ACRES DOWN – LYMINGTON (NORMANDY MARSHES) – PENNINGTON & KEYHAVEN MARSHES
WEATHER: a bright start, cloudy for most of the day with light rain and a cold wind.
Our early morning jaunt found us at Acres Down car park just after 6:15am this morning and once again we were greeted with a cacophony of bird song, I have never heard so many Song Thrushes!
We took the main track into the forest and worked our way down to an open area where a section of pine trees had been taken out. Birds were everywhere, we had fleeting views of many but there was no sign of our target species the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, in fact we never heard any species of woodpecker. We added a couple of species to our trip list in the shape of Blackcap, Eurasian Nuthatch and Grey Wagtail. We also saw Firecrest, Chiffchaff and we had good views of at least three male Common Redstarts.
The rest of the day was spent at the coastal reserves between Lymington and Key Haven. It is a wonderful area for birdwatching with a mosaic of pools, reedbeds, open grass meadows and bushy scrub. We started our first walk at the marina in Lymington and immediately saw a Reed Bunting, some greenfinches and a Reed Warbler was singing. We then took a circular walk around Normandy Marshes. There was a chilly wind blowing and it was raining for most of our walk. Despite the weather we enjoyed some great sightings, the group were amazed at how close we could walk to some of the birds such as Avocets, Redshanks, Dunlin and Ringed Plovers.
Redshank on guard, a nest site was close by
Avocets were numerous and also breeding there
We added several species to our list, Little Terns were a delight to see, they were nesting on islands with Common Terns, Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls. We found a pair of Kittiwakes there too, which was a strange, unexpected, sighting. Ruddy Turnstones, Bar-tailed Godwit and Common Shelduck. Along a lane during the latter part of our walk, we added Bullfinch, Common Pheasant, Blackcap
Common and Little Terns
Little Ringed Plover
a couple of unexpected Kittiwakes on the Normandy Marshes
At lunchtime we walked into Town and enjoyed a hot meal in one of the many cafes in the High Street and for the afternoon we drove to a small car park near Keyhaven and completed a second circular walk. The rain had stopped, it was brighter, but the cold wind persisted.
This second walk produced many more new sightings and a very cold group! A large flock of Black-tailed Godwits was nice to see with most of them in their summer plumage. Maria found a distant Common Eider Duck on a spit, we saw a female Pintail, unexpected, Maria also saw a Bearded Tit in flight. We watched many Common Whitethroats in the scrub and Stonechats along the fencelines with Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Linnets were also present. A distant Marsh Harrier was seen on two occasions and the sky was constantly alive with Common Swifts, Swallows and sand Martins.
walking the embankment at Keyhaven, there was a very cold wind bloiwing in our faces
female Pintail
Black-tailed Godwits
We finished up a little earlier than usual and got back to the hotel around 5pm, we were all cold and looking forward to hot drink and our last evening meal together. It was also the last time I would see Doreen Hutchins, she has been organising these field trips for the Central London RSPB Group for the last 13 years. She has been wonderfully efficient and her attention to detail has been second to none. My thanks go out to her for organising these groups and making them run smoothy and without a hitch, well done Doren I will miss you.