Dunlin, and a few Lapwing that flew in.

It was now raining, the time just after 9.00, trust the rain to come early on a Saturday.  We decided to head back to the cars, and set off to our next location, a warm hide at Blashford Lakes, or so we thought!

As we walked towards the Tern Hide at Blashford the rain was beginning to pick up, along with a north westerly wind.  As I opened the door to the hide I didn't give this a thought, but on raising the hide window it became clear that it wasn't going to be the enjoyable experience we had expected.  The wind was blowing the rain into the hide, and very quickly the shelf and bench was soaked, meaning we had to step back from the window or peer through a rain splattered window.

However despite the rain we did manage to find the juvenile Wood Sandpiper that has been about all week, it was tucked away in a small channel to the right of the hide, it would appear and then disappear as it patrolled the edge of the water.  Finally it decided to stop, in view but well out of reach of the camera, I managed to capture some video through the scope, the Wood Sandpiper being joined by one or two friends.

The gloom shown in the video was exactly what we looking into, accentuated by the rain on the optics which had to be wiped frequently.

Having found the sandpiper, the next quarry was a Ferruginous Duck which had been seen from this hide all week.  A regular visitor to the lakes here it is usually seen on Kingfisher Lake where it requires a step ladder to look over the fence and blinds that have been erected.  This week though it has shown well on Ibsley Water, favouring the sticks that can be seen in front of the Tern Hide, but apparently not today.  A continual scan of all the Tufted Duck flocks failed to find it.  Our attention then turned to a Green Sandpiper to the left of the hide, that for some reason remained invisible to some of the hide's occupants.

During a period when the rain seemed to ease we decided to walk around to the Goosander Hide.  As we passed the cars I debated whether to leave the camera behind, in fact I set off with out, and then returned to get it, as it turned out this was a wise thing to do, I don't know how I would have felt with out the camera as the events unfolded in the Goosander hide.

Having left Ian to carry on with out me, as I walked up to the hide I noticed Black-headed Gulls flying close above the hide.  As I opened the door a strong smell or stench hit me.  The water level was low, and the first thing that struck me was the number of Cormorants in front of the hide in the water, then looking around the bank there were many Grey Herons, both adult and immature birds, while below the hide several Little Egrets while the Black-headed Gulls flew around in groups calling.

Settling in I noticed a Great White Egret to my right, but I soon became engrossed in the activity in the water in front of me.  Cormorants were in amongst the water weed, and coming up with fish almost every dive.

The majority of the fish being caught appeared to be Perch, there dark green stripes on the back, red pectoral fins, and spiny dorsal fin standing out.

But there were other plainer looking fish such as maybe Bream or Carp being caught.  This is a Roach I think, there is just a glimpse of the red pectoral fins

Every time a Cormorant surfaced with a fish it was attacked by the Black-headed Gulls.

Or more Cormorants looking for an easy meal

It could only be described as a feeding frenzy, similar to that you would see around a bait ball in the ocean, every dive would result in a cormorant surfacing with a fish, the size varying from the easy to swallow to large, whereby gulps of water were required to help it down.

We watched one Cormorant struggling with what seemed like a large Carp.  It would attempt to turn the fish so it would be head first on the bill, but as it did the fish would obviously try to escape.  The result of the twisting and turning of the head by the cormorant was that it didn't see another cormorant surface along side it and consequently it stole the Carp, and managed to swallow it quickly.

Having been concentrating on the cormorants we hadn't noticed the Great White Egret appear on the shore to the right of the hide.  This was an unringed bird, so not the regular "Walter" that has been present here for several years.  It stood quite stately amongst the Little Egrets and the carnage that was taking place out in the water.

But it didn't take long for the Great Egret to get in on the act, a powerful stab into the water, and a fish.

Another Perch along with a mouthful of weed to compliment the meal.

Like the Cormorants the fish was shook to stun it, and then moved around to position it head first for an easy swallow

Not a simple task

Then its head back and swallow, and a return to the stately mode.

White birds against a dark background is always a challenge, but if you get the exposure right it can provide a lovely background.

With so many birds present taking advantage of the feast available it becomes clear on the pecking order.  The Little Egrets are aware of the Great Egret, and will move out of the way, but the Great Egret would also give way to the Grey Herons, standing upright when one would fly in close to it.

And making sure it didn't invade the Heron's space while hunting close by.

The Grey Herons lined the far side of the bay like Grizzly Bears staking out a favourable fishing spot on an Alaskan river, standing still and waiting, but other herons could be seen flying back and forth, even in the water either standing or swimming.  We watched one attempting to land in the water, allowing its feet to go in, but then pulling out and flying off.  One or two took up residence on the wooden platforms amongst some roosting Cormorants.  From here they would peer down into the water, and you had to wonder what would happen should they strike out at a fish, but we never saw it.  Another stood in a comical "bow legged" stance.

