The mornings are getting lighter, so it was the earliest start of the year for me. Heading south towards Titchfield a Tawny Owl glided across the road in front of me just outside Warnford, not something I encounter on this journey very often, any owl seen is normally a Barn Owl. I was meeting Ian at the Bridge Street car park and as I got out of the car a Song Thrush was singing from the copse behind the car park.
We decided to walk down the path to check for the Barn Owls and whilst they were not out hunting, one of the pair was sitting prominently in the split tree.
We doubled back to check the paddocks north of Bridge Street to see if the Glossy Ibis were present, but we were not able to find them. As a result we headed south back down the Canal path once again.
Another Song Thrush was singing above us, this time a little more accessible.
We walked about halfway down the canal path and to say it was quiet was an under statement. On the floods there was a good amount of wildfowl, Wigeon, Pintail and Shoveler dominating in the open water and Teal could be seen around the outside and amongst the bulrushes.
A Great Spotted Woodpecker was drumming in the trees above us and a few Cetti's Warbler were bursting out in song, but remaining pretty much out of sight. There were good numbers of Greenfinch about with several delivering their nasal song from the bushes.
Having reached halfway we decided to turn around and head back. On reaching the Posbrook floods once again we came across a female Grey Wagtail following the side of the canal water.
We stood waiting as it slowly made its way towards us apparently unaware of our presence. It reached a largish dead branch that had fallen across the mud and into the water, and rather than jump or fly over it, the wagtail turned around and headed away from us, so we crept forward to follow it.
Pausing every so often to find some small insect on the surface of the water of the mud, throwing a reflection into the still canal water.
A dog walker coming towards us did flush it but it didn't fly too far and even allowed us to get closer.
Then it decided it had spent long enough here and with a call it flew up and across the path and away in the direction of the floods.
At the bridge a pair of Long-tailed Tits were investigating the bramble and hawthorn, possibly looking for a suitable nesting site.
Every fence post along side the floods was owned by either a Black-headed or Common Gull.
A pair of Herring Gulls were in the field, at this time of year they can look very smart.
Earlier we had seen a flock of Black-tailed Godwits fly up river, there were others coming from the reserve down river and this flock circled several times before settling down on the Bridge Street Floods.
We had one more look for the Ibis, without any luck. Next stop was Newlands Farm in hope that the Little Owl were showing. We walked around the buildings several times and even checked the trees alongside the green houses, but found nothing aside from several Meadow Pipits and a large flock of Goldfinches. So we left there feeling a little dispirited, the morning so far had not been working out as we had hoped.
Next was a trip into Lee-on-the-Solent and the new housing estate around the Daedalus airport. We parked in Archer road and as I got out of the car I saw a bird fly from the nearby house on to a tree post in the small garden in front of the houses. The luck was back, an immediate sighting of the male Black Redstart that has been here for a while.
We tried to get closer and realised that there were two birds, however the other was smaller and flew low to the ground. Distracted by the second bird we then lost the male Black Redstart. It then turned out the second bird was in fact a male Dartford Warbler, but we were only getting brief views as it flew between the low Cistus bushes planted around the green space.
We decided to check the houses along Victorious Close and then towards the Captain's Gardens. As we entered the gardens we came across another Black Redstart, not as bright as the male we had seen initially and at first we thought maybe a female.
But with the white wing panels it could be an immature male. Nevertheless it performed very well against some very nice backgrounds.
In a different light it appears darker against the green background.
I did some research into the aging of Black Redstarts and found this:
Following the post juvenile moult first calendar males
attain a completely greyish brown plumage, which makes them most often inseparable
from the females, however moving into the second calendar year and the spring
some males attain silvery white edges to the tertials, these birds will also
have a mixture of brown, sooty grey and even black feathering.
The full male plumage is attained in the autumn of the
second calendar year, grey-black upperparts, sooty black breast and face, a
bold white wing patch, and a rusty-red rump and tail.
This photograph for me captures the normal habitat of the Black Redstart, disused sites and old wire fencing.
Ian had seen the two fighting last week which would reinforce the fact that these are two males, they appeared also to keep to their own territories and there was a clear divide.
I must admit though to feeling a little disappointed that it wasn't the adult male posing with these wonderful backgrounds.
We made our way back to Victorious Close and found the male once again, but as with all the recent Black Redstarts it preferred to occupy the roof tops, which provide the challenge of exposure against the silver grey sky.
As ever a stunning bird.
It then dropped from the roof top and reappeared on the fences around the gardens.
It then appeared in the small garden area briefly before flying across the road and into the disused area and we never saw it again, but our attention now turned to the Dartford Warbler that was showing again, but only briefly. It would flit from the cistus bushes, disappearing into the middle and occasionally calling. It seemed a bizarre place to find a Dartford Warbler, but when you consider there is a good population on Browndown South, about two miles away and the habitat was very similar to that found in Mediterranean coastal areas, the Cistus bushes and Hebe, it isn't so bizarre.
