Hengistbury Head

29/12/2010.  I love this place! There can be few places in the UK which support such a variety of habitats.  Looking out to sea I recorded four velvet scoter, several red-throated diver and a couple of eider whilst the harbour supported a mass of birds including a female scaup and a couple of golden eye.

Signs of otters are becoming
 more frequent in Christchurch



  

Other birds of note included several avocet feeding in the harbour lagoons and a sparrowhawk hunting along the footpaths.  However, the highlight of the day was a male kingfisher fishing along the edge of the harbour at high tide, a mere 2m from the busy footpath and scores of visitors.  

Also of note was the presence of three otter spraint sites.  Two were recorded along the harbour shoreline and a further site was located on the bridge near the Solent Meads golf course.  It's exciting to know they're about and when the weather improves I'll be taking the kayak out to see if I can spot one.