27 Sep 2009
Eleven members of the VWH Local RSPB Group met in the car park at Keyhaven for the first of this season’s outings. It had been a chilly autumn morning (7°C) when we had began our journeys, but on arrival the sun was shining brightly, and with only a slight breeze, a fine day promised.
House sparrow, pied wagtail, collared dove and wood pigeon were all seen before we had left the car park. The pond next to the car park held wigeon, coot, cormorant and little grebe. A couple of jays flew over and a buzzard was seen in the distance. A Cetti’s warbler was heard singing in the adjacent reedbed, the first of several heard throughout the day. The tide was high and there was no sign of the turnstones that usually frequent the little inlet.
Once on the path around the southern edge of the marshes we noticed that the air was full of swallows and house martins. We tried hard to find sand martins amongst them but without success. The yaffle of a green woodpecker rang out and the bird was seen flying low over the mud, pursued by angry house martins – something none of us had seen before. A solitary clouded yellow butterfly put in an appearance. All the usual species of wader were busy feeding out on the mud, and the missing turnstones were found feeding on the strand line.
Wheatears were expected but were very elusive. We found just one. A single whinchat was a nice find to compare with the more numerous stonechat.
The water level in the freshwater lagoons was very low, not surprising considering the lack of rainfall during September, but there were some interesting birds to be found, notably curlew sandpiper and pectoral sandpiper. The latter species is a very long distance migrant that breeds in the tundra of North America and north-east Siberia, and winters in South America, and is a regular vagrant to Britain. [This was a new tick for me, the 34th addition to my Life List this year]. Unfortunately we did not find the little stint that was rumoured to be about, but a water rail showed well in compensation.
While we sat enjoying our packed lunches, several butterflies were also making the most of the warm autumn sunshine. Wall, common blue, and a beautiful small copper butterfly were observed. On a mud bank a group of grey plover included a few birds still resplendent in their breeding plumage. Great crested grebes were diving for food in the sea, but no sign of any other species of grebe or mergansers.
There were very few geese about. In fact we only saw two, one each of Canada and Brent species. Several thousand Brent geese usually overwinter on the Marshes, so the one that we saw must have been an early arrival.
We returned to our cars along the lanes behind the marshes, adding several “garden” species to our day’s list, which finished on a total of 65. A splendid day.
The Bird List
| Mute Swan | Canada Goose | Brent Goose |
| Wigeon | Gadwall | Teal |
| Mallard | Little Grebe | Great Crested Grebe |
| Cormorant | Little Egret | Grey Heron |
| Buzzard | Kestrel | Peregrine |
| Water Rail | Moorhen | Coot |
| Oystercatcher | Ringed Plover | Grey Plover |
| Lapwing | Knot | Pectoral Sandpiper |
| Curlew Sandpiper | Dunlin | Snipe |
| Black-tailed Godwit | Curlew | Greenshank |
| Redshank | Turnstone | Black-headed Gull |
| Common Gull | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Herring Gull |
| Woodpigeon | Collared Dove | Green Woodpecker |
| Great Spotted Woodpecker | Swallow | House Martin |
| Meadow Pipit | Pied Wagtail | Wren |
| Dunnock | Robin | Whinchat |
| Stonechat | Wheatear | Blackbird |
| Cetti’s Warbler (h) | Chiffchaff | Long-tailed Tit |
| Blue Tit | Great Tit | Jay |
| Magpie | Carrion Crow | Starling |
| House Sparrow | Chaffinch | Greenfinch |
| Goldfinch | Linnet |
The Butterfly List
| Clouded Yellow | Wall | Common Blue |
| Small Copper | Speckled Wood | Red Admiral |
| Comma | Peacock |
