5th September - Oxey Marsh to Keyhaven Lagoon, Hampshire

If it has been awhile since visiting Farlington, it seemed even longer to come all the way to the Keyhaven - Lymington reserve.  To be honest I have been wanting to go for a while now but the fire and closure of the A31 has kept me away.

So this morning I was meeting Ian, not at the usual car park, but this time Normandy Lane.  From there we walked out to the marsh and were greeted with an almost empty Eight Acre Pond.  Where there was water there were Little Egret and quite a few Redshank, plus one Greenshank.

In places the shadows created some dark water so we walked up to the sea wall to try and get the egrets with their reflections.  Ian was watching an egret when it looked up and so did Ian and above us was an Osprey high and heading west.

It drifted away and it was back to the Little Egrets, there were fifteen around the pond, most of them in the water but also some in the trees.

So some time for the reflections.  First in the blue water.

Then in the dark water.

On the other side of the sea wall was a Greenshank.  Th elight wasn't perfect but the greenshank was close enough to overcome any problems from the light.

Feeding around the exposed bladder wrack.

Walking on a Redshank stood on a rock at Salterns again with a nice reflection.

We walked across the marsh in the hope of finding some migrants around the bushes but it was very quiet.  Coming up on to the sea wall there was a lovely scene out in the Solent created by the sun behind a cloud.

All three hirundines were hawking insects along the sea wall over the bushes.  Of the swallows they were mainly immature birds lacking the tail streamers seen in the adults.

A warbler was showing in the gorse, any thoughts on what it might be from this shot?  The long wings might be a clue.

Easier from this view, long primary projection and light coloured legs.

A Willow Warbler.

Offshore there was a single Eider, it looked like a male in eclipse.

The tide was at its lowest, but there was water in Butts Bay.  Turnstone and Ringed Plover fed on the exposed sea weed.  This Curlew moved slowly away from us.

Moving out into the deeper water, but still walking, never swimming.

Fishtail Lagoon was almost completely dry and there were only a few Pied Wagtails on the mud.  Keyhaven Lagoon was quiet with no sign of the recent Ruff,. the only bird of interest being a distant Wheatear.

We came back to the Old Tip and walked through the bushes, again with very few migrants about.  Walking down to the car park there were cattle in the corner by the gate and with them were Yellow Wagtail.

As usual they were feeding amongst the feet of the cattle.

As we were watching the Yellow Wagtail, another birder came up to us and told us that there was an eagle coming towards us from the sea.  Sure enough, there it was at first coming low.

At this point we were willing it to come towards us.

But it then moved a little away from us and started to circle which indicated it was looking to gain height.

There is a lot of feather wear, in the primaries and the tail.  Aging is difficult, but I don't think this was an adult, probably second or third year bird.

Better views of the tail here, its gaining the white feathers that give the eagle its name so maybe it is moulting into an adult.

Great views here of the shape of the huge wing span.  It has the name of the flying barn door.  It is the largest bird of prey found in this country, the wingspan a little longer than that of the Golden Eagle.

Fantastic to watch as it circle above us and eventually became a speck amongst the clouds

We decoded to walk back along the footpath off Pennington Lane and returned to the marsh at Oxey Creek.  A Raven was calling endlessly and eventually it showed with another.  It continued to call as it flew around us.

Nice to be able to get some good flight views of Raven.

This is in blacjk and white.

As we watched the Raven, Ian picked up a Sparrowhawk and it was being mobbed by hirundines as it circled above.  Incredible reduction in size compared to the White-tailed Eagle!

We had made our way back to Oxey Marsh and it feels right to pause the account of the day here, part two will take us from Oxey Marsh to Normandy Marsh.

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?