29th August - Hook with Warsash and Titchfield Haven

Despite the fact that we both swore we would not be going back again, Ian broke the oath on Bank Holiday Monday and succeeded in seeing Yellow Wagtail and Whinchat.  So this meant I had to go back too.  After a trip to Alton station to drop Helen off, I headed south once more, risked my neck on the speed bumps and parked just off the path to Workman's Lane.  As expected there was no sign of the Little Owl in the trees or on the posts, but a few Swallow were passing overhead as the sun started to break through some hazy cloud.

On reaching the Donkey field on the TLC I picked out a distant Wheatear, however a scan of the horses in the field only produced Pied Wagtails, was it going to happen again?

Not giving in I turned to the horses near the riding school, there were three Shire Horses feeding and I noticed the familiar flash of yellow and white as birds fed around their feet.  Whilst they were at the back of the paddock I was able to get a closer view by walking along the footpath from the stile.

Still distant it was possible to get some "in habitat" shots of the Yellow Wagtails, of which there were two, feeding with Pied 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. 

Yellow wagtails produce two broods per year where suitable habitat exists. They nest on the ground, usually in large fields, well away from tall boundaries. They also nest in wet grassland and hay meadows.  

The horses then wandered off to be attended too and the Yellow Wagtails chose a suitable perch and waited for the to return.  

I walked around to the bend in the path and scanned the main field once again.  There were now more Yellow Wagtails around the horses, but still distant.  However in the field near the riding school there was about half a dozen feeding with the Pied Wagtails and these were much closer.

They are always on the move, twisting and turning to peck at possible insects and then jumping into the air.

The Yellow Wagtail's tail is shorter than that of the Grey or Pied Wagtail.  The males are a saturated yellow below, but in autumn this fades to be more of a yellow wash.

The mantle and back is a greyish green or a grey brown.

The wings are a brownish grey with rather distinct but narrow wing bars which are a pale yellow or a dirty white depending on the time of year.  The legs are black.

There are eight different subspecies of yellow wagtail can be found in Europe, differing in the colour of the males' heads. For example, in France and Germany, you will find the blue-headed wagtail; in Italy, the grey-headed wagtail; and in Finland, the ashy-headed wagtail.

Leaving the Yellow Wagtails are put in an extensive search for Whinchat, checking the fence posts stretching out across the pylon field without any luck, then walking to the Meander Pools where Ian had seen two yesterday.  The area they had been in was around the burnt gorse, but the only birds I could find were Goldfinch and Greenfinch.  I walked as far as the Links Scrape, but with no luck.

Off shore three Sandwich Terns were calling and flying around and as I headed back a Greenshank flew from the Meander Pools to the scrape and was followed by a Common Sandpiper.  I could hear the Avocet calling from the scrape and then a flock of about 30 flew past me heading towards Hill Head.

From Hook I negotiated the bumps once again and headed to Hill Head, where after parking went onto the west side, first stop the Meon Shore Hide.  In the far north east corner of the scrape the Spotted Redshank was feeding in the deeper water.

The water levels were good with quite a bit of mud around specially in front of the hide, but of course the majority of the birds were on the far side.

However on the small island in front of the hide a pair of juvenile Little Ringed Plover appeared from behind the vegetation and proceeded to show really well as they fed in the mud.

Although feeding in that methodical plover way, the Little Ringed Plover just seems to be the slowest in moving and pick at the mud.

The diagnostic yellow eye ring just becoming clear.

A Common Sandpiper appeared from the left hand side, leaving a trail of footprints as it plodded through the mud.

Then it came closer to the hide feeding around the old reed cut reed stems.

Common Sandpipers have become quite common at this time of year at Titchfield, with numbers as high as six birds present.

A Juvenile Common Tern sat on one of the posts close to the hide.  There were also two adult birds and the young chick still about on the scrape.

The predominant gull on the scrape once again was the Black-headed Gull, but scanning through them I found this Mediterranean Gull.

And this adult Common Gull, nice to see this lovely gull returning.

The Spotted Redshank put in intermittent views at the back of the scrape, preferring to feed on the north scrape.  It was joined by a Greenshank, maybe the bird I had seen earlier at Hook.

