Minibus Trip to Keyhaven Marshes (5 October 2025)
The tail end of storm Amy gave us a windy day’s birding, but a marvellous 79 different species between us. The time of year helped with Swallows, Sand Martins, a Whimbrel, 2 Little Stints, a Willow Warbler and a Wheatear amongst the species taking a break as they headed south while ducks, geese and waders had just arrived to spend the winter giving us a smorgasbord of birds to find. The 5km walk took us over 5 hours so you can imagine how much there was to look at. Lunch at the point by Butts Pool didn’t happen until 2pm, although it was so windy no one lingered!
In the couple of hundred metres between the car park and the sea wall we’d already found 31+ species, partly because it was high tide and waders were roosting on Avon Water. Amongst the Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank were at least 20 Little Grebes, a Great Black-backed Gull, 5 Greenshanks and a Common Sandpiper. The surrounding conifer trees and hedges held Goldcrest, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Blue Tit, Great Tit and a noisy flock of House Sparrows while Swallows zipped overhead and a female Kingfisher flew out across the harbour. Woodpigeon, Stock Dove, Collared Dove, Starling and a Kestrel hunting added to the numbers.
Asked about their bird of the day votes varied. Many chose the amazingly confiding female Dartford Warbler in gorse bushes at Iley Point or the 2 juvenile Little Stints on Fishtail Lagoon although others went for the 2 Kingfishers, one male giving great views near the The Jetty, the pair of Marsh Harriers that hunted over the marshes throughout the day or the Peregrine hunting then perched up. I particularly liked the male Eider in full breeding plumage. Ducks were a key part of our day’s enjoyment. Numbers of Pintail, Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler have increased everywhere in the last couple of weeks and Keyhaven was no exception. A flock of Wigeon and Pintail was notable. Many were still in eclipse, but a solitary male Pintail had almost it’s full breeding plumage, bar a few out of place feathers!
Meadow Pipits were everywhere, some accompanied by Linnets, Stonechats, a Reed Bunting on a wire fence and the aforementioned Dartford Warbler. Amusingly most of us were watching what turned out to be a Meadow Pipit on the shoreline as Eddie and Dan watched a Raven fly over. They thought we were also watching the Raven so didn’t bother to call out! We let them off as their sharp eyes found many other birds for us.
It was a particularly high tide leaving only tiny islands and tufts of grass sticking out from the salt marsh but as the water receded, we soon found many Oystercatchers, Curlew with the distinctive silhouette of a solitary Whimbrel amongst them, Dunlin and a few Grey Plover. Against the sea wall and The Jetty Turnstones moved in to pick through the rocks and seaweed. I could go on but I’ll just say that it was a great day to be at Keyhaven and as always, the thought of refreshments at the delightful Gun Pub spurred people on as energy levels dropped! Many thanks to Huw for driving the minibus and for spotting butterflies – Speckled Wood, Small White, Green-veined White, Peacock and Red Admiral I think?
by Rebecca Dunne
Species: Black-headed Gull, Black-tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Brent Goose, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti’s Warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove, Common Sandpiper, Coot, Cormorant, Curlew, 1 Dartford Warbler, Dunlin, Dunnock, Egyptian Goose, Eider, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Kestrel, 2 Kingfisher m/f, Lapwing, Linnet, Little Egret, Little Grebe, 2 Little Stint, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, 2 Marsh Harrier m/f, Meadow Pipit, Mediterranean Gull, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Pintail, Raven, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Ringed Plover, Robin, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Shoveler, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Stonechat, Swallow, Teal, Turnstone, 1 Wheatear, 1 Whimbrel, Wigeon, 1 Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren.
