22nd September - Keyhaven - Lymington Reserve, Hampshire

After the storms of the weekend (which incidentally we missed as we were in Kent!), Monday morning arrived with bright clear skies and temperatures now representative of autumn.  I had always decided to travel to Keyhaven as I felt I need a change of scenery.  There had been a showy Grey Phalarope over the weekend, but when I saw the weather in the morning I assumed it would have left overnight.

I pulled into the sea wall car park just after nine and set off over the old tip towards Fishtail Lagoon.  It has been quite a while since I have been here, the last visit was to Normandy Marsh way back on the 6th May, so I was quite excited to see what was about today.

I stopped to look out over Fishtail from the east side with the sun behind me.  On the shallow pools behind the main lagoon there were plenty of waders, the most numerous were Dunlin and Ringed Plover, but a closer look revealed a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper and three Little Stint.  Unfortunately all too far away for the camera.

A feature of the morning was the constant movement of hirundines, with all three of the commoner species, Swallow, House Martin and a few Sand Martin flying low over the lagoon and then heading out across the water towards the island.  In addition to the hirundines there was also a significant movement of Meadow Pipits and nowhere was this most noticeable than the marshes around the Keyhaven Lagoon.  As you scanned across the marsh it seemed to be moving with so many Meadow Pipits.  In amongst them as well were Pied Wagtails and every so often a Yellow Wagtail would call as they headed overhead.  Another fly over was a single Siskin, not something I expected to see today.

With all this small bird movement it was no surprise there were some birds of prey about.  A Marsh Harrier was over the back of Keyhaven Lagoon and a Sparrowhawk appeared above being mobbed by pipits and wagtails.

There were quite a few waders roosting on the islands at the back of Keyhaven Lagoon, the tide was rising and on one small spit there were Knot, Bar-tailed Godwits and one each of Golden and Grey Plover.

Walking back to Fishtail there was another Bar-tailed Godwit on the middle island.  When you see them like this there is clearly no confusion with the Black-tailed Godwit.

Three Yellow Wagtails were on the path, but were flushed by some over eager walkers.  At the sluice and steps a Wheatear was on the grass by the side of the path.

Walking pst Butts Lagoon there was a Curlew Sandpiper amongst the Ringed Plover, possibly the same bird seen on Fishtail earlier.  There were good numbers of Curlew on the marsh and bank at the back of Pennington Lagoon.

These Greenshank provided anice composition on Oxey Marsh.

A Redshank showed well on the edge of the water on Oxey

The red plant seen in the above photograph is called Common Glasswort and is an unassuming saltmarsh plant.  They usually grow in the mud of low level saltmarsh that is covered by most tides in the monthly cycle. After the main summer growing season the bright green plants turn red and then brown and are largely overlooked, but the seeds provide valuable food for birds such as Skylarks, Pipits and finches

What they also provide is some lovely colour at this time of year and in amongst some there was a roosting Greenshank, beautifully framed by the Glasswort.

And a still in summer plumage, Black-tailed Godwit.

As I turned the corner towards Moses Quay two Greenshank flew over calling, heading towards the marsh.

As I came through the lock I noticed a group of Black-tailed Godwits on Salterns pond alongside the path.  One was still showing some summer plumage and closer to the path.  I was able to take the bottom path and lay down to almost get at water level with the bird.

Here the Godwit is flexing the biil, in what is known as distal rhynchokinesis.  The use of distal rhynchokinesis, which consists of the movement of the distal part of the upper jaw with respect to the cranium, is well documented in long-billed shorebirds commonly being associated with the deep probing feeding method.

I thought it was only godwits present, but as I watched this bird preen I noticed that the bird closer to it was in fact a Spotted Redshank, so I settled in to photograph one of my favourite waders.

When seen like this, so different from the Common Redshank, note the longer, slightly down curving bill with the red on the lower mandible, overall it is greyyer in winter plumage while the Common Redshank is more brown.

Had a bit of a scratch.

It was then joined by another and they both went off to feed in the middle of the lagoon.  I walked on and at the far north east corner there were four Black-tailed Godwits close to the path and they were not phased by me being present.

I walked around to Normandy Marsh, checking the Michaelmas daisies along the way for small butterflies but without any luck.  Normandy was very quiet, and this was even with the tide high now.  There was a roost of Dunlin and Ringed Plover on the islands, but was nowhere near the sizes I have seen here.  The only other wader I could find was a couple of Turnstone.

I decided to stop and have lunch and see if anything would drop in, but apart from a pair of Great Crested Grebes and a Kingfisher that flew past, it remained quiet, so once I had finished my lunch I walked back.  There was a good roost of Redshank on the islands in Eight Acre Pond and on the water were several Little Grebes.

Back on Salterns the Black-tailed Godwits were still in the north east corner, one Spotted Redshank was feeding in the middle of the pond, while the other was roosting in the same place I had seen one earlier.  However it had positioned itself so that it was possible to get some of the red Glasswort into the background.

Finally settling down to roost.

I walked around Oxey Marsh from Moses Dock, not wanting to follow the sea wall.  In the field where the creek turns in land a buck Roe Deer stood watching me.

The decision to walk across the marsh paid off when I came across two Wheatear along one of the fences where some of the ponies were feeding.

The background was provided buy one of the ponies.

Watching the ground constantly for any food opportunity.

Down on the ground, a very smart looking bird.

I walked on around the sea wall and looking to the west the small clouds were bubbling up over the lagoons.

Having missed out on the Yellow Wagtails at th estart of the day I decided to walk to Fishtail to see if I could find them again.  As I reached the steps there were plenty of Meadow Pipits and amongst them were a few Yellow Wagtails feeding around the concrete blocks that were covered with sea weed.

Walking back along the bottom path there were at least six Chiffchaff in the bramble, they were flycatching and coming down to feed in the grass.

Walking back on the east side of Fishtail, the sun was not in the best of positions, but the Little Stints were a little closer and I was able to manage some record shots.

First time here for a while, it wasn't a spectacular day but it wasn't bad.  The wildfowl are starting to return and while they are still in eclipse plumage it won't be long until they are looking at their best and this always brightens things up here.