Workmans Lane, Warsash

 Sunday 10 July

Another hot, sunny and calm day with clear blue skies. With full tide through most of the day from about 9, I decided to park up at the far, western end of the village (Warsash) and take a walk down Workmans Lane to the shore of Southampton Water.

No sooner parked the car at the top of the lane and a Robin on the rod immediately in front of me and determined that I, rather than it, should move first! Almost immediately as I moved off a Dunnock flew into the nearby shrubbery.  Continuing ion down the lane I found a resting Kestrel and then  the first of two Collared Doves.  Both Blackbirds and Wood Pigeons recorded on the narrow path leading down to the water and on the pond on the left at the end a single Moorhen.

Kestrel Falco tinnunculus

With the tide full in there was no muddy shore but a trio of Black-headed Gulls were resting on the water as I watched  a single Herring Gull fly in from mid-water to land nearer the shore.  To my right the first Carrion Crow of the morning and just as I was about to turn inland and back to Workmans Lane a pair of Whitethroat in the brambles.  Presumably nesting nearby.  Working my way up the path to the lane a couple of Magpies on my left and above them a pair of juvenile Kestrels resting atop a large tree with a couple of bare branches protruding from the top.  Both Goldfinch and Pheasant were recorded at the top of the path.

Magpie Pica pica

So on to the horse fields, with a passing Great Tit above me, to take the boundary path in an anti-clockwise direction to the far end where another small lane would take me back to the car.  No shortage of feeding birds on these fields.  Just the odd Wood Pigeon but good numbers of Carrion Crow, Rook and Jackdaw with a few more Magpies thrown in for good measure.  At the far end of the field as I branched left a pair of Barn Swallows which, I presume , had made their summer home in the open fronted horse shelter.

Jackdaw Corvus monedula

Carrion Crow Corvus corone

Rook Corvus frugilegus

At the end of the path the house on the corner before entering the return lane held a Greenfinch atop a tall tree in the garden and a Common Swift flew over the roof. A final slight deviation on this last leg led me to wander on a path through the adjacent old wood and it was here that I found a couple of Song Thrushes plus another Dunnock.  In total about two miles in 75 minutes and a final tally of 21 species but neither House Sparrow nor Starling.

Birds seen:

Pheasant, Kestrel, Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Common Swift, Barn Swallow, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Whitethroat, Great Tit, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Greenfinch, Goldfinch.

For the latest news follow the Axarquia Birds and Wildlife Facebook page for more photos and comments and the opportunity to share with the wider birding world.