Selsey Squacco

 

The location, Broad Rife feeding into Pagham Harbour at the far western end of the North Wall. It is a fifty metre stretch of rife, seemingly nothing special and yet for the second time in just three years it was temporary home to a Squacco Heron for most of August. Perhaps it was the same bird making a return visit or maybe this is what Squacco heaven looks like and we can expect more birds to put in an appearance in the future. Cattle Egrets were a rarity like the Squacco only a few years back, now they are here in big numbers. Who knows what may happen?

I visited three times whilst it was in residence and whilst it did at times show well and some lucky birders did get close up views, for me, it was always distant. Added to that we had a heat haze and heavy air pollution due to the lack of rain, which resulting in the photographs lacking any real detail.

I took a good number of pictures but the only ones I kept were one of it flying in and another of it with a large fish it had caught.

Fortunately I still have pictures from the earlier visit when I was lucky enough to have the bird all to myself for a couple of hours and where it proved to be very confiding, giving much better views.

There have been a few other good birds around Pagham Harbour but most were staying distant. I managed shots of a Sedge Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher but the Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers, amongst others, were staying just outside of quality picture range.

Sedge Warbler

Spotted Flycatcher

Sadly the Squacco has now moved on. Lets hope it returns next year.

Wheatear

I had a go at Seawatching this week under the expert guidance of  David Campbell and Nick Bond,  and much to my surprise, once you get to grips with a few of the basic identification skills, it can get quite interesting.

We had a good list on Tuesday morning. The experts logged 689 birds with 27 species although my count was a bit below that total. I could identify most of the birds with Great and Arctic Skuas being particularly pleasing but a series of distant dots remained just that, distant dots rather than the Manx Shearwaters that the others could identify. The only downside is that seawatching gives very few picture opportunities.

I was expecting a repeat on Wednesday morning but with no breeze there was very little moving. Fortunately a Wheatear on the beach did at least give me a chance to use the camera and also a few Photoshop skills to correct the early morning colour cast. My first Wheatear of the year so worth recording.

I managed to see the Savi's Warbler at West Rise Marsh last week although only for a few seconds at a time. It was great to see but there was no chance of a record shot and my key UK list of seen but not photographed now rises to 11 with Warblers responsible for the bulk of that list.

Consolation was this Sedge Warbler singing from the scrub, another first for the year.

Fledglings

I haven't been out birding much this past couple of months. A combination of a lot of wet weather,  a lack of any really inspiring birds in the Sussex area, and an unwillingness to get involved in any long distant twitches.

We did pay a visit to Cliffe Pools to see the Marsh Sandpiper and we did see it but it was very distant. I managed to get a picture although it is not one that I would care to put up on the blog. Frustrating really, it now moves on to my hit list, of nine birds, that I have seen but for which I did not manage to get a decent picture. Although I have to say that is a very subjective view. On a bad day I look at my pictures and think they could all do with improvement.

So today was a fresh start, the first days birding of the rest of my life. You just felt that Autumn was in the air and the migrants were on their way. Sad to say we failed to connect with them but there were a few fledglings around that will soon be migrating in the opposite direction.

The area around the sluice at Pagham North Wall is always a good spot to find baby Swallows at this time of year. Today there were probably three families in the area with about ten hungry mouths waiting to be fed.

Amazing to think that they are just a few weeks out of the egg and in a couple more weeks they will be on their way to Africa.

There were also a good number of Sedge Warbler fledglings in the reeds waiting to be fed.

They were probably just a little bit to eager, climbing to the top of the reeds and calling loudly for their parents. Good for me taking pictures but they are making themselves a bit of a target.

No Sparrowhawks about but there were a pair of Peregrines hunting across the area. These are probably the ground nesting ones from the island in the harbour. I doubt the Chichester Cathedral pair are welcome in the area any more.

Below are a few odd pictures taken earlier in the year. There weren't enough for a blog at the time but they are still worth recording.



The first a Black-tailed Godwit in Summer Plumage, again from the North Wall Pagham.

Ring-necked Parakeets taken at Kew Gardens from the high level walkway. So common in London but still a rarity just fifty miles south.

And two from a quick stop at Fairburn Ings on the way north. I had hoped to see Willow Tits. They were there but not showing in the short time I had. Consolation was from good views of nesting Sand Martins and a few Tree Sparrows.

Orange Tip Butterfly

A return Trip to Pulborough Brooks gave me my first Orange Tip of the year. So it looks as though Spring really has arrived. However looking at my records I would expect to see Dingy and Grizzled Skippers, Pearl-bordered Fritillary, and Duke of Burgundy over the next week. The first two look possible but the promised cold spell could delay the other two.

Orange Tip Butterfly

Nightingale numbers at Pulburough also look a bit low. I could still only see two or possibly three in adder alley and they were singing even less than on Monday. The one below gave a couple of short bursts of song but he stayed low down and deep in cover.

Nightingale

So again the best shots were whilst the birds were feeding.

The best find in adder alley was a group of Grass Snakes with one large female and at least three males. They were forming a mating ball but I could not get a picture of this without risking disturbing them. However, here is another male on his way to join the action.

Grass Snake

I also paid a return visit to Pagham North Wall in the hope of getting a better picture of the Cattle Egret. It is in full breeding plumage so would take a great photograph. 

Unfortunately it was clear, as soon as I got out of the car, that the wind was much stronger down on the coast and there was very little flying. There were Egrets in the roost but they had all descended into deeper cover and were mostly out of sight.

Interestingly there have been no reports of where the Cattle Egret is feeding. The one time I saw it leave the roost it headed out over the harbour rather than towards the fields holding the cattle.

On the positive side, it was good to see increased numbers of Black-tailed Godwits on the Breech Pool. I counted just over seventy although there was very little else of interest on the pool. Wader numbers in general have been low around the area this winter but the Breech Pool seems to have suffered more than most.

Black-tailed Godwits - part of the flock

Other birds of interest. A showy Sedge Warbler in the reeds to the west of the Breech Pool. It was very difficult to photograph in the strong winds. It was only coming about two thirds of the way up the reeds which were swaying through about forty five degrees. The only option was to manually focus on the bird and then take lots of pictures in the hope that you got one where most of the reeds had blown out of the way.

Sedge Warbler

And in the slightly more sheltered stables area a Green Woodpecker and Barn Swallows. The Swallows were already gathering mud to build their nests.

Green Woodpecker

Barn Swallow

Barn Swallow in flight

Nothing much new today but an interesting time wandering around the sites.

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.

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.