3 Jan - A calm, dry day and a bank holiday, so a good opportunity to add a few coastal birds to the 2011 list. The Langstone/Hayling area (1) is always good, and a couple of stops at Hayling gave a good variety of waders including Grey and Ringed Plovers, both Black- and Bar-tailed Godwits (3), Turnstone (10, JM), Redshank (8,9 JM), Dunlin and Curlew. A Black-necked Grebe was in Chichester harbour with large numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers, and on the high tide an amazing total of at least 16 Slavonian Grebes (6,JM) were off the beach at Church Norton, along with a Black-throated and 2 Red-throated Divers (7, JM), and 30+ Eider. Six Med Gulls were around the beach including several smart adults (4,5 JM), and another 7 were feeding in a ploughed field inland from the car park.
Langstone and Farlington Marshes at low tide produced a flock of 33 Avocets on the mudflats, with good numbers of feeding Curlews and Grey Plovers, and another 3 Bar-tailed Godwits. A female Marsh Harrier (11) hunted over the reedbed - amazingly, the first I have ever seen in Hampshire - and a Bearded Tit was calling. Over 50 Pintail were on the lagoon, and 14 White-fronted Geese were with the dark-bellied Brents (2,12,13, JM) and Canadas, presumably displaced from the continent by the cold weather. A good selection of coastal wildfowl and waders seen, and in impressive numbers.
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