Together with the second world-war gun, these provide clues to the fascinating history of the common, which is also a scheduled Ancient Monument. The Common Bell heather and purple moor-grass cover much of the common, with occasional patches of gorse providing ideal nest sites for stonechats and linnets. This coastal heathland is now very rare in Hampshire, so the fenced areas are grazed to stop bushes and bracken from spreading over the whole common. On the pond, the tall reeds provide cover for nesting moorhens and mallard ducks. At low tide you may see wading birds such as oystercatchers, turnstones and ringed plovers feeding on shellfish and worms from the mud.
Brent geese spend the winter here before returning to the Arctic to breed.
The ferry from Warsash lands on a rough hard, amid a fleet of boats, Hamble is an intricate, engaging place, surprisingly un-selfconscious, considering that it has been a yachting centre for decades. The presence of both the College of Air Training and the training ship Mercury symbolises the duality of Hamble's character and interests. Find out more about the Buildings of England series by visiting the Penguin Books web site. The Creek Redshanks and herons can often be seen on the mudflats of the creek. At high tide birds rest on the surrounding salt-marshes which are covered in sea lavender.