5th September - Titchfield Haven and Farlington Marshes, Hampshire

I always find it amazing how the weather changes as we move into the meteorological autumn on the 1st September.  The air becomes chilled and the days are shorter which means that the shadows are longer and the light a lot richer and golden.  This was definitely the situation that faced me as I arrived at the sea front at Hill Head with fifteen minutes before the sun was due to rise.  Looking out over the Meon across Titchfield Haven nature reserve there was mist hanging over the reed beds and a golden glow in the sky.

Out on the Solent the tide was very low with plenty of shingle and rocks exposed and creating pools that I can only assume had caught fish as there were Cormorants fishing accompanied by gulls while Common Terns hovered overhead and then diving into the water and coming up with a breakfast fish.

It was difficult to know where to look both sides of the sea wall were magical pre-dawn, the Solent a greyish blue, while the Haven had a golden glow and lots of activity as the gulls and terns flew in and out and ducks scampered across the water and the reed bed.

Turning back I noticed the moon above and under it a rarity in the sky, an Easyjet plane it's orange livery caught and enhanced by the rising sun.

Turning the attention to the beach and Solent it had become a land of the grey and pink, but without a caravan in sight, just motor homes where fishermen waited for the tide to turn, although one had donned waders and had walked a considerable way across the beach and into the water to fish.  A Little Egret was also wading but was probably a little more successful in the pink water.

The sun was now beginning to peep above the horizon and this started to change the scene along the beach

The mixture of mud, water and rocks creating patterns as I looked towards Lee-on-the Solent.

As the sun rose higher the golden light flooded out onto the mud and water beyond the beach.

With the Cormorants and gulls gone the waders appeared, Black-tailed Godwits and Turnstones the most numerous, but also 3 Knot and a several Redshank, and singles of Dunlin and Ringed Plover.  The Black-tailed Godwits looked good silhouetted in the shallow water as they fed.  I dropped down on the beach to get a closer view.

As I turned to climb back onto the sea wall a small flock of Turnstone flew in and one settled on one of the rock, I noticed the orange of its legs, the golden light enhancing them.

As the light changed again I was back onto the beach to try and capture the beautiful scenes that was unfolding in front of us.

The Godwits were coming closer and the sun was picking them out as they fed in the small pool close to us.

But even without the direct sunlight, the silhouettes produced some lovely shots, with the bar code reflections and drops of water at the end of the bill.

One more photograph of the beach and the light before Ian and I moved on.

We had booked to go into the reserve but our time slot was 9:30 to 10:30 so before then we decided to walk the Canal Path, but before that we walked around the Chalets in the hope of finding something interesting.  There were no Black Redstarts or the hoped for Wryneck, but a Grey Wagtail did fly through.

In the reeds around the footpath at the bottom of the Canal Path there was a lot of activity, Whitethroats, Reed Bunting and quite a few Sedge Warbler.

They were fly catching around the reeds and bramble bushes.

Again, there was some beautiful light along the Canal Path, the trees framing the walk ahead.

At one of the first opening that look out over the reserve fields a young fox was sitting in the field.

Interestingly this was the same fox Ian had seen a week earlier, in exactly the same spot.  When it caught sight of us it walked off, stopping to watch the sheep at the back of the field.

While the light was amazing it also presents a problem viewing the field as everything becomes backlit and ultimately a silhouette.we found three birds that were perched on the grass stems that we were convinced were Whinchat but it was difficult getting conclusive evidence.  Fortunately they were mobile and eventually came a little closer while we were able to view more from the side.  They were indeed Whinchat.

A familiar call from above alerted to us to Raven overhead, but when we finally managed to see them we were amazed to see that there was a group of eight.

The path winds along beneath trees over head and tall on either side of the path, but in places opens up with views across the fields on both sides.  At the point where both the fields came into view and the reeds open up and reveal a lot of the canal water there is a hawthorn bush on the right hand side looking north.  On a branch at the bottom of the tree was a small passerine, when it dropped to the ground and returned to the branch flicking its tail we knew it was a Redstart.  It has been difficult to get close to Redstarts this year but this one was quite confiding and allowed us to move closer.

