Another 8 bird species added to year list.

Saturday 17th January 2026.

Waders coming into the roost on the spit just south of the Beds. Birds here included Dunlin, Knot and Grey Plover with a pair of Brent Geese among them.

Another superb Saturday birding with Geoff and Andy at three locations today. The short trip to Hayling Island at both Hayling Oyster Beds and Sandy Point produced 7 new ‘year-ticks’ for my year list and to round the day off, we took the drive over to the Canal Path near Titchfield Village for my final ‘year-tick’ of the day. The weather was a bit indifferent at first, with light rain for around an hour, but it eventually eased up and remained dry for the rest of the day, though it was mostly overcast during the morning and brightening up in the afternoon.  

Hayling Oyster Beds, Hayling Island:

Oystercatchers flying to roost on the Oyster Beds.

Getting at this site early is essential for parking as the car park is very small and thankfully for us, there was plenty of space to park. However, with the new Food Wagon parked in the car park, space was getting very limited and by the time we got back. High tide was around 10.30am and so on the rising tide, we were rewarded with large numbers of waders coming into roost on the bunds and spit. The water in the harbour was flat calm and so picking off the wildfowl and grebes was relatively easy, although most of our quarry was rather distant.

Above, Dunlin flying into the roost on the Beds and below, my first Med Gull of the year.

Above, a Great Crested Grebe (left) swimming near the drake Scaup north-west of the Beds.

On a positive note, I picked up 6 ‘year-ticks’ here that included all 5 UK Grebes. I needed both Black-necked Grebe and the long staying Red-necked Grebe and both species were seen……just! There was no trouble in picking up the Black-necked Grebes with two birds swimming together just to the north-west of the Beds, but the Red-necked Grebe was far more difficult to find. A chap thought he had found the bird, but it turned out to be a Little Grebe, but five minutes later, I picked out the Red-necked Grebe way in the distance south of the islands; though it didn’t take long for it to disappear. Great Crested Grebes were abundant with at least 30+ birds counted within the harbour.

Above, the Med Gull eventually landed right behind us on the main pool. Below, a drake Red-breasted Merganser on the same pool. Up to 7 Mergansers were on the pools here as well as good numbers out in the harbour.

Above, a flock of Brent Geese on the edge of one of the Bunds with a fishing Merg to the right. In the distance, one of the three Slavonian Grebes within the harbour. Below, a pair of Whimbrel roosting (centre) and flanked by Oystercatchers and Dunlin.

The drake Scaup was found very quickly, swimming just north-west of the Beds all by itself and up to three Slavonian Grebes were seen also swimming roughly in the same area. Geoff found my first Mediterranean Gull of the year flying over the Beds and the bird settled nicely nearby on the nearest pool. Flocks of waders were pouring onto the Reserve, landing either on the spit to the south or on the Bunds to the north and included my first Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit of the year. A good variety of waders were present including Dunlin, Grey Plover, Turnstone and Curlew and a Greenshank flew in and landed on the edge of the main pool. A calling Rock Pipit flew over our heads and headed off north and while constantly checking the harbour for anything else of note, I picked out at least four drake Goldeneyes to the north and my first Great Northern Diver of the year way to the south in the harbour.

Above, the spit at the southern end of the Beds that supported a variety of waders and below, up to 7 Red-breasted Mergansers were swimming together on one of the pools.

Above, there were many Great Crested Grebes within the harbour and this bird came in a lot closer and below, the lone Greenshank roosting on the edge of the pools.

Good sightings didn't end there either as we made our way clockwise around the Beds. I did know of an area where the Whimbrel normally roosts and at the northern end of the Beds, the Bund there produced Andy’s first Whimbrel's of the year. Two birds were roosting on the edge of the Bund along with many other waders and with the sky brightening up a little, it made a good opportunity for photographing the birds here. Due to a lot of boats going through the northern half of the harbour, the Grebes and Ducks all seemed to have disappeared near Langstone Bridge and so we took the long walk back to the Car Park and then made our way to Sandy Point.

Sandy Point, Hayling Island:

This adult Shag was the only bird I could really take a photo of as most of our sightings here at Sandy Point were seen using our respective scopes!

