30^th April. A much anticipated trip down to Hampshire and with some decent weather forecast I headed down to Keyhaven for a wander round the ever reliable reserve. The weather looked good so I arrived early and immediately saw a familiar face. Jackie and I soon got chatting and we headed off towards the Balancing Pool looking for some migrants. Reed & Sedge Warblers were singing from the reeds alongside the path and a distant Cuckoo quickly grabbed my attention. The bird was very distant and was never going to make an appearance so after grabbing a quick shot of a family party of Canada Geese into the sun, we moved on to the Ancient Highway and looked out for warblers. A Chaffinch posed nicely in amongst tree blossom but in difficult light. Numerous Whitethroat were singing and songflighting but the distinctive warble of a Lesser Whitethroat got our attention. The bird was easy to locate but virtually impossible to see as it skulked in the centre of various bushes. In 15 minutes we got one clear view for all of two seconds but it was not to be so carried on. We headed down the path towards the Fishtail Lagoon, snapping a very smart Greenfinch singing near the car park. I was relieved to see some April Swifts (it's always nice to get one before the 1st May!) and on reaching the Lagoon, was soon watching dozens of them along with Swallows, Sand and House Martins all feeding furiously. Singing Cetti's, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler and a Water Rail were all evident at the corner of Fishtail and with the tide coming in we pressed on along the sea wall hoping for a Spotshank. A Little Tern was a nice spot and soon it became a common sight along with Common Terns as they fished along the length of Pennington Lagoon. Little Terns are great, no afraid of anything and often chasing off their much larger Common cousins. All the while I was on the lookout for Whimbrel and eventually I located a flock of around 30 birds out on a shingle bank. With the tide rising the birds eventually were forced off their spit and located in land. I made a rough note of where they'd landed for later and we continued on but were stopped by a Dunlin with two Turnstone. The Turnstones were good with one bird in winter and the other in summer plumage. The Dunlin, as ever, was cracking seemingly happy being with the Turnstones to wait for the tide to drop whilst sitting on the shoreline in the sun. As we saw Oxey for the first time, we saw Spotshank feeding and it was a summer plumaged bird. I got a few distant shots before it took flight and moved round the corner. We followed round after it but it moved on again, hopefully to the Spotshank spot. Sure enough, it was happily feeding at their usual spot on the North-East side of Oxey Marsh. There were two Spotted Redshanks and a single Greenshank with the one of the Spotshanks being in an intermediate plumage, contrasting with the full summer plumage of the other bird. I set to work on trying to get a decent shot with the birds always hugging the far bank. I managed some decent efforts but still have a yearning for improvement. Another time! Whilst I was watching the waders, Jackie had heard a singing Dartford Warbler and put me on it but with the strong breeze, he was never going to be perching right up and I failed to get a decent view. Not disappointed by any means as a single drake Eider came swimming up the channel and started to dive for crabs. The light was almost too good with the ever present problem of how to get the balance when photographing black and white birds. Keeping the camera on spot metering and metering on the white of the bird as to not blow the top end, I hoped for the best but still couldn't get the perfect balance as it seemed almost impossible to get any eye detail whilst keeping the whites in control. Still it was a fantastic view of the Eider, watching him come up with crab after crab and doing his digestion dance after each one. I even got my very own Eider call as I went to the waters edge for a low angle shot! All the while Little and Common Terns were fishing nearby, it was a great birding treat. Eventually we moved on and walking around Oxey Marsh, we found the Whimbrel herd. I got a few shots before a dog put them all up but fortunately after a circle they alighted near by and I managed to manoeuvre round to get the light at my back for a few shots. I had to move quickly as another dog walker approached but got some reasonable efforts, noting a single Bar-Tailed Godwit amongst the herd as I did so. The second hound flushed the birds over the hedge and into a more distant field but we were soon watching a pair of Skylark feeding nice and closely which again gave some good photo opportunities. Walking back along the sea wall I saw a single Merganser on the sea and arriving back at Fishtail started watching the Little Terns as they fed really close to the corner. I worked out the best spot and eventually got some stunning images of one of the birds as it hovered no more than 30 feet away. Very pleased with my mornings and now afternoons results, we headed back with Jackie stopping to chat to one of her birding buddies. He informed us that au unseasonal visitor was still present on Keyhaven Lagoon so we quickened our pace and soon found the female Long-Tailed Duck sitting on a distant grassy bank alongside a Shelduck. A new life tick but distant and attempting digiscoping with the strong wind was fairly futile. After 10 minutes of watching a snoozing duck, it raised onto it feet and eventually took flight, landing fairly close to the footpath. I scurried closer and as the bird started to dive and feed, moved closer with each dive. I ended up around 70 feet away at its closest point allowing me to get some great shots of a brand new bird, finally a new species! I wasn't even miffed it was a female (well ok, maybe a tiny bit!) but with plenty of Long-Tailed Duck photos in the bag it was time to head back and crash out.