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