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| Speckled Wood |
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| A worn male Common Blue |
After yesterday’s rain, a fine morning greeted the first
of this season’s bird walks that take place on the first Sunday in the month.
With Richard leading we met by the sluice at Keyhaven and walked along the
Ancient Highway to the Balancing Pond, where wintering wildfowl such as
Pintail, Teal and Wigeon were beginning to gather. As we continued towards the
end of Lower Pennington Lane several butterflies were also enjoying the warm
sunshine along the sheltered lane with Speckled Wood, Common Blue and Small
Copper giving us good views. Later a number of Red Admirals and a Small White
or two were noted as well. Late flowering Honeysuckle attracted the blue as
nearby wasps and bees were drawn to feed on clusters of Ivy flowers.
A Marsh Harrier flew east and amongst the Canada Geese
grazing around Efford Lake were three Barnacle Geese, perhaps descendants of
birds that probably escaped from a collection somewhere. Out over the marsh a
Kestrel hovered as a small party of Swallows hawked insects before drifting
away westwards.
Turnstones fed hungrily in the seaweed washed up by the
high tide on the beach by the jetty. Way beyond them hundreds of yachts and
dinghies dotted the blue waters of the Solent. We turned westwards to follow
the seawall back to Keyhaven, giving us the chance to scan the salt marshes on
the seaward side and the series of lagoons landward.
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| Water Rail |
One of the highlights was a large female Peregrine
perched on a block of concrete out on the saltings. The telescopes provided
good views, not only of the Peregrine, but of a lone drake Eider on a shingle
spit and for some a distant Brent Goose on the sea further out. There were few
shorebirds around the lagoons themselves and we had good views of Black-tailed
Godwits, Redshank and Ringed Plover. However they paled to insignificance as we
watched a Water Rail feeding out in the open at the western end of Fishtail
Lagoon – sustained views and a rare privilege to see this normally secretive bird
so well.
The last lagoon was Keyhaven Lagoon where a large flock
of Black-tailed Godwits were roosting out in the water; three Shelduck rested
on the shore, whilst on the other side of the sea wall a flock of Grey Plover
roosted out on the saltings. With our change of position we could see the male
Peregrine as well as the female and no doubt they were watching the plover as
well! The final section back to Keyhaven was uneventful for most of us, but for
a lucky two or three members of the party a fly-by Clouded Yellow was the final
excitement and the walk’s sixth butterfly species – not bad for early October.
Photos: copyright Richard Coomber
Photos: copyright Richard Coomber
