Black Redstart

Just a few pictures from earlier in the week. Best picture opportunity was the Black Redstart at Shoreham Fort. It has been around for a few weeks now but it's such a good looking bird that we always drop in for another look when passing. 

Black Redstart

It is not easy to get a good picture but the results are well worth the effort. I am sure that I will be going back for another go.


A walk out on Chantry Hill gave us Ravens, Buzzards, Grey and Red-legged Partridges, Fieldfares, lots of small birds including Mipits, Skylarks and 30 to 40 Yellowhammers but no sign of the usual Corn Buntings. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the Partridges with just one week to go before the close of the shooting season.

Yellowhammer

At Waltham Sewage Works a Grey Wagtail, probably a dozen or more Chiffchaffs, and a Goldcrest on the access road.

Chiffchaff

Goldcrest

A Rock Pipit at Seaford Head but no Kittiwakes and another visit to the Newhaven Hume's Warbler but still no picture.

Rock Pipit

Perhaps best of all my garden birding has picked up. I don't get a lot of variety but this morning I had a Blackcap on the feeders and later I was able to photograph it, tucking into a pear that I had put out. Whilst I was trying to photograph that a Redwing dropped in and finished off the last of the holly berries.

Blackcap

Redwing

It was very misty in the garden this morning but there was just enough light to be able to get the pictures.

Crested Tits

Being the second part of my blog about our week in Scotland, this part is focused more on the smaller birds and as always the number one target was the Crested Tit. This was a new location for us, a bit less busy than Loch Garten, and with the added advantage of Red Squirrels and a good supporting cast of other birds. The only disadvantage was that it was difficult to spot the birds as they flew in, so most of the shots are taken on the feeders.

Other birds at the site included Goldcrests, with the unusual sight of one using the fat ball feeders, Coal Tits, Yellowhammers, Siskin, Long-tailed Tits, Robins and an army of Chaffinches.

Coal Tit

Goldcrest

Just amazed that the bill is still sharp - reminds me of a Humming Bird

Yellowhammer

and of course one of the Red Squirrels

We found Twite at at Netherton Farm at the south end of Findhorn Bay. There were about sixty birds in the flock including a few Linnets but they were very mobile and difficult to photograph. The shot below shows the yellow bill of the Twite.

Twite

There were a number of Glaucous and Iceland Gulls being reported in the area. We spent a bit of time scanning the Hopeman Pig Farm seeing first and third winter Iceland Gulls. Unfortunately the third winter flew just as we found it so the pictures below are of the first winter bird.

Iceland Gull

Iceland Gull

Other birds seen are shown below.

A Goosander flying up the River Lossie

Pink-footed Geese running for cover at the first sign of a camera

A Red-legged Partridge in the early morning sun.

There was a distinct shortage of waders at all sites that we visited but we did find a flock of around a hundred and fifty Knot at Burgh Head. These are a particularly annoying bird to try to photograph. There are too many of them to be able to get a shot of a single bird and the flocks are too big to be able to get the whole lot into the frame. The best thing is just to sit back and enjoy the spectacle of the flocks movement.

Knot - part of the flock - perhaps a collective noun of a confusion is appropriate

And finally on the way home we called in at the Northumberland Wildlife Trusts Cresswell Ponds. We had tried it on the way up looking for the Long-billed Dowitcher but were short of time so left without finding it. This time local birders put us onto it and we also saw Snipe and a Water Rail so a good end to the holiday.

Record shot of the Long-billed Dowitcher at Cresswell Ponds

It's a pity a that a lot of these shots are of birds on feeders, I usually try to avoid that, and also that many of the birds photographed have been ringed, but then beggars can't be choosers, it was that or no pictures at all.

Water Pipit

Monday morning and it was a choice of go back to Titchfield Haven and risk dipping the Penduline Tits for the fifth time or find a new target. Fortunately there had been a few reports of a Water Pipit on the Cuckmere and having missed out on seeing one last year I decided to give it a go.