I managed one shot of the warbler as it hid in a Hebe bush, at least a record shot.
We hung around in hope that he male Black Redstart would return but we never saw it again. Eventually we decided to head back to Titchfield Haven to use the reserve this time.
The tide was rising already, high tide due mid afternoon. Looking from the bridge this Little Grebe was sheltering from what was now a quite fresh northerly wind.
We stayed on the east side and visited the Suffern Hide. Straight out were the usual Black-headed Gulls but to the left of the hide was a a group of Tufted Duck and a single drake Pochard.
The once common pochard is now under threat because its
populations are declining rapidly. The UK is an important winter destination
for the pochard, with 48,000 birds visiting our wetlands and coasts. Most of the birds in the UK come from northern
and eastern Europe for the winter, with just a few pairs staying to nest.
Pochard
are classic diving ducks, with a stocky build, short neck and legs set well
back on the body. They find nearly all their food by diving, and unlike Tufted
Ducks, they are predominately vegetarian.
Highly sociable birds, they are invariably found in flocks
outside the breeding season, and these can number many thousands. The drakes
tend to be hardier than the ducks, with the latter migrating farther south for
the winter, so wintering flocks in the UK are typically dominated by drakes.
The Tufted Ducks did not miss out, as they drifted closer the darker water was the prefect background for them.
We didn't spend too long on the east side, however on the walk back we did come across a single Firecrest calling quietly amongst a flock of Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits.
Back at the car a stop for lunch produced three Eider offshore, two males and a female and closer in this Great Crested Grebe.
We headed back to the west side of the reserve, first stop, the Meon Shore Hide. The water levels had fallen slightly and there were now islands visible. The water though was still deep enough to support good numbers of Teal and Wigeon while twelve Avocet were present along with Black-tailed Godwits.
As ever there was a certain amount of friction between the godwits, typically getting upset if one wandered too close to one feeding.
The banished Godwit settled just off the closest island and proceeded to preen.
Always wary of the surroundings and possible threats.
I had been hearing their "mew" calls overhead without locating the birds so it was nice to find at least three adult Mediterranean Gulls on a far island, all sporting an almost complete black hood.
Over the last few weeks there have been plenty of Wigeon and Pintail to photograph, but I seem to have avoided the Teal. I felt I had to put this right today.
Teal gather in large numbers in winter on flooded gravel
pits, reservoirs and floodplain meadows. Many of these birds are migrants from
the cold climes of the Baltic and Siberia. In summer, teal breed in small
numbers in the UK, mostly in the north.
The teal is our smallest duck. Males are grey, with a speckled breast, a yellow-and-black tail, a chestnut-coloured head and a bright green eye patch. Females are mainly mottled brown, but both sexes show a bright green wing patch in flight and at rest as you can see.
There were good numbers of Shelduck about and several could be seen flying around and over the scrape. This individual came close to the hide and in the sunshine I was completely taken by the vivid red of the drakes bill
The Shelduck is one of our largest ducks, the male's bill has a lump on top whereas the female's bill is less prominent.
The weather was constantly changing, one minute overcast and grey and then transformed by sunshine, blue skies and white clouds.
The winter sunshine highlighting the reeds and the bare branches of the many different trees in the Meon valley.
A lone Redshank feeding in front of the hide.
From the Meon Shore Hide we walked to the end of the east side and the Spurgin Hide. The last time I was here the vegetation was all overgrown and the water level was very high. Today the water level had dropped and a lot of the vegetation cut back. The thermal camera was very useful in finding this Snipe on the left hand side of the hide.
Out on the water were two pairs of Gadwall, Coot and two Little Grebes, the grebes constantly diving and calling to one and other. We watched this grebe dive close to a small island, when it surfaced it had quite a large prey in its bill. We watched as it wrestled with it, shaking it and even dropping it back in the water.
Taking several frame and cropping a long way in it is possible to see that it had caught a newt. From the belly colour and spots it is a male Smooth Newt, one of the commoner species.
As we were about to leave the hide we were told of a Snipe very close to the West Hide. Now the West Hide is normally passed by as it is not in a location suitable to attract many birds, set back from the scrape we have no idea what the thinking was when it was put in. This though was an opportunity to spend some time in the hide and hopefully see something.
On arrival we were greeted with the usual view, nothing. The ground in front was slightly flooded and as we watched three Teal appeared. Then Ian found the Snipe, which was close to the hide an went on to give some very good close views.
The name Snipe comes from various German and Danish words for a long bill. The Snipe itself gives its name to a sharp shooter or "sniper" due to the difficulty in shooting it as it weaves through the air.
Motionless for a long time it eventually started to creep through the grass, probing as it went with the long bill into the surrounding mud.
It was a wonderful opportunity to be so close to such a secretive and well camouflaged bird.
Snipe have a flexible tip to the beak that is full of
nerves; this helps them to feel for worms deep underground and then open the
end of their beak to grab them.
We left the hide just as the reserve was about to close. Once again a day that started rather slowly has produced some great experiences and also a good number of pleasing photographs
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