After two days of gales and a lot of rain our walk was blessed with sunshine and just a couple of short showers. We had adjusted the departure time to 09:30 from 10:00 to avoid the congestion in the car park that Jo and I experienced a week ago. Our circular route began along a lane lined with brambles laden with ripening fruit, which provided a tasty morsel from time to time. House Sparrows chirped and a Chiffchaff flitted between small trees. Unfortunately the recent bad weather had washed away most of the remaining flowers from Common Fleabane, Gipsywort and Black Horehound by the path.
The marsh is grazed by a herd of horses, foals and a stallion, Nigel. Evidence of his passing was piled up along the paths at regular intervals. The rushes were turning brown against a background of green with the blue of Sea Aster providing a bit of colour. From the path we ‘scoped Curlew, but a Stock Dove was less co-operative. Virtually every ditch had a fishing Little Egret or two.
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| Sea Aster © Richard Coomber |
On reaching Crouch Hill we left the path to walk across the soft turf, where rabbit burrows rather than piles of horse poo were more of a hazard. It was the perfect habitat for Wheatears and before long we were looking at least six, but it was the Yellow Wagtails that stole the show with some 15 birds, of which the majority were stunning adults. Also in the area were a few Meadow Pipits , Pied Wagtails and Linnets.
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| Wheatear © Richard Coomber |
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| Yellow Wagtail © Richard Coomber |
We strolled up the low hill to view the expanse of Christchurch Harbour. Cormorants and gulls rested on an exposed sandbar, but when a major panic caused shorebirds, wildfowl and gulls to take to the air we realised that in the sky behind them hovered an Osprey, which we watched for minutes on end. Unfortunately we did miss a successful plunge and catch, but we were in just the right place as it flew over carrying a large Mullet.
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| Osprey and Mullet © Richard Coomber |
From Grimmery Bank, where the path veered north, we watched a hovering Kestrel, a lone Lesser Black-backed Gull and a pair of Ravens, one of whom dwarfed the Carrion Crow that perched on the same fallen branch.
When we eventually left the marsh and finding brambles and trees once more, Speckled Wood butterflies basked in the sheltered sunshine and a fruiting apple tree just of the path tempted some scrumping!
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| Speckled Wood © Richard Coomber |