I met Ian at the car park at Lower Pennington, and we set off across the old tip with the visibility not too bad. We walked around the Fishtail, where there were a few duck about, but nothing like the numbers I was expecting. Of the duck present the Pintail were busy displaying to any female that came close.
We walked down to Keyhaven Lagoon to check to see if there were any Spoonbill about, but aside from a lot of Shelduck there was little about. Coming back to Fishtail Ian found a group of five Ruff amongst Lapwing at the back of the lagoon, hidden within the vegetation, and in the gloom it was not possible to get any photograph.
As we made our way to Butts, all the duck and waders went up across Pennington Marsh, and out of the mist a male Marsh Harrier flew along the sea wall, over the reed bed and across Butts Bay heading towards Keyhaven. A really grainy shot in the gloom
The sea was very quiet, every so often Oystercatcher pairs would fly past calling annoyingly.
Heading towards Oxey Marsh, there were more Oystercatchers on the sea wall, and with them a single Curlew.
Rather than walking around the sea wall we headed across Oxey Marsh towards Moses Dock. The gorse bushes were showing quite a few yellow flowers, probably as a result of the the warm weather over the last few days. Greenfinches could be heard calling and even singing from the top of the bushes.
Skylarks could be heard singing above us, but were invisible due to the mist or fog starting to roll back in. Looking towards Lymington Marina from Moses Dock you can normally see the yacht masts, but this morning there was just a white out as the mist increased.
In the ditch alongside the dock a drake wigeon swam close to the bank, the dark water contrasting the pastel colours of the duck
On the other side of the dock there was a distant Spotted Redshank feeding in its normal high speed manner, while a Greenshank was a little closer to us.
Here the Greenshank feeding alongside a Common Redshank
There were a lot of Black-headed Gulls about, and many were now sporting the start of their "black" or more accurately "brown" hoods.
A Little Egret stood close to the shore in a very misty Normandy Marsh
While offshore a single Great-crested Grebe swam past
The mist was quite thick now, making photography very difficult. I have to thank the enhancement applications of Photoshop for clarity in the next series of photographs, believe me it was not as clear as they show at all.
An Avocet, one of seven on Normandy Marsh
We had seen a Cormorant in the middle of the lagoon struggling with a large eel. It spent most of the time trying to swallow it under water, but eventually appeared with just a small part of the tail hanging out of the beak, and a large swelling in the gullet.
Finally the tail disappeared, but the eel was still in the gullet, producing some rather ugly and what looked like very uncomfortable shapes.
Assuming that was it, and the eel was gone I decided to scan around the water in search of the Scaup that has been present for some time. On an island were a pair of Great Black-backed gulls, and I commented on this to Ian as I finally found the Scaup, distantly in the mist.
Some more splashing in the water brought my attention back to the Cormorant once again. The eel had reappeared, obviously determined not to be swallowed the eel was trying to get away, and the Cormorant was struggling to restrain it
The ongoing saga then attracted the two gulls, and slowly they moved towards the Cormorant, calling to each other as they went. One of the gulls then flew closer.
And then both swam up to the Cormorant who continued to struggle with the eel, frantically trying to get the head in position to attempt another swallow before the gulls moved in.
Then one of the gulls took to the air and dive bombed the cormorant that immediately dived
A struggle then ensued and the gull managed to pull the eel away from the Cormorant, but never actually getting away with it
But the Cormorant managed to pull it away once again, and maybe due to the attack by the gull swallowed it.
However the swallow continued to be a problem, the eel refusing to go down, and the gulls stayed close to see if there was another possibility on launching an attack
With a series of stretches where almost all the body of the Cormorant extended out of the water the eel was swallowed. The Cormorant turned to face the gulls as if to say, "see its gone!" and with this the gulls turned away and returned to their island
The Scaup was swimming towards the east end of the lagoon so we decided to walk around in the hope we could get a better view. I was able to pick it up once again. This is what it looked like without any enhancement.
It wasn't much better once I had finished playing in Photoshop
We decided to turn back, and as we reached the corner of the sea wall we stopped to watch a group of small passerines. These were mainly Linnets and Meadow Pipit, but a whistle alerted us to a Kingfisher that was zipping low over the water of the ditch.
The ditch turns 90 degrees at the corner, and watching the Kingfisher flying at speed I was amazed at how it negotiated the turn without either slowing, or moving out to open up the bend. It just negotiated a right angle turn just like that. It must have involved a slight bank, and maybe a turn of the tail, but it was an incredible feat of flying to watch.
The kingfisher, which was a female then played with us as it perched on the fence, and then moved on as we approached. Finally I decided to take a record shot from distance before it flew off and away from us
Passing Eight Acre Pond the Tufted Ducks that had been at the back of the pond earlier had swam closer.
