Plenty of Auks around Eastney.

Sunday 26th December 2021.

Razorbills in the harbour entrance.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, for I know I did, despite the horrid weather. I only had one bottle of beer and a late drop of Bailey’s yesterday as I offered to drive and so this morning, no hangover for me! Yay! Still, we had a good lay in this morning and I promised to take our Scruff out for a walk and so, took him over for a walk around Eastney and the harbour entrance.

View overlooking the west side of the harbour.

One of the Harbour Seals swimming into the harbour.

High tide was to be much later in the afternoon and so, checking the harbour after parking the car, I took a slow walk to view by the Hayling Ferry Terminal. It was overcast and so getting any sharp photos of the birds with my Bridge Camera was going to be ‘iffy’, but with help of Photoshop, some came out reasonably well. The usual House Sparrows and Starlings were present within the car park, but I didn't expect an adult Mute Swan to stand up in one of the large puddles there!

This Mute Swan was a surprise find in the car park by the Harbour entrance. 

Another large number of Brent Geese were in the harbour.

Scruff and I passed the Lifeboat station and took a walk to the spit overlooking the west and northern half of the harbour. A small group of 7 Red-breasted Mergansers were swimming over the west side of the harbour until four of them took flight and landed a little closer. A pair of Guillemots were fishing together near the boats and showed really well at times and were joined by a Razorbill that ended up fishing close to the Ferry Terminal. Auks have been abundant of late within our local harbours and today was no exception as I found three more Razorbills near the Eastney Outfall.

Above and below, Red-breasted Mergansers in the harbour this morning.

One of the Harbour Seals swam into the harbour, but I only watched the animal briefly as it soon dived and simply disappeared. I do know from experience that Seals can swim underwater for a very long way and hold their breath for up to 30 minutes! I did scan the harbour thoroughly for anything else interesting, but drew a blank. A few wader species were on show including Dunlin, Grey Plover, Redshank and a few Turnstone plus a distant Curlew.

Dunlin feeding along the shoreline near the Ferry Terminal.

Close up of one of the Razorbills that swam by the Ferry Terminal.

Getting back into the car, we took a ride to the big car park to the south where I came across a large flock of Gulls feeding on grain someone had put down. Both Black-headed Gulls and Herring Gulls were present and a couple of juvenile Great Black-backed Gulls joined the birds also. Behind them, a small flock of finches perched on the perimeter fence including both Goldfinch and Greenfinch. I was pleased to see that there was hardly any rubbish around, for this place is a favourite area for fly-tipping. Large bins have been put out to discourage people from just dumping their rubbish. Let's hope it works.

One of the juvenile Great Black-backed Gulls flanked by Herring Gulls.

A male Pied Wagtail walking about the many puddles in the car park. 

Oystercatchers passing the Outfall.

Scruff and I took a walk along the Outfall and I managed to grab some more photos of the Razorbills before they disappeared, but I found at least two of them swimming / fishing close to a resting flock of Oystercatchers on the concrete spit. There were no signs of any Divers out on the sea and so I made my way back to the car and back home as the rain began to fall again. Earlier today, both a Black-throated and Great Northern Diver were seen in Chichester Harbour and an unusually large number of Gannets were fishing offshore in the Solent, roughly 62 in number.  

 The harbour entrance looking north from the Eastney Outfall.