Titchfield Haven - Greater Yellowlegs

I was giddy with the prospect of connecting with another rare.  I had a car, and this opportunity just had to be maximised.  So I headed down to Titchfield Haven where an enigmatic wader had been in residence for, well months actually before disappearing into the ether for a while.  Until recently that is when it re-appeared allowing many to observe it from close quarters from the coast road.  The Sunday trip was extremely spontaneous, but unfortunately there was no sign from mid-afternoon despite searching all the pools from within the reserve.  A Mediterranean Gull sat with the hundreds of Black Headed Gull on the islands and there were plenty of Avocet feeding on the shallow pools.

Spot the Greaterlegs 

I couldn't give up.  The next day I headed down early.  Hackney to Titchfield in two hours.  I had to work a little harder this time by driving through the village and parking up at the north end of the reserve.  The Titchfield Canal path led to two large pools where a group of around hundred Black-Tailed Godwit were present.  In amongst them was a very twitchy GREATER YELLOWLEGS that gave great scope views, but did nothing for getting any shots of it.  While the Godwit fed without any fuss, the Greaterlegs looked particularly edgy, stomping around like a belligerent child, disappearing into the reeds, before appearing again.  Very mobile as later that afternoon, it had flown back toward the fare-paying part of the reserve.