Coach Trip to Titchfield Haven
Sunday, 16 March 2008
The weather forecast was enough to make all but the most avid birdwatcher stay in bed, but on sunday March 16th no fewer than 37 most avid birdwatchers found themselves on a coach heading towards the Hampshire coast through mist and rain. Thankfully the elements relented somewhat and as the coach parked we were able to see the Isle of Wight and (our most surprising find of the day) a flock of 30 eider ducks bobbing up and down in the Solent. The weather remained dry but cheerless during our visit, but our exploration of the reserve and adjacent coastline netted us a total of 70 species, including peregrine, barnacle goose, Cettis warbler and red-breasted merganser. Large numbers of mediterranean gulls were seen amongst the even larger numbers of black-headed gulls on the islands of the lagoons, some people saw a fox and a red kite graced us with a fly-past as we made our way home. Full marks to the friendly reserve staff and the catering staff who laid on some very welcome tea and coffee in the cafeteria during our visit. The full list of birds that we saw is given below.
Avocet, blackbird, blackcap, buzzard, reed bunting, chaffinch, chiffchaff (heard only), coot, cormorant, crow, collared dove, stock dove, tufted duck, dunnock, little egret, common eider, gadwall, goldcrest, goldeneye, goldfinch, barnacle goose, brent goose, canada goose, greylag goose, great crested grebe, little grebe, greenfinch, black-headed gull, common gull, greater black-backed gull, herring gull, lesser black-backed gull, mediterranean gull, heron, jackdaw, jay, red kite, lapwing, magpie, mallard, red-breasted merganser, moorhen, oystercatcher, red-legged partridge, peregrine, pheasant, feral pigeon, wood pigeon, pintail, pochard, redshank, robin, rook, shelduck, shoveller, house sparrow, starling, mute swan, teal, mistle thrush, song thrush, blue tit, great tit, long-tailed tit, treecreeper, turnstone, pied wagtail, Cettis warbler, wigeon, green woodpecker, wren.
