Spotted Flycatcher

Sometimes you go out with a plan and it works - yesterday. Sometimes you go out with a plan and it doesn't work - today. I had wanted to see a Merlin. It's been at the top of my list for a long time now, a bit of a bogey bird. The only Merlin that I have seen were a couple of dead ones that we picked up off the road near Scotney Pit.

There was a Merlin reported at Farlington Marsh yesterday so I though I would give it a go. No luck, the best I could manage was a Kestrel. Still I had a good day, I saw a lot of birds and even got a few good shots.

Linnet - rather dull at this time of year

Linnet

Sedge Warbler

Wren

The Bearded Tits were seen at Farlington today but not by me. They are probably still feeding on insects and will be easier to see once they change over to the reed seeds in the winter. There were also Yellow Wagtail in with the cattle but the grass was long and I could not get a clear shot of them.

Next stop was Church Norton where I got some close views of the Spotted Flycatchers from the hide.

Spotted Flycatcher

Then round to the North Wall. The water in the Breech Pool was back to a reasonable level and with mud showing again the waders were back. I missed the Spotted Redshanks so the picture opportunities were limited to the Black-tailed Godwits and Snipe.

Black-tailed Godwit

Black-tailed Godwit

Snipe

Swallows and House Martins were hawking over the pool and gathering on the overhead cables. It will soon be time for them to leave. 

To finish off I had a Long-tailed Tit flock moving through. For some reason they always raise the spirits.

Long-tailed Tit

I didn't get the Merlin but it still turned out to be a good day. Nothing really exciting but a lot of good birds to see.

Ravens

A recent holiday with the family in North Devon proved to be very enjoyable, if just a bit frustrating as far as bird watching went.

I had great plans - a detour on the way down to see the Purple Heron and Red-footed Falcon, a trip to Lundy Island giving me a four hour sea watch and a chance to see the Puffins, and a couple of walks planned for locations with Wood Warblers. If I was really lucky and got a few hot days I might also get an early High Brown Fritillary.

Needless to say, it did not quite happen as planned. We were late leaving due to a hairdressers appointment that I had not factored in (not mine) and I had to abandon the detour. The trip to Lundy was great but I only saw a couple of Gannets and a few Guillemots on the boat trips and the Puffins were too far away for a photograph. I did one of the Wood Warbler walks without seeing any Wood Warblers and then when I went to my banker site at Watersmeet it was so crowded that I couldn't even get into the car park.

Still, there's always something to look at and in flight shots of the Ravens and Fulmars from the local cliffs proved to be one of the best attractions.

Raven

and with a tasty morsel of food!

Raven

Fulmar

Fulmar

Plenty of Grey Wagtails about

Grey Wagtail

and juvenile Grey Wagtails

and even younger Grey Wagtails

Linnet

Rock Pipits in the coastal steams

A Whitethroat

A juvenile Warbler - probably a Chiffchaff

and just for the record a very distant  and heavily cropped shot of a Puffin

It's not the raft of excellent photographs that I had hoped to come home with but it is the record of the birds seen on my holiday.

Garden Warbler

I woke up this morning to what looked like a thick sea mist. I live close to the coast so there was always the hope that by the time I got to the top of the road I would be back in sunshine. No such luck this time and when I got to Pulborough Brooks I found myself sitting in a hide looking out at a bank of colourless grey fog.

It's probably appropriate then, that the first bird that appeared was a Grey Heron. The shots of the Heron below are far better than I saw on the day, its amazing what you can do in Photoshop to recover a picture.

Why does it look surprised? Well it had strayed too close to a Lapwings nest and it was under attack.

Look out

a warning pass

Followed by an exhibition of high speed precision flying -
a few inches lower and it would be impaled on the Heron's bill

Still defiant but moving away

and the Lapwing still intent on protecting it's territory

I was surprised that the Heron made no attempt to use its bill to defend itself. I would have thought that a quick stab would have brought the Lapwing down. But then I am thinking like a human and not like a bird. These territorial disputes probably have an etiquette that ensures that neither party gets injured.

With the fog gradually lifting I went to have a look at the Nightingales. An hour listening and watching these raised the spirits but did not give me many picture opportunities. They seem to have an uncanny ability to always perch with small branches in front of them.

In full song

From a distance the North Brooks did not look very promising but I decided to walk round to Nettley's Hide for a closer look. I am glad I did. There were distant views of a couple of Greenshanks and also a Green Sandpiper.

Greenshanks

Green Sandpiper

Linnets, Sedge Warblers, and Whitethroats were also showing well in front of the hide.

Linnet

Sedge Warbler

Whitethroat

The best find of the day, for me, was a Garden Warbler. This is a bird that always gives me problems but this time I managed to locate it from its song.

Garden Warbler

Sometimes you can walk around Pulborough Brooks and not see anything but today it was well worth the effort.

In the afternoon I went down to Selsey, mainly to look for the Sandpipers that have been reported on the Ferry Pool. There were none there on the way through but on returning later I found a Common at the back of the pool, a first for me this year.

I found the local Kestrel on the ground in the pumping station and in the process of devouring what ever it had caught. I grabbed my camera but I was stuck on the wrong side of the road, unable to cross because of the amount of traffic going by. I had to settle for a flight shot later.

Kestrel

A visit to the North Wall was equally disappointing. Last week it was flooded, this week it has the lowest water levels I have ever seen. Whoever controls the sluice gates seems to be doing their best to destroy the habitat.

Little Ringed Plover on the drying up bed of the Breech Pool. It should be under a couple of feet of water.

A great day out spoilt by what seems to be the wanton destruction of one of my favourite birding spots.

Pied Flycatcher

There has been some good birding over the past few days, although the picture opportunities have not been so great. We had a big fall of birds over Sunday night, Monday morning and with thick sea mists rolling in the birds stayed on the coast. The bushes around Selsey were full of hundreds and more likely thousands of Willchaffs and there were probably rarities in there as well but there were just too many birds to look at.

We missed a Black-winged Stilt by minutes and also failed to find a reported Grasshopper Warbler but we had great views of a pair of Redstarts and two Pied Flycatchers. The fall also included Greenfinches and Blackcaps and it also looked as though there were more Robins about.

Pied Flycatcher

Pied Flycatcher

Pied Flycatcher

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

Female Blackcap

Male Blackcap

We also had views of a Short-eared Owl quartering the fields just below the Long Pool at Pagham Harbour.

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

Then today it was over to Pullborough Brooks to see the Nightingales. They were there and were doing some singing but they were not showing very well. They probably need another week before they start setting up their territories.

Nightingale

Nightingale

Linnet

Lets hope for a few more good birds over the coming days.