Spoonbills

I have been out birding a few times recently but there has been nothing really interesting about and no real picture opportunities. The Spoonbills below are two of the three currently in residence at Snowhill Marsh. They are usually asleep sheltering from the wind and difficult to photograph but this time they were just the opposite, out in the open and non stop action, but then never taking their bills out of the water to let me get a decent shot.

There is also a Greenshank showing at the marsh but again usually very distant.

Greenshank

I had been over to the Pagham Harbour a couple of times looking for the Tundra Bean Goose. We eventually found it in the fields at the back of the Breech Pool. From the North Wall this would usually be well out of range for recording any detail but with good lighting, clean winter air, and no heat haze it was worth a try. I measured the distance on a map when I got home, just over two hundred metres. If only I could achieve detail at that range every time I am out.

Tundra Bean Goose - Highlights in the eyes at two hundred metres

The lighting was superb and the pictures would have been great except that there were no birds on the pool. My only other shot was of this Cormorant that flew in just as we were leaving. The breeding plumage really lifts them out of the ordinary.

There have also been a couple of trips to see the Kumlien's Gull at Littlehampton. It would be interesting to know if it is the same gull as last year. It's a lot harder to pick out this time. On the ground it looks a lot like a juvenile Herring Gull but in flight you can see the difference.

Kumlien's Gull