#walking the Itchen navigation path

[the-little-wolfdog]

[isitjuicy]

Walking up the Itchen from Southampton to Winchester yesterday.

It’s a walk full of edgelands interest:  passing from an urban park, under graffitied road and railway bridges, through woods that skirt the motorway, airport, train yard and water treatment plant; passing steep gardens, rusty machinery and the tumbledown remains of locks; native and non-native animals, dragonflies and butterflies, anglers with big hoop nets, cyclists, boys swimming, women picnicking.  The local dog-walkers come to their local stretch of this path all the time, while it's a rare breakout for me.  To me, the route feels like a pilgrimage - to ancient Winchester and towards the chalky source of Southampton's river, all the time up overgrown paths and streams made enigmatic by ceasing to be fully navigable centuries ago.  The channels of the river and the old navigation join and split, the path being first on one side, then the other and sometimes between two streams.

After five steamy summer hours, with one brief shower and the occasional breeze, I reached the statue of King Alfred and got the bus home.

[dansnaturepictures]

5/6/21-Blog 1 of 3: The River Itchen 

With my Mum and sister using the present I brought for both of their birthdays this year today, an afternoon tea on a very fine day for it myself, my Mum and Missy walked over the River Itchen this morning returning early afternoon before they went. After some different bits I did indoors after my lunch I went back out for a rare weekend Lakeside walk at 4:00pm, and I ended up taking so many pictures and seeing too much too that to reduce the amount of pictures I tweeted on Dans_Pictures I am posting twenty of them just on Tumblr over three blogs. So my next post will be some more landscapes from the Lakeside walk and the third and final post the wildlife photos and story of it. Before leaving for the river I was very enthused to look at an ever increasingly big snapdragon grown near a neighbouring fence out the back alongside lots of other great flowers. We had a few of these growing by ours last year which I learnt and got to love in 2020 so I did enjoy seeing and getting a macro picture I tweeted of this bright pink delight which I tweeted. 

We arrived at the river with it very sunny and feeling very warm I took the first picture in this photoset of some flowers. After chatting a lovely person we knew we walked on and found great comfort being in the nice bits of shade along this well vegetated stretch of the Itchen Navigation whilst also very much appreciating the sun. We soon saw a pair of Mute Swans coming nicely but safely close to us as they swam around and away from a little inlet where water was coming quite close into the path I took the second picture in this photoset of one. I took the view in the third picture in this photoset with it looking very beautiful and it seemed like only a matter of time before the damselflies were around on such a bright and warm day. And sure enough we did start to see gorgeous Banded Demoiselles, a year tick for my dragonfly and damselfly list last Sunday at Fishlake Meadows looking pretty. We saw so many of these today and were very delighted to. Walking on and also a little bit further up too as hoped by me we did also spot some Beautiful Demoiselles, my first of the year. Particularly seeing the green female really well and looking lovely. One of my favourite dragon or damselflies that it was so nice to see always a key part of spring. 

Attention was back to birds for a little bit with after hearing a fluent Cetti’s Warbler early on hearing the scratchy and very loud call of Reed Warbler. I then noticed the reassuring shake of the beautiful reedbed and out from it flew a beautiful brown Reed Warbler that had been around it went to the reeds the other side and disappeared. Something we saw one or it do on the way back also around the same spot. It was another brilliant view of a key spring time bird in this habitat this year I felt so happy to see it. 

Walking on and we caught sight of the beautiful Broad-bodied Chaser one of my favourite dragonflies firmly flying and landing on thick vegetation. It was exceptional to see this bright and pretty dragonfly so spectacularly close with my dragonfly season really doing well now. I took the fourth picture in this photoset of this beauty and fifth of the view of the field behind. I also got the sixth picture in this photoset of a Banded Demoiselle looking nice in this vegetation. This field in particular was dressed up by nature so beautifully with the yellow of buttercups today which I enjoyed seeing and taking photos of as I have at Lakeside such a lot lately. Walking on and as is so often the case on this bit as the path rounds the corner near to a popular human and dog bathing spot along the river with steps to get in a beautiful Buzzard soar high over the trees against a fantastic bright blue sky and I enjoyed seeing this. Then in a very nice bit of vegetation the other side of a little bit of water we were thrilled to spot a bright scarlet looking cardinal beetle a beetle I only first ever saw last weekend at Fishlake Meadows and learnt thanks to a tweet from someone I know who had also seen one it is such a stunner and it was amazing to see it so well again. I managed the seventh picture in this photoset of this striking beetle. Nearby Common Blue damselflies were joined together to mate which I enjoyed seeing once more really focusing on the little things of nature this walk now and I took and tweeted on Dans_Pictures a photo of that tonight. 

Today I took some memorable pictures as I put my normal lens to great use taking pictures of little things which I could not get right on top of with my macro lens the one I would choose for such subjects as they were well in vegetation or over a bit of the river and I found my normal lens offers a similar level of detail which I have learnt so much this year it can do so much as a lens. It was something of a revaluation and I was pleased with these macro but not being right on top of it shots today because I couldn’t really especially the Broad-bodied Chaser and another of this which I tweeted tonight. 

I took the views in the final three pictures in this photoset as we walked up to a certain point and then back looking so beautiful. Other highlights on the walk was a quite late now Orange Tip I took great pleasure in seeing today to make the most of it what a spring I have had for them, clear views of fish, lots of yellow iris in a key habitat for it at a key time of year, common rock-rose, herb-Robert, wood avens, rhododendron, speedwell possibly marsh speedwell and other great bright colours in the landscape alongside the stunning green everywhere and swollen-thighed beetle on a buttercup. A brilliant and charming morning/early afternoon walk in the woods and beside the river I did love doing this a lot. 

Wildlife Sightings Summary: My first Beautiful Demosielle of the year, one of my favourite birds the Buzzard, one of my favourite butterflies the Orange Tip, one of my favourite dragonflies the Broad-bodied Chaser, Speckled Wood, Large White, Mallard, Mute Swan, great Long-tailed Tit view, Reed Warbler, Woodpigeon, Starling, Magpie, Banded Demoiselle, Common Blue damselfly, Swollen-thighed beetle, cardinal beetle, fish and I heard Cetti’s Warbler and Wren.