4th September - Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

Early morning rain delayed me leaving for Titchfield this morning, so I met up with Ian a little later than planned at Cliff Road.  It was though very overcast with reduced visibility out in the Solent.  we walked around to the west side of the reserve.  The tide was out but we couldn't find any Water Rails on the exposed mud.

Settling in the Meon Shore hide a Black-tailed Godwit flew from the top of the scrape past the window of the hide.

An immature Marsh Harrier was hunting over the reeds to the side of the scrape.

Since the start of June Marsh Harriers have been absent so it was nice to see this one quartering and hovering over the reeds.

But alos attracted the attention of the Magpies.

There were five Common Snipe alongside the reeds on the left side of the hide and one then came and settled in the water between the small island in front of the hide and the reeds.

Black-tailed Godwits were also feeding around the small island.

An adult.

Some of the plumage smooth while others showed scalloped and buff fringes.  This is a juvenile and will soon moult to a more streaked grey plumage.

There were several godwits flying around the scrape, caught this one as it banked on the right side of the scrape.

Common Terns were still on the scrape, but nowhere near the numbers we saw on last Sunday.  There were also several Common Tern carrying fish looking for an appropriate recipient.

There were two Common Sandpiper around, moving across the scrape and using the islands.  But a surprise was a Green Sandpiper that turned up on the left hand side, at first bathing in the water then preening.

Here showing the white rump as it jumped and flew to the shore.

The Snipe appeared in front of the hide once again.

Dropping in to the water in front of the reeds.

We could hear a Greenshank calling and slowly the calls became louder and louder until it came into view over the scrape.

It finally settled on one of the islands at the back of the scrape.

A Grey Heron flew on to the island at the back of the scrape and immediately attracted the attention of an adult Common Tern.  The tern was dive bombing and the immature Heron stabbing its bill towards the tern as it looped over the heron.

We watched this with some amusement as it was similar to the Cattle Egret and the tern a few days ago.  However we never expected what was to unroll in front of us.

The Heron put up with the tern for a good fifteen minutes, but then mover around the island, stabbed the ground and came up with this, a juvenile Common Tern.

The tern flapped for  a short while but then went still.  The heron walked away from the geese and the adult tern above it.

It then flew to the north scrape, carrying thetern, but then dropped, possibly unable to swallow it.  Then the immature Marsh Harrier flew in and picked up the tern and flew off with it being chased once again by the Magpie.

The Heron stayed on the mud and we thought that was that and attention returned to the island and water in front of the hide.  Redshank were absent first thing, but as the tide started to rise there were several arriving on the scrape.  At one time there were five in front of the hide and they were bathing and preening.

The immature Grey Heron then re-appeared and landed on another island and incredibly the same thing happened again, but probably even more horrific.

The heron had picked up this juvenile Common Tern, but the terns struggled and got free falling into the water, but the heron wasn't giving up.

Another lightning stab at the unfortunate tern.

And this time it wasn't letting go.

It was wanting to swallow the tern, and Heron's wold do this whole, so it would dip the tern, that now appeared dead into the water to wet the feathers and aid the swallow.  Here the Egyptian Goose appears to want to know what was going on.

It made several attempts to swallow but it looked as if the wings were just too much for it to swallow.

Eventually it flew off with thetern once again to the north scrape, where it still continued to try and swallow the tern, but in the end gave up and left it on the mud.  The Marsh Harrier returned once again and circled around above the tern, but opted not to take it this time.  The grey Heron flew off with another heron.

The hide was silent while all this was going on.  I think we were shocked by the brutality, but this is nature and the Heron's instincts were to feed, no matter what, but it picked on something that was not right, hopefully it learnt a lesson.

Oystercatchers were coming in to the scrape as the tide was rising, but they were also leaving and they would come low across the water before heading out over the hide.

The Greenshank was back and still very vocal, clearly upset about something.

Eventually it took to the air and flew at the hide calling as it went, out over the hide still calling.

Don't come to the haven expecting to see something special immediately, you have to be prepared to sit it out and wait and there is every chance there will be something to talk about even if like to day it was brutal to watch.

31st July - Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

After the family break it was back to Titchfield to see what had been going on while I was away and what state the reserve is in now after the complete lack of rain.

Plenty of spaces along Cliff Road this morning so it was a short walk to the Cabin where I checked in, from there I started to walk around to the west side of the reserve and the scrapes, but stopped at the harbour.  The tide was out and there was a sizeable increase in the number of Turnstone on the mud in the harbour.  All still in their summer plumage, there was a count of fifty three.

Common Terns were fishing off shore and could be seen flying back and forth from the scrape.  On arriving at the Meon Shore hide I was informed that there was a Spoonbill at the back of the scrape.  It was feeding with the characteristic sweeping motion as it searched for any food in the water.

There was some debate over the age of the Spoonbill, there were signs of black in the primaries and the legs were black which indicated a possible immature bird say second calendar year?

There always seems to be a Common Sandpiper feeding around the island in front of the hide and of course it was there today.

Also on the island were the three Common Tern chicks.  The oldest is now fourteen days old with the other two showing their age difference in their size.  Probably standing in the atwer to cool off.

The parents would bring fish in and for a while it was the older chick that was taking the majority of what was brought in.

There was an interesting dynamic where another tern would try to feed the chicks bringing in fish.  But the chicks were able to ignore it and hide under the roof tile, clearly they had been told not to accept gifts from strangers.  But what is interesting is that they are clearly aware of the correct tern's calls.

One of the parents calling out the intruder.

Plenty of tern action around the scrape, with a lot of immature birds still being fed by their parents.

Some close fly pasts as well.

And some squabbles.

There were two Sandwich Terns present, but both birds left the scrape heading to the sea as the tide came in.

A Mediterranean Gull was found amongst the Black-headed Gulls, an adult bird it was ringed with a white ring and the symbols 'EK22', hopefully I will get some more information on this at a later date.

Despite the fact that no Avocet chicks were raised on the Titchfield scrapes there were several juvenile birds feeding around the scrape.  They probably have come from the Hook Links scrape where there were a few birds raised.  These three were inseparable.

This adult was always close by and could be heard calling, maybe a parent?

Other waders included an increase in Common Redshank and the now long staying Spotted Redshank, unfortunately in its non breeding plumage.

There were four Green Sandpipers on the north scrape and one came south onto the area on the left hand side of the scrape with a Common Sandpiper close by.

Black-tailed Godwit numbers topped 105, with many birds scattered around the scrape.  These still in summer plumage looked quite smart in the dark water.

Apparently there has been a Water Rail showing over the last few days and this juvenile nipped out of the reeds and then almost as fast back in.

There was a strange event around midday, a sharp loud crack and gust of wind that blew the dust across the scrape and everything was spooked.

The thought was it could have been some sort of vortex that was generated by the heat and the wind.  It was very strange.

With all the birds spooked the Spoonbill left too, but it came back and stayed for a short while then flew off heading out to sea.  As it passed the hide you could clearly see the black tips to the primaries that probably age it as a second year bird.

When I arrived a Common Gull flew over my head towards the bay. As I walked back an adult Common Gull was sat on a post, a returning bird for the winter already.

One sad event I watched a juvenile Black-headed Gull struggling to keep its head up and eventually it dies on the edge of an island.  There was also a few dead Avocet around the scrapes.  The thought is that this was due to botulism caused by the low water on the scrape.  Lets hope it is that and not more avian flu.  The water levels have been increased now and hopefully this will continue through the dry spell.