3rd September - Keyhaven - Lymington Reserve, Hampshire

After a couple of false starts I left home at 5:30 in the dark, I had arranged to meet Ian at the sea wall car park on Lower Pennington Lane at 6:30, just on sun rise, but we actually joined up a half hour earlier on the M27 as Ian caught me up.  It was misty for most of the journey, but pulling into a busy car park it was clear.  The vehicles in the car park belonged to wildfowlers, the season must have started but goodness knows what they were shooting at.  The big concern though was that the gun shots may have driven our target for the day away.

Debating this we walked across the old tip with a misty Isle of Wight away in the distance.  The path drops down to a stream as you reach the sea wall at Fishtail Lagoon and as I turned the corner I disturbed a Kingfisher and a Common Sandpiper, but Ian picked up a Water Rail walking through the base of the reeds exposed by the low water.  It was still gloomy and the reeds and gorse were providing even more  cover so the photographs were very grainy.

There were two adults present, in the same area but about ten feet apart.

Then a juvenile flew across the water and another juvenile appeared further along the stream, but was walking towards us.

It lacks the classic red bill and the dark blue breast, belly and sides of the head.

But the white stripes are present on the flanks.

It kept coming and appeared to be oblivious of our presence, giving some great views

Here the long legs and toes.

And the cocked tail as it walked.

There was always going to be a point where the rail sensed us, and it turned and slowly made its way back from where it had come from.

As we set off to walk up to the sea wall we flushed another juvenile from almost beneath our feet.  Last year we had the late family party of Little Grebes here, this year it seems they have been replaced by a Water Rail family.

The drought continues to change the landscape, I have never seen Fishtail Lagoon looking like this before in September.  I wonder if there will be significant water for the wildfowl when they return

Walking up on to the sea wall we were greeted by a really serene dcene.

Across Butts and the Jetty Lagoon the sun was starting to have an influence on the surroundings

The tide was still quite high, but the water as still as could be.  The clouds add to the impact as the rising sun reflected in the water.

Waders, mostly Dunlin could be heard calling as they moved away from their roosts on the saltmarsh, Sandwich Terns also called as they headed away to the east.  Today was to be about waders and one in particular.  While probably one of the more regular nearctic waders to find their way to our shores, there hasn't been a good watchable Pectoral Sandpiper for a while.  One has been moving between Butts and Jetty lagoons for over a week now and it was for this bird that we began to scan the wader flock feeding in the shallow pool on Butts Lagoon.

The concern we had about the wildfowlers was re-enforced when a loud gun shot put up the waders, the Dunlin flew low over the water but they all returned quite quickly.

Waders continued to return and it became clear that there was not just Dunlin present.  There were at least five Curlew Sandpipers, feeding more at the back of the pool.

Out on the water the sky and early morning light were continuing to add to the scene.  I was taken by this fisherman that had waded out into the water.

The "cronking" call of a Raven alerted us to a pair flying on to the lagoon but taking up a position well to the back and away from the waders.

The wader numbers continued to increase, with mostly Dunlin.

But the Curlew Sandpiper numbers were also increasing, with a maximum count of nine.

The wings and back feathers appear scaled with pale fringes, the breast has a peachy wash which ages these birds as juveniles.

So far this year there have been good numbers of Curlew Sandpipers turning up .

There was also a possible two Little Stints, but I was only confident of one bird.

With two white "V's" on the back and a very pale grey appearance again this is a juvenile bird.

Another wader that breeds in the arctic, most birds seen through the UK in the autumn are juvenile birds making their way to wintering grounds in North Africa

Despite the number of waders we were now watching there was no sign of the Pectoral Sandpiper.  Once again I turned my attention to the Solent where there were more dramatic scenes.

And a lone yacht just of shore the Isle of Wight.

We decided to check the Jetty Lagoon.  There were a group of three juvenile Knot feeding close to the wall in what little water there was.

We felt it would be better to go down the bank and view at eye level.  Ian went to the west to find a way and I went to the east.  After clambering down I came across another bird and I asked if there was any sign of the Pectoral Sandpiper.  He said yes and pointed it out quite close in.

Ian was still photographing the Knot and I didn't feel it was right to shout to him, I tried to get his attention but to no avail, in the end I Whats Apped him, but that didn't work either.  So I settles down to photograph it.

