It Was the Rainbow Gave Thee Birth, and Left Thee All Her Lovely Hues

 The first Saturday of the New Year had arrived. Time to forget about the humdrum working week and the don the cap of anticipation of the forthcoming fifty two weekends and what was waiting to be seen out there.
I was heading out to walk the northern end of Southampton Water.
The weather was misty with a low grey cloud that would linger throughout the day
I parked at Eling Tide Mill for a circular walk that encompassed Lower Test Marshes.
Eling is opposite the Prince of Wales container terminal and Eling itself has storage for many disused containers, a sort of container grave yard.
The tide was out at the mill and a single Black Tailed Godwit traversed the mud in search of a decent meal.
Further out and as the path reached the mouth of the creek and into Southampton Water another Godwit was probing the silt for tasty morsels.
The reflection of the orange containers stacked high on the opposite bank gave an impressive background while the Godwit fed on the shore. 

 The container terminal on the opposite side stood gloomily intimidating in the mist as the ships were unloaded and loaded. 

I left the shore and headed a little inland towards the gravel pits near Bury Farm. The rare Cattle Egret that had been seen before Christmas was still to be observed there so I headed in it's alleged direction. At first I had trouble locating it, but  I persevered and eventually found it preening in a field with a flock of Canada Geese. 

Satisfied with my sighting I headed back north towards Lower Test Marshes crossing the busy main roads around Totton and acquiring some odd looks from people with a rather large lens and binoculars slung over my neck and shoulders.
As I reached the Salmon Leap bridge on the reserve, the female Goosander that is a regular sighting here sat preening by the waters edge along with  a similar comrade.

The western side to the Lower Testwood Marsh is a pretty good viewing area. It comprises a myriad of scrapes and channels that are fed by the rivers Test and Blackwater as they  negotiate their way into Southampton Water and ultimately The Solent and English Channel.
The one and only hide on the reserve is, ironically, a container.( The previous wooden hide was set alight by some negative vibe merchant a while back) They would have trouble burning this one!
I made camp in the hide and sat and ate my lunch. No sooner as I had taken a bite from my sandwich when a Kingfisher turned up.

It stayed for a while as it hovered and dived for food.

After an unsuccessful fishing expedition, it headed off in search of better luck elsewhere

 As it headed out, two Green Sandpiper flew in to feed...

 The reflections in the still water were pleasing despite the gloom

 I finished my lunch and headed back to the bridge. The Red headed Goosander were still there as the tide began to rise along the river.

 I reached the main boardwalk at the northern end of the reserve and heard the calls of a raptor from above.
Directly through the middle of the marshes runs a line of pylons and a common bird of prey here is the Peregrine Falcon. The pylons being a perfect place to sit and wait for an opportunity to launch an attack.  I spotted one with prey in it's talons sat on one of the pylons. It was being mobbed by an indignant Crow who clearly wanted it gone or maybe a piece of the meat on display?
The Peregrine decided to leave and consume it's catch elsewhere in peace.
It was heading my way so I hurriedly prepared the camera. I caught it in focus but had failed to adjust for the exposure against the bright sky.
Still, it gives a record of this magnificent predator with half consumed prey in it's claws and also still in it's beak too! 

 I tried to see what it had caught by the pattern and wing shape but it is difficult as most had been dispatched. I would imagine it is either a wader such as a Redshank or a small duck, maybe a Teal perhaps?

 As it headed off into the distance another raptor flew into view. This time a Buzzard. Slow, lazy and lethargic in comparison.  The complete opposite in temperament.

 Just seconds after, in the opposite direction, flew a Marsh Harrier. Sleeker and more agile than the Buzzard, this raptor swoops and sways over the reed beds in search of prey, seemingly dancing as it goes.

 Three birds of prey in a few hundred yards was quite a sight and quite a catch for this place. Lower Test always teases and promises much but never seems to deliver for such a place of diversity. Nevertheless, I have a strange kind of attraction here with the contrast of nature versus industry.

As I left, the distinctive 'Kick kick' of a Great Spotted Woodpecker call from the top of a bough sent me on my way and as I neared the bridge across the mouth of the Test into Southampton Water back to the van in Eling, a female Blackbird fed at my feet very obligingly. Not a regular bird here. From what I can make out, it is a European bird with very different plumage to a regular 'local' bird which is uniformly brown. They arrive here in winter due to colder weather on the continent.

 Almost at the van for the short drive home I spied a couple of Brown rats zipping across to the grass verge by the busy A road for some obviously tasty treat. For a moment I thought they were going to play a game of 'Chicken' across the road and I was going to photograph my first real live road kill. Thankfully they were not that silly. Rats are very much maligned and misunderstood but that is a story for another day.....

The title of this post is from the poem 'The Kingfisher' by William Henry Davies