Titchfield harbour & nature reserve.

Cattle Egret.

/ Andy Finnegan / 1 Comment

Occasionally, I see Cattle Egrets; numbers in the UK are rising. They often spend time close to livestock, such as cows, and they grab the insects and worms that their hooves disturb. Cattle Egrets have yellow or greyish legs and a yellow beak,

Some distant pictures of an alone Cattle Egret at Titchfield Haven yesterday.

& the rain returned.

/ Andy Finnegan / 3 Comments

After nice bright weather for a couple of weeks, we had a wet, grey day today, and the forecast says it is with us until early next week. On the positive my water butts in the garden are now full of water.

So, pictures today from Titchfield Haven are more like pictures from a winter’s day. Not very nice under sail in the Solent.

Grey Heron.

Little Egret.

fledgling Reed Warbler.

It is a hard life.

/ Andy Finnegan / 6 Comments

Warning: Distressing images.

Further to my post last week re Black-headed gull chicks

Link below.

Gull family.

The next pictures show how hard it is for the chicks. A much larger Lesser Black-backed gull swoops down and snatches a chick. As this happened, the Black-headed gull colony erupted into the air, but they failed to save their baby.

Pictures taken by my brother Simon Finnegan {I missed this, although I have seen it happen in the past.}

four Spots.

/ Andy Finnegan / 2 Comments

The Four-spotted chaser dragonflies seen here at Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve are easily recognised. Each wing has two dark spots on the leading edge. These spots give this species its name.