Another grey, dull and cold morning saw me meeting Ian at the Sea Wall car park at Pennington. The last time I was here I had to contend with a bright low sun that turned everything into a silhouette. This morning though as we walked along the ancient Path to the viewing area for the Lesser Yellowlegs there was no such problem. The only problem though was that the Yellowlegs was not there. We looked around the area but without any luck, so decided to walk around to the sea wall to try our luck from there.
The water levels were a little lower and the tide was just starting to rise. Scanning out over the saltmarsh I found one of the Peregrines sitting on the beach.
There was no sign of the Yellowlegs from the sea wall either, so we walked on with plenty of Pintail showing well either side of the path. With the tide low there were channels in the mud and ahead of us a Spoonbill was feeding.
Two more pairs joined the first Spoonbill, but didn't stay long, flushed by a female Marsh Harrier that came across the saltmarsh scattering everything.
This immature bird was very dirty.
This immature slightly cleaner.
As well as the Spoonbill, the duck were also flushed by the Harrier, time for some Pintail in flight.
And a couple of males on Fishtail as we walked back towards Butts Bay.
Four Grey Plover on the spit that leads out into the bay.
As we passed the Jetty Lagoon there was a Cormorant that had caught a huge Eel and was struggling to swallow it.
You can see the Eel in the throat and it was giving up with out a fight.
Fighting its way back out despite the constant swallowing and drinking by the Cormorant.
Finally dispatched by some significant swallowing and wing flapping.
On reaching Pennington there were three Spoonbills feeding on the lagoon, they must have flown there when the Harrier flushed everything. They were then joined by the other two as the flew towards before dropping on to the lagoon.
A Spotted Redshank was taking time out to preen by one of the islands.
Two adult Spoonbills feeding in unison.
We reached Oxey Marsh and looking across the lake there were two drake Eide on the saltmarsh.
Coming around the sea wall towards the opening of the lake there were four Goldeneye, three females and single male. For once they were quite close in and we had the rare opportunity to get some close photos.
The drake with the "golden" eye that gives it the name.
Despite the fact that there were three females there was no displaying from the drake.
But he stayed close to them, all four diving at almost the same time.
After one dive I was able to get close to the water.
we had hoped we would find the Slavonian Grebe that has been present, but the Goldeneye more than made up for it.
On reaching the Salterns Pools there was a Greenshank feeding.
However it looked like it had a damaged wing, the primary feathers trailing in the water as it fed.
On the flooded area there were a pair of Egyptian Geese.
It is only recently that Wigeon have turned up on the eight acre pond. While it is not a deep pond it is too deep for the Wigeon to feed by upending. What they have learned is that the Coot dive for any pond weed on the bottom and bring it to the surface. In doing so they drop pieces and the Wigeon follow the Coot and wait for them to surface and then feed on the pieces that are loose on the surface of the water.
Each Coot on the pond was followed by either a pair of Wigeon or individuals.
We walked on to Normandy Marsh and amongst the many Lapwing was a single Golden Plover.
The Spoonbill roost numbered fifteen, we were not sure if the five we had seen earlier had flown here. There was also a collection of Avocet that seem to like roosting close to the Spoonbill.
Brent Geese were everywhere, and it is easy to overlook them. This pair looked nice and symmetrical.
We walked back and on the Salterns pond were a pair of drake Pintail. I dropped down from the sea wall and was able to get quite close to them.
At the opposite end of the lagoon a single Avocet in the dark water.
As we approached the jetty a large tight flock of Golden Plover were up over Pennington Marsh. From this photograph I was able to count 430.
On the Pennington Lagoon the Spotted Redshank was a little more animated feeding around the pool.
We walked up to the car park, past the Jetty Lagoon where there were plenty of Shoveler.
After some lunch we walked back along the Ancient Path to look for the Lesser Yellowlegs once more. It was present, but still quite distant making for record shots only, still a little better than the last attempts.
The Keyhaven at the harbour flashed past, perching on a bush for a fleeting second before flying back across the water to perch in lichen covered branches. It never showed any better unfortunately.
We walked back around the sea wall. In the pools at Iley Point there were two Redshank and a single Greenshank that showed very well in the still water.
In the water on the sea side of the path at Keyhaven Lagoon amongst the Wigeon and Pintail was a hybrid, showing the male features of the Pintail with the tail and head markings and the male Wigeon with the salmon pink breast and grey flanks.
Below us on the lagoon side was a Sinensis Cormorant, with the distinctive white feathers on the crown and neck.
The duck were all on the sea side and once again were flushed by a female Marsh Harrier, probably the same harrier that was around first thing in the morning.
There was little else going on as we walked back to the car, a day of interest amongst the dull grey conditions.
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