The first of May, the year just seems to have shot by, I suppose that is what happens when you have restrictions imposed on you, you just continue to wish the time to move on. Any way, I was off early heading south to Titchfield Haven, meeting Ian at Hill Head. It was cold and frosty, at one point the thermometer in my car recorded a temperature of minus two degrees outside, unbelievable for May. As I arrived at Hill Head there was a mist out on the Solent, the sun was just rising and the magical dawn light was spreading across the water and reed bed of the reserve.
Looking out over the Solent, the moon was yet to set, still visible through the mist that shrouded the sea.
The marsh in front of Duck Lake was covered in frost.
Then as the sun rose above the distant trees a blazing red glow spread across the still water of Duck Lake.
The mist just above the water took on an orange appearance and the posts appear to hover above the water, first with Black-headed Gulls.
Then a pair of noisy Oystercatchers
With little going on out to sea other than a falling tide we focused the attention on the scene unfolding on Duck Lake. As is expected at this time of year there were plenty of Black-headed Gulls on the water, the islands and post and it the air. Wheeling around and calling along with the hundreds of others.
The Black-headed Gulls were joined by the yelps of Mediterranean Gull and their fly overs in pairs.
Common Terns made their way to and from the lake, their calls giving them away.
While on the water in amongst the golden leaf like reflections a Great-crested Grebe dived.
Gradually the intensity of the golden light dissipated to leave a more sepia view of Duck Lake.
Turning the attention back to the sea, a lone Whimbrel flew past and then some late Brent, these three being followed by another twelve birds heading east.
Another two Whimbrel flew past, and a single Dunlin and Ringed Plover. There was no sign of the Sanderling that were present in good numbers last week. But aside from the Common and Sandwich Terns fishing offshore there was very little moving at all.
We decided to walk up the canal path in the hope there might be something more interesting. Chiffchaffs were singing and there were several Cetti's Warblers bursting into song as they proclaimed their territories and looked to interest a female. As I have said previously this is the best time of the year to see this rather elusive and secretive Warbler and this morning they did not disappoint.
Here is a bird that seems to be enjoying unprecedented success with numbers increasing. Along the canal path birds appeared to be singing within five metre stretches, counting well into double figures.
Here the characteristic crouching creep along the branch with the tail held high, almost Wren like.
Another Warbler that has a skulking and secretive approach is the Whitethroat, but as they arrive at this time of year they are proclaiming their chosen territories and like the Cetti's Warbler will do so through song, usually delivered from a prominent position and followed by a song flight back down to another perch.
This was the case with this very showy bird allowing us to get some great views and shots with the perfect background.
Whitethroats are curious birds, often investigating
disturbances or checking on intruders.
A male Whitethroat is easily identified by his unique
combination of three features: a white throat, a pale grey cap and
reddish-brown wings. The female lacks the male’s grey cap but has the white throat
and bright rufous wings. She is generally much more retiring than her mate.
There are many country names for the Whitethroat, ranging
from nettle creeper to beardie and hay jack.
The first male Whitethroats arrive back on the breeding
grounds in Britain in late March, but the main arrivals take place from the
third week of April. The females usually
arrive a couple of weeks after the males, by which time the latter have already
established their territories.
Southward migration starts in late July; most have left by
early September. The main wintering
ground for British Whitethroats is in the Sahel zone of sub-Saharan Africa.
Birds from other populations go as far south as Zimbabwe.
A drought in the western Sahel region of Africa in 1968
caused a 90% drop in the number of Whitethroats breeding in Britain. Though
numbers have increased markedly since the crash, the British breeding
population still hasn’t recovered fully today.
Numbers have, however, been increasing in recent years, thought to be
because of improved environmental conditions on the wintering grounds.
While watching the Whitethroat, I picked up a male Fox in the field in front of the horse paddock at the thatched cottage. It was hunting at first with ears pricked forward and looking as if it would pounce. This soon stopped and it seemed to see us watching him.
