Least I could do!

 Having blown it out last week in favour of the more glamorous and frankly nearer Woodchat Shrike, I felt I could no longer ignore the Least Sandpiper that has been knocking about Medmerry for the last couple of weeks, after all it would be a lifer and i don't want to upset the Birding Gods with Spring in full flow!! I decided to do it properly so as the Sun rose I was getting out of the car in the Earnley Road Car park. Couple of decisions to make coat or no coat, bit chilly first thing but the with the forecast suggesting heating up later i went Sans coat, touch and go for a while but just about the right call, next it was scope or no scope? RSPB Medmerry wonderful though it is, tends to be a blooming long walk and the scope, with tripod camera and bins weighs a ton!! However if the bird was on the Stilt Pool a scope would be needed, in the end I went with it!! 17000 plus steps walked with it strapped to me back and never put it up once!!😢😢😢that'll learn me as we used to say in Suffolk!!😀😀I like to think it was the Birding Gods giving me a little kick for turning my nose up at a lifer last week!!

Sunrise at Medmerry, I took it through the bush for artistic purposes and not because I couldn't be arsed to walk twenty feet to the left😀!!

Another Birder had arrived, so we headed off together down the long road to the Sea! Yes I forgot to ask his name!! Lots of Yellowhammers in the Willows along the ditch and Skylarks singing in the fields made it a very pleasant walk!

The first Yellowhammer of the morning, there were loads of these seen through the morning, seem to be doing very well at Medmerry

Trio of Deer

Wren, bursts of song from these and Cetti's Warblers all along the route

Yellowhammer

Yellowhammer on Gorse, which was looking fantastic across the reserve

Stonechat, couple of pairs along the walk

Frankly there were birds everywhere, with Skylarks, Yellowhammers and Linnets buzzing about all over, however we were, focused head down to the Pool! We arrived at the Stilt Pool, Avocets, Oystercatchers and Little Ringed Plovers present but as we suspected with the tide out no sign of the target bird! So we headed off on the long walk up the beach to the Breach!!

Giant Turd? Not sure what it's all about, Art? what you gonna do!!?😏😁

LRP

Linnet, don't sit still long for pics!!

The beach was long, Brent Geese went past, Sandwich Terns and Med Gulls were about, we encountered our first Wader, hopes were high, denied!! a lone Sanderling! We continued another lone Wader, could it be? Denied again a lone Dunlin, FFS!! We reached the first rocks, another lone Wader, could it be!!!? A silhouette, but size and shaped looked right, we manoeuvred into position, success!! The Least Sandpiper, Hurrah!!! Lifer!!! Whoop!!! It put on quite a show, running around on a flat grassy area, which was handy!!!

Med Gull

Sanderling

Dunlin

Brent Geese

Silhouette Sandpiper 

 

Cracking little fella, I showed quite a bit of restraint in the numbers of pictures of what was a very cooperative subject! there were a couple of Ringed Plovers running about as well more Brents going past!

Brent Geese

Ringed Plover

I tore myself away, mostly to save the camera battery and headed to the breach, Sandwich Terns, Med Gulls, Brent Geese and Shelducks here seemingly the place to have a wash and brush up!

Shelduck

Sandwich Terns

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Terns

Med Gulls

Sadly all the action was the other side of the water so pics all a bit distant. I headed back along the beach, once again bumping into the Least Sandpiper so i took a few more pics!! You thought you'd got away with it didn't ya!😀

Least Sandpiper

Headed back towards the Stilt Pool, ran into the Sanderling again and kept me eye on the Sea, which was mainly Sandwich Terns, Med Gulls, a couple of Great Crested Grebes though a distant dark bird through was either a Curlew or a Whimbrel but was to quick and to far to ID for sure though I'm leaning towards Whimbrel.

Portsmouth through the haze

Sanderling

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern

Med Gull

Great Crested Grebe

I reached the Pool, lots of small birds flitting about in the Gorse, Reed Bunting, Linnets, Yellowhammers and Skylarks. On the Pool itself, Avocets, LRP, Oystercatchers, Shovelers, Tufties as well as the noisy Gulls.

Linnet

Med Gull, lovely to hear their Calls

Oystercatcher

Avocet

Shoveler

Reed Bunting

Meadow Pipit

Linnet

LRP

Yellowhammer

I had wandered up on to the top path as I looked back at the Pool, the Gulls, and Waders erupted in a crescendo of noise, I was just wondering where the predator was, when a Peregrine zoomed by!!

Peregrine

Another birder, told me he'd had a Dartford Warbler up the track , so I went and tried to find it, which I did but couldn't get it to pose which was a shame! Here another Birder told me he'd had a Whinchat near the Car Park, unfortunately the other Car Park, which meant a hefty diversion for my battered body, but a Whinchat is worth it so I headed off!! A few other bits and pieces along the route, notably my first Common Whitethroat of the year!

Med Gull

Common Buzzard

Linnet

Common Whitethroat

I eventually found the Whinchat, slightly further on than indicated, but what's another couple of thousand steps in the grand scheme of things😏!!

Whinchat, light was tricky but got a few usable shots

I wandered on a bit, thought I heard a distant Corn Bunting, but couldn't find it, though found a bush full of Yellowhammers which can't be bad!!! There really were a lot of Yellowhammers around!

Yellowhammer

Were a lot of Linnets as well

So I headed back towards the Whinchat, strolling a long the bank, when 50 yards ahead of me a Hoopoe went bombing across the track!! It landed in a field, as I increased my speed to get with in picture range when the bugger took off and flew out the back out of sight😢😢😢😢Blooming gutted, every blooming Hoopoe I see does the same!! Anyway a record shot below, please note this isn't one of those pics where the photographer says it's a record shot then posts a pin sharp picture where you can count the feathers on its head!! No sir this is a proper record shot, you can see the colours😁😁!!

In the field!!

Flying away

Told you, you can see the colours!! I blame the camera😢

I consoled myself with some more pics of the Whinchat, the light was slightly better from this side!

The long slog back was more of the same , with Med Gulls, Yellowhammer, Linnets and Skylarks to the fore. A Kestrel buzzed about and I heard my first Willow Warbler of the year in the scrub along one of the ditches, though couldn't spot him!

Goldfinch

Kestrel

Yellowhammer having a sing

Skylark, were loads, but not very posy today!

That was about that, saw my first Swallow of the year on the drive home, pretty late for me usually see one in March!! Still haven't seen a Sand or House Martin!! A superb morning's Birding, Medmerry looking fantastic, with the Gorse flowering in the sunshine and the birds playing ball, what more could you want!! A bloody Hoopoe that sits still would be a start!!!!