My target bird was the Little Gulls seen earlier this week, but during our hour or so stay here, there were none to be seen. A good scan over the harbour entrance, which was a bit choppy at first, the only bird of note was an adult Shag fishing on the sea here. We could see flocks of Brent Geese over at West Wittering and looking south into Chichester Harbour, I could see a lone Sandwich Tern fishing in the distance. Sadly, no Auks to be found, though a Razorbill was seen earlier in the day along with a drake Eider.

I walked back to the car to grab my Ruck Sack which held my flask and food and then we all made our way to the Lifeboat Station to not only have lunch, but also check the harbour thoroughly for anything of note. While I was away, Geoff picked out a Great Northern Diver in the harbour mouth and it didn't take long to find the bird after I arrived, our second of the day, but too distant to get a decent photo of the bird.

Looking north into the harbour, while checking the Great Crested Grebes (at least 10 birds in the southern half of the harbour), I picked out a Slavonian Grebe and a couple of Sandwich Terns. Also, something interesting flew past my field of view and through the scope, I realised it was my first drake Eider of the year. It took a while, but I managed to get Andy onto the bird for him to claim his first one for the year. Good team work! Several flocks of Sanderling were seen flying from the Black Point area and no doubt, probably flushed by dog-walkers. Andy then got a message on his mobile that a Short-eared Owl was seen at the Hayling Oysterbeds and it turned out that the bird was flushed from one of the fields by stray dogs entering the fields. Fume!

Canal Path, Titchfield Haven:

Four of the six Glossy Ibis that Andy thankfully found. Geoff and I walked past them, but Andy wanted to check this small pool in case there was a Water Pipit there and then found the Ibis!

Our last stop for the day took us to the Bridge Street car park at Titchfield. Our goal was the Glossy Ibis where six birds were seen here this morning. There was also the outside chance of Water Pipit on the Bridge Street Floods, north of the car park, which was seen earlier this week and so we all headed north to view the flooded fields. On arrival, there was a lot of birdsong within the area and as Geoff noted, it really felt Spring-like, with both Great Tits and Song Thrushes in full song here.

Above, as well as the Ibis, there was a pair of Teal nearby. Below, a flock of Lapwing took off from the Bridge Street Floods.

Sadly, no sign of any Water Pipits, but a male Pied Wagtail stood out well in the bright sunshine now along with a pair Teal. Andy finally got his first proper view of a pair of Jays flying over the woods, to add to his year list and I found a Common Buzzard perched on a small tree out in the open. Realising there was no sign of the Glossy Ibis, we assumed they must be further south on the pools and as we made our way back to walk down the Canal Path, Andy gave the shout that he had found the Glossy Ibis. Sure enough, a small pool behind the field behind the Horse Paddocks, held all six of the Ibis to add to our year list. Happy days indeed. Apparently, one of the birds had a dodgy leg and limped along to join the other Ibis. 

Above and below, there were a good number of Redwing in the trees and bushes along the Canal footpath.

We walked south down the Canal Path and the sharp ‘tick’ of a hidden Cetti’s Warbler in vegetation in front of us had us all waiting for the bird to appear. Thankfully, it did as Andy grabbed yet another species for his year list; but it was the briefest of views of this secretive Warbler. He still needed a Chiffchaff for his year list, but surprisingly, we failed to actually see any, though Geoff and I definitely heard one bird that did not show.

Walking south, both Red Kite and Marsh Harrier flew over the Reserve and flocks of Wigeon and Canada Geese were seen grazing over the east side of the Reserve, with Rabbits seen hopping around nearby. Posbrook Floods only held a few Coot and a Little Grebe, but little else unfortunately as we then made our way to the Bridge to finish off my Coffee. From here, a female Goldcrest showed nicely nearby as well as several Long-tailed Tits; but just waiting for around 15 minutes in one spot, Jackdaws came down to search for food along the footpath nearby along with Robins, Blue Tits and a Dunnock. A Little Egret flew over as I drained the last of my thermos flask and so we finished our day here and made our way back to the car park and the drive home. A superb day again with my chums and some quality birds seen at some of our favourite birding sites.

Above, four of the six Glossy Ibis on the Bridge Street Floods this afternoon.