Pennington Marsh - 1st August

Sarah was heading to Cheltenham for her sisters 40th birthday party, this was ladies party and so I decided to ehad to Pennington Marsh for a few hours in the morning. I walked out past Fishtail to Keyhaven Lagoon and then back east to Jetty Lagoon. The tide was high but there were remarkably few waders present and very few migrants in the bushes. The highlights were a single Common Sandpiper and 34 summer plumage Dunlin on Fishtail Lagoon and the flock of Eider, now numbering 24, showing well off Butts Lagoon.

My eBird checklist for the visit can be viewed here.

Common Sandpiper - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Dunlin - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Eider - off Butts Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Pennington Marsh - 2nd September

A grey and windy September morning found me at Pennington Marsh once more. A quick look at Efford Lagoon produced little but for a single Common Sandpiper and 15 Swallow. I headed to Fishtail Lagoon where there were five Little Stint and three Curlew Sandpiper but otherwise it was fairly quiet. So cutting along the north side of Butts and Jetty Lagoon I headed out to the seawall where I spent some time getting fairly close views of two Wood Sandpiper, two Little Stint and a Curlew Sandpiper. Also here were 30 Black-tailed Godwit, 30 Teal, six Wigeon, two Pintail and eight Shoveler.

Wood Sandpiper - Jetty Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Wood Sandpiper - Jetty Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Curlew Sandpiper - Jetty Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Curlew Sandpiper - Jetty Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Little Stint - Jetty Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Little Stint - Jetty Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

From the seawall at Butts Lagoon there were at least 80 Grey Plover, 20 Turnstone and 25 Ringed Plover. It was pretty cold and the strong winds made viewing difficult so I headed for Fishtail Lagoon where there was little but for a Common Sandpiper and around 35 Teal. Out to Keyhaven Lagoon a single Wheatear was the highlight. In the bushes there were few warblers, three Reed Warbler, a single Sedge Warbler and no more than five Chiffchaff. It was time to head off and it was some relief to get to the shelter of the car.

Common Sandpiper - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Common Gull - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Northern Wheatear- Keyhaven Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Pennington Marsh - 30th April and 2nd May

May Bank Holiday weekend and not much planned, apart from a family event on Sunday so Saturday and Monday were free, fantastic! Sarah needed some home time so I used the mornings of Saturday and Monday for some birding although I was aware that I needed to not push my luck and stay out too long!

Saturday morning (30th April) dawned early at I was up for 05:00, I need my breakfast and at least two coffee before I am ready to leave the house! A Cuckoo called outside and was a garden tick - nice start. I was down to Pennington Marshes for 06:30 and another Cuckoo called near to the carpark.  The winds were north-west and so I was not hoping for too much but it is always great to be out birding especially on a sunny mid-spring morning. I started by birding Efford Lagoon, the water levels here have started to recede exposing a little shoreline and now attracting a few waders, I had 35 Dunlin, two Little Ringed Plover and four Common Sandpiper here plus my first Whitethroat, five in total, of the year and a singing Dartford Warbler. A fly over Yellow Wagtail was my first of the year.

Common Sandpiper - Efford Lagoon

Chaffinch - Efford Lagoon

I then wandered out past Shoveler Pools and to the sea beside the jetty, it was evident that many of the breeding Whitethroat (15), Reed Warbler (12) and Sedge Warbler (6) were now on territory. Two Spoonbill, now a familiar site here, were on Jetty Lagoon and a single male Common Scoter was offshore. 

Linnet - Butts Lagoon

Black-tailed Godwit - Fishtail Lagoon

I spent a little time at Fishtail Lagoon, Keyhaven Lagoon and Keyhaven Quay and it was evident that there were good numbers of Dunlin around with approximately 350 birds present. Scanning through the flock at Keyhaven Quay I found a near summer plumage Curlew Sandpiper which I spent some time watching but it was too distant for photographs. At Fishtail there was a fine summer plumage Spotted Redshank, again a little too distant for decent shots, and five Swift appeared low over the lagoon. There were approximately 12 Whimbrel around the area, some feeding in the salt marsh while others were flying overhead giving their distinct bubbling often heard at the marshes in the spring. A single Common Sandpiper plus two Greenshank were also on Fishtail Lagoon. On the salt marsh there were still 15 Dark-bellied Brent and amongst them two Pale-bellied Brent. A fishing Common Tern was joined by two Little Tern on Fishtail, my first of the year.

Turnstone - Fishtail

Spotted Redshank, summer plumage bird - Fishtail Lagoon

Shelduck and nesting Lapwing - Keyhaven Lagoon

Shelduck - Keyhaven Lagoon

Common Tern - Keyhaven Lagoon

Whimbrel - Keyhaven Quay

I walked back along the Ancient Highway seeing a few more Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler, 10 Swift. My total number of Lesser Whitethroat for the morning crept to five after. Finally, there were two Little Ringed Plover,  a female Wigeon and a male Shoveler on Pennington Marsh.

Monday the 2nd May dawned a classic Bank Holiday Monday, overcast, heavy rain and a cold north-west wind. Still, I was up early and decided to head down to Pennington Marsh. It was miserable and so I birded with just scope and bins and birded there Ancient Highway and back past Keyhaven Lagoon, Fishtail Lagoon and Shoveller Pools. It was pretty slow going, a few straggling Wigeon, a female Pintail, 15 Whimbrel, 6 Bar-tailed Godwit, 300 Dunlin, six Dark-bellied Brent Goose, eight Sandwich Tern, four Little Tern, eight Swift, a female Marsh Harrier, six Willow Warbler, and a briefly singing Grasshopper Warbler were the highlights. But, perhaps the oddity of the day was a group of five Black Swan which I first saw distantly off Iley Point and then later flew overhead and landed on Butts Lagoon - a very odd sight with their black bodies with white flight feathers and rakish heads and necks. I headed home early to gain some birding brownie points for another day.