Lockdown Birding

Like many others I didn't see lockdown as a problem. I have a garden, there are birds, butterflies and a wealth of macro photography opportunities with the insects that inhabit the garden. It would be a chance to increase my knowledge of the natural world and would open up new areas of interest.

I was wrong. The birds have been limited to the usual half dozen or so garden regulars. Flyovers have been few and far between and of course don't really give picture opportunities. There have been a few butterflies through but other than the Holly Blues none have stopped to pose for a picture. There are  some flies and hoverflies around but nothing like the varieties I had expected to see. It seems almost as if I see the same three or four insects in the same location every day. I knew that Hoverflies could be territorial but assumed that this was just for a short period as they moved through an area. Do they establish long term territories?

One from the garden - not the smartest looking Blackbird that I have ever seen but the song was wonderful 

I usually take my daily exercise along the seashore when the tide is out. There is never anyone close and the sense of open space and freedom is invigorating. In these times I am truly fortunate in living just a couple of hundred metres from the sea. Unfortunately birdwise it has been a bit disappointing.

Sanderlings on Worthing Beach

There are flocks of Turnstones and Sanderlings along the tide line, the occasional Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin going over, but I seem to have missed the Wheatears and where are the sea birds. This should be peak migration time but I have seen little sign of any Skuas, Divers, or Sea Ducks going through. Are they in lockdown as well or have they all gone up the west coast route this year?

My first Swallow of the year 

My longer walks have given me a little more variety. Ferring Rife was full of bird song, Reed Warblers, Cetti's and Blackcaps but also a lot of dog walkers. Few birds were displaying but I did get decent views of a Whitethroat.

Whitethroat

Widewater also had some decent birds on offer with Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel and Dunlin on the lagoon. Looking out to sea was not quite as interesting with nothing seen flying through or sitting on the sea other than a few of the usual gulls.

Bar-tailed Godwit

Whimbrel walking through what looks like Sea Campion flowers

Dunlin

And a couple of shots from before the current restrictions, both taken at Brooklands Park, a Pochard and a Song Thrush.

Pochard

Song Thrush

It's good to get a few decent pictures and to be able to produce a blog again. The opportunities are all around me, I just have to manage my expectations and see the beauty in the common species rather than go looking for the exceptional.

Red-necked Phalarope

Monday, we spent nearly five hours sitting in a hide at Titchfield Haven, waiting for a Semipalmated Sandpiper to turn up - it didn't. Which is probably just as well, as I am not sure that I would be able to tell it from Little Stint even at close range.

The drive home after missing a bird is always a bit depressing but we didn't let it get us down. This morning we were up early and over to Pagham North Wall hoping to find something unusual - we didn't and to make matters worse there were no reports of any good birds in the area. Running out of ideas we decided to go over to Thorney Island to have a look for the Red-necked Phalarope and I am pleased to say this time we were in luck.

The Phalarope has been there for  a few days now but has been distant for a lot of that time. Today it was just out of photographic range for most of the time but did make a couple of short forays into closer waters. It was then a case of trying to get a clear shot through or over the reeds and hoping that the light was reasonable.

We got a few record shots but it could have been better. If you are going to have a look at it, the late afternoon sun will give you the best lighting. For us, today, it was just too hot to stand around for a few hours waiting for things to improve.

To find the bird, park up at the triangle at (SU757049), cross the road and follow the footpath west to the beach. Turn left (south) and follow the seawall footpath for about 200 metres to the Little Deep (SU752048)

On Sunday we walked from Reculver out past Cold Harbour Lagoon. A short stop for pictures gave me the birds below.

Greenshank

Knot

Bar-tailed Godwit

Spotted Redshank

Wheatear

and this looks like another Little Stint - white braces on its back clearer in other shots

A couple of shots from Titchfield, taken whilst we were waiting for the Semipalmated Sandpiper that didn't show.

