Setting off in conditions markedly improved on his
summer walk (i.e. just "wet"), Brian led a small party around
Normandy on a route that followed Normandy Lane, the Pinckney Path, part of the
Solent Way, Normandy Dock, Normandy Marsh/Lagoon, Maiden Dock and 8 Acre Pond,
before returning to Maiden Lane.
SELECTED SIGHTING/OBSERVATIONS
Fields/Hedgrows: Flocks of Curlew, Starling
and Goldfinch; Pheasant (♂ and ♀), Jay and
Moorhen.
Normandy Dock: The recent work of the Lymington-Keyhaven Nature
Reserve Conservation Volunteers in laying a length of hedge, clearing scrub and
creating a dead hedge along the footpath improves both access and the views
across to Normandy Farm.
Lymington River/Oxey Lake: A Kingfisher
fishing from the breakwater; Great Crested Grebe (5+); Canada Goose.
Solent Way: A memorial bench at Normandy included a plaque
commemorating Roy Freeman, Brian's uncle who died in 2004.
Normandy Marsh: Blushing red drifts of the
succulent, upward-pointing fingers of Common Glasswort (Salicornia europaea).
Normandy Lagoon: Dark-bellied Brent Goose,
Shelduck, Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Pintail (♂ and ♀), Red-breasted
Merganser (♂), Cormorant, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Little Grebe (5+),
Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Spotted Redshank,
Greenshank, Redshank and Turnstone. BM