It was a glorious sunny morning so where should we go? Lots of places to choose from and in the end we decided on the Titchfield Haven Reserve near Lee-on the Solent, arriving there at 10am.
We went mainly for the Sedge, Reed and Cetti's warblers, and today we saw all three of them. If you haven't heard a Cetti's Warbler then I urge you to go and find one as they really are something else, we are so lucky to have them in our local area.
It really was a perfect day with a good variety of birds and lots of chicks, gooslings etc., plus various damsel and dragonflies.
canada geese with gooslings
When we were here back in March, three Avocets had arrived and the staff were hoping they might stay and breed. Well, I counted eight adult Avocets today, some with chicks, so it looks like the electric fence that went up to keep the foxes out has worked.
avocet with chicks
beautiful water lilies
black tailed skimmer dragonfly
Then as we were having lunch outside, a Kestrel appeared close by and we watched as it dived down for some prey.
Next thing we know it is perched on the fence opposite us (on a busy road), where it totally ignored the traffic and pedestrians and happily ate it's prey, a lizard I think!
We saw a couple of yellowhammers and also saw a female Cuckoo flying down into the reeds, no doubt to lay an egg in a Reed Warbler's nest.
The rest of the afternoon was spent on the opposite side of the reserve and the next thing we knew we were being asked to leave as it was 5pm!! What a shame, I was enjoying myself so much I could have stayed for another couple of hours.
All in all a great day out with some new birds for the list.
117. reed warbler
118. yellowhammer
119. cetti's warbler
120. cuckoo
1 comment:
nice to know the avocets are breeding at titchfield
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