Surf Scoter

I haven't put many blogs up lately but then I can sum up February as six days spent dipping the Little Bunting at Old Lodge, three days spent dipping the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at Mark Ash Wood, and a couple of half way successful days standing outside a sewerage farm photographing Siberian Chiffchaffs. All made worse by the fact that on day one of looking for the Little Bunting, it must have perched right in front of me, without my being able to identify it. Dave standing next to me managed to get a picture of it.

Today brought an improvement, a Surf Scoter had been reported yesterday in Stokes Bay just to the west of Gosport. We waited for confirmation that it was still about then set of for Hampshire through the heavy rain. We couldn't find it at the reported location of being off Elmore car park but then driving further east we found it back in yesterdays location of the second car park in Stokes Bay.

A quick look through the telescopes confirmed the sighting of one Surf Scoter and two Common Scoter and also left us soaked through and cold from the driving rain. We then sat in the car for three hours watching the Scoters fishing out in the bay and at the same time watching the weather radar on the web waiting for the rain band to clear.

The birds were always distant and with rough seas and poor light the pictures were never going to be brilliant but any shot of a Surf Scoter on the south coast has got to be worth having.

This is the view through the big lens - about equivalent to a 10x50 binocular

Digitally enlarged on Photoshop - reasonable quality

Overdone, pixels starting to show but it gives a clearer view of that multicoloured beak and the white patches on the nape and forehead.

February has improved but I still need to get that Little Bunting. Even my wife is encouraging me to have another go. Don't let it beat you she said, it's only a little bird - but she was having difficulty stopping herself laughing whilst she said it.

Common Scoter

Dave called me this morning to say that the Common Scoter was showing again on Widewater Lagoon. It is not a rare bird but it is unusual to be able to see one close up so I abandoned my tasks in the house and headed over there. As it happens I did not really get to see it close up. It was in hiding when I arrived and then promptly swam out into the middle of the lagoon, beached itself on the island there and I assume went of to sleep.

Female Common Scoter

I waited awhile but it did not reappear, the only consolation being that there were two pairs of Red-breasted Mergansers on the lake to pursue. Always a great bird to photograph.

Red-breasted Mergansers

There are a few resident Common Scoters over at the Wetland Centre in Arundel. They would be a lot easier to photograph but they don't have the same magic as a wild bird.

I had a quick look at the Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers on the harbour wall and then headed for home.

On Seawatching

Interesting but I cannot see it catching on!


I tried a seawatch for the first time yesterday morning. Hardcore birding as I have seen it described. The sea was calm and there were plenty of birds about. We could identify Common Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Great Crested Grebe, and Gannet with probable sightings of Guillemot and various Grebes. However, I left feeling something was missing. This was not what I wanted from bird watching. Lots of black dots, mostly unrecognisable, no chance of getting pictures, and an element of doubt in anything you do identify.

For me birdwatching is about getting up close, making a positive identification, and getting a good quality record shot. Or, perhaps being a bit more realistic, having a good enough record shot to be able to go home and make the identification against the Collins Guide.

Arriving home with no pictures to look at also left something missing from the day. Fortunately I was home by 10.30 and after an early lunch I was soon starting to get edgy. I headed off into the snow flurries hoping the reflection from the snow would give the extra couple of stops needed for decent pictures. There were certainly a lot of birds about.

The cold weather has caused a lot of bird movement. Thousands of Fieldfares have been heading west in flocks of a few birds through to a few hundred. Great to look at but they are stripping all the berries from the trees and bushes. What will the the other birds live on and perhaps more interestingly where are the Redwings? We even had a dozen Fieldfares in the garden, a first that I can remember.

Fieldfare in the Garden

Looking for water to drink

On the local Gull roost at Goring Gap

 Other notable birds were Meadow Pipits and dozens of Skylarks down on the coastal fields looking for food. All of the birds seemed really focused on feeding and were not too bothered by people being close to them.

Skylark on the local Gull roost at Goring Gap

 

Skylark on the local Gull roost at Goring Gap

 A meadow Pipit running around in the failing light in search of that last mouthful of food.

Meadow Pipit in a hurry

Finally, on the way home I spotted Waxwings in Rustington. They have been returning to the roundabout on the A259 for a couple of weeks now but this was the first time I had spotted them. No light for a picture but this was a year tick for me and not too worried as I doubt that I would have been able to improve on the shots shown on my December blog.