Heading west the skies were clearer, but there was a stiff breeze, which hadn't been there yesterday, and could have an influence on what I hoped to see today. As I kitted up in the car park on Lower Pennington Lane I could hear geese, mostly Canada, but there were also calls from the Brent Geese.
As I walked across the old tip the Canada Geese flew over, heading out across the marshes towards the Solent, and the gun shots of wildfowlers out on the marsh rang out, not a good omen.
At the Jetty the rising sun was sending golden light across the sea, and reflecting in the water as it lapped against the concrete wall of the jetty.
There were a few Turnstone on the jetty, and I walked down to get eye level with them, as I did so I disturbed even more that were feeding in the sea weed washed up on the small beach.
I picked up one Turnstone running towards me.
I turned left and walked towards Oxey Marsh. The lagoons were completely empty, with a only a few Redshank, that almost immediately flew away as I passed. There were no duck at all, probably as a result of the presence of the shooters.
After a while I decided to turn back, mostly in the hope that there would be something about on Butts or Fishtail. Walking into the very strong south westerly wind was difficult, and it was not made any better by the lack of birds on the lagoons as I passed. The only thing of interest was a lovely view of Hurst Castle, and the Needles on the western tip of the Isle of Wight.
A single Redshank bobbed while it stood in the water that was lit nicely by the early morning light.
Walking by Butts Lagoon I was surprised by a scream from the reeds close to the sea wall, and a Marsh Harrier came up from the edge of the water. It did not have anything in its talons, but maybe I had just saved the life of a Water Rail. The harrier headed across the lagoon, and by the time I had the camera ready it was already a distance away.
The sun was now staying out more having broken through the clouds, and the early morning light at this time of year turns the reeds a golden brown. Here looking across Butts Lagoon from the corner of Butts Bay
Approaching Fishtail, I dropped down from the sea wall to get out of the wind. A few Dunlin fed around the edge of the island in the middle, but there was little else about.
A pair of Stonechat appeared in the bramble on the side of the sea wall.
A family party of Brent Geese flew into Fishtail, then flew off. There were two juveniles present.
Walking on to Keyhaven Marsh there was a little bit more about. Shelduck were present, and some Mallard close to the wall. The duck were beginning to move now, and overhaed Wigeon flew, and heading towards Efford Lake.
Looking across the Solent, the clouds were setting up a dramatic sea scape as the sun was hidden behind the cloud.
Scanning the marsh, looking into the sun I picked out a Peregrine sitting on a post in the middle.
And at the back of the lagoon there were nine Avocet sitting in the water amongst the Shelduck.
I stood watching the duck fly over, but never coming down on to the lagoons. As I walked away the Marsh Harrier appeared again, and flew out over the marsh being chased by a Crow. As I walked up to Fishtail once again, two Sparrowhawks flew up, headed across the lagoon and proceeded to skim along the hedges at the back until they disappeared from view.
I headed back to the car park, but before leaving checked Efford Lake where there were large flocks of duck, they probably considering the lake as a better safe haven than the marsh this morning.
The next destination was to be Shatterford Bottom in the New Forest. A Great Grey Shrike had been present through the week, but hadn't been seen yesterday. They do though have a habit of disappearing in what is a huge area of heath, so I set off from the car park with an optimistic hope, stopping every so often to scan the heath in the hope of seeing a white shape at the top of a tree or bush.
Nothing to be seen here.
Reaching the dyke, I decided to walk along the line of dead silver birch trees. A bird at the top of a tree had me interested, but it turned out to be just a Greenfinch.
The last time I had seen a shrike here Ian and I had to walk on the anthills to avoid getting wet in the bog. It was about the same time of year, but this year it has been so dry, and there was no bog, and I was able to walk quite easily along the line of birches. This was all good, but there was no sign of an shrike, and I had to be content with a single Snipe flushed from the ditch.
I headed towards a patch of trees, and beyond that I could see more birches, I crossed a small stream, and looked out across a pond at the birches, but other than a single crow, there were no birds in the birches.
But in the pines around me were a pair of inquisitive Goldcrests.
I made my way back to the main path, and spent some more time scanning across the heath and bog, once again with no luck, and only views of the distant trees which were beginning to turn into their autumnal colours.
After a quick check of the area on the other side of the railway line I made my way back to the car park. I walked around the pine trees in the hope of finding a Crossbill, but again drew a blank. I had spent two hours here, and all that I had to show for it was a Snipe, a Greenfinch, two Goldcrests and a couple of distant Buzzards. It was time to move on.
Farlington was to be the next destination, here there had been a Short-eared Owl on Friday. I was hopeful, but only if the wind died down. I could only hope.
As I walked towards the Lake the wind was still very strong. I sank don on the leeward side of the sea wall and checked the area of cut reeds in the south east corner of the lake. Jack Snipe had been seen here, and I thought I saw one, but it was gone as quickly as I picked up on it. A Common Snipe was present as well, and every time a Snipe appeared it was the Common Snipe. I stared at the mud in the hope, but nothing else appeared so I had to be content with a female Marsh Harrier over the back of the reeds and the duck on the water.
A lovely male Shoveler
A drake Teal.
And a pair of superb Pintail.
I climbed up on to the sea wall to see if height would be able to produce a better view of the cut reed area, but it didn't and the strong wind was buffeting the tripod and making viewing difficult.
On the other side of the wall the tide was just beginning to rise. A wader was making its way along one of the channels parallel with the path, and as it came closer i could see it was a Spotted Redshank.
They always look a lot more elegant than their commoner cousins.
It was time to walk down to Point Field. Ever optimistic, but the wind was still quite strong. As I walked along the sea wall a Kestrel was hunting over the long grass.
The Kestrel entertained the people standing waiting hopefully for the owl to show, but as Time wore on, and the wind did not abate, the chances became less and less. Of more interest was the scene behind us of the Portsmouth sky line and the setting sun.
In the end I decided to call it a day, and headed back to the car. As I passed the lake I stopped to look at the duck feeding in the channels on the estuary. Pintails were busy dabbling, the algae being caught by the low sunlight.
The drakes seemed to be gathering together, not in pairs which probably comes later in the winter.
And so ended what felt like a disappointing day, but when I reflect back, a day in which you see five birds of prey, Avocet, and some quality duck can't b all that bad?
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