Purple Heron

 

You wait ten years to see a Purple Heron in this country, then they all turn up at once. Well nearly all at once. One last year at Burton Mill Pond and one this year at Pagham, both October birds.

The two experiences, however, were completely different. The Burton Mill Pond bird spent the day deep in the reeds, only showing itself when it flew into the trees to roost under cover of almost complete darkness. The Pagham bird favoured an open field with little cover and seemed quite happy and surprisingly successful foraging out in the open.

The bird had been around for a week or so favouring a field at the end of Summer Lane in Pagham. The only difficulties, were that it did not seem to have any regular pattern to its visits and it was also subject to frequent disturbance from locals and visiting observers.

My first visit to see it was on the Monday morning when I arrived to be told that it had just been flushed by a dog walker crossing the field. I waited around for a couple of hours but left without seeing it. Apparently it did return but not until late afternoon.

Wednesday I picked up Dave and we headed along the coast to Pagham for another look. You've guessed it, we arrived to be told that it had just been flushed by a photographer getting too close. Fortunately we both had the cameras packed away in the rucksacks and were able to wave the bins around like the good birders we are.

We had a walk down the rife towards the harbour to check out a few of the other fields but were fortunate to arrive back close to the original spot just as the heron made an appearance. Once again it landed in the open field and immediately started feeding.

With regular disturbance and lots of people visiting to see it, the bird had probably developed a degree of tolerance to people being close. Put that along side its success in finding food and the fact that it had chosen to land reasonably close to us, meant that it did not seem at all concerned by our presence. We watched for about 45 minutes until it worked its way across the field and into the cover of a reed bed.

The heron showed well at times but was well camouflaged when moving through the longer grass and difficult to see when looking straight into the lens. The shot below being typical of a lot of the views that we had.

My only regret, the camera was till safely packed away in the rucksack when the bird flew in. Bad mistake, I missed some good flight shots.

Lapland Bunting

 

Actually the blog covers the Lapland Bunting and a juvenile Purple Heron. No UK life ticks all year then two come along in just two days.

Better still I had really good views of the Bunting. This is a bird where I was not confident in making the identification. I knew that I would need either plenty of time to check the features or some good pictures to enable me to check later. Spook it after a quick view and there would always be an element of doubt.

The location was Beachy Head where the bird had been reported a number of times over the previous three or four days. I arrived early and headed towards the trig point which was one of its favoured spots. There were a couple of people already there who pointed me in the right direction but I just couldn't locate it. It was only when they made a second effort that I realised the bird was in long grass about twenty feet away instead of the twenty metre area I had been scanning.

I spent a frustrating half hour with just an occasional view of a head popping out of the long grass but eventually it showed well.....

and finally came out onto some open ground where I could get some better pictures. 

I had always thought this was quite a timid bird that was easily flushed but this one did not seem at all concerned at our presence. It was happily feeding for the whole time I watched and did not even move when some walkers passed within about ten feet of it.

Lapland Bunting has been on my hit list for a while now. It is one that I feel I should have seen and I have come close on a couple of occasions but have always just managed to miss it. It was nice to be able to cross it off my list and even better to get such views.

If I had good views of the Lapland Bunting then the juvenile Purple Heron that I saw the previous day was the complete opposite. Rather than stand around all day waiting for it to come out of the reeds I decided to go along early evening to watch it go to roost. Less time wasted and a better chance of seeing the bird but the downside would be the reduced chance of a picture in the lower light levels.

I just hadn't realised quite how dark it would be when the bird went to roost. I arrived at Burton Mill Pond at about five thirty with the expectation that it would fly sometime between then and six thirty. It was actually six thirty five when it appeared and it was just visible through the gloom flying above the reeds. 

Fortunately I had spent the waiting time, gradually turning up the ISO on the camera from my usual 400 setting until I got to 16000. The pictures are not good but at least you can see that it is a Purple Heron. At the time it was too dark to be sure but the camera view is a lot brighter than the image I was seeing.

I am amazed the camera could even focus at these light levels let alone catch the bird in flight. It's not all good though, as enlarging the subjects gives a very grainy image.

at roost

I have seen Purple Herons before in Spain and in South Africa. Got a slightly better picture as well but it's nice to get the UK tick.

Hippo Hollow South Africa 2016

So a great couple of days and two UK life ticks. The experience wasn't even spoilt by not being down at Pagham Harbour when Nighthawk came through. You have to leave some birds for another day.

Coto Donana - Laguna de Acebuche

The Laguna was one of the best places we visited. It would have been worth it just for the Azure-winged Magpies which would come to bread thrown out in the picnic area. We saw them in lots of other places but this was the only one that offered close encounters.

