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Little Egret |
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Initially the day was frosty, but with promise of warm
sunny weather, when five members of the Waterside Natural
History Society set out to walk along the beach from Stotts
Lane to Tanners Lane on 19 November.
Fortunately the tide was out so they were able to walk along the beach and look
for birds on the freshwater lake. Several little egrets were seen and a wren
ran across the frozen water.
Buzzards were circling in the blue sky and were exchanging calls with one perched
in an oak.
The red fruits of butcher’s broom were sparkling in the sunshine and there
were several holm oaks that seem to enjoy growing in these salty conditions.
The mudflats appeared bereft of waders but as the tide came in, a large group
of ringed plovers appeared along with a grey plover while a huge flock of dunlin
gave their wonderful aerial display as the sun caught their wings.
A flock of lapwings flew inland as the tide moved up the
beach. As the day warmed up, a common darter dragonfly
and a red admiral were spotted on the beach.After lunch, they walked up Tanners Lane and entered the
Pylewell estate.
The footpath took them past a field of winter-sewn wheat
where a brown hare was busily taking advantage of the fresh
green shoots. It was blissfully unaware of anyone passing. Buds were already swelling on the horse chestnut trees. A kestrel hovered over the path and jays could be heard
calling in the wooded areas.
Other bird species seen included black-headed gull, bullfinch,
chaffinch, coot, cormorant, curlew, goldfinch, great spotted
woodpecker, great tit, greenfinch, green woodpecker, heron,
jackdaw, kingfisher, little grebe, oystercatcher, redshank,
reed bunting, shelduck, starling, stonechat, turnstone
and wigeon. This was a very enjoyable and worthwhile walk that should
be repeated in the summer when dragonflies abound on the
freshwater lake.
At the indoor meeting on 28 November, Gordon Small took
the members on a journey to the Falkland Islands illustrating
his talk with his wonderful slides. Here on the Falklands, you can just sit and wait and the
birds will come up to you. On his arrival, black-necked swans and white tufted grebes
greeted him.
The members learnt about many interesting birds including
the Falklands steamer, a flightless duck that has no predators
and the black–browed albatross that flies with its
wing tips barely above the waves.
Another flightless bird the cara cara, a bird of prey,
is somewhat rare but Gordon saw a group of ten birds and
said that the cara cara will even steal your camera if
this is left on the ground. The commonest birds on the islands are the turkey vultures
known as TV’s. Four species of penguin live here.
These are the gentoo, magellanic, rock-hopper and king
penguins. Vast quantities of kelp are washed up on the
beaches and there are kelp gulls, much like our black backed
gulls, and kelp geese found here. The ubiquitous house sparrow also lives on the islands,
but the Falklands robin, a very smart bird, is bigger than
our robin.
The Society’s next outdoor meeting will be on Sunday
11th December at the RSPB Reserve, Arne to look for wintering
birds. Meet at Oak Road Car Park, Dibden Purlieu at 9.00am (Strong
footwear recommended).
Please phone for details on either 023 8089 7660 or 023
8084 5883. |