A female, this was a first winter bird indicated by the pale fringes on the wing feathers.

Moving back to the trees a Great Spotted Woodpecker called and we picked it up a the top of a dead tree, almost always guaranteed to find them there when ever there is a call.

On reaching Posbrook Floods (which were more Posbrook dry!), two birds were sitting on the wire fence.  Getting closer they were Yellow Wagtail.

A passage migrant they can normally be found where ever there are cattle or livestock such as horses.  They follow the animals catching insects disturbed by the animals and don't have any issues with getting close.

These two were obviously resting with cattle close by.  They were also very cautious, continually turning the head to look up to check the sky.

The bramble and hawthorn on the other side of the path was a little sun trap and there was plenty of activity, mostly Willow Warblers moving through the leaves and branches.

There were also Blue, Great Tits and a pair of Blackcap, here the female.

Last month at Minsmere I thought I had taken the best Willow Warbler photographs with a bird there showing very well.  A single bird here no surpassed this.

We checked the horse field, which involved me nearly cutting my finger badly as I got it caught in gate as I climbed over.  If you by any chance do the same please be careful the welds have broken on the vertical struts.  Any how there was nothing of interest so we decided to turn back.  This presented a different view of the overhanging trees.

A large bird on a fence post turned out to be a Buzzard.

The contact calls of Long-tailed Tits signaled another gathering of tits and warblers.  More Willow Warblers and this Chiffchaff.

A Whitethroat was enjoying the morning sunshine and I was hidden behind a bush so was able to get some shots without it noticing I was there.

It was time now to take our slot to get into the reserve, after registering we headed back around to the west entrance, stopping on the bridge for awhile to see if the Kingfisher appeared, which it didn't.

As we approached the Meon Shore Hide a Peregrine flew towards us, coming from the a direction that would have taken it over the scrape but surprisingly there was not a melee of birds flying around us.  It then turned and headed back towards the scrape then stooped, flying in front of the hide and then swooping up and coming back towards us.  Now we were able to get some shots as it passed us.

Its this shot that shows the bird was probably a juvenile from this year, the chest has streaks rather than the typical barring of an adult.  Another reason why it seemed to be playing with the birds on the scrape.

It was not too busy in the hide, but it was masks on.  Immediately I picked up a Green Sandpiper in front of the hide.

Our target birds a Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper were distant at the other end of the scrape, but it was becoming clear very quickly that we had a bit of a wader fest going on in front of us.  There were at least three maybe four Common Sandpipers.  They seem to like perching on the posts.

Not just the post but the cross bars as well

Every so often the Green Sandpiper would call from it position tucked into the side of the island.  It turned out there was another bird present so possibly it was calling that bird, or just telling others to stay away this is my spot.

It did venture away from the shelter of the island.

One of the Common Sandpipers made its way through the mud closer to the hide, providing opportunity for some great shots.

A beautiful shadow here

Then the Little Stint moved from its spot on the far island to the mud on the left hand side.  Still not where we would like it but sufficient for a record.

It was associating with Dunlin and gradually it edged closer.

It has been a couple of years since I had seen one so it was good to catch up with this one.  Now getting closer.

As well as the target birds there were the usual Oystercatchers, there numbers swelling as the tide rose and they moved in from the beach to roost.  Plenty of Black-tailed Godwits at the far end, a couple of Avocet and two Snipe that put in a brief appearance.  Closer to us were at least three Ruff and a Knot.  Finally the Curlew Sandpiper appeared to our right and gradually moved around the mud heading towards the area in front of the hide, giving some great views.

A juvenile bird , it has a peachy colour wash on the breast.  It appears much "cleaner" than the Dunlin that were present.  The back and wings are scaled and there are no streaks on the underparts.  The head has a long eye stripe.

The overall appearance of the Curlew Sandpiper is of a taller, long necked wader in comparison to the Dunlin, blatantly obvious when you see one.

It continued to negotiate the mud in front of the hide, sometimes sinking to its belly when it would flap to lift itself up to move on.

It was then the turn of the single Knot to edge ever closer to the hide, we were really being treated to a wader show here today.

