Hurst Castle (Hampshire Coast, England, UK)

Here's a record of our recent sunny trip to Hurst Castle located on the south coast of England in the county of Hampshire

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/hurst-castle

We could have walked around on the spit to get to the castle but we thought we would do something different and take the small boat service that runs every 20 minutes back and forwards from Key Haven

Hurst castle lighthouse

Selection of Male and Female Turnstones beautifully camouflaged against the rocks

Rock Pipit

Isle of Wight viewed from the top of Hurst Castle

Hurst Castle

Originally built by Henry VIII and used for multiple purposes ever since. With the last purpose being a defensive position during the last world war. Being located on the south coast of England it made a natural observation/defensive position for anything malevolent coming over from mainland Europe

Isle of Wight ferry on it's way to Lymington and a selection of Rock Pipits

Rock Pipits were the birds of the day. They were quite fearless and have behaviours that reminded me of wagtails, in that they are quite scroungy and are constantly looking for whatever food they can pilfer off of you. Obviously we had to oblige. How could you say no to this level of cheekiness?

Isle of Wight in the distance with the 'Needles' rock formation on the far right

Today really was a beautifully sunny day. You really have to make the most of these days in the UK as you never know when the next one will be, lol (I'm not joking either!)

Dunlins

When we first turned up these Dunlins were pretty unsettled and were flying around in circles trying to decide whether/where to land. Luckily they all calmed down eventually and landed on this rocky outcrop, which I was able to slowly get close to in order to take this series of photos.

I sometimes find certain waders quite hard to id, but Dunlins are pretty easy due to their black bellies, which for me is the major defining characteristic of these lovely birds

I was able to get really close to these Dunlins, who were just relaxing by the water's edge

I managed to do this by clambering stealthily over the proceeding rocks, which provided me with handy cover

I think they look gorgeous in the sunlight

Black headed Gulls with their full summer plumage

.....and again