June is a fairly quiet month in comparison to mad May but a
Mega is more than possible. The bird I chose to pursue today falls into this category
with a record every half a dozen years or thereabouts. I had seen plenty of
this species in the US and Paraguay but it was still a UK tick for me having
missed birds in the past. This particular bird has been present at Titchfield
Haven NNR for over a month and the last thing I expected was a hide crammed
with birders!!
I had barely squeezed
myself into the Suffern Hide when the Greater Yellowlegs flew into view with a
Greenshank. All you could hear was the crazy clicking of shutters on cameras as
the bird came to rest on the far side of the tidal river. The yellowlegs moved
up stream and the hide emptied like bats leaving a cave.
I took a leisurely stroll back to the car and noticed the
bird was showing close to the road. I stopped and took a few extra shots for
good measure before making my way back to the car.
I couldn’t resist taking a
picture of a Black Swan a favourite with some of the Surrey listers! Enjoy!
Pagham Harbour was my
next destination to connect with a Black-winged Stilt. This bird may have been
a returning product of last years successful breeding nearby. Hopefully in time
this species will re establish itself in the UK. Initially I could not see the
bird but once I had got the sand out of my eyes from the howling wind the bird
was located at the far end of Sidlesham Ferry Pool. The dot shots are not worth the effort in re sizing!
I welcomed my own arrival
at Thundry Meadow because I was the only one there! Thankfully it was not so
windy but had plenty of cloud cover making it slightly chilly. This small
reserve is definitely growing on me with a variety of species using the
woodland, meadows and the River Wey.
I found a nice spot to eat a late lunch and watched the
skies for a while which produced a Black headed and Herring Gulls. Hang on a
minute!! A quick check of my surroundings and I was off into the areas of
woodland to see what I could find.
Six hours passed in what seemed like a blink of an eye I had
recorded forty six species and not suffered a single mossie bite. Fantastic!! I
decided to head for home completely satisfied with the days results.
