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

Little Gull

The water levels at Waltham Brooks may be dropping but they still have a long way to go. Good for the ducks and geese but not so good for the owls and raptors, nor as it happens for birders.

Female Scaup

Finding the female Scaup was not too difficult. It could be seen on the flooded fields on the western side of the river and north of the road. Getting close to it though was impossible. There is a bridleway there but a few steps along it and the water was over the wellies. So I had to make do with a record shot taken from the road about about a hundred metres away.

Plenty of Tufted Ducks and Pochard there along with a few Canada Geese, although the following shot was taken at Swanbourne Lake on the way up to Waltham Brooks. The birds there are just a little bit easier to approach.

Pochard

I did not fancy wading through the mud to search for birds so I decided to return to the coast and spend some more time on the Gulls. First stop was Brooklands and the chance to improve on the Little Gull shots in my last blog.

Little Gull

Not too difficult when it is sitting on the water but in flight this is not an easy bird to capture. Their flight is more like that of a Tern and they seem to have a sixth sense that enables them to execute a ninety degree turn just at the instant you press the shutter.

Flight shot

Underbody shows a slight rosy tinge in this picture

About two thirds of the size of a Black-headed Gull and a bit more agile.

I then moved on to Littlehampton for another go at the Glaucous and Kumlien's Gulls. They were both there and giving good views as usual but by then the light had gone.

Kumlien's Gull

Going back a few years I would spend hours producing sepia toned prints. Today I could get them for nothing. Sepia toned birds against a sepia toned sea and sky. It may work on landscapes but it doesn't do much for birds.

Kumlien's Gull

At least you could see the eye on the Glaucous Gull. It makes all the difference.

Glaucous Gull

Middle of the afternoon and I decided to head for home. The birds were good but without the light the pictures were hopeless.

Kumlien's Revisited

It had to be revisited. I know that however good the picture I take, there is always a better one out there waiting to be taken. BUT .... to wake up and find that everyone has better pictures than you! The excuses start, poor light, bird too far away, luck of being in the right place at the right time, I only wanted a record shot,....no you failed.

So it was back to Littlehampton for another go at the Kumlien's Gull. The first hour or so was spent at the East Beach sitting in the car under torrential rain. When it eventually stopped the gulls started to appear but there were not as many as yesterday and there was no sign of the Kumlien's. We did get a flyby from the Glaucous Gull but it was out of range of the cameras. A pity as it really looks elegant in flight.

The only consolation, a Guillemot, paddling past close inshore. A great view as I had never really seen its swimming action before.

Guillemot

Then we got a shout from Owen Mitchell on the west side of the river to say that they had found it on the beach there. What to do? Its a couple of miles drive through the town centre to get across the twenty metres of water that separated us from the bird. We went, and of course by the time we got there it had flown. No one had managed to track it but it was probably sitting back over on the other side of the river where we had just come from.

This time we waited and after about an hour it suddenly reappeared.

Juvenile Kumlien's Gull

No excuses this time, the light was good, the bird was posing well. There is still the fear that you haven't managed to capture the image but this time everything was OK.

When you first arrive, identifying the Kumlien's amongst a thousand other gulls looks impossible. What you are looking for is the juvenile without the black tail and once seen it's fairly easy to find again. The difficulty is when its not there and you are trying to search a large flock that is continually relocating.

Juvenile Kumlien's Gull on the left - no black tail

Coming in to land

Carrying a Whelk

Posing for a last picture

It had been a good mornings birding and we decided to relocate to Beeding Brooks to see if we could locate our first Owls of the year. We had a couple more hours waiting about in the cold but eventually had views of two Barn Owls and one Short-eared Owl. It was almost dark when they appeared and impossible conditions for a decent shot so just treat the following as a taste of what could have been. I think this calls for another revisited blog.

Short-eared Owl

Barn Owl

Kumlien's Gull

I have to be honest and say that I could not have identified this bird by myself. To me it looks like a juvenile Iceland Gull. It is only when I am told that it is a Kumlien's that I can start to see the identifying characteristics.

It was located on the golf course on the western side of the river Arun at Littlehampton. My first problem was that it was a long way off, probably 130 Metres, and settled in a hollow in the middle of the Golf Course. The head and bill looked different but there was a long wait until it moved and we were able to get better views.

Juvenile Kumlien's Gull settled down in a hollow. All black bill evident in this picture

It eventually took to the air but I could only managed to get a couple of reasonable record shots and both of these with a huge crane in the background.

Showing signs of a darker tail band

In flight - Dark grey primaries with pale edges evident

Apparently it should also be showing darker outer webs to the outer primaries. I think I need to do a bit more reading on that one.

and back on land

A great bird to see and all credit to the people that found it. I did not count them but there must have been over a thousand gulls over the golf course and beach and it takes some good skills to pick this out from all the rest.