North Portsea Island Phase 4b Update - Week 22

Birds Welcome!

This week work continues on the flood defence wall from the sailing club to the coast in front of Airport Service Road. The last few bays (sections) of continuous full-height flood defence walls are nearing completion and we are now starting to gear up for our winter break.

We do not work over the winter months as there are large numbers of several bird species that migrate through and also overwinter in the Solent, which are protected by a series of designated sites including Langstone Harbour. For example, the black-tailed godwit (pictured), leave their summer breeding grounds thousands of miles away in  Iceland come to overwinter in the Solent. Turnstones, which are named for their habit of flipping over stones to look for food, are also a common winter visitor that can be found all along the Solent coastline. The population that spends their winter in the U.K. migrate here from Greenland and East Canada.

As well as protecting Portsmouth from the risk of flooding and creating spaces for people to use and enjoy, we also want to protect and encourage the migration of these special birds by creating coastal environments they can thrive in.