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| Common Buzzard © Richard Smith |
A
clear fine morning saw Sue and Geoff plus 16 members on a general interest
field meeting at Calshot taking in a variety of habitats – mixed woodland, reed
bed, shingle bank and the salt marsh of Calshot Marshes Nature Reserve. The
field alongside the woodland provided the birding highlights of the morning –
excellent views of a Buzzard perched, basking in the sunshine and, shortly
afterwards, a Sparrowhawk causing mayhem among the other smaller birds nearby
including Goldfinch, Bullfinch, Blue, Great and Coal Tits. Sadly there was no
sign of the Peregrine known to roost on the power station chimney but Wren and
Redpoll were also seen.
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| Shelling © Richard Coomber |
With
no apparent signs of life in the reed bed, we moved on to the salt marsh where
there were plenty of Wigeon, Teal, Shelduck, Oystercatcher and Pintail, with
less numerous Eider, Redshank, Brent Geese, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe,
Curlew, and Great Black-backed and Common Gulls.
Having
crossed the swing bridge at the former power station for our biscuit stop, the customary
Robin finally made its appearance. Retracing our steps to the shingle bank, we
had a short interlude searching for mollusc shells which were plentiful and as
Mike Mawdsley pointed out had clearly been sorted by wave action - this being
particularly evident in the section where only Cockle shells could be found.
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| Turnstone © Richard Smith |
Shells
identified were: Cockle, Mussel, Oyster, Whelk and Dog Whelk, Periwinkle, Top,
Limpet and the non-native Manila Clam and Slipper Limpet. Some of the shells
carried Acorn Barnacles and the tubes of Keel Worms. A small Cuttlefish bone
was also found.
Moving
on towards the sea, Turnstone, Rock Pipit, Little Egret, Mute Swan and Mallard
were
added to our birding tally and a Pheasant in the nearby field brought us
to 33 bird species overall. S&GN