Mixed blessings at West Hayling

Above: The view towards Farlington from West Hayling.

We've had two superb days so far this week and so I thought I'd give you a quick update of what's happening at the West Hayling Oysterbeds.  If you pay a visit at the moment, you are almost guaranteed to see several Red-breasted Mergansers  swimming in the lagoon.  It's always a pleasure to see these lovely colourful ducks here in the winter before they travel north to breed.

Above: Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) at the West Hayling Local Nature Reserve.

In a sign of the fast approaching spring, this week has also seen our first Black-headed Gull of the season to fully change into breeding plumage.  I'm sure it won't be long before the rest of them follow suite.

Above: Black-headed Gull in winter plumage, but for how long?

Now onto the less nice news.  As anyone who's visited the West Hayling Local Nature Reserve in the last two weeks will know, a large amount of sewage detritus washed ashore during the large storm surge on January 3rd.  Southern Water are aware of this issue and have now made assurances that contractors will be re-visiting north west Hayling this week to clear away the sanitary waste.  This is likely to take multiple visits but please do report any sewage debris you find in Langstone Harbour so that it can be dealt with properly.  Once this has been carried out, a voluntary team (including me and RSPB volunteers) will be making every effort to bring the area back to a litter free state.

Above: A mixture of litter and sewage waste that the January 3rd storm surge deposited.

Back to the wildlife, Rock Pipits are actually taking advantage of the new tide line to feast upon arthropods living amongst the great heaps of seaweed.

Above: A rock Pipit on the hunt for tasty morsels amongst the tide line.

Virtually all of the boats that came ashore over the festive season have now been removed with only two remaining at present.  Although the relevant people are doing their best to get these two back afloat, they will now remain until the spring tides at the end of the month at the earliest.  Until then, they make a nice temporary enhancement to the sunset...