New Forest Holiday Day 3 : Keyhaven: 28th June 2011
New Forest Holiday Day 3 : Keyhaven: 28th June 2011
On the afternoon of the third day of our New Forest Holiday we decided to head for the coast and go to Keyhaven near Lymington. We drove to the parking place at the end of Hurst Beach and then we walked the length of the causeway out to Hurst Castle. As we walked past the mudflats at the start of the causeway there were several Mute Swans, Black-headed Gulls and Herring Gulls. As we walked along the causeway we also saw Great Black-backed Gulls, a Little Egret, Lapwing and Shelduck. As we neared the castle we started to see Skylarks rising from the scrub around the island.
We walked around a bit before getting the ferry back to Keyhaven. As we sailed back we saw a Curlew but best of all we saw Little Terns and Sandwich Terns swooping down just to the side of the boat and bouncing up and down on the water fishing. This was the closest view I have ever had of a Little Tern and it certainly put a show on for us.
We landed at the pier at Keyhaven but this wasn’t the end of the birding treats for us because, as we walked back along the coastal path with the sea on one side and a strip of rough land and then fields to our right, we saw a pair of Linnets, a Tree Pipit and more Skylarks. We could also hear a Chiffchaff and saw a large flock of Rooks. As we changed our boots we could see a large flock of Herring Gulls looking very interested in a chap who was carrying a bag of chips ! This was probably the most varied collection of birds we had seen in one short outing so we were very pleased with ourselves.
Bird List
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Black-headed Gull | 20 |
| Carrion Crow | 10 |
| Chiffchaff | 1 |
| Curlew | 1 |
| Great Black-backed Gull | 3 |
| Herring Gull | 20 |
| Lapwing | 10 |
| Linnet | 2 |
| Little Egret | 1 |
| Little Tern | 1 |
| Magpie | 4 |
| Mute Swan | 6 |
| Oystercatcher | 1 |
| Rook | 20 |
| Sandwich Tern | 2 |
| Shelduck | 2 |
| Skylark | 2 |
| Tree Pipit | 1 |
| Woodpigeon | 2 |