Dusky Warbler

Dusky Warbler, but I have to point out straight away that this is not my picture. Dave had talked me into going to Chichester Gravel pits to look for the Dusky Warbler that had been reported there. I was not too keen. From past experience I knew how hard it can be to nail these small fast moving warblers. They like to stay in cover, the lighting was going to be poor, and I also have difficulty in picking up their calls. There is nothing worse than getting fleeting glimpses of a bird, thinking that it is the one you are looking for, but ending up walking away without being one hundred percent confident.

It looked as though it would go that way today. I had a four or five sightings of the bird moving through the bushes but all added together they probably came to no more than ten to fifteen seconds and it was moving all the time. I could see a white stripe over its eye but that alone was not enough to confirm the sighting. There were experts there that were confident that the call was that of a Dusky but again that is not really satisfactory.

Fortunately Dave managed to get a few shots of it. He was the only photographer there that did, but it was enough for all of us to go home confident that we had seen a Dusky Warbler. It's just a pity that they weren't my pictures. See Dave's Blog for more images.

Dusky Warbler - Dave Potter

I have had a few good days birding already this year but with mostly dull overcast days I don't have many pictures to show for it.  We were out New Years day and down at Gosport to see Waldo the Ring-billed Gull. He is now in his thirteenth winter on the boating lake in Walpole Park. We logged another forty or so birds that day but with poor lighting and no picture opportunities we headed for home early.

Waldo - Ring-billed Gull

Yesterday was going to be my big birding day and a chance to get a few year ticks under my belt. It started well when I left home just before eight and ended prematurely a few minutes later when I pulled up with a rear offside puncture. By the time I had the wheel changed, had cleaned up, and then visited the garage for a new tyre, it was about eleven o'clock.

I moped around the house for an hour before deciding that I really needed to go out. I was glad I did. I headed over to Horse Eye Level where I managed to pick up five Short-eared Owls, Richard's Pipit, Hen Harrier, and Marsh Harrier. Picture opportunities were again limited by the light with the Short-eared Owl below, just about making the grade for the blog.

Short-eared Owl

On the way home I stopped off at Jevington for the Rough-legged Buzzard and at Butchers Hole car park in Friston Forest for the Bramblings. The Chaffinch Flock here was huge and I have never seen so many Brambling in one place. I could have watched them for hours if it had not been for one of those nice dog walkers with six dogs running loose that scattered the lot.

So a good start to the year even if I don't have many pictures to show for it.

Richard's Pipit

Today's target was the Richard's Pipit on Horse Eye Level. The bird has been around for a while although apparently it has not always been easy to locate. However, with it being reported a few times recently and always from the same location we thought it was worth giving it a go.

I picked Dave up and we headed over to the levels. I had never seen a Richard's Pipit before and I cannot say that I was very confident on my ability to identify it. Checking the Collins the night before, it looked very similar to the Tawny Pipit. I was sure that I would be able to tell it from a Meadow Pipit if the two were close together but I was not so sure on my ability if there was only one of them there. A Tawny Pipit should have moved on by now but I was really concerned that my identification would be done on the basis of find a large Pipit and assume that it was the right one. Not really very satisfactory. I needed a picture to take home and study.

Fortunately we arrived at the site to find Bernie Forbes and Dorian Mason already searching the area. Usually I like the birds to myself but this time I was glad of the expertise to help confirm the identification.

Richard's Pipit

Bernie found the bird and although it was very distant I managed to get good views. I could see it was not a Meadow Pipit, it looked large and had a thrush like feeding behaviour, running through the grass and lunging at the insects. It was nice to feel confident that you are on the right bird but having Bernie there to explain what I should be looking for helped a great deal.

We had about fifteen minutes watching the Pipit before it disappeared into a dip and failed to re-emerge. It took about an hour of searching before we managed to relocate it, this time much closer to the road, which is where both these pictures were taken. It was still a long way off and the pictures are a massive crop but at least I have my record shot.

Richard's Pipit

Whilst waiting for the Richard's Pipit we had good views of Marsh Harriers, Stonechat, Short-eared Owl, and could hear Cetti's Warblers in the reeds.

We headed back via Jevington for another look at the Rough-legged Buzzard. It was there but not feeding this time. It took a few short flights but was heavily mobbed by Crows and Jackdaws. 

Rough-legged Buzzard

You certainly could not complain about a shortage of birds. As well as the large flocks of Crows, Rooks, and Jackdaws, there were probably two hundred plus Stock Doves and we also had a flock of Skylarks through that must have numbered over four hundred. There were also three or four Common Buzzards in the area including one particularly brutish looking individual.

Common Buzzard

At about half past two, with the light already starting to fade, we headed for home. We made a brief stop at Widewater on the way to see the Mergansers and to have a quick look out over the sea. There were thousands of Gulls stretching along the coast as far as the eye could see. Fortunately the light had gone by then so we did not have to stop and inspect them all searching for a Caspian.