Keyhaven is a quiet backwater of a harbour at the western end of the Solent. It is sheltered from the English Channel by Hurst Spit, a curving pebble promontory. At the end of the Spit there is Hurst Castle, built for Henry VIII but successively modified to cater for every single war against Johnny Foreigner ever since.
Inside the Spit is Keyhaven Lake, an expanse of marshland with a maze of channels, dead ends and shallow spots. This forms part of a 2000 acre Nature Reserve…
The saltmarshes and mudflats, together with the associated shingle ridges, support nationally and internationally important numbers of birds. During the breeding season the most numerous is the Black-headed Gull with up to 7,000 pairs regularly nesting on the Reserve. Several species of Tern also breed here, including Little, Common and Sandwich Terns. Among breeding waders the most conspicuous are Oystercatcher, Ringer Plover and Redshank.
A wide variety of birds visit during both spring and autumn migrations and in the winter months. The mudflats, teeming with diverse mud-dwelling organisms, provide rich feeding areas for many wetland species. In spring these include waders and other waterfowl en route from wintering quarters in Europe and Africa to breeding grounds in Scandinavia and Siberia.
Late June and early July heralds the beginning of the return migration, this reverse journey continuing until October. In winter the Reserve is of international importance for Brent Geese with an average of over 3,000 visiting each year. There are also significant numbers of waders such as Dunlin, Grey Plover and Black-tailed Godwits.
I have no idea what a Godwit is.
One night last year, we set off to paddle around the Isle of Wight. Our planned trip was 65 miles in length, but this first mile was the hardest. Our attempts to find our way out of Keyhaven Lake were co-ordinated by intense mobile phone and VHF communications and even the use of GPS, but still nearly defeated us. Before you laugh, try it yourself.
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