After finishing some tasks in Fareham in the morning, Joe, Peter, and I headed down to the haven for a few hours to see if anything interesting was about. I'd somehow managed to forget my jumper, gloves, and buff, so only had shorts, a t-shirt and a thin base-layer on in the freezing winds...not good.
We arrived in freezing cold conditions, got our stickers and headed straight into Meon Shore. I got my shoes soaking wet as we tried to get past the flooded path on the way in, which didn't really help in my bid to stay warm...
It was incredible in the hide, as the water levels were so high. All the islands were gone, and the causeway at the back was submerged as well.
Everything was closer to the Pumfrett Hide, but a few things were visible, including a Moorhen, a few Mute Swans, Egyptian Geese, Teal, Shoveler, and Shelduck at the back.
With everything much closer to the Pumfrett Hide, we decided to hotfoot it over there to try and see the Goosander well.
Thankfully, the Goosander was still close and showing very well in dodgy lighting. The Egyptian Geese, Shoveler, and all the other wildfowl were much closer.
He was really giving good views, and swam a bit closer before going with the Shelducks to what was left of the cuaseway to stand up.
It was really great to see this cool guy. He's been at the haven for a long time and was my first ever Goosander. Back then, he was in eclipse plumage, so he had a red head instead of that dark green colouration. It was a great bonus to see such a cool bird so well on what looked to be a relatively ordinary trip.
The bird was soon back out swimming, but the lighting was proving very tricky.
A Marsh Harrier appeared, putting on a good display before disappearing. Really cool birds.
The Goosander soon went behind some reeds, so I turned my attention to photographing a COMMON Snipe (iykyk) that was showing relatively well.
We had about half an hour left before we had to head, and by this point, I was absolutely frozen. My hands were without feeling and were turning a worrying shade of blue. The biting wind was gushing into the hide via the open windows, so I sat tight next to a closed one.
The Goosander appeared again, so I somewhat reluctantly opened the window to get some more photos.
It headed out further away, so with nothing else much happening and time gone, we decided to brace the winds and get to the car.
The lack of any shelter seemingly did for my hands, as they succumbed to the cold and felt as though they were frozen in place, whilst also turning into weird shades of purple and red I've not seen before. I definitely won't be making this mistake again...
We soon made it to the car and blasted the heating on full... still took ages to warm up lol
So, a very nice trip with some very cool species seen. Goosanders are always great to see, they're always much larger than I remember! I really enjoyed all the species, albeit having to suffer from the cold. Silly me huh. It has been a very quiet month, but it was great to get out again, and there's a possibility I might be going out again on Saturday- the Cirl Bunting has been seen again, a month after it left in Portchester, a true Hampshire mega. I dipped it last month on another freezing day, apparently it had flown off the evening beforehand, but wasn't reported to have done so. Unfortunately, the cold that time did for my slight cold and sent me into a pretty horrible state of illness (it wasn't actually that bad). Let's hope that doesn't happen again... We'll have to see what happens, but after a very slow start to the year, things do seem to be picking up. Looking forward to the migrants starting to arrive in the coming months. One thing I should note is that there are already Egyptian Geese goslings down at the Heath Pond. January?! Really? They do nest early, but this early? I really must go and get some photos soon before they grow larger and less cute...
Good night, hope everyone is enjoying great birds:)
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