All that way to see a duck. Good Friday adventure.

With birthdays and other family commitments, Easter was looking pretty busy, and sadly the weather looked pretty abysmal.
Good Friday was the one window of opportunity to get out with the camera. It was still cold, migration hadn't really kicked off, but the one sunny day of the long weekend (I had a week off actually) and that was the day I chose for some 'Chris Time'. A day out with the camera.

What was about? A couple more Spoonbill and a Long Tailed Duck at Keyhaven. The Penduline Tit have not been seen at Titchfield and everywhere else was pretty quiet too.
So, Keyhaven won.  Not seen a Long Tailed Duck before, cue a disappearing act like the Pendulines?

Setting off before 8.am, I got there at 9 and the car park was already chocka. Everyone had the same idea it seems. I was immediately reminded why I like working weekends. You get days off in the week (normal days) when everyone else is at work and everywhere is quiet.

After walking around for thirty minutes I actually started to think I had returned too soon. It had only been a couple of weeks since my last visit and little had changed. And of course, the spoonbill were still sleeping.
As nice as the day was, not much was happening.

A pair of Dartford Warblers were flitting around the gorse at the Hurst end of Keyhaven. Sadly a little way off.  A Curlew (and a few Grey Plover) on the mudflats - And the two Spoonbill were still sleeping.

In the distance I could see a good number of people with scopes, perched on the end of Pennington Lagoon. Gotta be the Long Tailed Duck?   It was about a mile away, but I headed over.
By the time I got there the duck was way out to sea, with a good number of Merganser. Very distant shots, in to the sun, by someone who cant work a camera. But, a 'lifer'. So I was happy.

Then back to Fishtail Lagoon as the Spoonbill, five now, had finally woken up!  The number of scopes trained on them indicated that at least.

Nice to finally get some semi decent shots of them. A bit closer would have been nice, but that was the theme of the day it seemed.

And then back home at midday to enjoy more of the wonderful sunshine in our wonderful new garden.

A good Friday.

Blue Tits, why cant we just have Blue Tits?

It's no secret, I love my garden feeders and lose a lot of time, just watching what turns up, their behaviour etc. I've not exactly hidden my pleasure in how the new house / garden is working out.
After eighteen months of nothing on Picket Twenty estate, the move to an older, more established estate is obviously paying off.

But it all costs money. This week I've been a little frustrated in the fact that I have now become a corvid restaurant. Rooks, Carrion Crow, Jackdaws along with Magpie, Woodpigeon and Feral Pigeon are seemingly always raiding one feeder or another. It's getting expensive!

I've stopped putting bread out, a) as we seem to be coming out of winter and the frosts, and b) I'd quite like the little fellas to stand more of a chance on the feeders.
But today I broke the 'no bread' rule.

Sat in the conservatory, I had just snapped the occasionly visiting male Blackcap, I was watching three feral pigeon and a couple of woodpigeon in the garden when a pair of Mallard suddenly flew over the fence and in to our garden. We are four hundred metres away (and uphill) from the lakes and nearest river. Surprised? Just a little!

So we grab some bread from the kitchen, not the best food for ducks I know, but this is one exception I'm happy to go with.  If you live on a lake or river then this probably doesn't sound so odd, but here!

The ducks flew off after around a quarter of an hour and then zipp! a Sparrowhawk flew through. Everything scattered in alarm and, apart from one woodpigeon who froze, and the garden went quiet for around thirty minutes! I suspect the sprawk didnt go too far but couldn't see it.

Perhaps I will still feed the sky pigs, a sparrowhawk strike would be great to get on camera, and who is gonna miss one feral pigeon or two?

Normal service resumed after a while and the corvids and pigeons returned.  C'mon Sparrowhawks!

And the blackcap. Seen it three times so far, luckily this time I had the camera handy.

The ducks returned at 5:30 p.m. looked like they were going to roost for the night but have just flown off somewhere.

Another day by the sea!!

Two of the last four days spend down the South Coast! The return to work will seem so very painful tomorrow. Back to a company that doesn't want you, but partner agencies do. Funding cuts mean redundancy is only a few months away. In all honesty I love the job, the people, but motivation is waning. The next step is never far from my mind - I just need to work out what that is exactly.

Anyhoo. Making the most of my remaining annual leave I headed down to Titchfield today. Target bird was one of the Penduline Tits that has been frequenting the reserve on and off for the last couple of months. I must be one of only a few birders who have not caught up with them yet.

Sadly, despite a great day, with amazing sunshine, that is still the case.

The Meadow Hide is where the birds were last listed at so that was my first port of call.
Not a complete waste of time as a Red Kite was mobbing a Marsh Harrier.  A long way off, so pics not great, and a pair of Barnacle Geese also in the distance. (Click on pics to enlarge).