The directions were really good. Two hundred metres north of the Charleston reedbeds on the east bank of the Cuckmere (just by the metal gate). I found the spot but there was no Water Pipit or for that matter no small birds at all. A two hour wait in really cold weather and I was ready to call it a day. As often happens I was about twenty metres down the track when a bird flew in over my head from the west side of the river. A quick dash back to the gate confirmed that it was the Pipit.

The pictures are not great, it was a long way off and did not stay on view for long but I was happy to have got the record shots. It did stay in the area, feeding on the flooded part of the field, just south of the gate, but once on the ground it was even harder to photograph.

Water Pipit

Next stop, once I had my circulation back, was Tide Mills. The tide was out so there was no chance of Purple Sandpipers on the pier but the Black Redstart did put in an appearance. It looked to be a fabulous bird but I just could not get it framed the way I wanted. If it sticks around I will be going back for another try.

Black Redstart

A Meadow Rock Pipit feeding in the puddles makes a nice comparison with the Water Pipit above. The Water Pipit being a much smarter looking bird with a richer brown above and extensive white below.

Meadow Pipit - whoops made a mistake its a Rock Pipit
I was so pleased to have got the Water Pipit that I didn't really give it any thought. Thanks to Ian Ballam for pointing out the error.

Other pictures taken recently on my abortive trips looking for Pendulines - the ubiquitous Stonechat, always good for a picture.

Stonechat

A Goldcrest in the Wetland Centre at Arundel

Goldcrest

and a Nuthatch in the New Forest

But that still leaves me with the problem of getting to see the Penduline Tits.

Kittiwake

I have been out gathering year ticks over the past week. That is, see the bird and move on, rather than stand and wait for the right picture opportunity. However, I have still ended up with a few pictures that are worth putting on the blog.

One of the key birds I was looking for was a Little Gull. I was standing in the right place, just by Southsea pier, a juvenile Little Gull had been seen a few minutes earlier, and this bird was sitting just off the beach. The risk is that we see what we are looking for and not what is actually there. It looked good, but then, the bill was the wrong shape, the dark collar on the back of the neck looked wrong, and it should have had black cap of some form. It's actually a juvenile Kittiwake but it had me fooled for a while and I had to spend some time delving through books on gull identification once I got home to be sure.

Therein lies the real benefit of bird photography. You get a second chance to check the identification. Without that I could easily have made a mistake.

Juvenile Kittiwake

Juvenile Kittiwake

Fortunately we caught up with a Juvenile Little Gull a couple of days later on Climping Beach. It was too far away for a picture but at least that time I had a lot clearer idea of what I was looking for.

It's hard work but I think I could actually get to like juvenile gull identification.

Other gulls spotted whilst we were out were Common and Mediterranean. The first at Arundel Wetland Centre and the second on Climping Beach. However, with Waldo failing to return to Gosport, there is no easy Ring-billed Gull this year.

Common Gull

Mediterranean Gull

The Wetland Centre also gave us ticks for Goldcrest and Firecrest. As you might expect there were a couple of decent Goldcrest shots but all the Firecrest pictures were blurred.

Goldcrest

Farlington Marsh gave us distant views of Bearded Tits but there was no chance of a picture. Fortunately the ever present Stonechat popped up to have his picture taken.

Stonechat

And, finally a trip to Church Norton didn't give us the views of a Spoonbill that we were looking for but we did get to see an overwintering Whimbrel that was hunkering down out of the wind.

Whimbrel

It has not been a bad start to the year but there are still a few of the winter birds that I would like to find before they head off to their summer grounds.

Snow Bunting

There were a few birds around this morning but with the fog lingering along much of the coast it was difficult to get any pictures.

