15th August - Shipton Bellinger and Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

The heatwave all week finally broke on Friday, temperatures five days running above 34 degrees, the first time since 1961.  The result of all this was a complete scuppering of I an and my plans for this Saturday.  All indications were for it to be cooler but with sunny intervals and maybe a shower.  The reality though was low cloud and mist and drizzle.  We stuck at it though, arriving at the car park near to the Village Centre in Shipton Bellinger, it was at least dry and it wasn't cold, but looking around the hills and downs the mist and cloud lingered.  We were here for butterflies of course, in particular the Brown Hairstreak and Wall Brown.  We walked the bye way to the open area disturbing one or two Meadow Browns but nothing else.

We kept going in hope and managed to flush the Small Heath photographed above, but that was it.  Raven flew over, Chiffchaff and Bullfinch called from the bushes but nothing else.  The weather didn't look like changing, it was probably set for the day.  Reluctantly we decided to give up.  This means that I will more than likely miss out on both this year.  We were also going to go from here to Broughton Down for Silver-spotted Skipper, that too was not going to happen, the weather there much worse.  So we decided on going to Baddesley Common, but as we headed south the rain started and got progressively worse the further we drove. 

 

Arriving at the footpaths to the common and Emer Bog it was raining, not heavy but persistent drizzle.  After eating lunch we decided this too was a waste of time so opted for Hill Head and Titchfield Haven, surely that would be quiet on a day like this, how wrong we were.  Driving on to the sea wall all the parking spaces were taken and there were hundreds of people on the beach and walking up and down the sea wall.  We both managed to find a parking place and as I waited for Ian a Sandwich Tern flew past, my second photograph of the day, crazy.

We then crossed the road to observe the water.  A juvenile and adult Great Crested Grebe, were close in the juvenile constantly begging to the adult for food

The juvenile would dive with the adult, coming up alongside it to continue begging.  The adult would also stay down longer and you could see the youngster searching for it.

We walked to the beach behind the sailing club where there terns on the exposed shingle despite the number of people around.  A Ringed Plover flew in and joined a few Redshank feeding on the shingle.  Of shore both Common and Sandwich Terns could be heard calling as they passed by.

A report of a Pied Flycatcher on the east side of the Haven reserve had us interested but we had to be able to get into the reserve as it was operating a booking only policy.  However after a phone call we were cleared to go but had to return to the cars to get a face mask to be able to enter the shop and if we wanted to use the hides.

Two Common Sandpipers flew over calling, coming from the reserve and then swinging back to head up the Meon river

As I waited for Ian at my car a Sandwich Tern came close to the sea wall giving some great views.

We walked the boardwalk to the spot where the flycatcher had been seen, in the scrub around the area of the Walkway pond.  Disappointingly there was very little noise in the area, no bird calls accept the occasional Robin.  We stood staring into the scrub and willow trees but nothing was giving.  A Chiffchaff called and on walking to the Knights Bank Hide a group of Blackcap and a Whitethroat were feeding on Elderberries.  Young Sparrowhawk called from amongst the scrub in the marsh and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over.

With time slipping away we decided to make our way around to the west side to check the scrape from the Meon Shore Hide.  Stopping on the bridge a Little Grebe was on the water close to the reeds.

A dive a quick shake.

The adult Great Crested Grebe had managed to shake off the attention of the juvenile to enjoy some time to preen.

Off shore a Common Tern had been sat on the buoy all the time we had been here.

The water level was now a lot lower than when we arrived.  We had heard the calls of Water Rail, and now with the water low we stopped to check the edge of the reeds and there it was winding its way around the reed stems.

It makes it into the corner and then turned back and disappeared once again into the reeds

The hide was empty so we were able to relax a little and check the scrape in front of us.  The water level was high but there was still a good amount of activity, we counted over 30 Black-tailed Godwits, and at the last count 26 Avocet.  Common terns, both adult and juveniles could be seen on the islands and posts in the scrape.

