Goldeneye

With another short break being predicted in our run of stormy weather,  I picked Dave up and we headed down to Pagham Harbour to see what was about. First stop was the North Wall. Unfortunately we had decided to give Climping Beach a miss on the way and so probably missed the Dusky Warbler that was found that morning.

The tide was in and there was a lot of water in the Breech Pool but it was good to see the numbers of ducks and geese had increased significantly since our last visit and in particular to have the background noise of the Brent Geese calling to one another. Waders were still in short supply with just a few of the usual Godwits, Snipe, and Curlew although Lapwing numbers had increased significantly.

The only unusual sight was a Yellowhammer searching for food along the path. It would have made a nice addition to the blog but it was flushed by a dog walker before I managed to get a decent shot.

We had a look around Pagham Lagoon for the possible American Herring Gull that had been reported but could not find anything that matched the description. A couple of pairs of Goldeneye were the only real picture opportunity.

Other birds on the lagoon were Tufted Duck, Little Grebes and the usual gulls.

Little Grebe

Ferry Pool had a good number of birds on it. It was interesting watching the flocks take to the air and swirl around but they were all settling at the back of the pool and there were no picture opportunities. A quick check at the bill showed that there was nothing much happening there either. With the weather starting to take a turn for the worse we headed for home stopping off at the Arundel Wetland Centre on the way.

Grey Heron

Grey Wagtail

We were hoping for Bullfinches but there were none showing whilst we were there. A Heron and a Grey Wagtail were the only pictures that I managed to get. There was a good sized Long-tailed Tit flock and a couple of Goldcrests moving through but with the sky darkening over it was time to head for home.

Not the greatest days birding but at least it was good to be out in the sun - if only for a short time.

Black-winged Stilt

I was back at Pagham Harbour Ferry Pool early this morning and fortunately so was the Black-winged Stilt. It was hiding behind the reeds when I got there but then came out, gave me a chance to take a couple of distant shots and then flew to the back of the pool where it was beyond my range. It's not a brilliant shot but I am happy to have it, although I wouldn't complain if it decided to give me a close up exclusive.

Black-winged Stilt

There were about sixty Black-tailed Godwits on the pool and another larger flock wheeling out over the harbour. Other birds of interest were a Little Ringed Plover, a majestic looking Grey Heron, and a Spotted Redshank.

Little Ringed Plover

Grey Heron

Black-tailed Godwits with what looks like a Spotted Redshank turning summer plumage on the left

I had a walk around Northcommon Farm but all the migrants from the past couple of days seem to have moved on. All I could see were three Wheatears and a very distant Hobby passing through in the fields at the end of Golf Links Lane.

Hobby

Church Norton was very similar with just a few of the usual suspects on the water and in the bushes and a couple of possible Whimbrels out in the harbour. The church yard itself was being subjected to its usual cut and burn maintenance so there was little point in looking in there. The only bird worth photographing was this Lapwing seen in the fields by Rectory Lane.

Lapwing

I finished up at the North Wall which has been very disappointing of late. At least today there was a good level of water in the Breech Pool although it has probably wiped out anything that had started to nest in the dried out conditions that have prevailed of late.

There were two Wheatears feeding along the wall and a couple of Little Grebes in one of the pools.

Wheatear

Little Grebe

Another great day, the birding has really taken off over the past week.

Franklin's Gull

For me, Friday of last week was not a good birding day. We had travelled down to Blashford Lakes to see the Franklin's Gull. It was there and was easy to see, albeit after a long wait and hours of searching the thousands of gulls coming in to roost. Easy that is for everyone in the hide except me. I just could not get onto it. Even looking through Dave's scope which was centred on the bird I could not see anything that I could recognise as the Franklin's. I think by then I was just brain dead from staring at gulls.

There were distant views of Goosanders, Egyptian Geese, Ruddy Duck, and Black-necked Grebe but my only pictures for the day were of a Little Grebe and a Coot doing its leg stretching exercises. Going home in the car Dave was doing his best not to sound too happy whilst I tried to come to terms with my total failure.

Little Grebe

Coot

At first I was a bit negative about going back for another try but Dave convinced me that I should give it another go and volunteered to come along with me to ensure that I did not dip it for a second time.

We did a bit of birding around the New Forest before heading to Blashford. It was all very quiet. We followed a Chaffinch flock for a while in the hope of seeing a Brambling but there was nothing we could be confident about. We also managed to catch up with an old friend that we had last photographed back in February.

Tawny Owl

On arrival at Blashford we found that the Tern Hide that we planned to use was to be shut between 3.30 an 4.30 for a gull roost event. The Goosander Hide had also been closed by the police as a result of an incident. This only left us with the Lapwing Hide. You get good views out over the lake from there but by 3.30 when the gulls would be arriving you are staring straight into the sun. Still we had no choice so Lapwing Hide it was.

We settled down to an afternoons gull watching with a couple of Green and one Common Sandpiper thrown in for a bit of variety.

Green Sandpiper

The only other item of note was a flock of thirty eight Herons that came in to roost late afternoon. This was the first time I had seen them in a large flock. Other than that it was a long afternoon and by the time the sun started to set at 4.15 no one in the hide had spotted the Franklin's. Then we had a call from the Tern Hide to say that it had been spotted and that it was close to us. It turned out to be directly in the path of the setting sun but as it dipped below the horizon we had a few minutes of light left and everyone in the hide, including me this time, managed to get good views.

I had already lost sight of the bird in the gathering gloom when I decided that I should try to get a picture of it. By then I could not see where it was so I just pointed in the general direction, wound up the ISO, fired off a few shots and hoped for the best. They are not brilliant but these are my record shots of the bird.

 Just a few of the gulls on the lake with the Franklin's arrowed

Heavy cropping but the white eye rings and darker mantle are just visible.

