Sunday 7 September 2008

Hook-with-Warsash and Weston Shore

Carrying on the run of Grey Phaloropes, another one nearby wasnt a hard decision to make, i simply wanted to see another of these blinding birds. On arrival, we managed to walk straight past it, walking further up to a recognisable face; Dave took us to where it was. Not showing as well as what we had hoped, but it was there all the same. This bird was still North of the Main Scrape.
A second bird had just been found on a similar pool but South of the Main Scrape, this bird showed better and closer, but it still wasn't good enough for high quality shots. A few Med Gulls fed out in Southampton Waters, and Yellow Wagtails and Wheatears followed the Cows.
A brief visit to Titchfield Haven resulted in an hour long seawatch with nothing of note but a Black Tern and a Mediterranean Gull, though there evidently was some movement this afternoon as the pager says.

This Mediterranean Gull showed very well from the beach, picking insects off the still water © Ashley Howe



A final bit of twitching to the day, came when a juv Sabine's Gull was found at Weston Shore. Not having a clue where that was, we phoned Steve Menzie, who comfirmed our thought and sent us towards Hythe. Little did we know that both of us were wrong! Once in Hythe we couldnt find a single soul and no Sab's Gull.

A call from Simon Ingram, revealed the bird was exactly the other side of The Solent. Racing back through Southampton, picking up Simon and then to Weston Shore we finally clinched this quality Hampshire bird.

Juvenile Sabine's Gull in poor light off the jetty © Ashley Howe

No comments: