12th September - Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

With the forecast of more heavy showers it was back to Titchfield and the hides late morning.  However as I walked up to the hide the sunshine was very pleasant, but there was a very stiff wind from the south west that had the reeds bowing over.

FRom the Meon Shore hide the Curlew Sandpiper seen on Tuesday were on the left hand side, a fair distance from the hide.  However the three from Tuesday was now five, and in fact on Wednesday there were eight present.  Looking out across the scrape I was taken by these Black-tailed Godwits that appeared to be performing a sweep across the scrape.

The attention turned to the Curlew Sandpipers and here a record of the five birds present.

The hope on Tuesday was that the Curlew Sandpipers turn up in front of the hide, but they never did and I had to go chasing them up at the Pumfrett Hide.  But today the patience paid off and they very slowly made their way past the Snipe island and into the shallow water in front of the hide.

I make no apologies about the number of photos here of the Curlew Sandpipers.  They are a passage bird and a very smart wader.  These are all juvenile birds, but they have a beauty too.

They would stay loosely together but pairs could be seen feeding closely together.

Showing the long neck that is not always apparent and distinguishes the Curlew Sandpiper from the wader it is often confused with, the Dunlin.

Having moved across in front of the hide, they would suddenly call and then fly back to the left side of the scape.

But they were soon back in front of the hide, here a classic side by side three, heads down.

And heads up!

Four along side each other with reflections.

And flying off again.

A short distraction, an immature Common Tern calling over the scrape.

I like the contrast of the clouds in the sky.

The Starlings were also gathering on the islands, they would fly off to feed on the hawthorn berries and then return to drink and bathe.  Not all would go they appeared to share the time on the bushes.

But back to the Curlew Sandpipers, they returned to the mud by Snipe Island.

All five feeding together.

Coming closer to the hide the water was shallower and this produced some nice reflections.

Probably the best one.

More flight shots.

A complete contrast from Tuesday, the sandpipers spent much more time in front of the hide.

Three Curlew Sandpipers lined up walking and feeding towards me.  Some nice reflections once again.

A change in the light produced some different images.

The strong wind would ripple the water giving a different background.

A rare pause from feeding to preen.

To end, some individual flight shots.

And I have saved the best until last.

Again no apologies for the amount of Curlew Sandpiper photographs, they were showing so well it would have been wrong to ignore them and as I have said I am really proud of the last photograph.