And, to finish off the day, we had a starling murmuration swirling over our heads as we walked back to the car.

Ring Ouzel

Ring Ouzels were the target of the day. We usually see them in the autumn on their way south, but one had been reported in a paddock field in Warners Lane Selsey and it had been there for eight days. Of course when we got there on the ninth day it had moved on but the field was still interesting with half a dozen Wheatears, two female and one male Redstarts, and assorted other small birds. The male Redstart looked really smart but he would not come close enough for a photograph. Fortunately one of the females was more obliging.

Female Redstart

There must have been a big fall of Wheatears overnight as we found them wherever we went on the peninsular including the unusual sight of eight sitting in a tree in Rectory Lane.

Wheatear

A walk up the west side of Pagham Harbour from Church Norton towards the Visitors Centre gave us plenty of views of Linnets, Whitethroats, and probably a Lesser Whitethroat, although we could not really get a satisfactory view of the latter.

Linnet

Then we managed to get onto another Ring Ouzel, this one a male with a bright white breast band. We watched it for a while but found it difficult to get a decent picture.

Ring Ouzel

We were then joined by Dave Smith, Bernie Ford, and Dorian Mason, and they spotted a second Ring Ouzel close by. We ended up with two in the same tree, but I was a bit slow and missed that picture. When we were left on our own we decided to stake out its favourite perch and wait for a better picture opportunity. All looked good, it was gradually coming closer......

.......and then a Magpie took exception to its presence and chased it off. Perhaps the similar black and white colouration led the Magpie to see it as a threat.

There goes my picture opportunity

Magpies have never been my favourite bird. They have now becoming public enemy number one.

We were also fortunate enough to get a flyby from a Cuckoo that we had been hearing in the distance for about an hour. I did manage to get a record shot but you would have to be a good birder to recognise it as a Cuckoo from the silhouette that I ended up with.

Pheasant - there are so many about that I thought I should include a picture.

We then headed round to the north wall. The water was very high in the Breech Pool so there was nothing much to see there but further along the path we saw Dave Shepherd who had another Cuckoo in his scope although this one was strangely quiet.

A couple of weeks ago we had photographed a Little Grebe sitting on a nest. Dave told us that she had hatched three chicks so we went along to have a look. Sad to say there only seemed to be one left, but it seemed happy tucked up under her wings.

Little Grebe on nest  - taken a couple of weeks ago

Safely under mum's wings

Happy that is until she started diving for food. He survived a couple of dips but then ended up floating on the surface whilst she searched for food below. He looked very vulnerable on his own, you can see why the survival rate is low.

Looking a bit lost

Mum's Back with food

When last seen she was back on the nest with the chick scrabbling to get back under the safety of her wings.

We also had a lot of Whimbrels past and I had a lesson from the others on what to listen for to be able to tell Whimbrel from Curlew as they fly over.

Then to finish of the day there was a Whinchat in the Horse Paddock at the end of the wall. It was a great looking bird but it just wouldn't come any closer and I only ended up with a record shot. So not the perfect end to a perfect day but pretty close.

Whinchat

Penduline Tit

Mid February must be a good time to see Penduline Tits. Last year I had one at Stodmarsh on the 19th, this year it was two days earlier at Dungeness. They had been giving close up views at the Hanson hide over the weekend but then moved on to Hookers Pit. I tried the hide first as this would give the best picture opportunities but had no luck there. So it was over to the ramp at Hookers Pit where they eventually gave distant views.

It's not much to show for three hours standing in the cold

Digital enlargement

Disappointing but at least I came away with a record shot. Last years bird was much more obliging.

Stodmarsh Penduline Tit -  February 2013

Not much else to show for the day. Female Smew, Marsh Harriers and the usual Tree Sparrows. Brief glimpses of Goldcrests and Willchaffs but they were moving fast and were very difficult to get in focus.

Willow Warbler?

I stopped off at Scotney twice but everything was a bit distant. Plenty of gulls, a few geese, and loads of Lapwings but nothing unusual that I could see. Rye Harbour was very similar. Nothing much from most of the hides then when you got to the Crittall Hide so many birds that you couldn't see enough detail to pick out anything unusual.

Nice looking Little Grebe

But you had to be quick.

 I was a bit disappointed not to get closer views of the Penduline Tits but can't really complain. Plenty of birds and no rain what more could I ask for?

Bonaparte's Gull

Gulls should be easy. I live by the sea, they are all around me and I see them every day. Yet still I struggle to make even simple identifications. Adult Herring, and the Lesser and Greater Black-backed are OK and I think I can now identify adult Common and Ring-billed Gulls but juveniles and anything outside of this group and I am reaching for the guide book. So when I saw a report of a Bonaparte's Gull in Princes Park Eastbourne I decided to head off for a quick look.

I had great plans for the day, an early start, an hour watching the gull, and then perhaps a visit to the Pevensey Levels or one of the other sites around the east of the county. It's never that easy. I was down at Eastbourne early but the bird was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately I found a Little Grebe fishing in a feeder stream and that kept me occupied for a while.

Caught it

Its not giving up without a fight

The fish did not give in easily escaping twice and having to be recaptured by the grebe.

Dinner is finally ready

The Grebe was a nice diversion and there were a few other birders around to talk to but it was still another three hours until the Gull finally turned up at around 12.30. I was lucky, I had just decided to go off and find a bacon sandwich but was called back by a couple of the others.

The weather had started to turn and it looked like rain but the Gull was very obliging and a number of close up shots were possible. These may look like black and white but they were all taken in colour format.

Bonaparte's Gull

Just to prove the pictures were taken in colour

And coloured legs

A grey bird on grey water on a grey day but I was very happy to have gone home having seen and photographed it.