Keyhaven 24th August 2016

Keyhaven 24th August 2016

Although this post says Keyhaven, in fact the location was really Hurst Castle at the end of the pebble spit that starts in Keyhaven at the junction of Saltgrass Lane and New Lane. Previously we had walked along Saltgrass Lane and got did good birding there before walking up the spit. This time we were not up for the two-mile walk along the spit so we headed for the quay where small boats do a ferry service between Hurst Castle and a quay at the Keyhaven Yacht Club.

We didn’t have to wait too long before we got on the ferry but the Little Terns we expected to see (and had seen here before) were absent. There were a few Sandwich Terns and the were the usual gulls were around but all the interest was at Hurst Castle. Although it is quite busy with visitors there, and there is a bit of sailing off from the beach there for wind surfers and body boarders as well as small boats, it still feels quite wild and remote. We saw a lot of Wheatears and Rock Pipits there but the best sighting happened when I edged my way around the house just by the shingle beach to the left of the castle as you look at it.

It had been a really hot day and I decided that I wasn’t going to carry my scope with me but, as usual when I don’t, I soon regret it. This time I regretted it as I edged slowly around the back of the garden to the house and on a big patch of shingle I could see first some, then dozens, and then hundreds of birds. The majority were Ringed Plovers all roosting close to each other. A quick count led me to believe that there were at least two hundred birds there but in fact, because small groups of birds kept arriving and some also left, I started to lose count and felt that it might even have been closer to 300 birds.

I could make out the Ringed Plovers easily enough but I was sure there were a number of other birds mixed in but, frustratingly, without mu scope I couldn’t make them out !! That’s what happens when you leave your scope behind.

We spent a couple of hours there before getting the ferry back. We were greeted in the harbour by a lovely little roost of Turnstones all resting on several small boats. We were intending to walk along Saltgrass Lane but the clouds had appeared and, just as we were getting off the boat, it started to rain quite heavily. This is the third time we have been here and on one of the previous occasions we had got really soaked on a long walk so we didn’t fancy that again. With mixed feelings about how successful we had been, we headed off for Poole where we were staying at the Premier Inn at Holes Bay.

Bird Sightings : Keyhaven