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.

6th July - Titchfield Haven, Hampshire

Some interesting reports of waders over the weekend at Titchfield so I decided to go back and see if they were still around.  After checking in I walked around the sea wall.  The tide was out and the rocks were showing and these created rock pools that the Common Terns were fishing in.

 I went to the Meon Shore hide once more and in front of the hide on the small island the Common Tern was still on the nest as was a Black-headed Gull, but there was a very young Black-headed Gull chick that was out in the open and very much in danger of being picked off by a Lesser Black-backed Gull.

One of the Black-headed Gulls had taken one of the perches close by and was constantly calling.

A Common Tern was flying around the scrape with a fish.

Usually the terns bring the fish in for partner or young, but in this case it started to swallow the fish itself.

And eventually swallowed it.

The Spotted Redshank, one of the waders seen yesterday was still on the south scrape tucked away on the right hand side, feeding in the deeper water.

There were also three Common Sandpipers, but they stayed resolutely by the causeway too far away from the hide.

Some more antics from the Common Terns, this time one flies in to the small island in front of the hide and immediately started calling.

Then making its way to the nest area still calling and eventually they change over brooding duties and I was able to see two eggs.  I still do not hold out much hope for the chicks if they hatch.

Settled down for the duty.

I walked around to the Pumfrett Hide, but stopped at the new pond that is now visible after the clearance work last winter.  There were Black-tailed Skimmers and in the reeds I found a Southern Hawker.

At Darter's Dip, the Small Red-eyed Damselfly was still present sitting once again on the pond weed.

From the hide you could just about see two Little Ringed Plover through the heat haze on the mud at the northern end of the scrape, there was a slo a Common Sandpiper catching flies on the edge of the water.  On the posts on the south scrape a Sandwich Tern was amongst the Common Terns.  Two House Martins were also collecting mud on the south scrape.

The heat haze was a big problem for photography so I went back to the pools to see if I could find the Norfolk Hawker, and it wasn't hard to find, and it soon settled on the reeds.

Once again a close up of the lovely green head.

And the perfect pose on a reed stem.

I walked back to the Meon Shore and it was now very hot.  I stopped at the new pond and watched the Southern Hawker chasing the Black-tailed Skimmers.  At one point the hawker pushed the skimmer into the water and seemed to be trying to push it under, but the skimmer got away.

Finally the Southern Hawker settled on one of the perches.

Back in the hide little had changed and like the Pumfrett the heat haze was a challenge.  Of interest was this Sandwich Tern that came a little closer.

A Common Tern was buzzing the Sandwich Tern, hence the posture, it didn't want to give up its perch.

Finally it left the post and headed out to sea.

It was a short visit, curtailed mostly by the heat and the heat haze.

21st March - Keyhaven - Lymington Reserve, Hampashire

When I arrived at the car park at the end of Lower Pennington Lane my concerns were realised.  Recently parking charges were introduced for the camper vans that parked along New Lane at Cut Bridge.  Consequently the owners have looked for somewhere that doesn't have charges and the closest of course was this car park.  Fortunately Ian andI were able to find spaces along Normandy Lane.

Our normal route out on to the reserve now changed we walked down the side of the Eight Acre Pond.  On reaching the sea wall we decided to walk to the west.  It was very quiet, both bird wise and people, but with the sunshine we assumed we would soon be inundated with day trippers.

There were a few Wigeon on Salterns sitting in the morning sunshine.

We walked across the fields and then up to the sea wall at Pennington.  As we reached the Jetty there were a few Brent Geese on the marsh, numbers have fallen as the birds start their journey back to Siberia for the summer.

Another Wigeon on one of the pools.

We walked from the Jetty to check the Shoveler Pools, this time of year and weather would be perfect for Garganey , but nobody seems to have told the Garganey.  There was very little on the pools.

A Cetti's Warbler sang from the scrub bushes, for once showing really well.

We were able to creep closer without disturbing it.

We crossed the Old Tip and then walked alongside the ditch at Fishtail.  A pair of Tufted Duck were a little concerned as we approached.

And eventually took off.

Fishtail Lagoon was quiet, the water levels are still very high.  There were Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler and Gadwall, but no sign of any Pintail.  The Lapwing were displaying over the water with their acrobatic flights.  Here the sun catches the plumage on the back of the Lapwing.

There were sic Pintail at the back of the Keyhaven Lagoon and a good sized flock of summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwits.  A Greenshank was also feeding in a distant pool.  We decided to walk around the Ancient Highway in the hope we might find some early butterflies.  However aside from singing Chiffchaff the walk was very quiet.

Rather than walk back to the sea wall we carried on along Lower Pennington Lane.  Ian stopped and pointed out a White-tailed Eagle coming across the marsh with a few Shelduck shadowing it.  The light was not helpful unfortunately.

You can make out the radio transmitter on its back and from the all dark plumage this was an immature bird.

Walking along the back of the marsh you are almost guaranteed to find Roe Deer, and we did.

 

A young buck shedding the winter coat.

Things brightened up when we reached Normandy, there were a good number of waders on the lagoon.  Close in was this Spotted Redshank, already beginning to show some dark feathers, let's hope it stays around.

A roost of breeding plumaged Black-tailed Godwits, reflecting well in the sunshine.

I recalled it was three years since I acquired the camera my first photographs with it of summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwits.

Black-tailed Godwit and Avocet alongside each other.

A Greenshank on the shore of the lagoon close to the path.

The Greenshank preening.

Many of the Avocet were paired up and could be seen going through the mating display.  This one was being aggressive to the godwits, chasing them away for no clear reason other than they were there.

Some nice reflections in the still water.

A qucik shake after a preen.

We had lunch with the tide very high, but nothing to show for it.  After there was some time to watch the waders once again.  A few Ringed Plover and Dunlin appearing on the shingle, while out on the lagoon there were four Pochard and red head Red-breasted Merganser.

To be fair we had walked a long way today and were beaten, it was time to head home.  As we walked buy the Eight Acre Pond a male Stonechat sat nicely on the tip of a branch.

March can be a frustrating month, in good weather it can promise so much and deliver nothing and that was definitely t he case today.  Never mind, wonderful weather, good company what more do you need?