Ruff

Common Snipe

And two from last week at Pagham North Wall

Curlew Sandpiper and six Dunlin

Low flying Buzzard

The hot weather seems to have caused the autumn migration to stall. Am I alone in looking forward to the cooler and more productive days to come.

Birding in Kent

A recent trip to stay for a few days in Canterbury gave the opportunity to try birding in some different areas. However, I wasn't very adventurous and ended up visiting a lot of places that I am already familiar with. Cliffe Pools twice, to see the Lesser Yellowlegs which I missed by about ten minutes on both occasions. Stodmarsh and Grove Ferry, where I hardly saw a bird all day, although I did have a fly by from a Marsh Harrier, so close that I had no chance of getting a picture. Folkstone and Dover Cliffs, looking for Ring Ouzels, which was a total waste of time despite all the reported sightings.

In the end it all came down to Dungeness, five Great White Egrets, a Spoonbill, and a small supporting cast. Even here there were some missed opportunities, A Pectoral Sandpiper that kept relocating every time I got near it and a Rare Bird Alert that reported Ring Ouzels within fifty metres of where I was standing but which were gone by the time I got there.

It all sounds a bit depressing but actually I had a great time wandering around the sites. I am just trying to convince the wife that I need to do this more often.

So, pictures taken at a rather drab and over cast Dungeness.

Spoonbill

Little Egret with fish

Great White Egret

Taking to the air - Five to six foot wingspan

Two of the five Great White Egrets present

Bar-tailed Godwit and Curlew Sandpiper

Greenshanks

 and one picture taken at Grove Ferry

Snipe hiding in amongst the Ducks

The most exiting spectacle of the day was a feeding frenzy of about thirty Cormorants on a shoal of fish, with an even larger flock of gulls trying to poach fish out of the Cormorants mouths. I must read up on how to use the video mode on the camera.

Arlington and the Cuckmere

The birding has been a bit disappointing this week. I was out Monday at Pagham Harbour still hoping to catch up with a Pied Flycatcher before they all disappear and also to get a photograph of the Little Stints on the Ferry Pool. I did get to see the Stints through a telescope, but there was no chance of a picture as they were on the far side of the pool.

There are often good birds on the pool but they usually stay well away from the road and the hide. Top of my wish list, now that the RSPB has taken over at Pagham, is for them to somehow get permission to build a hide on the south side of the Ferry Pool giving views out over the more promising western end.

There were a few Spotted Flycatchers around the churchyard but no sign of a Pied so my only photographs for the day were of Wheatears on the North Wall.

Today has not been much better. We set off with targets of pictures of the Little Stint at Arlington Reservoir and Curlew Sandpiper at Cuckmere Haven. A walk round Arlington gave plenty of ducks and geese but only distant views of a Greenshank and no sign of the Little Stint. Fortunately the Pied Wagtails on the dam wall were as obliging as always.

Juvenile Pied Wagtail

Initially the Cuckmere looked promising. Plenty of birds on the mud looking to be about the right size for the Curlew Sandpiper. Closer inspection though, showed them all to be Dunlin. Nice birds and easy to photograph but not what we came for.

There were also a good number of Ringed Plover along the river banks, along with a Bar-tailed Godwit, a Redshank and a couple of Sandwich Terns. The birds were regularly flushed by dogs but still gave some good views.

Ringed Plover

Juvenile Ringed Plover

Bar-tailed Godwit

Juvenile Redshank

On the way home we called in at Seaford and had a look around Hope Gap. The best we saw was four Jackdaws flying over. Nothing else was moving. This was my third visit in the past couple of months and my best sightings list so far. It must be a timing issue. I will have to make an early morning visit to see if I can connect with the sort of birding list that is regularly reported from there.

I suppose we had a good days birding but it would have been so much better if we had hit one of our targets. Fortunately there are still a few butterflies around to compensate for the missed birds.

Common Blue

Small Heath