Blimey, haven't done one of these for quite a while!
Truth is, I haven't really been out with my camera for ages.
As I write this we are coming out of an enforced 'Lockdown' due to the Covid-19 virus pandemic sweeping the whole world. We can now go further afield and being my birthday - today I went down to my favourite coastal place, the Pennington / Keyhaven reserve between Lymington and Hurst Castle. Don't tell anyone about it though, it's generally a nice and quiet place.
Setting my alarm, on my birthday, for 6:15 a.m. ! I was keen to get down early and see what was about. I arrived at 8:20 a.m. and to be honest, the day was already about 3.5 hours old, due to sunrise being close to 5.00 a.m. The wildlife had been up for ages.
The forecast was for one of the warmest days of the year, once the clouds had passed through. With a strong west wind, it wasn't particularly warm for quite a while, but the sun was strong and I could sense it's heat on my recently shawn head. As I write this, in the evening, I can feel I got a bit burnt.
Anyhoo. The highlights of today were seeing three different Avocet families and a further dozen dotted about on nests around Fishtail Lagoon. My first Avocet chicks for that site. They really haven't been breeding here for long at all, so that's a real success story - subject to Gull consumption... Good luck little fellas.
A cuckoo flew in off the sea and over my head, quite low and too quick to snap.
Plenty of early morning swifts still arriving it seems, and Little Tern in good numbers, probably more than Common Tern today. Two Sandwich Tern also flew past along the shore line.
I didn't bother spending too long on the small waders, but did see a Greenshank and a Ringed Plover.
The soundtrack to the grassland / scrub areas was Whitethroat and Cetti's Warbler. A few Reed Warbler and Reed Bunting about the place too, plus an increase in Stonechat. Sadly no Dartford Warbler today, but didn't walk the whole path - they have usually been at either end of the coastal path.
Click on the pics to enlarge.
Ta for reading.
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| Little Tern |
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| Avocet chicks |
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| Avocet nests |
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| Shelduck family |
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| Oystercatcher |
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| Whitethroat |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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Linnet
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| Avocet |
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| Common Tern |
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| Little Tern |
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| Stonechat |
