Pagham Snow Bunting

 

Whilst not a common bird Snow Buntings usually turn up somewhere local on the Sussex coast every year. If I am lucky it is within walking distance of home with Goring beach being a regular location. This year, with November drawing to a close and no local sightings, I had to travel down to Pagham Harbour for my year tick.

Snow Bunting

The Snow Bunting had been in the area for nearly two weeks and had been reported regularly so finding it should not have been so difficult. However, the bird is well camouflaged and can be difficult to locate when on its usual foraging area on the pebbles along the tide line. With most birds you would expect to flush them if you walk too close but with the Snow Bunting you usually have to be close enough to tread on it before it will move.

Snow Bunting

I searched the tideline along the spit a couple of times but could not locate it, so thinking it may have relocated to a different area over high tide, I decided to come back later. Fortunately on the way back to the car I met up with "Pagham Birder" who seemed mystified by my inability to find the Snow Bunting. We returned to the harbour wall where he quickly located it in its usual spot. 

My thanks to Trevor for the help but it's always a bit easier when you know where the usual spot is!

Snow Bunting

After a vey quiet autumn it was great to see the harbour starting to fill up with birds. Duck numbers where building nicely, with Brent Geese starting to arrive and flocks of waders circling around the harbour.

Particularly impressive where some large flocks of Knot roosting out on the shingle bars and harbour islands.

Knot

They were even more impressive in flight but it is always difficult to capture the scale and effect of the swirling flock in a still picture.

Knot

There were plenty of Stonechats along the spit but it was sad to see that the little lagoon had been eliminated by tidal movements and that the trees and bushes used for nesting by the linnet flock were now underwater.

Stonechat

There were Mergansers and a Slavonian Grebe in the harbour but having left the scope in the car I did not get to see them. 

Also interesting was a Sandwich Tern fishing in the harbour. It was probably a lot easier than attempting to find food on the rough sea beyond the spit. Its attempts proved successful and the shot below shows it flying off with a rather large fish.

Sandwich Tern

To finish, two of pictures of a Black-necked Grebe resident  for a short period  at the beginning of October on the lake at Brooklands Park. It is good to see that recent improvements there are turning it into a more promising area for nature.

Lets hope the Grebe is a sign of better things to come.

Mostly Widewater

You get some good birds at Widewater but getting pictures of them can be hard work. Pick the right day and the right time and there are some good opportunities. Get the timing wrong and you leave empty handed, only to read reports of the successes of others when you get home that evening.

You also have to contend with dogs charging out into the reserve and flushing the birds and also the occasional overeager photographer doing the same. Just what you need when you have been sat there for an hour or so waiting for the birds to come closer.

I even flushed the Goosander myself today. I watched it for about five minutes and then decided that I should pay for a parking ticket before I got the camera out. The Goosander must have good hearing as it took off just as my money disappeared into the machine.

Anyway here are a few pictures taken at Widewater over the past month or so.

There has been at least one male and two females at Widewater over the past month so I am not sure that these are all pictures of the same bird. As for seeing them, if they are not out on the water they can often be found roosting on the lawn of one of the houses. Have a look about halfway down the western most lake.

Pull up at the western end of the car park and the resident Stonechats will usually come over to see what you are doing there.

And over the New Year period we had a Knot in residence for a few days. It is always a bit worrying when you see a flock bird by itself but it looked healthy enough and was feeding well.

To finish a couple of pictures not from Widewater, the juvenile Black Guillemot from Sovereign Harbour Eastbourne and a couple of shots of Fulmars from Newhaven West Cliffs.

A useful blog, it has cleared out a some pictures that have been sitting in my pending tray for a few weeks. All now filed away and a clear inbox just waiting for the next great adventure!

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.

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.