The mist was now lifting, and there were even signs of breaks in the cloud with shards of light spill down on to the Solent, despite the increased visibility there was nothing to see out on the water. We walked around the sea wall in hope, but it was on the marsh where we found the birds. This Teal tucked away.
A Black-tailed Godwit
A little Egret that didn't want to muddy or get its yellow feet wet!
And a beautiful drake Shoveler
Out on the sea the excitement rose a little when I picked up some distant movement, but this turned out to be a group of six Brent Geese
But I did pick up some distant duck that turned out to be Eider. They settled on the water, and with the scope I could make out at least one drake
The bank of the lagoon on Pennington Marsh casts a very dark shadow on the water, and the duck like to settle in the shelter of the bank providing a nice black background, and reflections in the water. Here a pair of Wigeon
A drake on its own
Another drake Shoveler.
Off shore the shingle spit was appearing as the tide dropped. On the exposed areas were Brent Geese several Grey Plovers and the Black-headed Gulls. A flock of about 50 Knot flew in and started to feed at the edge of the water. This is also a good place to find Bar-tailed Godwit. Scanning I found a likely suspect, the legs were shorter but as it was feeding in the water it was not certain. Then it raised the wings and there was no wing bar, confirming my instincts.
A little further along towards the Jetty a Curlew sat on one of the exposed rocks just off the Jetty
At Fishtail there was a large flock of Brent Geese, but no sign of the Ruff we had seen earlier, hopefully they had moved on to the flooded area close to the car park. As we walked towards Keyhaven all the duck and waders on the saltmarsh went up in panic. This was not a Lapwing induced panic, but the real thing. Scanning the skies Ian eventually picked up the culprit, a Peregrine, and then another appeared.
They flew up and then down low across the saltmarsh just weaving through the panicked birds, at one point one Peregrine was pursuing at pace one of the waders, then the other bird came through flashing past the first bird low over the marsh, but then pulled up and doubled back. The first bird by now had settled on the shingle, while the second bird was found sitting on the stick or pipe in the middle of the marsh. They were different sized birds indicating that they were probably male and female birds
One more check of Keyhaven Lagoon found many more Shelduck at the back of the lagoon, but no sign of any Spoonbill. We turned back, crossing the Old Tip to view the flooded areas, the Skylarks were still singing but now the could be seen
The flooded area was covered with duck, huge numbers of Pintail on the far side, but also Shoveler, Teal and Wigeon. There was a large flock of Golden Plover at the back of the marsh, while the Black-tailed Godwits were all grouped together amongst the Lapwing
Ian found the Ruff, although we could only see three, with one male standing out with its white head and breast
Time to move on, and we were heading into the forest, Acres Down to be precise. Arriving the car park was full, and after a little bit of maneuvering we were able to find somewhere to park. Setting off we heard a woodpecker drumming, but after a search, and some doubt, a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew off through the trees.
Walking down the main path we came across some "zitting" calls around us. At first I though a Coal Tit, but then Ian picked up a Hawfinch, and it became clear. However just as I raised the camera it flew off, and was joined by another flying over the tops of the trees and out of sight.
We walked down to Highland Water with little else about. The area itself though was going through a huge transformation, with lots of trees cleared out, and stacks of logs lining the main path. At the dead tree we turned to follow the path through the Holmhill Inclosure. We paused to stop and listen, and every so often above the squeals of children and the barks of distant dogs we could pick out bird song. We were hoping for Firecrest, but without any luck. However we did come across a group of Coal Tits. They were squabbling over territory, and what seemed like a leaf falling down in front of turned out to be a pair of Coal Tits joined together in quite a viscous fight
The fight continued on the ground, and they were not aware how close we were
The fight though was quickly over, with them going their own ways.
A little further on and a strange song stopped us. Once again Ian picked out the owner, although at the time we didn't associate it with the song, a smart male Crossbill at the top of a pine tree.
The male was then joined by a female just below it and then they both flew off calling.
Our route then took us up the hill towards Acres Down, and as we came out at the top Ian once again stopped and pointed out some Hawfinch. This time I did get the chance to take some photos, although it was a little obscured by the branches
I tried to get a better view but the shy birds were off. We thought there was just two, but later when checking the photos there was another making three below the bird above.
We hoped for Woodlark but with no luck. Back in the car park two Hawfinch flew over, so we decided to walk around the area once again. We finally came across a flock of birds including Blue, Great and Marsh Tits, the Marsh Tits being very vocal around us.
As well as the Tits there were a couple of Treecreepers and a Nuthatch, but that was it for the day. Once again not the best of weather for photography, but in terms of birds seen it was a very good day. I would like though a day of sunshine soon please.
No comments:
Post a Comment