Both Reed and Sedge Warblers could be heard singing from the reed beds and scrub along the path. Both were giving us the merry run around and I never was able to get a clear shot of the Reed Warbler. The Reed Warbler sings from deep in the middle of the reeds very often low down. You have to be lucky that they come up the stem to show themselves.
The Sedge Warbler though is a little more confiding and will burst up into the sky to sing and then parachute back to another song perch. A little further along the canal path the path opens out and there is a patch of reed. As we approached we could hear Sedge Warbler singing and it didn't take long to find the owner. At first it stayed hidden away in the reeds but following a song flight it settled back out in the open.
However it soon returned to the middle of the reeds but gave us enough room to be able to photographs of it amongst the habitat associated with this little bird.
The Sedge Warbler is good mimic, and introduces phrases into
its song in random, so it never sings the same song twice; those males with the
widest range phrases attract the most attention from females.
With the main reserve now open we had booked to go in on the first slot so we decided to make our way back to the reserve. A Cuckoo called and we could pick it up at the top of a distant tree, with the bonus of the male Marsh Harrier in the background.
As we walked south Swifts and Swallows were moving north. Good numbers of Swifts, up to fifty passed through, several spending time over the tree tops.
There was also time to catch another confiding Cetti's Warbler in the hawthorn bushes.
Back at the sea wall it was still very quiet. Over the reserve a Red Kite passed to the east, while probably the Cuckoo we had seen along the canal path could just be made out away in the distance.
Walking to the visitor centre the Turnstone were busy amongst the mud and sea weed in the harbour, several now in summer, breeding plumage.
The last time we had actually been in the reserve was the 31st October, exactly six months ago. We decided to head to the east side, and went to the first hide, the Suffern Hide. It was like we had never been away, there was no one in the hide, and very few birds outside. A Common Tern sat on one of the posts.
Chiffchaff and Blackcap were singing from the bushes, but not very much else, a check of the Walkway Pond found nothing of interest. Next stop was the Meadow Hide. In the reeds alongside the hide a Sedge Warbler was singing and every so often bursting up and then dropping back down into the reeds. Looking across the meadow to the Frying Pan we could see the water level was low. Feeding in the shallow water were Avocet, the first time I have seen them here. Though the course of our visit to the hide several others flew in taking the total number up to fifteen.
You sit and watch. A Cuckoo called and showed briefly in a distant tree, a Buzzard circled over what was probably Posbrook. A very distant raptor that headed off to the west down was put down as a probable Peregrine. Then a Fox appeared in the meadow, it was a male and could have been the one we had seen earlier from the canal path, but that would have meant it crossing the canal?
It came quite close, checked us out.
Then turned around and headed off across the meadow.
A male Whitethroat had been singing from the fence posts to our left as we looked out of the hide. Then it moved to the Elder bush alongside the hide to the right of the hide. From here it sang without any idea we could just about see it.
The tide would by now have risen and there was also the hope that the wind had turned more to a south easterly. So we decided to walk back to the car to sea watch and have some lunch. Along the way though we were distracted by a Goldcrest singing and this Jay that showed really well.
Walking back through the harbour a pair of Common Terns performed some amazing synchronised flying high above us.
The water was still quite low in Duck Lake and a single Avocet was taking a nap.
The wind had moved but this didn't improve the sea watching, still very little was moving other than the feeding Sandwich and Common Terns. The Common Terns were also fishing over Duck Lake which provided an opportunity to photograph them.
After lunch we headed back into the reserve, this time the west side. A Kestrel was hovering over the reeds.
First stop as always was the Meon shore Hide. With all the windows and doors open you lose the impact of the noise generated by the Black-headed Gull colony as you open the windows. Nevertheless it still is dramatic as you look out at the mass of white covering the islands and dotted over the water. Cormorants had taken up occupation on one island while both Avocet and Black-tailed Godwits could be seen feeding in the water.
To our left a pair of Avocet were caught in display and mating.
After these exertions and the run away together the Avocet returned to feeding, the still water close to the reeds providing some lovely reflections.
