#Wordless Wednesday.
“flight”.
the Solent & Southampton Water,
Beach views.
A day at the seaside.
Time on the shore.
A few hours bird watching on Meon Shore.
Groups of Turnstones – feeding – washing – and chilling at the edge of the sea.
Off shore.
A Common Tern fishing off the beach on the Solent. The meal of the day is small flat fish.
On the beach.
Early Saturday evening and a few hours down on the beach enjoying the fresh air and watching windsurfers and kitesurfers.
While sitting on the beach two of the local Mute Swans came out of the water to say hello so I popped back to the van to get some bird seed and my small underwater camera.
T4C ringed bird I have known this bird for several years. The unringed bird with him took a liking to my arm!
Summer Godwits.
The Black-tailed Godwit is a large, long-legged, long-billed shorebird. ( it is one of Europe’s larger wading birds). A number of these remain in the UK all year rather than migrate to their breeding grounds in Iceland. We are lucky to have a number of these birds all year round in Titchfield Haven
Little Egret.
It has been a while since I have had the chance to observe a Little Egret fairly close to me – so I was pleased to see this bird today and get some pictures.
Action stations.
More from Titchfield HavenNature Reserve and today I had another 1st for me with a distant view of a pair of Glossy Ibis. In the UK they are considered rare migrants and winter visitors from SW Europe with typically less than 100 recorded per year although they are increasing – there have been recent reports of this bird on social media on nature reserves near Portsmouth and on the coast of the New Forest. Southampton Water is between these two reserves so I guess a sighting at the Haven was likely.
Both birds were a fair way off but I got a few pictures and a short video.
Lots of Black-headed gull chicks are hatching on the islands in the reserve. Many are at their spotty cute stage but as they grow they become rather ugly. A bit like the opposite of the “there once was an ugly duckling” poem by Hans Christian Andersen!
The chicks are in constant danger of predation. Herring Gulls and Black-backed gulls. They fly over the nests putting the Black-headed gulls into a frenzy below a Lesser Black-backed gull lands in the colony but is chased off before it can catch a chick for a meal.
(Spot the Lesser-Black-backed gull -yellow legs feet and beak).
There are a lot of Avocets in the reserve at the moment a few have chicks but are hard to spot at the moment.
A spider catches a damselfly. The damselfly is truly stuck in the spider’s web the spider drops down and closes in for a meal.
Common Blue Damselfly is the UK’s most common damselfly and can be found around almost any water body,
Timeslip.
Timeslip, Solent Spitfires.
Spitfire at Solent Airport. Lee on Solent Hampshire.
Haven birdwatch.
A day at Titchfield Haven nature reserve & Meon shore enjoying the sunshine and nature. There are real signs of summer with birds nesting and young birds in many areas.
Blackheaded Gull are sitting on nests and on eggs, others have fluffy chicks {not close enough to film yet}
The gulls are very territorial in their nest areas and will chase off any invaders such as the larger Herring Gulls which will grab a chick for a quick meal. The pictures below show a Grey Heron being buzzed and steered away from the gull’s nests.
Over the weekend a pair of Spoonbills had been spotted in the nature reserve. There have been a few birds this year on the Beaulieu River across the Solent on the edge of the New Forest. Today one of the birds was still there and I was able to get a good view and some pictures. Spoonbills are named after their bizarre spatula-like bill. Young birds are known as tea Spoons. Although these birds bred in East Anglia during Medieval times, they had not bred in Britain for over 300 years. Then in 2010, when a small colony was discovered on the north Norfolk coast. By 2014 a flock of 30 birds were recorded in Norfolk ay Cley Marshes.
Cormorants are often spotted perched with their wings held out this is to dry their feathers off which are not waterproof.
Dragonflies are starting to emerge, They have three stages in their life cycle: eggs which are layed under water these hatch into a lava{or Nymph} some species will remain in the lava stage and stay for in this state for several years. The final stage is the lava leaves the water and the dragonfly emerges. On the wing their life is short they mate and by the end of the summer they have gone.
This was a 1st for me a dragonfly just emerged from the lava drying its wings while perched by the empty husk of the lava.
A quick view of a green Woodpecker.
Continued Reflections from my World. 