30th September - Keyhaven - Lymington Reserve, Hampshire

With Ian working all week I was more than happy to return to Pennington this Saturday.  The shortening days meant that we were meeting at 7.00 which was still before sun rise.  The skies were clear and the last Harvest Moon of the year was shining brightly away to the west as I pulled into the car park.

Looking to the east the sun was still to rise and there was a pink wash in the sky, while across the marsh there was a hint of mist.

Vapour trails criss crossed the sky, lit up as orange by the sun below the horizon.

We made our way dow the east side of the old tip towards the Shoveler Pools, there had been a report of the Red-necked Phalarope there on Friday, but there was no sign of any birds on the pools at all, our thought was that the report was more likely to be the Grey Phalarope that had shown well yesterday, but that was now on the Jetty Lagoon.

From the Shoveler Pools the morning mist looked a lot more dramatic.

While away to the south west over the Isle of Wight the sun was just beginning to emerge above the downs.

Mist sun and clouds combine to provide a wonderful early morning scene.

Cattle on Pennington Marsh.

A low tide at the Jetty and a lovely pastel coloured sky.

From the Jetty we turned to the east and quickly found the Grey Phalarope at the back of the lagoon, it was a long way off and kept hiding behind the vegetation.

A Grey Heron stood in the sea alongside the rocks exposed by the low tide.

The exposed old metal work and rocks to the east of the Jetty.

Ian picked up five Spoonbill flying west over Pennington and past us, these was the initial three that were all immature birds by the black tips to the primaries.

Here all five, another immature and an adult bird.

They didn't drop down on to the Fishtail of Keyhaven lagoons and we assumed they flew to the harbour.

As we walked towards Butts Bay the sun was now breaking the clouds and sending strong sunlight across the sea.

The sun rises across the Solent here at this time of year never fail to impress.

A Great Crested Grebe in the golden water.

As we walked along the sea wall we were pushing Meadow Pipits ahead of us, some on the concrete, some on the path and this one posing nicely on a branch on the land side of the sea wall.

On reaching Fishtail the sun was now sufficiently placed to light up the lagoon and with the dead still water there were plenty of reflections to enjoy from the birds on the lagoon.

Redshank roosting around some of the small mud islands.

Wildfowl have been slow to arrive this autumn, we had managed to pick out a Brent Goose on the sea between Butts and Hurst Castle, but that is the only one so far, maybe the lack of strong north westerlies has contributed, we need to wait and see.  So it was welcome to hear the whistling calls of Wigeon as they flew over the lagoon and out into the Solent.

Back on Fishtail there were duck, still in eclipse plumage but no less spectacular in the morning light and the still waters of the lagoon.

A male Shoveler, still with awa y to go to achieve full breeding plumage, probably two weeks away.

A Pintail, one of my favourite ducks in full breeding plumage but they also have a special appearance in their eclipse plumage.

A pair of Teal, the drake looking quite splendid with his breeding plumage.

A male Pied Wagtail running along a stretch of exposed mud.

The Redshank had re-organised themselves and with a different aspect, the reflections were wonderful.

A Curlew too was stood in amongst the water, and while the reflections were not as clear as some but still quite lovely.

A single Little Grebe close to one of the islands.

Then a Snipe flew in from the salt marsh to join in the reflections game!

This Grey Heron was caught in what seemed to be mid yawn!

We decided that we had exhausted the Reflections so it was time to head back east and see if the Grey Phalarope was showing a little better.

It was, but only just, it had come from the muddy pools at the back onto the main lagoon.

Here some video of it feeding before being spooked, by the incoming Canada Geese, back to the distant muddy pools.

While watching the Phalarope there was some activity in the reeds below us and it turned out to be two Chiffchaff fly catching.

We walked on past the Jetty, the tide was rising quite fast and the exposed metal work along side the Jetty was providing a welcome roost site for the Turnstone.

On Pennington Lagoon a pair of Wigeon.

Looking south over Oxey Lake another wonderful sky lending itself so well to black and white.

It was relatively quiet between the Oxey and Moses Dock, but as we headed for Normandy we noticed the amount of Michaelmas Daisies along the sea wall and over on the marsh  Coming around Salterns we found at least three female Common Blues in very good condition nectaring on them.

