Titchfield Haven by Amy Robjohns

Titchfield Haven

This guest blog written by avid patch birder Amy Robjohns and we would like to thank Amy for taking the time to write a very nice piece about her patch in the Solent, she has also provided some photos too of her patch and some of the birds recorded there over the years. We are sure you will enjoy thus guest blog and we hope to have more guest blog posts about other patches in the near future too.

River Meon at Titchfield Haven

My local patch covers Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve, a mosaic of wetland habitats including a large reedbed stretching up the valley, man-made scrapes, water meadows, and the mouth of the River Meon. Also within the boundaries are some areas of farmland, the Titchfield canal path which follows the River Meon from the sea to Titchfield village, and the seafront. The area is approximately halfway between Southampton and Portsmouth on the Hampshire coast, opposite Cowes on the Isle of Wight, and where the Solent is widest at 4 miles. As a result, Hill Head isn’t the best seawatching site but still enjoys some of the spring passage of skuas and terns along the south coast, albeit in smaller numbers. Over the past decade it has been mostly wonderful watching the seasons change and daily variations, with many excitement moments such as finding rarities or patch gold or enjoying a magical day of migration.

In a typical year, the first 3 months should yield common wetland species like the overwintering ducks, Brent Geese offshore, common passerines, Cetti's Warbler, Marsh Harriers, Glossy Ibis and some waders. Hill Head doesn't get the variety and numbers that some coastal sites gets but the Sanderling, Ringed Plovers and Turnstones and usually joined by a couple of Dunlin. While Redshank, Oystercatchers and Black-tailed Godwits alternate between the reserve at high tide and often the seafront at low tide. 2 Curlew still frequent the East Meadows. Occasionally local Golden Plover (usually found on nearby farmland) pop onto the scrapes, and sometimes Ruff appear amongst the Godwits, though it's been a while since that happened. Other winter waders like Greenshank, Grey Plover, Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit are passage birds for us. Calm winter mornings are often good for Bearded Tits pinging in the reeds by the west entrance and searching for Water Pipits along the canal path or hoping one pops up on a fence post by the Frying Pan! Glossy Ibis feels strange to type alongside common species but as after returning for their third winter, I suppose the group of 3 are now winter visitors in the Lower Meon Valley. They're often on the floods by Titchfield and present most of the year except, presumably, to breed.

Offshore, the 3 commoner divers are often seen during winter with Great Northern present most days while Black-throated is the most scarce but usually seen each year. In theory Razorbill and Guillemot should be seen on calm days, but recently they've been more of a winter storm bird with such storms might also yield Kittiwakes. Calm seas are also good for scanning for ducks - Eider overwinter here and Common Scoter (though fewer than previous years). Always hope for a Velvet Scoter or Long-tailed Duck! Great Crested Grebes form good rafts offshore and this winter was unusually good for Red-necked Grebes. More realistically, scarcer grebes to look for are Slavonion and Black-necked. 

As spring gradually begins, Avocets tend to reappear from February with numbers building in March. They breed on the scrapes alongside Black-headed Gulls. By mid-March and onwards into April and May, migration should be underway, including Mediterranean Gulls. This spring has been... odd. Hopefully most migrants just passed us by due to the clear conditions. Usually I'd hope to catch up with common migrants like Wheatear, Garden and Grasshopper Warblers, maybe Redstart and Whinchat (easier in autumn), Garganey, and waders including Common and Green Sandpipers, Little Ringed Plovers, Bar-tailed Godwits and Whimbrel. The latter two can pass through the Solent in large numbers if conditions are right! 

South Scrape

Another key target in spring are skuas and each spring seems to be worse for sea watching... Still, with luck there should be Arctic Skuas going through and hopefully Great and Pomarine Skuas. Joining them should be a tern passage, Kittiwakes, Gannet and Little Gulls. Common Terns breed on the reserve and Sandwich Terns linger offshore, but the rest are passage migrants here. 

Fast forward to late June and July - waders are returning! With luck there should be a nice mix of common passage migrants including Wood Sandpiper. The post breeding tern roost starts to form too, initially with local birds, and grows as terns pass through. On a really good day 6+ species can be present! Common Terns are the main species with smaller numbers of Sandwich and (hopefully) some of the migrant terns. Last year the Hampshire Roseate Terns joined the roost with their youngsters. It was wonderful to see them. Frustratingly, the roost forms during the summer holidays and despite Hill Head being internationally designated, disturbance is a big problem. Another important roost site (on Hayling Island) was abandoned due to very high levels of disturbance but for now the other roost sites  - Hill Head and Calshot - persist. 

The Dorset Forster's Tern even gave a fly-by visit in May 2023!

August and September also should be good for passerine migration again with classic common migrants expected. On a good day there could be 10+ warblers (not yet had more than 10 but theoretically possible!). Always hoped for are Pied Flycatchers which are scarce here. Late August through to late September is Yellow Wagtail time where they roost in the reedbeds at Titchfield Haven. It's enjoyable watching them flying around and dropping into roost. One night a Tree Pipit joined them but I'd usually expect those earlier in the day!

By October many migrants have gone through but there's the chance of Yellow-browed Warbler and, maybe, Ring Ouzel or Woodlark. Also on the move are finches and I've found October (& late September) best for Brambling, Redpolls and Siskins. The ducks and Brent Geese are returning too.

Throughout the year species like Spoonbill, Great White and Cattle Egrets are possible and increasingly common. Spoonbills have been present for much of this spring. 

Whiskered Tern that Amy found feeding over the floods on 27th May 2020

There's always the possibility of a rarity or scarcity too. Ironically this article was typed in the Hebrides with the news of a Hudsonian Godwit on the scrapes... Hopefully it'll linger! That aside, I have been lucky enough to find some rarities and scarcities on patch including Caspian Stonechat in 2016 which hopped up onto a fencepost during a foggy May morning. Also Whiskered Tern over the Floods amazingly 30 minutes or so after stumbling across a Marsh Warbler, Forster's Tern during a late May seawatch in 2023 (the Dorset bird), White-winged Tern, Purple Heron and Aquatic Warbler, amongst others. Most recently, finding a Caspian Gull was an exciting and long awaited addition to the Titchfield Haven list! The first sighting was in January offshore, and then it or another reappeared in March by the Frying Pan.

A male Caspian Stonechat, the bird Amy found during May 2016. 

Finally, there have been many enjoyable days during spring and autumn with what felt like a bird in almost every bush or evidentially lots on the move! 15th September 2019 was one memorable morning. Walking north along the canal path it quickly became apparent that a fall of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs had occurred. I estimated at least 50 Blackcaps along the lower half of the path, though they were mobile and hard to count. It was wonderful to see so many, and with them were various other common migrants including a couple of Spotted Flycatchers. Late October provided another smaller fall including 2 Ring Ouzels which were very nice to see.