Lesser Yellowlegs, Titchfield Haven - August 2014

News broke yesterday of a Lesser Yellowlegs at Titchfield Haven, and as it was still there today I nipped down this evening to go and have a look. The bird had been frequenting the North Scrape and so is best viewed from the Pumfrett Hide but I thought I would check the South Scrape first, just in case it was present. The light was fantastic and in front of the hide a couple of Pied Avocets, several Common Snipes and a Black-tailed Godwit were feeding.

The Avocets were both juveniles, and one of them was wearing some colour rings. I have yet to find out where this bird is from, but suspect it was ringed in the west of the County as Graham Giddens apparently colour rings them. One of the issues with colour rings is the way that they discolour, on the Haven bird the upper ring on the right leg is discoloured, I suspect it is white. The ring below appears to be light green, but appears to have faded and looks to be a similar colour to the discoloured white ring above. Maybe coloured darvic rings, with letters would be a better idea for a species of this size.

Avocet, Titchfield Haven - August 2014

Avocet, Titchfield Haven - August 2014

The snipe were also feeding just in front of the hide, at least six snipe were present with another 20 scattered around the scrape. Black-tailed Godwits and Lapwing were the other wader species present, with ducks, including Gadwall, Mallard, Shoveler and Common Teal also on the scrape. I scanned around the south scrape but could see no sign of the Lesser legs, but then I spotted it feeding in the North Scrape.

Common Snipe - Titchfield Haven, August 2014

Common Snipe - Titchfield Haven, August 2014

Common Snipe - Titchfield Haven, August 2014

I headed round to the Pumfrett Hide to view the scrape and there it was. The Lesser Yellowlegs was towards the back of the scrape, and although giving great scope views in excellent light, it was bit too far away for decent photos. Given that there has been a Lesser Yellowlegs at Keyhaven for the last few days, I suspect this bird has come from there, as that bird has not been seen the last couple of days. It is great to see another bird so soon after the one that wintered last year.

Lesser Yellowlegs - Titchfield Haven - August

So not a bad week for the Haven, Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler on Saturday, Lesser Yellowlegs yesterday and today, what will tomorrow bring!