I don't recall seeing a Common Blue as late as this before.

The tide was now very high and it looked as if it was going to be a very high spring tide.  Consequently Normandy Lagoon was busy with waders looking for a safe roost.  We walked to the south bank where a good number were sheltering from the wind that had now stiffened with the rising tide and was coming from the south.

Scanning through the Dunlin Ian picked out a Little Stint, here it was feeding around the legs of a Black-tailed Godwit that was roosting close in.

Here an opportunity to compare size with the Dunlin.

It then flew to the side of the lagoon where it was a little closer to us.

It has been aged as a Juvenile / immature bird.

Most distinctive is the white "V" down the sides of the mantle that is formed by pale feather fringes.  

The crown and ear coverts are buff and the supercillium is distinctively split.  The upper parts are patterned with Golden, chestnut and buffish feather fringes

The underparts are very white with some streaking confined to a patch on the breast side.

The Little Stint then flew to one of the islands but returned later to feed amongst the Dunlin.

Scanning across we found at least eight Knot now roosting on the lagoon

And then they were joined by a couple of Grey Plover.

Scanning further I came across a different Godwit that I called as a Bar-tailed but Ian wasn't too sure due to the dark area around the primaries and tail.  For me the body plumage was completely different from the accompanying Black-tailed Godwit, but I had t agree it didn't look smaller and the bill and legs appeared to be the same.

Then they all took off, here the Grey Plover showing the distinctive black patch on the underwing.

This then spooked the Dunlin and Ringed Plover that were roosting on the islands and there was a melee of waders flying around the lagoon.

When things settled down the godwits returned and now things became a little clearer.  My possible Bar-tailed Godwit now looked most definitely a Bar-tailed Godwit.

Side by side it now looked smaller, the bill definitely slightly curved up and the legs shorter.  It looked squatter but the bill was also long which could mean this is a female who have longer bills.

The overall body plumage is much more variegated than that of the Black-tailed Godwit and more reminiscent of a Curlew, quite unlike the plain brownish grey of the Black-tailed Godwits.

The head is more strongly patterned with an obvious long white supercillium, that extends beyond the eye, unlike the Black-tailed that stops at the eye.

Leaving Normandy we headed back, first around the sea wall then across Oxey Marsh to Pennington.  This Stonechat posed nicely along the sea wall.

As we headed for the car park, the Grey Phalarope was still on Jetty Lagoon and there were now four Spoonbill feeding on the westside together.  

After lunch we walked back towards Fishtail, but turned left to see if the Spoonbill were still about.  The tide was the highest I can recall for a very long time with hardly any saltmarsh showing.  There were six Great Crested Grebes in Butts Bay, four of which were staying close together.

The Spoonbill were still feeding on Jetty, although three appeared to be more involved.

The other bird was preening and was wearing a ring that we were able to read "NC61", which refers to a bird ringed in the Netherlands.

Synchronised feeding

As they moved across the Lagoon they all joined up to be a four

We identified three immature birds and a single adult, they could possibly be from the five we saw first thing in the day, one of the adults going missing.

As we walked off there was also another long legged water beasty sitting by the egde of the lagoon.

All day we had been seeing Kingfishers fly across the lagoons and a way from us, this continued on Fishtail as one flew across the water and settled on the fence out of view behind the reeds.

Looking across Fishtail surprisingly there were few waders, but when we walked around the Ancient Highway we were able to see the other side of the islands and they were all roosting there out of the wind.  In amongst them was a single Golden Plover.

Out in the open though were two Sandwich Terns.

And a first winter Mediterranean Gull.

Walking around Keyhaven Lagoon there were huge numbers of waders roosting well away from view at the back.  These Shoveler flew in, all in eclipse but showing the beautiful powder blue speculum.  Can you see the odd one out?

Lots of Meadow Pipits on Keyhaven Marsh along with this Lapwing.

Again another spectacular sky over the high tide in Keyhaven Harbour, emphasised beautifully in black and white.

Walking along the highway there were Speckled Wood and Red Admiral and Migrant Hawkers and Common Darters, but little else.  As we approached the car park a Raven flew over and one could be seen on a post on Efford tip.

It is always a wonderful place here for photography at this time of year and today did not let us down