Pennington Marsh - 7th December

On a lovely sunny and mild December day I spent a short while wandering around Pennington Marsh. There were around 350 Brent Goose feeding on the campsite and some were very close to the southern boundary hedgerow affording good views. The flooded grassland on the marsh off Lower Pennington Lane seemed fairly devoid of birds but there was a flock of around 350 Golden Plover roosting on the grassland, three Water Pipit and two Ruff plus a scattering of Lapwing. I wandered out pass Shoveler Pools to the jetty where I scanned the solent for a while picking up a Great Northern Diver feeding at the Lymington River mouth as well as eight Red-breasted Merganser and six Great Crested Grebe. Wandering out to Fishtail Lagoon there were large numbers of Wigeon, Teal and Pintail mainly sleeping in the sunshine. I had household chores to get done and so had to head back after a brief but pleasant visit to my patch, one that I have neglected a little this year, and with an upcoming business trip/family holiday to the USA and then Christmas this is likely to be my last visit of the year.

My eBird checklist for the morning can be seen here.

Brent Goose (adult) - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Brent Goose (juvenile) - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Brent Goose (adult with juvenile in background) - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Brent Geese - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Brent Geese - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Ruff - Pennington Marsh

Group of Displaying Mallard - Pennington Marsh

Video of Mallard displaying on Butts Lagoon, I still have not perfected the focus or keeping the camera steady or panning smoothly!

 Wigeon - Pennington Marsh

Dunlin - Pennington Marsh

Wigeon - Pennington Marsh

Wigeon - Pennington Marsh

Wigeon - Pennington Marsh

Wigeon - Pennington Marsh

Wigeon feeding on grassland beside Fishtail Lagoon

Kestrel - Pennington Marsh

Pennington Marsh - 12th November

After dropping Tobias at school I had a short wander around Pennington Marsh. It was a beautiful clear day but in the Force 5-6 NW wind it was distinctly cold and wintery. The water levels in the lagoons were high as was the tide and there were large numbers of Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Shoveler, Brent Goose, Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit and Dunlin on the flooded meadows. There was a single white-headed Ruff amongst the Godwits and at least three Water Pipit forced to the edges of the marshes by the high-water. A male Marsh Harrier caused the birds to fly also flushing around 75 Golden Plover from the marshes. A single Chiffchaff was present in the Bramble of the old landfill.

Water Pipit - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Chiffchaff - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Grey Heron - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Brent Goose, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Oystercatcher and Black-headed Gull - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Brent Goose, Wigeon, Teal and Dunlin - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Brent Goose, Wigeon, Teal, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin and Black-headed Gull - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Wigeon and Pintail - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Shoveler, Lapwing and Black-headed Gull - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Shoveler - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Shoveler and Wigeon - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Pennington Marsh - 11th September

Sarah was in London today and so it was my duty to collect Tobias from school. Heading off from work a little early I spent a couple of hours at Pennington. I had, unintentionally, coincided my visit with the passing of the remnants of Hurricane Dorian that had passed, so devastatingly, over the Caribbean last week before tracking up the eastern coast of the USA and crossing the Atlantic passing to the north of the UK but creating windy and damp conditions further south. It was very windy and grey and difficult conditions in which to bird. Parking at the car park at the bottom of Lower Pennington Lane and walking over the Old Landfill it was evident that there was a small but steady stream of hirundines, mainly House Martin and Sand Martin but a few Swallow, moving west into the wind. A single juvenile Whinchat showed briefly on the dump but despite looking the bird had vanished. I set my scope up to the north of Butts Lagoon and scanned across the mud and water, there were small numbers of wader, mainly sheltering behind the reeds, with a single juvenile Little Stint, four Greenshank, three Spotted Redshank, 50 Black-tailed Godwit, 30 Lapwing, a single Snipe and a handful of Ringed Plover and Dunlin. I wandered onto Fishtail Lagoon but it was almost devoid of birds, a distinctive 'tip, tip' overhead and the Little Stint dropped onto the lagoon with three Dunlin and a Ringed Plover and showed fairly well, if a little distantly for such a small wader. I wandered onto Keyhaven Lagoon where a Wheatear showed well along the path but on the lagoon there was little but for 18 Teal.

I then wandered back eastwards scanning the same areas as before, small numbers of Whitethroat were in the Brambles, on the sea were 15 Eider, two Sandwich Tern, an adult and a juvenile passed by, to the west, but it was fairly quite otherwise. Heading back towards the car via Jetty Lagoon, I stopped at the jetty and scanned the mudflats and sea, there were around 25 Grey Plover, some still in almost full summer plumage, as well as around 45 Ringed Plover and a similar number of Turnstone. I headed back towards the car and then birded the Ancient Highway for a short while, there were four Common Sandpiper on Efford Lagoon along with a single Egyptian Goose. On the highway the birding was tricky due to the strong winds and I recorded singles of Chiffchaff, Stonechat, Lesser Whitethroat and Common Whitethroat plus a trickle of Hirundines overhead. It was time to head off to collect Tobias.