Dotted around the scrape were several Black-tailed Godwits in full or partial summer plumage, but the bird closest to start with was still in the winter plumage, probably a little behind the others.
But it was soon replaced by a colourful breeding plumage adult.
The winter duck have all but gone, one or two Teal could be seen but the duck present are pretty much those resident species such as Gadwall, Mallard and Shoveler. A drake Shoveler appeared in front of the hide to preen in the shallower water.
As well as the Shoveler we were treated to a family of eight Mallard ducklings and a close pass by a pair of Gadwall, here the drake.
With so many Black-headed Gulls about it is so easy to just dismiss them. However they are such a pretty gull, maybe not as delicate as a Little Gull or Kittiwake, but with their chocolate brown hood and deep red bill and gape at this time of year they shouldn't be overlooked. The dark clouds that were starting to surround the area too we proving the perfect contrast, the deep grey reflecting in the water of the scrape.
Their constant activity provided some great action shots as well.
Calls from behind the hide signaled the arrival of a pair of Sandwich Terns, they circled the scrape and at one point flew directly toward the hide before banking away. This provided some great views against the dark grey sky that was building up away to the north.
The Sandwich Tern provides some interesting facts around its
name. Its Latin name is Thalasseus
sandvicensis, which means fisherman of Sandwich. Other bird species such as Branta Sandvicensis,
an endemic Hawaiian goose, have the name because Hawaii was historically
known as the Sandwich Islands. But Sandwich terns are not
found there. In fact, the name comes from the town name of Sandwich in Kent where it was first identified by John Latham in 1787. It originally was given the genus of Sterna,
but this was changed recently following DNA analysis, placing it close to the
Lesser crested Tern with which it sometimes hybridizes.
Once upon a time the Sandwich tern was seen as a summer visitor, but over the last few years birds have been wintering along the south coast. Then they lack the full black cap and yellow tip to the bill seen here in this breeding adult.
One of the pair had settled on the posts and its mate was trying to settle with it but the space was being used by Black-headed Gulls, it circled around making repeated attempts to settle but was not successful, fortunately this gave me the opportunity to photograph it as it circled around the scrape.
Finally it managed to squeeze out a space and re-joined its mate on the platform.
After one of the rain showers stopped we decided to walk around to the Pumfrett Hide. Here there were more Black-headed Gulls, but in front of the hide was a Lapwing sitting on the mud in amongst the Iris. With it was a very young chick. The wind was brisk and the chick was keeping close to its parent and taking shelter under the Lapwing's body.
Crest length is one way of identifying the sexes in Lapwing and I think the bird we saw first was a male by the size of the crest. The female was close by and would take flight to chase off any bird that came too close to the young.
A change over of adults taking responsibility saw the number of chicks increase to three, maybe four. They are so independent and must drive the adults crazy as they shoot off across the mud in different directions. Here two stay close to the adult female.
While the male takes a break and a wander around on his own.
This was the best hide to get good views of the Mediterranean Gulls that were in amongst the Black-headed Gulls, every so often they would fly around the scrape, their all white plumage standing out from their neighbours and their yelp calls a welcome change from the continual raucous calls of the Black-headed Gulls.
Small groups of Black-tailed Godwits would fly past the hide coming from the Frying Pan and Posbrook. However one group of five godwits looked a little different mainly because there were no wing bars. So more Bar-tailed Godwits to report. Interestingly all five showed no sign of any summer plumage.
A quick visit to the Spurgin Hide allowed us to see what the conditions were like. The water was high and it looked quite good. The last time we had been here there were Penduline Tits to keep us interested, today a few Shoveler a dodgy Barnacle goose associating and scolding a Canada Goose and even more Black-headed Gulls.
Back at the sea wall at high tide a few more terns could be seen offshore along with a Harbour Seal. A check of the high tide roost on the beach revealed no birds at all. Another good day with plenty of photo opportunities once again. It was a shame the sea watching didn't workout, hopefully next week?
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