Teal, Mallard and Gadwall were all present and there were several juvenile Black-headed Gulls, one still being fed by the adult.  A Common Sandpiper, probably one of the two we had seen earlier was present at the back of the scrape, but then flew to the island in front of the hide.

Hidden at first at the back of the island, it finally managed to negotiate its way around a Moorhen and then make its way to the front of the island.

Some of the best photographic opportunities I have had with a Common Sandpiper.

Probably the best moment of the day!  We decided to call it a day after the Sandpiper flew off, a very disappointing day down to the weather and sightings and probably means I will not get the number of butterflies I hoped for this year.  Besides all that it was good to have the time to talk and laugh something that is important these days.

8th August - Keyhaven - Lymington Reserve and Fishlake Meadows, Hampshire

Early mornings are just a little bit later now, driving from home I realised that this was the first time I had driven in darkness since the middle of March.  I was to meet Ian at sun rise in the car park along Lower Pennington Lane, I was fifteen minutes early but he was already there.  It was very warm, we had just started an August heatwave, but the sun rise was obliterated by a lot of cloud hanging over the Solent and Isle of Wight.

We left the ars and walked down alongside Fishtail Lagoon.  Aroe Deer buck was wandering across the marsh at the back of the lagoon.  The Roe Deer rut would be about now but this deer was definitely on its own and looked in good condition, possibly the same one as we had seen in the winter with velvet antlers from the Ancient Highway.

There was very little water on the lagoon, but what there was was covered with Black-headed Gulls and Little Egrets, but these flew off as a runner passed them on the sea wall.  This left a few Avocet, this adult still standing guard over a pair of juvenile birds sleeping on the bare ground.

And in between standing guard feeding in the shallow muddy water with the sweeping action.

The sunrise, while not with a clear sun was sending a pinkish light across the water

We walked around the lagoon and headed on to Keyhaven Lagoon.  The tide was low and over on the posts on the saltmarsh were two Peregrine, one flew off as we watched and played with some of thr terns out over the water before flying away and out of sight.

On Keyhaven Lagoon there were more Little Egret, several Oystercatchers and a lone Greenshank.  We kept on walking around to the Keyhaven harbour.  A gull feeding out on the mud looked like a candidate for a Yellow-legged Gull, however the mantle was too grey and the shape of the head indicated that this was probably an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull that had a bad summer.

We  walked back along the Ancient Highway, hoping that there might be some migrant passerines about.  I stopped for the same Roe Deer once again, it gave some excellent views.

We had both stopped at the same time and I thought Ian had seen the deer and he thought I had seen what he was photographing.  We both hadn't seen what the other had see despite them being along side each other.  I had missed some great views of Cetti's Warbler, they were young birds, you can just see the remains of yellow flanges around the bill.

A little further on there was a Tree Pipit in the bushes.

The hope was for a Whinchat, but scanning the marshes all we could find was a Stonechat.  As we stood watching the marsh a Raven came across the marsh carrying something.

A closer look and I think it has chips!  Where they came from is a little harder to work out but I would rule out taking them from a gull.

Approaching the car park there were large flocks of Goldfinch on the dead thistle heads on either side of the path.

We continued on and set off towards the Jetty, after checking Butts and then coming back there a was a large group of Eider just off the shingle banks that were exposed by the low tide.  We counted 25 at least

A Common Tern flew past carrying quite a sizeable fish as we walked along the wall past Pennington Lagoon.

In the pool created by the Jetty a Curlew had caught a crab and was manipulating the crab to remove the claws before swallowing it.

We crossed the marsh to Moses Dock, opting to avoid the walk around the sea wall.  At Oxey Marsh just behind the dock, a single Black-tailed Godwit was standing in the small pool.

Black-tailed Godwits have been quite rare here over the last few years with numbers nowhere near where they have been in the past.

Such an elegant wader

On Eight Acre Pond the Little Grebes were showing well.

Last time I was here I missed the chance to photograph a Little Grebe out of the water.  Having mentioned this to Ian I was surprised to see another sitting on the side of the lake, a Little Grebe standing, not something you see very often.

