The intention today was to visit Titchfield Haven it what appeared would be a day of showers and the hides would come in useful, much in the same way they did exactly twelve months ago. But the weather was not to be as forecast and we awoke to heavy rain and strong winds, winds so strong it triggered the Titchfield Haven panic button and the reserve was closed for the day. Plans then had to change and as the sun finally came out it was to Farlington Marshes I decided to go.
When I first got out of the car it didn't seem to bad, bright sunshine and the tide partially out, but as I set out along the sea wall it was clear the wind hadn't really abated, it was a very strong south westerly. I also think the strong wind was responsible for there still being a lot of sea water on the mud, by now it should have been low tide.
It did not feel like it would be a good day for photography and on reaching the Lake there was very few birds, the majority opting to keep their heads down. A pair of Pintail were the closest birds to the sea wall along with several Teal.
Out on the mud a single Grey Plover was feeding on the mud.
I was surprised to see several photographers looking across the reeds, probably in hope of seeing the Bearded Reedlings, I could not see them showing in the wind, they were definitely better off feeding at the base of the reeds. The Lake was very full and there was little dry areas at the base of the reeds.
I headed on into the strong wind, stopping for a Curlew on the mud.
The tide was still relatively high when I reached Point Field, the wind still very strong and maybe even stronger than when I arrived. I had elected to not take the telescope and tripod with me as I didn't think it would stand up in the wind, to be honest there was very little to see out on the water or across the marsh.
I counted 14 Great Crested Grebes in the channel and could see Oystercatcher and Curlew on the mud. Smaller waders would appear across the mud to settle in a new spot and I had to assume these were mostly Dunlin with maybe some Ringed Plover.
It was surprising to see nothing out on the marsh, but on closer inspection there was many groups of Wigeon huddled below the banks keeping out of the wind. I had expected good numbers of Brent Geese, but again there was no sign. I found two Barnacle geese in amongst the Canada Geese, one was in the company of its so called mate a white farm yard goose.
There was one species of duck on the Deeps, a pair of Shoveler.
There was a sizeable herd of cattle stretched out across the marsh, a Cattle Egret has been reported, but scanning through all of the cows I couldn't find any sign of a white bird. Coming off the sea wall it was a little more sheltered. In the fields good numbers of Curlew fed, while a pair of Stonechat were around the fences.
A slight mistake with the walking boots (I had put Helen's in instead of mine) meant that I didn't fancy crossing the filed along side the stream so I followed the cycle path back to the main entrance. Ever the optimist I decided to brave the wind once more and walked down to the lake. Finally the tide had receded and some of the teal were using the channels as protection from the wind.
The Curlews though were a little more robust and continued feeding at the water's edge.
There were a few more Pintail on the Lake and they were joined by a few Wigeon and Gadwall, On the south side of the lake a large flock of Starling were feeding in the partially flooded grass, moving as one from one side to the other.
I sat by the sluice down behind the sea wall out of the wind, there were a few Teal about and moving through the grass this Snipe.
Suddenly all the Starling went up and about a dozen Snipe from the surrounding grass. Then Teal and Lapwing filled the air, clearly something had spooked them all and I scanned the sky and picked out a dark shape coming at me, as it came closer I could see it was a falcon, I hoped for Merlin but quickly realised that it was in fact a Peregrine.
It continued over mu head, me twisting to track it as it went and slipping down the slope of the sea wall.
It headed out across the water then turned and came back around the marsh before setting off again. I then lost it but picked another Peregrine up on the far side close to the west side of the harbour coming in low and fast across the mud, as it pulled up another joined and they both started to terrorize the waders and wildfowl that were hidden on the mud.
The falcons then quickly lost interest having expended too much energy and were lost to view. With their passing the birds settled, the large tight flocks that came together for protection opening up like these Lapwing high above the reserve.
I waited a little longer to see if there was to be any further action, but it returned to how it was before the attack. The birds disappeared and the wind continued to blow. I decided thatit was time to call it a day and head back home
No comments:
Post a Comment