A male Kestrel hovered very close to the Hide, it missed what ever it was trying to catch, but I managed to get a few snaps.

Walking along the coast line to the other half of the reserve I checked the sea for anything of interest. Plenty of Brent Geese here, along with Turnstone and Oystercatchers.

On the shoreline, next to some Oiks were some very small white birds. Not seen any before but I kept saying Sanderling to myself. I was right :-)

Big boats moored up at Fawley Oil Refinery.

Back on the reserve, once again checking every bit of reedbed, managed to snap a few pics of Avocet and Med Gulls.

Another day, another sunburnt head. Working for a living is so overrated. No matter how much you love your job.

Back to Normandy, Pennington, Keyhaven, whats it called?

Coming to the end of a week off work and the weather was picking up.
Pennington time!

A long coastal stretch between Hurst Castle spit and marinas and the marinas at Lymington, this area is a brilliant place for a day out with the camera. Easy to get to, free to park, and 90 percent quieter than places like Bournemouth or even Mudeford.
The Solent and mudflats on one side, brackish lagoons and pools the other, it is a birdwatcher / photographers paradise. I love it anyways.
From Lymington to Keyhaven there is always a lot to see, but pack your walking boots!

I've snapped one of the reserve maps, to try and make sense of my ramblings, in both senses of the word. (Click on all the pictures to expand them).

I arrived about 10:30 a.m, a little later than planned, but headed straight to Fishtail Lagoon (You are here on the map) in the hope of snapping one of the four recently listed Spoonbill.   A quick scan of the lagoon - frustratingly couldn't see one..  Hmmm.  A Little Grebe was fishing in one of the outlets, so got a few snaps of that.

 

There was a lot of water. Normally dry fields were flooded, the fields (Pennington Marsh) at the end of Lower Pennington Lane were under water, as was half the campsite on the other side of the road. Spoonbill are big, but this could be a 'needle in a haystack' job.  I spot something tall and white on Butts so head over there for a look....   Egret.

Walking further along the sea wall on to Pennington Lagoon and something looking like a Tufted Duck flies over my head and drops in on the water channel. Boom! Male Red Breasted Merganser! Just a few metres away from me and posing well. I follow it up the channel as it dives for food. Ain't gonna lie, almost had goosebumps at this stonker by my feet. Lots of pictures and videos taken. I'd probably have been happy with just that today.

Leaving the Merg alone I headed back to Fishtail and success, sleeping, but a Spoonbill. A few distance pictures taken whilst I waited for it to wake up. Realistically, this could take a while so I headed up to Keyhaven, whilst checking the rest of Fishtail on the way. Lots of Brent Geese, over a thousand there I reckon, plus the most Pintail I've seen in one location ever. Shelduck, Wigeon still here with Teal and a couple of Ruff at the back.

 Brent Geese

 Sleeping Spoonbill on Fishtail.

 A distant Ruff.

Pintail.

Another sleeping Spoonbill on Keyhaven. Wake up!!!
Keyhaven was big! Lots of water here made the lagoon seem bigger than it probably always is  - and everything was far off. A quick check for Shorties or Marsh Harriers over the reedbeds - none - and back to the closer but still sleeping Spoonbill on Fishtail.

Then, like my Merg moment, a bit of luck.
I always say 'you make your own luck' or 'you've got to be there to see it' etc. And the timing for me was bang on as a Roe Deer runs on to the reserve. Everything takes off including the Spoonbill. Snap, snap, snap..  And then back to its sleeping position but I didn't care. I'd got my pics.

 And back to sleep.

And thanks to the deer that flushed everything.

I normally go to Normandy Lagoon first, don't know why, but today I did it the other way around. Probably itching to get to the Spoonbill.
So, back to the car and drive around to Normandy Lane and park up and walk to the Lagoon. I used to walk it all, but was on a bit of a deadline today, had to be back for the school run. An optimistic check of the fields and grass for any Wheatear. A little too optimistic and early it seems.

Normandy is great. Everything is usually closer as it's a smaller, more contained lagoon. Dunlin, Snipe, Greenshank and Redshank, included Spotted, more Brent, one Ringed Plover and a couple of Black Tailed Godwit. All feeding in the mud.

 Oystercatcher and Lapwing

 Redshank

 Lapwing and a Dunlin

A bathing Black Tailed Godwit

 How's that for 'dont forget behind your ears'!

 A Black Headed Gull buzzing a Greenshank

And Wigeon. I love Wigeon.

Watching all these from the sea defense wall, whilst also checking out to sea for Eider (didn't see any) I notice something in the channel between the sea wall and the mudflats. Small, regularly diving, It's a Grebe, but what kind?  My thought was a Black Necked, but after asking the opinion of some learned friends it appears it was a Slavonian Grebe. A 'life tick' for me. Happy with that.

 Slavonian Grebe

Time to go home.