It had been reported Friday night on the bird news from Focalpoint and a message had also come from HOS's mailing list. I decided to abandon my plans for Saturday and get straight down to Titchfield Haven in the morning -- without much hope.
In fact I need not have hurried. The reserve did not open until nine-thirty, so I had time to admire a flock of Bearded Tits flying around and feeding at the tops of reeds. The lighting was superb and they were easy to identify even in mid-air. A few Cetti's were also calling but typically not showing.
Finally I made my way into the hide, which was almost full already. The comments as I entered confirmed that something of interest was definitely out there. I was cool. I even took off my rucksack before sitting down. Hey, I'm English! Then I looked in the general direction of everyone else's scrutiny.
There was only one bird in the entire half of the pool and it was easy to identify as a stint. Again the light helped to show the colour of the legs. So, this was no difficult problem. I was interested in how differently it fed from the Little Stints I had seen -- very leisurely, very deliberate.
I watched for half an hour, during which a Green Sandpiper and a Water Rail also showed themselves. The stint continued to perform admirably and no-one was disappointed as people regularly turned up.
It was a beautiful day, so I covered the rest of the reserve. In fact I did not have to go far from the Meonshore Hide to hear a Little Owl calling although I could not locate the bird. The place seemed to be stuffed full of Jays, Sparrowhawks and Green Woodpeckers. And later, on the east side, I even finally caught a glimpse of a Cetti's.
So, October was proving to be very fruitful.