Birding by Train to IOW
We have had a grand day out on a birdwatching trip. It was the first of a series, devised for our local RSPB group, by my husband, which he is calling "Birding by Train". Today we went by train from Winchester to Lymington, picking up a friend, P, in Southampton, en route. Then we took the WightLink ferry to Yarmouth. Before we had even left Lymington we had spotted a Kingfisher and a Little Egret in a shallow pool by the ferry terminal.
Once on the Island we walked along the route of an old railway line, beside the eastern shore of the Western Yar river, towards Freshwater. My main photo is taken looking back towards Yarmouth, across the marshy shoreline of the Yar estuary. We saw lots of different birds here including Curlew, Lapwing, Black Tailed Godwit, Little Egret, Redshank, Teal , Wigeon and Oystercatcher. We then walked through a more wooded area where we spotted Blue, Longtailed, and Blue tits, Cetti's warbler and Robin.
We turned around at the causeway near Afton in order to be back at Yarmouth in time for the 5pm ferry. As we neared Yarmouth we spotted another Kingfisher by a little stream.
We had only walked about 6 miles but had seen about forty bird species during the day.
The extra is the view from the homeward-bound ferry, approaching Lymington, and looking eastwards towards Portsmouth, over Boldre Foreshore Nature Reserve.
Once home, we had a very quick turnaround to get out again for the monthly Uke Jam!
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