Titchwell 15th September

It would have been nice if the Little Bittern had still been around, but it was not to be.  However it was too nice a day to mope at home, so we decided to go and have a look at Titchwell anyway.  I was interested to see what was happening with the project to breach the seawall.  http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/t/titchwellmarsh/coastalchange/index.aspx

Common Darters 

The boardwalk round to Fen Hide was popular with Common Darter dragonflies.  Several males were patrolling territory and were quite easy to photograph as they kept  returning to their favoured spots.  This pair were on the handrail and very approachable.  

Some larger dragonflies were very active over the first pools beside the main path, these seemed to be Migrant Hawkers but it was difficult to get a good view.

The fresh marsh from Parrinder hide mostly contained a selection of waterfowl.  A small group of waders visible through the haze in the furthest corner contained at least a few curlew sandpipers, and one little stint. A flock of golden plover flew over, and also several small skeins of pink-footed geese were seen passing through.  It was nice to watch meadow pipits and goldfinches coming down to bath just in front of the hide, they would have made a nice picture if I had brought my digiscope attachment!

The brackish marsh was quite interesting.  The recent high tide had obviously flooded in and it had left some areas of water, it will fascinating  to see how this develops.  Waders seen included 2 avocet, a curlew and a few redshanks.  At least 2 very nice yellow wagtails were putting on a good show in the corner near to the bank, with a number of pied wagtails including some juveniles.  

The tide was well out when we reached the beach, but there were plenty of birds along the waterline.  These included the usual oystercatchers, both godwits, dunlin etc.  I was pleased to see a small flock of knot feeding along the edge, but only picked out a single sanderling.  There may have been more if we had walked a bit further but time was getting short so we called it a day.