Keyhaven & Pennington

It's been a while since we have visited Keyhaven and Pennington Marshes, though this morning we had to scrape the car of frost before we left home and when we arrived the temperature had created a sea fog.

foggy Keyhaven this morning © Nick Hull

So we decided to walk the the back path and search the hedges for migrants though at the start it was much more find the residents with the burst of song of a Cetti's Warbler from the thickest of bushes. Greenfinch display flighting and a good number of Robins, Dunnocks and Wrens singing.  We had our first migrant, a singing Chiffchaff, which seemed to be the only real migrant until we reached the old landfill where a single Curlew was found and I  picked up a couple of smart Wheatears.  We also watched two Lapwing displaying, swooping and diving and calling its classic "Peewit" sounds, always a pleasure to see and listen to.  Shortly after we joined a family who had found an Adder sunbathing at the side of the path our first of the season.

Sunbathing Adder © Nick Hull

Continuing on we stopped to view over Pennington Marsh now in brilliant sunshine and we could feel a little of the sun's warmth.  We scanned the marsh and found Canada and Greylag Geese, Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon and I found three waders together on a rushy island though silhouetted they were obviously Golden Plover.  Changing our position so the sun was in a better position for us you could see they were nearly in their summer plumage with smoky faces and black bellies and their spangled golden backs glinting in the sun - absolutely beautiful. Just after this Joe picked out two Ruff also roosting out on the marsh, a good find we later found four others scattered between all the remaining lagoons.

Ruff taken on the Jetty Lagoon © Nick Hull

During our walk we had several pairs of Mediterranean Gulls flying over giving their "Chow, Chow" calls.  Jetty Lagoon held more Teal and Shoveler and a superb looking Spotted Redshank almost in its sharp black summer plumage, we also had another Ruff here. The Butts lagoon produced a pair of Tufted Duck and whinnying Little Grebe to add to our ever growing list.  The wader roost on the seaward marsh held good numbers of Dunlin, Knot, Grey Plover and a few Bar-tailed Godwits, a single Ringed Plover and a few Brent Geese. Out to sea on the Solent there was little apart from a group of seven Great Crested Grebe and a single female Red-breasted Merganser and  a single passing Sandwich Tern. Fishtail Lagoon produced our first Pintail, Black-tailed Godwits, Oystercatcher and more of what we had already seen. As we approached Keyhaven Lagoon two very confiding Reed Buntings performed well for us.  There was little else new but a couple of Roe Deer on the marsh behind the lagoon, our only raptors of the day with a Kestrel and distant Buzzard and a single Raven flew over. Our last new sighting of the day was a singing Dartford Warbler which performed pretty well for everyone.