Lots more rain overnight on Sunday and there was news of flooding along the south coast and on the Isle of Wight. My journey south along the Meon valley allowed me to see the height of the river and it was as high as I have seen it before with flooding around Corhampton and Wickham. When I arrived at Titchfield Haven the tide was well up, due to be high at half past eleven and this meant that the sluice gates in the harbour would be closed and the river could not drain out, so I expected the west side to be flooded once again.
In visitor centre I was advised to leave the west side by 11:00 as the water was probably going to be high on the path from the entrance. I had to wade through the water to get to the Meon Shore hide, the view from the hide once again of a huge lake the central causeway gone and noth scrapes merged into one
I didn't bother to hang around and set off to the Spurgin hide, with the hope that there would be something of interest there. A Bittern had been reported over the weekend so that would be nice.
As I settled down a Marsh Harrier drifted past silhouetted by the sunlight.
There were Gadwall at the back of the mere and a few Coot about, a Little Grebe swam across the mere and this Heron was settled in the reeds, unfortunately not the long legged bird I was hoping for.
By now Ian had joined me, but little had changed it was very quiet. The time reached ii:00 am and we headed back to the entrance. The water was high, almost lapping the wellies but we stayed dry. Walking around the harbour the Turnstone were on the slipway and this allowed me to view the Turnstones as if lying flat on the floor.
Plenty of Black-headed Gulls on the groynes and one lone Common Gull.
We walked to the east side and made our way to the Meadow Hide. On the last visit to the reserve the east meadow was partially flooded, today though we didn't expect the expanse of water in front of us.
And as well as the water in the meadow there were lots of birds. Lapwing the most numerous but also Canada, Greylag and Egyptian Geese, Wigeon, Teal and plenty of gulls, mostly Black-headed and Common, but also Herring, Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gulls. With all this bird life it was no surprise to see Marsh Harriers and there were at least five around the meadows.
Amongst the Canada Geese a goose that at first looked like Barnacle, but a closer look showed the head to look not quite right, more later.
The Glossy Ibis were also on the meadow, having found some dry land to feed on, here I could see five.
It looked like the Knight's Bank hide would be better positioned to view the Ibis so we walked around, once again the only ones in the hide.
A pair of Stonechat were on the bramble buses that line the fence that crosses the meadow.
A male Marsh Harrier was hunting to the north of the hide, the male having much more grey inthe wings.
It found an area that was of interest and hovered over the spot for a few seconds.
We than picked up the Glossy Ibis, they must have flown off while we were walking around and now eere returning. Here five Glossy Ibis once more. We think the five are a family group as two of the birds show the really glossy plumage and the other three have dull patches which could be immature birds. They also stay together.
They dropped down on to the dry land along the fence line and where we had seen them earlier Four to start with.
And then the five were joined by the sixth bird that is readily accepted by the Five.
Here the five birds all together, with the sixt bird feed well to the right of them amongst the geese.
Then all the Lapwing and gulls went up and spooked the Glossy Ibis, the five taking flight.
The sixth bird joining them, it can be seen on the far right.
The five once again together and flying off.
But as they headed off towards the flooded scrape they were joined by the sixth bird and they ten flew together.
They dropped down on to the scrapes, probably at the north end amongst the reeds.
With the lock shut at the harbour the water from the river was spreading across the meadow and you could see the water covering the meadow where there had bee green grass a little earlier.
One of the two Curlew feeding in the dry area.
A male Marsh Harrier drifting over the trees along the river.
To the right side of the hide there is a nest box that has attracted the attention of a pair of Kestrels. The male here sitting at the entrance to the box.
The female was also close by, the hope is that they will breed this year in the nest box.
More views of the East Meadow that was looking more like the Welney WWT reserve in Norfolk.
A Snipe dropped in, alert to any danger as it was isolated on the edge of the water.
I don't think there was any time that you couldn't see a Marsh Harrier in the air. Other raptors seen were a few Buzzards a Sparrowhawk that zipped past the hide and a very distant Red Kite. A Raven also could be seen over the Canal path.
As we watched this Marsh Harrier fly across the meadow to the south of the hide it seemed to drop something. At the time we were not sure what it was, but looking at the photograph it appears to be hanging on to a vole by its tail. From the size probably a water vole. This would be the first time I have seen a Marsh Harrier here with any prey.
Again unknown at the time the harrier came back still with the vole in its talons.
I mentioned the strange Barnacle goose earlier, here a closer look and it is possible to see what is wrong with the goose. Whilst it has the black breast and grey flanks that you would see in a Barnacle Goose, the head pattern is all wrong In a Barnacle Goose there would be much more white on the forehead, there only being a thin black area from the bill to the eye. This is probably a cross between a Barnacle and a Canada Goose.
I had to leave early so my last photograph was of a male Marsh Harrier crossing a very flooded area that was once the Frying Pan.
It was great to experience the conditions here on the east side, and it was very entertaining with something consistently going on. It doesn't look like the water levels were going to change in the near to mid future.
