Wednesday 4th November 2020

A lovely calm sunny day after several days of wind and rain. The Dartford Warbler was still in the south west corner of the reserve in gorse bushes near MM’s house. A pair of Lesser Redpoll flew over calling but there was only a single Great Crested Grebe on the sea.

I headed over to B Water for high tide where 363 Lapwing and 48 Shoveler were on the Estuary Scrape. While I was sat in B Water hide a Marsh Harrier quartered close by before settling on a dead tree across the water. A pair of Pochard on B Water were a patch tick and a male Tufted Duck was only the second I’ve seen so far. A Merlin dashed over the fields as I was heading back from the hides.

Wigeon photo by Ian Williamson

Seven Greenshank and two Spotted Redshank were roosting in their normal spot hidden from DL’O hide but viewable from the gate to the south. A single Black-tailed Godwit, the first I’ve seen since September, was with the Lapwing. Two calling Chiffchaff were either late migrants or possibly wintering birds.

A single Rock Pipit was hunting for insects from underneath and around the sailing clubhouse and one of the Peregrines was surveying the marshes from its position on G Island.

Peregrine

As I was leaving, at just after 3pm, Nigel Jones texted to say that he had found two Penduline Tits! They were in the reed bed around the NP Hide not far from MM’s House. I was just passing the start of G Drive which leads down to MM’s house and so I quickly abandoned the car, messaged Nigel to see if he still had them and then jogged off hoping to join him.

He replied to say he was still there and I soon noticed him on the other side of the reed bed. Two minutes later I was with him, slightly out of breath. He suggested that we head around to the other side as the birds had flown in that direction. We headed back towards the NP Hide and then played their call back, we also tried some pishing and amazingly they called back and then danced across the top of the reeds heading in our direction. They sat up posing nicely on the edge of the reed bed, right in front of us, amazing! Ten seconds later they were off, flying west towards the marsh around MM’s house and they weren’t seen again.

Penduline Tits photos by Nigel Jones

There had been five Penduline Tits at Titchfield Haven at the end of October, it’s possible that our two birds may have been part of that party. Penduline Tit is a county tick for me and this is only the third time I have seen them in the UK.

Friday 30th October 2020

The next few days were forecast to be wet and windy and so I decided to head to NO earlier than planned to try and beat the forecast. Unfortunately it wasn’t much better today, windy with drizzle and sea spray in the air, quite challenging.

The highlight was five Spoonbill initially sleeping and then feeding on Inchmery just opposite the pontoon. There was also a female Eider sheltering nearby in the mouth of the river. There were at least six Great Crested Grebes with two on the sea and four in the more sheltered river mouth. 30 Dunlin and 10 Grey Plover roosted on the Estuary Scrape at high tide and a Spotted Redshank and two Greenshank were viewable distantly from the gate.

Grey Plover photo by Ian Williamson

I flushed three Snipe and a pair of Skylark from the spit near the point and two Rock Pipits flicked around the boats near the sailing club.

Monday 26th October 2020

The first time I raised my binoculars was for a patch tick, a Green Woodpecker on the grass near the NP Hide. The Dartford Warbler was still in gorse bushes near the beach although I only heard it today. The sea was quiet with just a Great Crested Grebe off shore.

At B Water the female Marsh Harrier was perched on a dead tree but flew just before I had my camera ready. A Peregrine was in full hunting mode powering across the fields towards the JV hide and 22 Pintail out on Inchmery Marsh was a site high count. Brent Geese numbers continue to rise and it’s great to see lots of juvenile birds with their white-edged covert feathers.

juvenile Dark-bellied Brent Goose
juvenile Dark-bellied Brent Goose photo by Ian Williamson

As the sun came out a Migrant Hawker appeared and there were several Common Darter pairs egg laying in tandem. A piping Kingfisher rounded the corner near the sluice gate and the Sandwich Tern was still in the river entrance.

Several Chiffchaff were still calling and a group of nine Swallows over the Reedy Ditch were getting quite late.

Sunday 25th October 2020

I headed to NO hoping that the stormy weather might have brought something in. I had to dodge the showers and at one stage got caught in a torrential downpour of hail. An Avocet on the scrape from DL’O hide was my first for NO and 69 Shoveler was my highest count here. I always scan the fence line and it was great to watch a Merlin sheltering in the lee of a fence post. This view looks south east so straight into the winter morning sun and so initially she wasn’t much more than a silhouette. When the clouds came over the Merlin ‘appeared’ from the dark shadows, it was brilliant to see all her subtle detail before she dashed off purposefully like a miniature Peregrine. After a coffee in the car I headed off towards the beach. The Dartford Warbler had moved further west almost to the beach gate and this time I managed to get a few record shots. The sea was quiet other than adult and 1st winter Mediterranean Gulls flying west.

There appeared to be a new arrival of Goldcrests, Chiffchaffs, Blackbirds and Song Thrushes but nothing more unusual. A pair of Redpoll called as they flew over but there were no hirundines today. The long distance view over the scrapes from the gate to the south produced 2 Spotted Redshank in a place where they are hidden from DL’O. While stood at the gate an impressive Goshawk powered over the mouth of the river and then over the fields south of B Water. A Little Grebe dived in the river mouth while the lingering Sandwich Tern drifted over.