At Normandy Marsh the Common Terns were still present bringing fish into well grown juveniles on the islands in the middle of the marsh.  This individual was fishing alongside the ditch on the outside of the marsh.

There were no obvious signs of Little Tern, but scanning some of the shingle islands showed up four adults in amongst the Black-headed Gulls.

In the far south east corner of the marsh were two juvenile Avocets and an ever watchful adult.  Originally seen feeding in the ditch away from the young birds it flew in to be with them, keeping an eye on us as we edged closer.

Extremely elegant even on one leg.

A Lapwing hidden in vegetation managed to avoid the attention of the Avocet.

The Avocet then left its vigil and flew into the ditch between the sea wall path and the marsh, at first a little way off from us but slowly approached closer, only becoming agitated when it encountered four Mallard which it moved on.

Gradually we edged closer, the Avocet was not concerned with us but did ensure it was checking the sky.

There is something about the Avocet, the black and white plumage and the elegantly upturned bill, I often refer to them as the Audrey Hepburn wader.

Don't recall getting so close as to be able to get a portrait like this

 

It was a case of enjoy the experience its not something that you get every day, down to about a few metres from an adult Avocet.

The background had been a bit of a problem but then it graciously moved away from the bank into the middle of the ditch.

Unknown to me Ian was switching to video and as he eased himself into a comfortable position the Avocet finally became concerned and flew off, maybe not the Audrey Hepburn wader after all.

We made our way back along the path, stopping around Oxey Marsh for some more Common Tern action over the lagoons.  This looks like a Sand Eel.

Twisting and turning, then diving

The Eider had split up around the Jetty with a group just off the shingle bank that was fast disappearing and the others further out to sea.

At the end of Pennington Lagoon a Greenshank fed alongside a Redshank, a good opportunity for comparison.

Walking back towards the car park we stopped to check a patch of water and mud on Pennington Marsh close to the path.  In doing so we flushed four Little Ringed Plover, but very quickly two returned and settled in the area of dried mud which made them difficult to clearly see them.

Back at the car we debated the next move, it was hot but with a lot of cloud still which just took the edge off the heat.  Being a Saturday in early August, hot and with everyone holidaying in the country this year the roads were very busy, so this influenced our decision.  Moving to suitable butterfly sites would be a problem so in the end we decided on Fishlake Meadows.  The Osprey had turned up in the week, who knows we could strike lucky once again.

We bit the bullet and drove through Lyndhurst which heading north wasn't too bad, but coming into Lyndhurst there was a long queue of traffic.  On arriving in the car park at Fishlake Meadows it was a shock getting out of the car, the heat hit us!  

So it was the usual modus operandi, head off to the viewing point, hoping for an Osprey but knowing it wouldn't be there.  It wasn't.  Just the usual gulls grebes and duck.  On the way we had stopped for a shoal of Chub in the canal under the road bridge.

A medium-sized fish, the chub is a member of the carp family. It can sometimes be seen swimming near the surface of rivers and streams, often in large shoals.  The chub is greenish-silver in colour with reddish, rounded fins. It is larger than the dace and has redder fins; it is more slender than the roach.

There was one bonus from the viewing point, a very distant Great White Egret.

We returned to the canal path and walked north towards the cross path.  At the viewing platform along side the path you could see the same egret but a little closer.

It had a little stretch

But there were in fact four Great Egrets in the vicinity, two that were a little obscured amongst the reeds and another much closer perched on a dead tree.

It was now very hot but we were not to be deterred, who knows what could turn up!  At the gate into the reserve there was some activity in the trees, A very bright yellow Willow Warbler chasing insects.

My last act with the camera was to take a photo of the grasses turned a golden colour by the and blowing in what little wind there was against the black background.

We walked to the screens where there was very little, the reeds having grown quite high to obscure any good viewing.  A few Reed Buntings showed but it was much too hot for anything.  A few Swallows moved through but that was about all.  There were no raptors, no duck to speak of to see and not even the song of a Cetti's Warbler.  We made our way back to the car park and called it a day.  While nothing earth shattering through the day, the encounter with the Avocet was superb.