I Wake Up From My Sleep, And Wonder Filled My Eyes

The days leading up to my walk today had been unusually still and mild and this day wasn't any different.
Being mild on a winters day meant cloud and with little wind it meant thick mist too.
As I lay in bed, my subconscious was aware of the fog horns bellowing out on the Solent. It's a lovely warm comforting sound, certainly better than the drone of a motorway. I dragged myself from my warm comfortable slumber. 

By the time I headed out, the mist had lifted slightly but The Isle of Wight wasn't visible five miles away.
My destination was Titchfield Haven just 3 miles away to meet up with Chris at dawn.

 I reached the sea wall just before sunrise and just before Chris's arrival.
It was silent and still. Quite unusual for the seaside. I absorbed every little sound, now amplified in the monochrome stillness.
Looking into the reserve, a Water Rail, normally quite shy, took the opportunity to emerge to feed.

 Chris arrived as did a Pied Wagtail on the roadside...

 One of our objectives today was to see if we could locate a rare Snow Bunting that had been seen here in the last few days. After my bad luck in sighting a pair near Southsea Castle last month, I was hopeful this time.
Chris and I walked the sea wall and as we did so I spotted the bird scuttling along beneath it. Very camouflaged against the stoney beach....

 It hopped onto the wall to give a much better view...

 The great thing about this little bird is that it is very confiding and allows close contact...
They breed around the Arctic and are seen very occasionally on migration here.

 The still water out on the Solent gave great views on passing birds. Oystercatchers being frequent as the tide rose.

 Brent Geese also...

 Chris spotted a drake Eider just offshore...

 Onshore we found at least 20 Sanderling feeding on the mudflats. They feed like little jackhammers and never seem to rest...

 The tide was rising and the roosting Oystercatchers would soon have to move on.

 and the Curlew too...

 We walked up along Brownwich cliffs to get a broader view of the Solent. The water being so still gave a good opportunity to see what is out on the sea.

 Too distant to photograph were many Common Scoter, Great Crested Grebes, Brent Geese and several more Eider too. Plus more passing Oystercatchers.
We headed back to the cars and decided to head west to Eling near Southampton. A rare Cattle Egret had been seen associating with a group of Little Egrets in a field there.
After some round about walking, we eventually found it!

 These birds have been gradually taking a foothold here in the the South and West for a number of years now along with the Great White Egret I had seen earlier on in the year.

 Chris and I skulked around the field for better views and tried not to disturb this beautiful bird.

 

 We left it to feed in peace and headed back to the cars. As we did I spied a bird flying at speed high above. It was a Peregrine Falcon! It was heading for the top of the pylons. I hoped it would perch there. It didn't, it headed on and out of sight.

 As we decanted into the vehicles, Chris looked up at the next pylon. He told me to look up there...

 There it was, right above us!
Beautiful bird. We've had some great views of this stunning creature this year and although this is distant, I quite like the industrial feel to the photo.

 We then decided to head into the New Forest in search of Hen Harriers...
Deadman Hill was our destination again.
Walking into Black Gutter Bottom produced many Redwing and Fieldfare feeding on the ground by the pine trees. They have almost exhausted the berries on the trees, so switch their attentions to insects on the ground instead.

 The underside 'red' wing clearly visible in flight

 There were a couple of Ravens circling around and 'Cronking' their call as they went.

 Having spent a good 3 hours walking the moors, our hopes of seeing the elusive Harriers were proved to be just that. Our attentions turned to a slightly less elusive bird, and slightly it was too!

 The Dartford Warbler are sedentary birds and we saw many here. Photographing them is quite a challenge....this is the best I could do...

 After a busy morning, the afternoon proved very quiet but then a walk out in nature is always time well spent. It was still mild as we tramped back to the cars, always looking over our shoulder in the vain hope of a late appearance of a Harrier or even a Merlin, but we both knew in our hearts it was a lost cause.
The Fallow Deer proved a welcome distraction as we neared our return to Deadman Hill and at the very top a stag showed himself in all his glory on the horizon..

N.B.
The title of this post is a line taken from the poem 'Technicolor Monochrome' by Jade Howser