It was present in very similar conditions to the last one I had seen at Farlington, but that was a little more distant.  It appeared to be bigger than a Dunlin, maybe a little smaller than the Curlew Sandpiper we had seen earlier.  It would creep about rather than a walk through the pools and around the lumps of mud.

It was much paler than a Dunlin with a more cleaner appearance, the belly white and the breast streaked brown with a clear line between belly and breast, the bill is slightly decurved, while the legs are yellowish

Pectoral Sandpipers nest from the tundra of easternmost Russia across Alaska and into northern Canada. A few migrate to Australasia for the winter, but most winter in southern South America. This means that some Pectoral Sandpipers make a round-trip migration of nearly 19,000 miles

It gets its name from sporting a distinctively stippled breast that ends neatly at the white belly. 

I have seen many photographs of this bird, but all appear side o, what I was hoping for was to see the bird from the front as the nreast band that gives it the name pectoral forms and cleabn "V" and looks really smart.  So my luck was in when for some reason the bird stretched it's neck, probably in concern and showed the "pecs" off.

It must have been alarmed as it then flew off, leaving just the mud and small pools.

We walked back to Butts and very quickly found it amongst a few Dunlin for comparison.  So Ian finally managed to catch up with it

The Pectoral than spend its time feeding at the back of the lagoon so I turned attention back to the Curlew Sandpipers.

We moved on, finding a juvenile Stonechat in the gorse by Pennington Lagoon

And a Wheatear.

With the tide receding there were plenty of waders to be seen.  More Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Turnstone and several Grey Plover, some still with their summer breeding plumage.

At the far east end of the lagoon there were a couple of Ruff, once again we were able to clamber down the bank and watch them from eye level. 

Two birds, the same species but completely different shades of plumage.  This one more russet.

While this one was a lot paler.

The two together.

there were also a few Dunlin which allowed a close view.

We cut across Oxey marsh where there were a few warblers.  The easiest to see were the Whitethroats, but there were Blackcap and Chiffchaff as well.

Walking past Moses Dock there was a Greenshank on the mud.

We carried on to Normandy Marsh.  On the west side there were Black-tailed Godwits and it was interesting to watch them using a different feeding technique.  Rather than plunging the bill into the water and mud they were picking the flies delicately off the surface of the water.  This one was still in the lovely summer plumage.

We walked to the south west corner of the marsh and scanned across Oxey Lake.  The tide was out, but rising and there were plenty of waders again feeding.  The day count was added to once again with a group of eight Bar-tailed Godwits.

A curlew close in showed well.

With the tide rising the Bar-tailed Godwits were pushed into the channel, flying past us.

On the lagoon was a single Curlew Sandpiper, again a juvenile.

Here you can see the peachy wash the decurved bill that gives it the name and the clean appearance.

we made our way back around the sea wall, off shore were Eider and a pair of Great-crested Grebes.  On Oxey marsh we searched for Spotted Redshank but could only find this roosting Greenshank.

Back at Pennington Lagoon The Ruff were still present, but closer to the path.  In scrambling down the bramble attacked my more sensitive parts but I was able to get some good shots.

We had now been out about six and a half hours and my stomach was rumbling, but we had to stop of at the Jetty Lagoon to see if the Pectoral was back.  We could find it but had some great views of the juvenile Knot.

The knot is a medium-sized, short, stocky sandpiper that migrates to the UK in large numbers during winter from its Arctic breeding grounds. Commonly spotted feeding in estuaries around the coast, the largest numbers can be seen at high tide roosts in the depths of winter. 

The knot is fairly large and chunky, with short, green legs. In winter, they are silvery-grey on top and white underneath.  These three are juvenile with the scaly appearance of the feathers on the back and wings confirming the age once again

This one, while looking most likely to be a juvenile is showing some reddish feathers.  The adult birds in breeding plumage are brick Red, hence the formal name of Red Knot.  It is possible this could be an adult.

With no sign of the Pectoral on Butts we walked back to the car.  We had hoped for Yellow Wagtails with the cattle out on the marsh but there was nothing other than Swallows with them.

After lunch we walked the Ancient Highway, but I had to leave early and left Ian to his own.  A great day, a definite wader day that you would expect at this time of year.