As well as the picnic area there were seven north facing hides giving good lighting for photography, although we could have done with a few more birds to make the most of the facilities. There were also two more hides out to the west, the Coot hide and the Stork hide. They were a bit of a trek and when I got there I found both lagunas to be bone dry with the only birds in sight being a Blackbird, a Chaffinch and a very distant Stork on top of an electricity Pylon. Check with the visitors centre before you set out.

Ferruginous Duck

 We had our doubts on the Ferruginous Duck as it was in close proximity to a male Pochard. We thought perhaps Ferruginous x Pochard Hybrid but later, seeing it by itself and seeing the white patch on the upended tail, below, we settled for female Ferruginous.

The most common bird on the water was the Little Grebe. They were surprisingly noisy and quarrelsome but I suppose this is just a sign that breeding season is upon us.

Plenty of Larks around the site, this one a Thekla Lark.

Thekla Lark

Also reasonable views of two Purple Herons although both were sufficiently concealed to make a decent photograph impossible.

Purple Heron

Perhaps my best birds from the site, two Short-toed Treecreepers. I have to say that I was not totally convinced by the wing markings and I couldn't hear them calling but Collins informs me that the nearest "common" Treecreepers are about 500 miles to the north in the Picos mountains.

Short-toed Treecreeper

Lots of small birds around, particularly Black Redstarts and Stonechats but very few close enough for a picture.

Hippo Hollow (2/6)

Next stop on the South African Tour was at Hazeview just outside the Kruger National Park. We stayed at the Hippo Hollow hotel which is about six mile from the Phabeni Gate entrance to the park. Arriving at the reception you get the impression that this is going to be a great place to stay.

We didn't see any Crocks in the grounds but there was one Hippo in the lake when we arrived and there were Hippos grazing on the lawn during the evening. Birding around the hotel was great. They have a large lake, lawns going down to the Sabi River, and plenty of trees and vegetation to attract the birds. We stayed three nights giving us two days for safaris into the Kruger. I have split this into two blogs, the first for birds seen around the Hotel area and the second for those seen in the Kruger Park.

It is difficult to describe the birding. Everything is different and for me, with one or two exceptions, every bird was new. The real surprises were the Egyptian Geese and Cattle Egrets which were probably the most common birds seen during the holiday.


The hotel lake proved to be a great attraction to the birds as well as to me. I have never seen a Purple Heron in the UK and from what I hear they are secretive and difficult to approach. This one was the complete opposite. I approached slowly but it took no notice of me. Perhaps it was aware of the electric fence topped with razor wire that stopped me getting any closer. Still getting this full frame on a 400mm lens left me feeling very happy

Purple Heron

Other regulars around the lake included a couple of African Wattled Lapwing, a Malachite Kingfisher, and an African Pied Wagtail.

African Wattled Lapwing

Malacite Kingfisher

African Pied Wagtail - it takes a while before you notice the different markings

Dawn was the best time to be out but I always left the river to last. It was the dry season and the water level in the Sabi River was low but then I am not sure how much water Crocks need, so I wasn't taking any chances.

Reed Cormorant

This Reed Cormorant was one of the early morning visitors, again posing nicely for front and side views -

Reed Cormorant

and I had good views of this Black Crake before it disappeared into the reeds on the opposite side of the river.

Black Crake

It was difficult to stop birding. Everywhere I looked there was something new. I could tell that Sue was getting agitated over breakfast so I decided to put the camera down and spend a peaceful half hour enjoying breakfast with her . Good idea but then this turned up. I disappeared at speed, upsetting the coffee on the way.

White-fronted Bee-eater.

The hotel gardens gave plenty of other opportunities and we also paid a visit to a reptile park just down the road. Fortunately for me there were more birds than reptiles with over two hundred weaver nests around the site. If you spot any thing wrongly labelled, please let me know.

Difficult to see but a Black-collared Barbet

Kurrichane Thrush

Golden-tailed Woodpecker

African Golden Weaver

Black-eyed Bulbul

Tawny-flanked Prina

Village Weaver

Common Waxbill

Yellow-fronted Canary Crithagra mozambica  - I think!

I have a few other record shots taken around the hotel but record shots is all they are. Nice to have but they don't really make the grade for publishing on the blog. Most are more colourful versions of our LBJs, fast moving, difficult to photograph and difficult to identify. The only ones I was sure of were the Yellow-breasted Apalais, Cape White Eye, Red-breasted Swallow and Brown-throated Martin. I just wish I had spent a bit more time recording the Swallows, Swifts, and Martins during the tour.

One poor shot that does gain a place though, is this Purple-crested Turaco. He woke me every morning and called continuously but I couldn't locate him. He stayed high in the trees in dense cover and in any glimpses I had, he always had his back to me. On the final morning just as we were about to leave I got the shot. Low light levels and a long way off but I got it. Probably more pleasing than all the other pictures I took on this holiday.

Purple-crested Turaco - plus the usual branch

Kruger National Park to follow.