There were also good numbers of Avocet, again probably the birds from Hook, and Black-tailed Godwits feeding at the back of the scrape.  Snipe were also about but not as bold as they were at the weekend.

From the Meon I walked around to the Spurgin, I had time so I thought I would put in some effort to see if the Bittern would show, there was also the possibility of Kingfisher as a pair have been showing well over the last few days.

Sitting down it was the usual view from the hide, a lone Grey Heron on a dead bough and several Gadwall upending at the back of the water.  What was encouraging was that the Kingfishers had shown, but there had not been any sign of the Bittern.

I settled in and waited.  After about an hour a Kingfisher appeared on one of the strategically positioned perches.

This was the male bird and it made several dives into the water, sometimes returning to a perch out of sight behind the reedmace, but fortunately returning to the visible one.

Many images were of the same view but it would shift position.

When it disappeared it was not clear if it went and was replaced by the female and where the other bird went.  There were calls and distant views of a bird flying off then one would appear.  This is a female, note the pink flush on the lower mandible.

She appeared more proficient at catching fish

But most of the time when in view this was the pose.

When the Kingfisher disappeared a Common Tern appeared and was fishing over the water, frequently flying back and around the pools then hovering before plunging into the water and coming up with a fish, it then headed off to the scrapes.

It wasn't the heron I hoped to see but it showed well, a Little Egret fishing around the open parts of the reeds.

A pair of Kestrels put in an appearance, both flying low over the hide and away.  A different Common Tern appeared hovering over the pool.

While the Little Egret tested the patience of the Grey Heron on the bough, the heron wasn't happy to start with, but backed down when the egret didn't seem to be competition.

My patience finally wore out and I was resigned to the fact the Bittern wasn't going to appear.  I was quite happy with the views of Kingfisher though, so decided to head back, but stopped off in the Meon Shore to see if anything had changed.  It was pretty much the same, but there was a Green Sandpiper on the causeway at the back of the scrape and this drake Garganey, in eclipse but still distinctive from the other duck with the white spot at the base of the bill and the pale area above the eye.

It was disappointing not to find the Whinchat, but there is still time, the Yellow Wagtails were good and it is always a good day when you get good Kingfisher views

26th August - Titchfield Haven and Warsash, Hampshire

Ian and I decided on a repeat of last Saturday's itinerary, starting once again at the Bridge Street var park, today though there was not the strong breeze that was present then and the skies initially were clear.  The day before there had been quite a bit of activity with warblers, wagtails Wheatears and Whinchats turning up almost everywhere, surely some would be left behind today.

The sun had just risen and as we set off along the canal path, was just appearing above the trees, while a mist hung over the waters of the Meon in the valley.  The air had a decidedly autumnal feel about it.

Looking across the field towards the Barn Owl tree there was a distinct contrast between two trees, on the right a Sycamore heavily laden with seeds, while to the left a Horse Chestnut with leaves badly damaged by the leaf miner larvae.

Coming away from the willow lined canal path a view across Posbrook Floods, more mist hanging above the water and in the fields the bulrushes covered in spider webs.

As the sun rose it began to light and warm up the bushes at the back of the canal.  With this there was a little more activity, both Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler were seen, but the Whitethroats were the more showy, sitting in an opening to take in the warmth of the sun's rays.

At the bridge we checked the horse field behind the canal, but despite some movement in the oak trees lining the path, that turned out to be Blue and Great Tits, there was nothing about.

We returned to the Canal Path and was confronted with this view.

A bird was sitting in the middle of the path.  We had been hearing the calls of Green Woodpecker as we had walked the path, here in front of us was an immature bird that was clearly looking for Ants on the edge of the path.

Green Woodpecker are not easy birds to photograph, notoriously shy they normally disappear the moment you raise the camera, so it was nice to be able to watch and photograph this one.

We walked on scanning the field posts for Whinchat and Yellow Wagtails, but without any luck.  Just before the path reaches the thatched cottage at about the halfway stage of the path the area opens up with reeds and a scattering of bushes.  In the bushes there were Whitethroat showing well and also a few Sedge Warbler, one of which showed well.

