Goosander

Another morning spent padding out the year list. This time we went up to Petworth Park to tick off the Goosander and Egyptian Geese. Neither were playing ball. The Goosander was on the usual lower lake but was mobile and seemed determined to stay as far away from us as possible. We settled for distant shots rather than chasing him around. I assume that he is the same bird as last year but he seems much more reticent about having his picture taken this year.

Goosander but a bit distant

 
The geese are usually on the same lake or in the tree at the south end of the lake. This time all we could find were two out in the park close to the deer. We intended to get pictures as we made our way back to the car but they took off and did a flyby to inspect us before disappearing into the field on the opposite side of the road. I would normally be happy with the chance to get them flying, but this time the camera was not ready and I was a bit slow seeing the opportunity, so no pictures.

There are a lot of old trees in the park and we are always hopeful of finding an owl in one of them. No owls this time but there were Treecreepers everywhere.

Treecreeper

This is a bit of a bogey bird for me. I see them often enough but I have never managed to get a good picture.

We still had a couple of hours of the morning left so we dropped in at Pulborough Brooks. We had a walk down to the West Mead hide but the path was flooded beyond that point. I had seen the pictures but you get no idea of the volume of water involved until you sit in the hide and look out over the brooks. It was like being on the coast. As you would expect all the birds were on the far side of the water probably a mile or so away. We had to be content with a few Fieldfare and Redwings feeding in the bushes close by the hide.

Fortunately one of the Fieldfare came into the open to dispute territory with a Blackbird and I managed to get a couple of pictures.

Fieldfare

There being nowhere else to go we retired to the cafe and sat out on the terrace with a bacon baguette and a cup of tea whilst we added a few more year ticks from amongst the birds using the feeders.