Cetti's Warbler

Out birding with Dave again today and having the usual problem of how to make our blogs look a little different. Fortunately I can start off with a couple of pictures of Spoonbills taken at Snowhill Creek on Sunday. If only I could have trimmed the reeds that were blocking my view.

Spoonbills - with one not sleeping!  Pity about the reeds

Smart looking bird

Today started off in the dark and rain at Widewater looking for the Goosander. It had taken us just under an hour to do the five miles from Worthing and it was a complete waste of time. No Goosander, no birds on the sea, just the usual two pairs of Mergansers, a few dabchicks, and a Shellduck. To make it worse all my pictures of the mergansers were rubbish.

Next stop was Chichester Gravel Pits to have another look for the Dusky Warbler. We drew a blank on that one but there was a particularly showy Cetti's Warbler around. It was pure luck on where you were standing and where he emerged and I could not get a clear shot out in the open but there were a couple of reasonable record shots. Certainly a lot better than the usual back end that you get as it disappears into the bush.

Cetti's Warbler

Not bad for 1/60 Sec

We also searched for the female Red-crested Pochard without any luck. We were even told where it was by Owen Mitchell but of course by the time we got there it had moved on. Fortunately we then relocated it on the far side of Triangle lake and then watched as it paddled over to give us good views.

Red-crested Pochard

There were quite a few small birds around the lakes although the numbers of Coots and wildfowl still seems low. Winter does not really seem to have arrived yet, at least not as far as the birds are concerned. On the other hand some of the Great-crested Grebes seem to be moving into summer Plumage.

Great-crested Grebe

We ended up at the North Wall but there was very little showing. The usual Mallard, Teal, Widgeon, Canada Geese, and Curlews with flocks of Lapwings wheeling overhead but nothing unusual. The water was very high in the Breech Pool and the only Godwits that we could see were half a dozen in the flooded fields at the back of the pool. The wind was cold and getting stronger so we did not hang around for too long.