#Tichfield Haven Nature Reserve

Rainy Days.

/ Andy Finnegan / 3 Comments

Poor weather {again} with high seas and excessive rain here on the Solent and Southampton Water. This mornings bird watch was taking cover within one of the bird hides at Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve. Not many visitors today and as the weather deteriorated the reserve closed at lunchtime for safety reasons.

Northern Shoveler – the film catches these ducks using their large bills to filter water for their food.

Shovelers are surface-feeding ducks with huge spatula-shaped bills.

  • UK breeding birds 1,100 pairs
  • UK wintering 19,500 birds

Like many duck breeds the female is a fairly “brown” bird whereas the Drake is colourful with his dark green head white breasts and chestnut flanks making him very handsome.

Snipe.

/ Andy Finnegan / 2 Comments

The snipe is a medium-sized wader, they are found in marshes, wet grassland and on moorlands, they use their long, probing bill to find insects, earthworms and crustaceans in the mud. There were a good number of Snipe at Titchfield Haven this morning.

The Snipe is another bird that is so camouflaged that it blends very well into its habitat. They are often invisible until they move. There are 3 birds in the picture below I only saw 1 when I took the picture.