Again a juvenile bird with scaly feathers on the upper parts fringed with white to give a lovely grey effect and the underparts a paler grey with a slight peachy flush.

It was a case of photographing the waders to ensure you got the best shots, would they come any closer?  The view from the hide looking north, a great day in both ways.

Just as the Little Stint looked like it would get close to the hide it would get spooked and fly off.  It appeared on the other side of the scrape, staying close to the vegetation of the island.

The Curlew Sandpiper returned.  At first concerning the Green Sandpiper

Showing the long neck well here.

In the company of Ruff and a Green Sandpiper

Then with the Knot.

A patch of blue sky reflecting in the skim of water on the mud was the perfect background for the waders, first a Lapwing.

Then a Redshank

Next to come in front of the hide was one of the Ruff, again there were three present.

This was a female, the males being slightly larger and having a more distinct eye ring and white at the base of the bill

Above the scrape all three hirundines could be seen and we had a brief appearance of Kingfisher that flew around the scrape realised there was little open water and flew off again.

A group of three Knot flew onto the scrape, probably the same birds we had seen early morning out on the beach.  These appeared to be adult birds

A Common Tern appeared on the post in front of the hide and begged to be photographed.  It was still bring fish in to a juvenile and was just taking a rest before heading back outto the Solent.

It had been an incredible couple of hours and I was glad we had arranged to get onto the reserve.  Just before we left the hide the Little Stint was on the island to the right with a Dunlin.

We intended to visit Farlington Marshes, the hope being that there might be a wandering Osprey about and maybe one or two other birds of interest.  On arriving it was very busy, plenty of walkers and cyclists about.  We set off toward the hut and then out to the sea wall.  There were plenty of cattle about and we scanned through them for more Yellow Wagtails.  We could see them distantly and would have to walk around the sea wall to get closer.

A Reed Bunting came out of the hedge as we approached the sea wall and perched on one of the many posts.

We managed to get closer to the cattle and of course the Yellow Wagtails.

The yellow wagtail likes damp marshes, meadows and farmland, and spends much of its time running about on the ground, chasing insects disturbed by the feet of livestock. 

Distant shots but classic Yellow Wagtail behaviour.

On the other side of the sea wall the tide was high, the water very blue and the clouds very high.

Turning back a Kestrel came low over the field and settled on the field below us.

Scanning the field we picked up two very distant Wheatear, but on rounding Point Field we came across three more on the sea wall.  Here two of them.

Then we were able to get closer to one.

While the other flew from the sea wall and settled on the stem of a plant.

Around the bramble in Point Field was a large flock of Starling easily numbering in the thousands they would move together from field to bushes.

At the lake, with the tide high there was a huge roost of waders.  On the right hand side Black-tailed Godwits, and at the back of the lake in front of the reeds a group of Redshank and in amongst them fifteen Greenshank.

In front of the godwits was a lone Pintail amongst the Mallard, Gadwall and Shelduck.

On the left had side of the lake was a roost of approximately 150 Grey Plover.

Many of them still in complete or partial summer plumage.

In amongst the Grey Plover close to the shore were nine Knot.

From the lake we walked alongside the reeds heading towards the stream and the hut.  It was possible to stand on one of the posts to look into the area at the back of the lake.  Here it was possible to see the reported Curlew Sandpipers, eight in total.  However we managed to flush them and they flew in the direction of the stream and hut.  

Jumping down we were hit with a very low fly over of even more Starlings.

We managed to locate three of the Curlew Sandpipers, with two feeding together, showing a different feeding behaviour to the juvenile seen at Titchfield Haven in the morning.

Again you can see the distinctive long neck.

They kept moving ahead of us.

But then decided to turn and fly back down the stream.

This allowed the chance to see the white flashes in the wing, not as significant as a wing bar.  The white rump though is diagnostic, if you think it is a Curlew Sandpiper and it flies and there is no white rump, it is not a Curlew Sandpiper!

We could still see the Curlew Sandpiper but decided to leave them.  Time was catching up, it was a wonderful day, the number of photographs providing proof of that.  Some great wader sightings and as always great company.