Titchfield Haven - 20th September

A cloudy and windy day, but mild. Highlights were Spoonbills, Eiders, good views of Snipe and Common Sandpiper and a Fulvous Tree Duck!

Titchfield Haven is on the coast between Fareham and Southampton. It is the valley of the river Meon. The nature reserve consists of lots of flooded meadows, reedbeds and pools overlooked by 6 hides. The fact that the seashore is next to it adds to its attraction for birds.
After buying our entrance tickets from the reserve centre we had a quick look at the shoreline. The local Mallards had been joined by an escaped Fulvous Tree Duck, which gave us something different to look at! On the exposed muddy shore were several Turnstones, Ringed Plover and 1 Common Sandpiper with a couple of young Common Tern sitting nearby. On the sea there were a few Eider. We walked to the first hide, Meon Shore Hide. This hide overlooks a large scrape with small islands and there were many birds. A huge flock of Canada Geese with a few Grey-lags, 6 Barnacle and 1 Snow Goose were the most evident birds. Gadwall, Shoveler and a few Teal were also nearby and there were several Black-tailed Godwit.
AT the next hide, Pumfrett Hide, we saw 1 Wheatear (spotted by Lyz, even though Tracy was there), 2 Common Sandpiper and a couple of close Snipe, found by Carole, were giving great views. We heard a Cetti’s Warbler on the way to Spurgin Hide, but didn’t see it. From this hide we had great views of 2 Spoonbill, asleep most of the time and 2 Common Sandpiper. Some of us also saw a Green Sandpiper briefly as it flew off.
After lunch back at the centre we explored the east side of the reserve. The hides here overlook dryer habitats, fields instead of wetland pools and scrapes, and so there were fewer birds. Suffern Hide overlooks the river Meon and we saw a couple of Little Grebe and a Cormorant that caught a very large flat fish. It tried to swallow this over the next 10 minutes before giving up and dropping the fish in the water. The fish’s luck wasn’t there today though because once the Cormorant left it a Great Black-backed Gull flew down and started on it! The Meadow Hide and Knight’s Bank Hide overlook a large meadow with the river Meon in the background. The meadows were empty apart from a few Woodpigeon, Magpie and Jay that flew over. The river had a small group of Cormorants roosting along a fence and several Gadwall on the water with 2 Wigeon. We also saw Sand Martins, House Martins and Swallows feeding over it. A final look at the sea, on the way back to the cars, revealed about 20 Eider loafing around on the choppy water.
Simon Curson