Along the shore line below the hide were several Little Egrets and close by them were Black-headed Gulls.  Every so often a Little Egret would catch a fish in the shallow water, and the gulls would move in trying to get the egret to drop it, which they seemed to do in the face of the gull attack.  This resulted in some interesting interaction, the egret using is dagger like beak and flapping its wings to ward off the marauding gulls.

The wind catching the Egrets plumes and increasing it's visible size.

It wasn't only the gulls that an egret would have to face up to, other Little Egrets were not afraid to try and snatch an easy meal as well.

The Great Egret and Herons were much more reserved in their behaviour, they had time to stand and wait, no fighting or running around for them.

And patience paid off for the Great Egret, another large fish, this time it looks like a Rudd.

What was continually amazing us was the incredible number of fish being caught, and why there were so many in this area.  Every time you looked at a Cormorant it had a fish, or was diving.  Out in the open water we could see at least thirty Great-crested Grebes, but they were not catching anyway near the volume of fish that seemed to be collecting in the shallow water in front of the hide. 

Apparently there was a blue-green algae bloom a couple of weeks ago, and that would account for the smell, but would this have any influence on the fish?  Had the north westerly wind moved the fish into the bay and now they were trapped?  It didn't seem possible as the frenzy was taking place on the previous day, and carried on into Sunday.

Whatever the reason I had never seen anything like it here before, and it had turned what was looking like a disappointing day for photography into a good one.  I was glad that I had returned for my camera.

Something different arrived, a Green Sandpiper feeding on the edge of the water in amongst the Little Egrets and the Black-headed Gulls

At times it seemed like the frenzy was easing, but then it would pick up once again.  Attention turned to once again to the Cormorants.  The adult birds were fishing in the deeper water, while the immature birds were now close in, swimming and diving through the vegetation, sometimes appearing as just the head through the weed.

Cormorants have a bad reputation with fishermen and fish farmers, and are often the topic of a cull.  The accusation is that they can clear out a pond or lake of fish very quickly.  I have often wondered about this, and how true it could be, but after witnessing the feeding frenzy here I can understand the problems they can cause.  Every dive produced a fish, and not everyone was eaten.  In some cases they would seem to get bored of trying to turn the fish around, or just lost their appetite, in the process of catching the fish it was either killed by spearing or by shaking, and then just discarded and left.

Here an unfortunate Roach goes through some throws, it looks dead, and was discarded later.

Fish were being thrown about, and just left in the water.  The Black-headed Gulls would peck at the large ones, but not with any interest, and it was if the Egrets and Herons needed the fish to move to be of interest, ignoring the dead ones on the shore.

It was if the Cormorants were conditioned to go after anything that moved or resembled a fish.  This one swimming off with a feather looks to bear out this hypothesis.

With our attention focused on the Cormorants we didn't notice the appearance of another Great Egret.  "Walter" the long staying ringed egret appeared next to the other Great Egret, his rings clearly on show.

Whether due to age or just the fact that this is his territory he seemed to be more superior than the other egret, who moved close to the trees and away from him.

Eventually leaving all together and flying off to the other side of the bay.  "Walter" stayed and fished alongside the Little Egrets.

And on his own.

The number of Cormorants was now decreasing, and the activity was waning a little bit.  There was though time for one more surprise.  A female Mallard below us snatched a fish, and started to head out into the water when she became attacked buy the Black-headed Gulls.  Now I can only assume the Mallard found the fish on the bank, and the gulls had no interest in it, but once she had taken it she was of interest.  She tried to swim away but the gulls were persistent, she then flew which was definitely the wrong thing to do, and the gulls relentless harrying forced her to drop the fish, which the gulls then ignored!

The rain had now stopped, and away to the west there were bright skies, an indication of the better weather to come for Sunday!  We decided we had experienced enough of the frenzy, and decided to check out some of the other hides before it was time to head home.  First stop was outside the visitor centre where a Coal Tit was taking what seed was left in a very empty feeder.

It was then joined by an equally annoyed Nuthatch.

It was relatively quiet in the Woodland Hide, once again the feeders not being that full, and as yet the winter visitors that take advantage yet to arrive.  It was though a good chance to catch up with a Great Tit.

Looking good in newly acquired plumage.

We walked down to the south hide on Ivy Lake, but there was nothing about.  We were still thinking about the Ferruginous Duck so decided to give the Tern Hide one more chance.  As we walked in there was a Peregrine sitting close to where we had seen the Wood Sandpiper earlier.  Not perfect, but better than the recent opportunities to photograph Peregrine.

Then it flew to a post close by, still looking out across the lake

Then it was off, heading at first towards the Goosander Hide where all the gulls scattered, then we were able to watch it fly across the lake at speed, and buzzing a few duck, but without any real intent before turning back, and flying past us in the direction of Ivy Lake.

Which is the direction we headed too.  The rain was returning and it was time to head off.  What had started as a day of few photographic opportunities turned into an extremely fascinating and interesting afternoon in which there were many.  I can't recall ever experiencing anything like that which we had witnessed today, and it had made the day worthwhile.