Northern Wheatear - Pennington Marsh

Northern Wheatear - Pennington Marsh

Little Stint and Dunlin - Pennington Marsh

Eider - Pennington Marsh

Sandwich Tern - Pennington Marsh

Sandwich Tern - Pennington Marsh

Common Stonechat - Pennington Marsh

Pennington Marsh - 31st August

Sarah and Tobias were heading for a charity tea-party and knowing that I would find this a bore I was permitted to head for Pennington Marsh for a few hours. I parked up at the bottom of Lower Pennington Lane and wandered out past Fishtail Lagoon - this was almost devoid of birds but for a handful of Lapwing, Black-headed Gull and a mass of Canada Goose. Small numbers of Sedge Warbler called from the reeds and rushes and Whitethroat flitted amongst the Brambles. I headed to Keyhaven Lagoon just as a male and female Peregrine broke away from haranguing a Buzzard to flush all the waders from the lagoon, which mainly appeared to be Lapwing and Redshank. I turned back eastwards and spent some time enjoying the Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and around six Yellow Wagtail which were feeding along the tideline.

On Butts Lagoon there were around 75 Black-tailed Godwit while on the falling tideline there were around 50 Grey Plover, 25 Ringed Plover, 30 Dunlin and a small number of Curlew. Four Goosander worked the tideline and on the Solent were 25 Eider and six Great Crested Grebe but the sea was devoid of any Tern species. Wandering back past Shoveler Lagoons a single Wheatear was present on the marshes, only my second of the year. It was time to collect Sarah and Tobias and predictably I waited for around an hour for them to appear when I could have had longer on the marsh.

Yellow Wagtail - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Yellow Wagtail - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Yellow Wagtail - Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Meadow Pipit- Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

Meadow Pipit- Pennington Marsh, Hampshire

The Nationally Notable A bee Aster Colletes Colletes halophilus was common feeding on Golden Samphire along the seawall south of Fishtail Lagoon today

Pennington Marsh - 4th August

With a spare Sunday I thought it was time I popped to Pennington Marsh for some late summer birding and the chance of a passage wader or two. Arriving on site at 07:00 I walked out to Jetty Lagoon back around via Butts to Keyhaven Lagoon and the back past Fishtail Lagoon. The bushes were alive with juvenile Whitethroat and there were good numbers of Reed Warbler in the ditches and reedbeds. Overhead small numbers of Swift, Sand Martin and Swallow moved west into the wind and a single Yellow Wagtail called overhead. It was low tide and so the lagoons were not as lively as they could have been, there were around 270 Black-tailed Godwit on Butts Lagoon, nine Dunlin, 12 Lapwing, two Greenshank and four Spotted Redshank. The only ducks of any note were three Shoveler on Fishtail Lagoon. On the mudflats there were three Goosander, 15 Ringed Plover and small numbers of Dunlin while at sea there were ten Common Tern. The marshes were being terrorised by two Peregrine chicks and they seemed to delight in flushing the Canada Geese and Avocet (five adult) on Fishtail Lagoon.

Black-tailed Godwit - Pennington Marsh

Black-tailed Godwit - Pennington Marsh

Black-tailed Godwit - Pennington Marsh

These Curlew were in a boundary dispute and paced back and forth side by side over the same length of mud for at least five minutes - Pennington Marsh

Oystercatcher - Pennington Marsh

Shoveler - Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Black-headed Gull - Pennington Marsh

Pennington Marsh - 29th March

On a beautiful spring like morning, I dropped Tobias off for his last day at school before the Easter holidays and spent a couple of hours at Pennington Marsh. At the corner of Lower Pennington Lane I had a coffee and watched the Lapwing displaying and listened to the Sky Lark but other than small numbers of Wigeon and Teal there was little else on the marsh. I drove down to the car park at the end of the lane and headed a short way along the Ancient Highway. On Efford Lagoon the Great Crested Grebe were displaying and there were around 15 Tufted Duck still on the water. The passerines were in full song with many Sky Lark over the old landfill and the Gorse full of the sound of Greenfinch, Linnet, Dunnock and a single Dartford Warbler.

Male Greenfinch in full song in the Gorse - Ancient Highway, Pennington Marsh

Male Greenfinch in full song in the Gorse - Ancient Highway, Pennington Marsh

Male Greenfinch eating Hawthorn buds - Ancient Highway, Pennington Marsh

Female Greenfinch  - Ancient Highway, Pennington Marsh

Meadow Pipit - Ancient Highway, Pennington Marsh

Dunnock in song in the Gorse - Ancient Highway, Pennington Marsh

Great Crested Grebe - Efford Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

I wandered out past Fishtail Lagoon where the water levels currently look excellent for attracting a rare spring wader. There were at least 12 Ruff, 15 Snipe and 32 Avocet, my highest count ever of the latter for Pennington Marsh. There were still many Wigeon, and Teal on the marsh and I spent some time scanning for Garganey but with no luck. There were also still small number of Brent Goose and Pintail remaining. Wandering out to Keyhaven Lagoon there were five sleeping Spoonbill and a further 16 Avocet plus four Greenshank and two Spotted Redshank. It was time to collect Tobias and retracing my steps I found my first Adder of the year along the northern bank of Butts Lagoon. It had been a pleasant couple of hours but I had seen no summer migrants.

Spoonbill - Keyhaven Lagoon, Pennington Marsh

Wigeon - Fishtail Lagoon, Pennington Marsh