Waterside Natural History Society visit Stanpit Marsh and Hengistbury Head
Christchurch is fortunate to have two Nature Reserves on its doorstep both of which border onto Christchurch harbour. Stanpit Marsh is on the northern landward side of the harbour whereas Hengistbury Head is on the southern seaward side. The higher land of Hengistbury provides a natural shelter for the harbour and also for Stanpit Marsh. Although they are close together they are separated by the water of the harbour so a fifteen minute car journey is required to move from one to the other.
We started our visit at Stanpit Marsh which is a low lying area of reclaimed mud flats although the sea claims large areas back again at high tide. Unfortunately high tide coincided with our visit so we were not able to access some of the reserve. Nevertheless there were large numbers of migrating birds crowded onto the remaining land and seashore; the sight of which was the main object of our visit.
Stanpit Marsh Reserve has a modern visitor centre and provides a welcome board of information about tide levels and what can be seen that day. On this occasion it also provided information about Godwits which we saw in good numbers during our visit. It informed us that Godwits get their name from old English meaning ‘Good Creature’; a reference to their being good to eat. In the nineteenth century the attitude to wild birds was different to that of today. Charles Dickens mentions in his book ‘Martin Chuzzlewit’ that a ‘Bird Fancier’ has a shop in which wild birds are sold for keeping in cages or as target practice for gun clubs. We think of ourselves as more caring these days but wild birds had a better chance of survival then than they do today.
Besides the Godwits, which were Black Tailed Godwit, there were Redshank, Little Egret and Curlew scouring the grass for food. In the water Wigeon and Teal were increasing in number from their winter migration. Most of the birds we saw were on some form of migration or using the sheltered marshes for a rest and to refuel. Canada Geese and Black Bellied Brent Geese were seen on one of the sandbanks together with Cormorants which flew to higher ground as the water rose above their chest level.
We saw a great number of Lapwing which was an encouraging sign as they face difficult survival conditions from loss of habitat and predators. It would be a pity to lose these birds as they offer a unique sight and sound experience when they fly in flocks over the harbour.
The Black Headed Gulls and Coots are usually overlooked but they fill the landscape with their movement and squabbling. Looking between the movements we saw Oystercatchers, Dunlin, Ringed Plover and the occasional Grey Plover. Although we did not see anything unusual it was good to see the vast numbers of birds which were particularly spectacular when disturbed by something such as the Kestrel that occasionally flew over.
After lunch we travelled over to Hengistbury Head. There were few birds to see at this time of year, most of them sensibly kept to the shelter of Stanpit Marsh, but we liked the idea of a brisk walk. We were not the only ones as most of the population of Christchurch seemed to have the same idea and the car park and pathways were crowded with people out for a Sunday walk. On the way back to the car park we passed a family going the other way and a small boy said to his mother “Those people are all wearing blue coats Mummy”. It was only then that we realised we were wearing identical Berghaus coats and I thought perhaps most people are wearing a uniform and don’t realise it.
