Titchfield Haven National
Nature Reserve covers the lower floodplain
of the River Meon
on the eastern side of Southampton Water. It is a wetland nature reserve with
varied habitats including river, reedbeds and scrapes. The site was purchased
by Hampshire County Council in 1972 and expanded later in the 20th
century; it now extends from Titchfield Village south to the shore. Barry
Duffin was warden there for many years and came to talk to Lymington &
District Naturalists’ Society about the creation and management of the reserve
and the wildlife that now uses it.
The reedbeds are good for
both wintering birds such as Snipe and Water Rail and also for summer migrants
which use the beds for nesting. The Reed Warbler, a small summer migrant which
constructs its nest halfway up the reed stems, is the most numerous nesting
bird at the reserve. Unfortunately for the Reed Warbler its nest can sometimes
be used by a female Cuckoo which lays a single egg then abandons it to be
incubated and the chick subsequently raised by the Reed Warbler pair.
Otters now live on the Meon
and are now regular visitors to the reserve being caught on cameras usually at
night. In previous years the presence of Mink along the river was a problem as
they predated many of the Coot and Moorhen chicks and ducklings as well as
Water Voles. However both the reserve and adjacent landowners made concerted
efforts to eradicate them and together with the return of Otters this has
resulted in no Mink being detected for the last two years. Water Voles have now
been reintroduced and are breeding successfully.
In winter the meadows
adjacent to the river are a valuable feeding resource for the wintering waders
and wildfowl such as Wigeon, Lapwing and Black-tailed Godwit; the reserve holds
internationally important numbers of the latter. A traditional method of water
meadow management has been reinstated: in freezing weather when birds would be
prevented from feeding water is allowed to run gently over the meadow thus
raising the temperature of the soil and preventing the formation of ice.
Scrapes are shallow
depressions with gently sloping edges which hold water and remain damp for much
of the year. They support a wide variety of invertebrates and can provide
important feeding areas for breeding wading birds and their chicks. The large
scrapes at Titchfield Haven provide nesting areas for over 1000 Black-headed Gulls.
They are an ideal roosting site for waders when the tide is high and the sea-shore
is inaccessible.
The reserve is very reliant
on volunteers, of whom there are over 80, for the management of the site, for
wardening and for running the information centre. Volunteers also run an autumn
bird-ringing programme under BTO regulations which frequently catches rare
visitors from eastern Europe and Asia.