Saturday 10 March 2012

Windy Coastal Birding.

During a visit to my parents-in-law today on Hayling Island I was able to squeeze in an hour of birding around the old Oyster Beds before lunch. As it was already close to high tide I missed most of the wader movements and the very strong wind made hand-held photography practically impossible .... but you have to try ..... so here are some of the species seen.  
 A distant view of a flock waders, mainly Dunlin, moving to a fresh resting spot at high tide.

Distant Peregrine Falcon perched on one of the small islands still above water in the main harbour channel.

Little Egret hunkered down out of the wind.

There were at least half a dozen Red-breasted Mergansers seen inside one of the disused oyster bed 'bunds' and I waited for what seemed ages in the hope that one might drift closer but as usual that didn't happen so here are a few of the cropped shots.

Other species seen were Grey Heron, Brent Geese, Mallard, Wigeon, Little Grebes, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunnock, Greenfinch, plus of course a lot of very noisy gulls .... Black-headed, Herring and Mediterranean.

Wherever you are, have an enjoyable wildlife watching weekend.   FAB.

15 comments:

  1. the pics of the merganser definitely show the choppy water and hair-blowing winds! :)

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  2. I love white egrets they are so beautiful. Carol

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  3. You might have had wind but at least you didn't have snow with your wind!!!As always enjoy your birding.

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  4. beautiful photos, regardless of the weather, nature doesn't care about their windswept hairdos

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  5. Great outing even if it was only for an hour. Love the Merganser shots and the egret is lovely. Happy birding and have a wonderful weekend!

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  6. Love to watch as shorebird flocks move as a single entity, like they were just one creature instead of many.

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  7. It does look cold and windy, but good for you for trying! Neat Peregrine.

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  8. Isn't the Little Egret beautiful..... but not very camouflaged!

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  9. Wow.. lovely set.. that peregrine, did you manage to spot it hunting as well?? BTW lovely header image... :)

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    1. Thanks Angad. I didn't see it hunting but it did fly high overhead on its way to another likely hunting location.

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  10. We do seem to have more than our fair share of dull, grey days in this country Frank. Your nicely captured Little Egret certainly didn't look too impressed with it.

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  11. The red-breasted should show up here in about a month. I am ready for them and spring.

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  12. Frank, I really like the Red-breasted Mergansers. I saw my first ones about a year ago and it was only the one sighting and seeing yours is spectacular!

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  13. Hi Everyone. Thanks for all your visits and comments which as always are much appreciated. Cheers FAB.

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  14. Great one hour of birding for you! I continue to try to capture close-ups of Red-breasted and Common Mergansers. Like you, I'm still waiting ... Love the hair-do's on those mergansers!

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I hope you enjoyed your visit and I always appreciate your comments and feedback.

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