It was a good start to the walk for there were Turnstones
in Keyhaven Harbour, several still in breeding plumage, rummaging in the
seaweed. Back, once more, from their breeding sites in Scandinavia and the
Arctic.
 |
| Turnstone - adult © Chris Robinson |
As we walked along the sea wall we heard (and saw) a few
Curlews and Oystercatchers and Little Egrets were present. There was a lone
Wheatear and, on the Solent side, several Eider and Great Crested Grebes. Two
Wigeon flew past heading west, the first taste of the winter duck influx.
 |
| Wheatear © Chris Robinson |
 |
| Eider - female and drake in eclipse plumage © Chris Robinson |
I have never seen Fishtail Lagoon so dry or so devoid of
birds! Butts and Jetty Lagoons were also very dry but in the puddles that
remained we saw the long-staying juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, as well as Common
and Spotted Redshanks, Ringed Plover, Dunlin and juvenile Little Stint, Knot, and
Curlew Sandpiper.
 |
Pectoral Sandpiper - juvenile © Richard Smith
|
 |
| Common Redshank - juvenile © Richard Smith |
 |
| Knot - juvenile © Chris Robinson |
 |
| Curlew Sandpiper - juvenile © Chris Robinson |
Of the small birds we expect to see on the Marsh only a
couple of Pied Wagtails, a few Linnets and the odd Stonechat were present.
Those at the front caught a glimpse of a Reed Bunting and there were Swallows
and Sand Martins overhead. CR
 |
| Pectoral Sandpiper - juvenile © Chris Robinson |
Additional notes on Pectoral Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpipers breed north of the Arctic Circle mainly on
the coastal tundra of Canada (west of Hudson Bay) to Alaska with fewer breeding
in Siberia west to Taimyr Peninsular. It is a regular annual visitor to the
British Isles mostly in the Autumn. The great majority of Pec Sands, as they
are more affectionally called by birders, winter in South America from Peru to
southern Argentina.
 |
| © Chris Robinson |
Over recent weeks there have been a number recorded across
the the British Isles. According to the highly regarded Rare Birds of
Hampshire by John Clark (HOS 2022) there were 100 records in the county between the
first in 1947 and 2020 – the cut-off date for the book. It appears that
Keyhaven/Pennington area is a ‘hot-spot’ for the species recording 37 of those,
with no less than five being present between 06-16 September 1970. contributed by RC