I picked Dave up and we headed over to Climping Beach to have a look for a couple of birds, Black Redstart and Dartford Warbler, that had been reported there. It was all a bit disappointing. We didn't see any of the target birds although I did come away with shots of a Dunnock and a Goldcrest. Given the light levels, the Goldcrest was a bit of a lucky shot. I was having trouble getting it into the viewfinder let alone pulling focus on it.

Dunnock

Goldcrest

Next stop was Pagham North Wall and another disappointment. This used to be my favourite birding spot but it has been short of birds for most of the year. Godwits, Teal, Curlew, one Snipe and a Spotted Redshank, but there was nothing to really get excited about.

The Lagoon was more promising and we got a few shots of a Slavonian Grebe before it took fright and paddled over to the other side of the water. There was some flood defence work going on over there. Men in orange oversuits, pile driving equipment, welding taking place. Strange that it should be spooked by the two of us lurking behind a gorse bush in our green camo gear and happier over with them.

Slavonian Grebe

One decent bird in the bag and the day was beginning to look up. A short journey around the harbour took us briefly out into the sunlight but by the time we reached the coast again at Selsey we were back into the fog. A quick search and we found the Snow Bunting on the beach by the oval field. As with all Snow Buntings it was very obliging. It was put up a couple of times by dog walkers going past but it always came back and we had some close views of the bird and plenty of time to take photographs.

Snow Bunting

We stopped off at the Ferry Pool on the way back. There were a good number of birds on there with Little Stint, Avocet, and both Common and Green Sandpiper being the pick of the bunch. At least I think it was a Green Sandpiper. The visibility was going again and it was difficult to be sure.

October was a very slow month but this was at least a better start for November. All I need now is for a few of the birds up in Norfolk to be blown down this way,

Loose Ends

I have been out birding a lot lately and have managed to see many good birds but the resulting photography seems more like quantity rather than quality. I needed some good pictures and that would mean revisiting some of the locations again. Top of the list were the Hawfinches at Romsey. I picked up Dave early Friday morning and we set off for Hampshire confident that with a sunny day we would get the pictures we wanted.

 It rarely works out as you planned. Our visit on a dull overcast day had produced dozens of birds, some good picture opportunities, and a lot of dull, out of focus, and blurred shots. Our visit on a sunny day produced a lot more  walkers, children and  dogs. There were fewer birds, they were being disturbed regularly, and they were not coming out into the open. I had one lucky shot, shown below, but even this was a bit distant and does not show the true colours of the bird. However, it's a good example of what you can get away with if you get the eyes sharp.
 

Hawfinch

We spent about three hours trying to get that illusive close up but eventually we had to move on. Fortunately I also had a Goldcrest paying regular visits and a Bullfinch hiding in the bushes.

Goldcrest

Bullfinch

We moved on to Blashford Lakes in the hope of catching up with the Green Winged Teal. No luck with that but we did see a pair of Black-necked Grebe on the Rockford Lake. Again a bit distant so this is more like a loose end created than one closed. Still I will save the good picture for when I see them in full breeding plumage.

Black-necked Grebe

Another loose end was my failed attempt to see the Snow Bunting on Ferring Beach. I had in fact been searching the wrong part of the beach and stopping about 30 metres short of its location. An early rise this morning and it proved easy to find as it had already been spotted by a couple of other birders. As with previous Snow Buntings I have seen it was quite confiding, seeming to show little concern for people and often landing very close to their feet. It had, however, chosen one of the busiest parts of the beach so was regularly being flushed by dogs and by joggers running through.

Snow Bunting

 

 To cap a good morning I returned home to find my first ever garden Blackcap. The garden has been virtually bird free for about a month. The big garden bird watch resulted in a total of one Pigeon for me and I had not filled any of the feeders since Christmas. Snow seemed to make little difference, apart from an influx of Fieldfares. In the past couple of days it has all changed. The birds are back and the feeders are being emptied at an alarming rate. Long may it continue.

Blackcap

With both a Chiffchaff and a Blackcap in the past week it feels as though Spring has arrived early.