Looking to the south there was a huge gathering of clouds over the Isle of Wight, checking the radar it was clear this was a huge thunderstorm, fortunately it looked as if it would miss us so we were able to enjoy the majesty of the incredible cloud formations, enhanced by the morning sunshine.

Walking back there were more birds in the bushes, a Reed Bunting.

And a rather bedraggled Long-tailed Tit.

A Dragonfly was hawking around a patch of reeds but then fortunately settled on one of the surrounding trees.  This allowed us to identify it as a Migrant Hawker.

More warblers in the bushes, another showy Whitethroat.

And a Chiffchaff.

On Posbrook Floods there were two Little Egret and an immature Cattle Egret, all were tucked at the back and I couldn't get a suitable shot.

At the bridge I walked on while Ian went to check the horse field, he quickly called me back as he had found a Redstart in the bushes.  It took a little time to re-appear but when it did there was no mistaking the identification.

It then dropped to the ground and came back on to a post.

Just before the car park another Whitethroat in the bushes.

Like last week we decided to try our luck once more at Hook and Warsash.  After negotiating the speed bumps and the expected absence of a Little Owl by the cottages we turned into the TLC field and like last weekend the only birds of interest were the Wheatear, two in fact, one distant in the field, but the other showing well in the paddock next to the Donkey field.  At first on the ground where the sun played havoc with the photography, but then it flew up to a post and showed very well.

So where had all the Yellow Wagtails gone and what about the Whinchats?  They must have heard we were coming.  Back at the cars I found this Jersey Tiger on a branch by the fence.  These seem to have had a very good year, I an had 48 in his moth trap in the week.

So next we headed back to Titchfield Haven and entered the west side of the reserve and the Meon Shore Hide.  For once the water levels were good with a fair bit of mud on show.  The Spotted Redshank was feeding close to the hide, but immediately flew off.  A Common Redshank showed well though with a nice reflection in the shallow water.

A Common Sandpiper was feeding on the mud to the left hand side of the hide.  There were at least four scattered over the south scrape.

While the Spotted Redshank was found roosting just off the side of one of the distant islands.

There had been reports of Green Sandpiper and Little Stint in the week.  We quickly found two Green Sandpipers and fortunately one of them decided to leave the causeway at the back of the scrape and come a little closer.

We had some rain as we left Hook and Chilling, but this had dried up as we arrived at the Haven, however the clouds were gathering around us and it wasn't long before a storm passed through.  

We hoped it might push something down on to the scrape, but all we did get was a Marsh Harrier coming low over the reeds.

Sexing Marsh Harriers is difficult, this was not a large bird which made you think possibly a male, the plumage was quite bright and the secondaries show wear.  There are better people than me who would struggle with this so I will leave it open for debate.

As the rain eased we picked up three waders on the causeway at the back of the scrape, closer inspection revealed these were the Little Stint.

One then flew to one of the closer island and showed reasonably well.

First of the year for me.

There had been Snipe feeding along the edge of the west side of the scrape, but now they started to appear from the closest island to the left of the hide.

A drop of mud!

From this angle an extremely long bill.

Others would come and go.

Providing a nice reflection.

A sign of the tide rising was the influx of Oystercatchers coming on to the scrape.

Black-tailed Godwits feeding to the left of the hide.

Storms continued to move past us without any impact.  This one missing us but delivering some heavy rain over the New Forest and Southampton.

And producing a flat rainbow away to the north of the reserve.

Then a problem, I noticed that the Lens Hood had disappeared and looking out of the hide widow realised it had dropped off.  So now you have to imagine the sight of a 65 year old man crawling under the hide to retrieve it, which I managed to along with some nasty scratches from bramble on my head and legs, those lens hoods are not cheap!

Another surprise was a single Snipe appearing on the mud and heading towards the reeds.  Ministry of Silly Walks!

It soon realised it didn't want to be where it was and it turned around and headed back to the island.

There is always a Lapwing close to the hide, this one producing a very nice reflection.

As we edged towards closing time one of the Green Sandpipers came close once again.

And just before the hide was closed we were treated to four immature Moorhen climbing one of the Kingfisher perches, quite comical.

So another frustrating day in search of the special birds at this time of year, the positive though was the Little Stint and keeping out of the heavy rain showers.