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

Shorelark

Reculver had been looking to be worth a visit for a few days. Shorelark, Snow Bunting, Lapland Bunting, and Desert Wheatear had all been present and showing well. Unfortunately other commitments had kept me away over the weekend, so Monday it was pick up Dave and head over to Kent to see if there was anything left. From reports it looked as though the Lapland bunting had gone but we were hopeful of the other three.

Delaying to the Monday was good in one respect in that whilst there were a few birders about we had missed out on the twitch that would have taken place over the weekend. Unfortunately we had also missed out on the Desert Wheatear that appeared to have moved on overnight. I was not too worried at this, the year tick would have been nice but we had good photographs of this bird from one that had turned up at Worthing in October 2012. The Shorelark was the main target of the day.

A walk along the sea wall from Reculver Castle towards Coldharbour Lagoon soon found us in the right area but with the usual message of "its just flown you should have been here ten minutes ago". We only had a short wait before it returned and gave good views and with the clouds clearing we also had good lighting, a rare combination.

The Snow Buntings proved a bit harder to find but we eventually caught up with them.

There was a large supporting cast of birds just off the sea wall and plenty of picture opportunities.

Dunlin

Juvenile Ringed Plover

Stonechat

Turnstones

Cormorant

Kestrel

Early afternoon and we set off for home with a planned stop off at Oare Marshes. There was the nagging suspicion that the Desert Wheatear would turn up just after we left but overall we were happy with pictures that we had managed to get.

Oare marshes always gives you plenty of birds to look at, so much so that it is often impossible to get a decent picture, but what you do get is a great atmosphere. As you open the car door a wall of noise hits you and there is continual movement as birds move around and squabble for the standing room that is in short supply and flocks of different birds swirl overhead.

Standing room only

Pintails against a wall of Waders

Black-tailed Godwits in flight

It was a long way to drive for a non twitcher but we had a great days birding. Reculver is a place I will be going back to. It has the one thing missing along the South Coast, the sun is over your shoulder when you are taking pictures out to sea.

Magnificent Cormorants

Yes, you did read the title correctly. That boring dull bird you see everywhere and only check just to make sure you are not missing a Shag or a Glossy Ibis. Where does the magnificent come from? Well you have to see them in breeding plumage.

Cormorant

I had gone over to the sea cliffs at St Bees Head hoping to see Razorbills, Shag, Puffin, or even a Black Guillemot. It was all very disappointing. There were birds on show but they were Kittiwakes, Fulmar, and Common Guillemots. Nice to watch but not the birds that I was looking for. Then I came across a small group of Cormorants. They didn't look like the birds I see on the south coast and a quick check in Collins had me thinking about the subspecies sinensis. I am still not sure but sinensis is a bird of the east coast and it seems unlikely that I would find such a large group over on the west coast. I think this must just be breeding plumage.

Displaying

Already a couple?
 - do the different colour patches below the eye differentiate between male and female?

Cormorant

Most other birds were too far away for a decent picture but there were lots of Meadow Pipits on the cliff tops and a single Buzzard over the fields.

Meadow Pipit

Buzzard

And finally my first shot of a Red Squirrel in the wild. I have taken pictures of them at feeding stations before  but this is the first time I have managed to get a picture as one runs past in the woods. I had time for just a single shot and it was gone and I was amazed to find that I had it in focus.

Red Squirrel