I was just planning for a non-birding day when a glance at my phone saw that MF (who else?) had found a Hudsonian Godwit at Titchfield on the scrapes. Moments later I was in the car heading over and arriving and parking on Cliff Road where I met up with DW. We collected tickets from the temporary office and strode rather purposefully (!!) to MSH. I was surprised on arrival to find the hide empty but the godwit flock was wheeling around and picking-up the distinctive underwing colour of the Hud'wit took just a few seconds. Unsurprisingly, others started to arrive but the bird soon flipped over into North Scrape so we all decamped to the next hide where MR was policing entries. Needless to say quite a few were ticketless but paid up. The hide was crammed and after a while I went back to MSH which was still quiet. The godwit flock popped back into South Scrape where the bird came closer and was in much better light.
Elsewhere three Spoonbils were on the ffying pan before I got there and again after I'd left. Not sure if they'd gone in between times or else were sleeping and invisible behind the now very high vegetation.
This small Southern Marsh Orchid was my first of the year.
Two Male Eiders were close inshore with this one polishing off a crab were nice to watch.
NB Depending on source the Hud'wit appears to be the eighth for UK and needless to say a first for the reserve and county. For me my only sighting was of a single bird in 1982 at some pools near Point Pelee in Canada with AH and KT.
Hud'wit in flight above courtesy Mark Francis
(Eider with crab, Southern Marsh Orchid, Broad-bodied Chaser, paired and egg-laying Azure and Large Red Damselflies)
