Dotterel

I haven't posted much lately, which really sums up my year to date. I have probably seen the same number of birds as usual but the picture opportunities have been few and far between. Unfortunately that goes for the Dotterel as well. Seen it, but only managed a really poor record shot of a distant bird. However, as it's a lifer for me, poor as it is, it does get published.

Dotterel

I have spent a good few days, in the past, wandering around the Sussex Downs hoping to see them. The Balsdean area is said to be a regular stopping off point but it hasn't worked for me. Seen plenty of Wood Pigeons up there but no Dotterel. A one off visit to the Chosely Drying Barns in Norfolk also proved fruitless. I was getting to the point of thinking I would have to try a long distance (for me) twitch up to Pendel Hill or Danby Beacon to see them. Then last week there were reports of a pair of Dotterel showing well at Cheesefoot Head just over the border in Hampshire.

Showing well they may have been but not on the day I visited. I had great hopes of a decent picture. This is a bird that is said to have little fear of people and that can be easily approached. This pair where in the middle of a crop field at least a hundred metres away, they weren't moving and I wasn't about to risk being labelled as a selfish togger for trespassing over the crop. Sad world that we live in!

I saw the male Garganey at Waltham Brooks. Good, but brief views, as it weaved in and out of cover along the bank side. It didn't seem to be bothered by my presence and gradually worked its way closer to my position. I thought I was doing well until I raised the camera and it immediately took off for the back of the pool.

A visit to Pulborough Brooks doesn't usually give many good picture opportunities but this time it was rescued by a couple of good views of Jays, never an easy bird to get close to.

Jay - at the bottom of the zigzags

Jay - just to the east of the Hanger

A Skylark concludes my meagre collection of photographs for the last month.

Probably my worst month since I started birding. I don't think its the birds, it's not the camera, so it must be me. Must try harder, if Tiger Woods can make a come back then so can I.

Snow Bunting

Thursday evening, when I arrived home, there was a report of a Snow Bunting on the beach at Goring Gap. It's walking distance from home so the next morning I went to have a look. It was very easy to find, feeding along the path at the back of the beach, with a small group of birders grouped around it.

It was frequently flushed by walkers and dogs going past but as with others I have seen there in the past, it did not seem to be worried by the disturbance and quickly returned to its favoured feeding spots.

Snow Bunting

They are one of the easiest birds to photograph, being even more confiding than a robin. You just have to note which direction it is foraging in, get in front of it and sit and wait for it to come to you.
I have had them land on my shoes a couple of times and a big lens can be a real disadvantage.

It was nice this time to be able to get it with a green background. They usually stay on the pebbled areas where they blend in and are difficult to spot. Also unless you use a narrow depth of field to put the background out of focus the bird will look lost amongst the pebbles on your picture.

We did have a Snow Bunting reported in the same place just before Christmas but that was very elusive. It would be interesting to know if this is the same bird.


There were a few Skylarks over the road in the gull roost but unfortunately they are not as obliging as the Snow Bunting. This one beating a hasty retreat as soon as I wound my window down.

Skylark

The morning was only spoilt by a few dog walkers. Most were happy to make a small detour around the bird and many stopped to ask what it was and to look at the pictures. However, there are always a few, with one woman in particular, insisting on walking her dog straight at the bird whilst telling us that this was a place for dog walkers. That's odd, I thought it was there for all of us to share and enjoy.

There are always a few bad apples, dog walkers, toggers, and even (whisper it) amongst people that carry binoculars!

Ring-necked Duck

The last few weeks have failed to deliver any good bird photography opportunities and very few good birds. There have been one or two in the area migrating through but they have not stayed long and I have failed to connect with most of them. Meanwhile my birding buddy Dave has been off in Tenerife filling his memory cards with Blue Chaffinch and other endemics (see here).

All a bit depressing really. So today I decided on a trip down to Dungeness with the main target the Garganey reported on Cook's Pool. "Should have been here yesterday" - there was no sign of the Garganey all day. However, I did get some decent views of the Ring-necked Duck. I had taken pictures of it in January and had seen it a couple of times since but it had always been distant. This time it was close to the front edge of the pool.

Ring-necked Duck

I then set off on a walk around the RSPB Reserve searching all the pools and headgerows. Lots of birds but nothing unusual and all a bit distant. Although from the reports there was an Osprey through just after I left the area.


I did think about going down the the lighthouse area to look for Black Redstarts but in the end decided to spend the afternoon at Rye Harbour. A chance for a nice long walk and some more very distant birds. It is clearly the place to go if you like Black-headed Gulls but there were also good numbers of Mediterranean Gulls, Avocets, and Ringed Plover amongst the other birds. It's strange how we just take Avocets for granted these days but they are a really elegant bird.

Avocets

Skylark

Black Redstarts seem to have been around in good numbers this year. The bird below was taken in the churchyard at Church Norton.

And a Long-tailed Tit, always nice to photograph.

All a bit quiet really. I am begining to remember why I always look forward to the start of the Butterfly and Dragonfly seasons.

Snow Buntings

Tuesday was overcast and threatening rain. Picture opportunities would be limited so we decided to visit a few local sites and add a few ticks to our year list.

First stop was Pagham North Wall. We live in hope, but this was as disappointing as we have seen it. Two Coots, a couple of Mallards and a Shelduck on the breech pool. This used to be one of the premier birding locations in Sussex but not any more. There were lots of birds out in the harbour but nothing really unusual. Dave did eventually find a small group of Bar-tailed Godwits, a good year tick, but they were a long way off.

Next stop was East Head. There had been a Snow Bunting here since the end of last year but now a second bird was being reported. Strange how they always appear here. It's probably the seeds from the Horned Poppies that grow on the head that attract them but I like to think that they mistake the near white sand for snow.

Whatever, the snow idea worked for me. It was a dull day so over exposing to get a picture you end up with a scene something approaching snow. Perhaps it makes the birds feel at home

Snow Bunting on artificial snow!

and searching the strand line for food

There were a good number of Skylarks on the head with a number of them seeming to be pairing up and involved in territorial disputes. You just wish there were some way of telling them that they are wasting their time. This is dog walkers central and as the weather warms up the place will be overrun with our four legged friends.

Skylark

Next stop was Selsey Bill. We were hoping for a brief sea watch and sight of a few of the vast numbers of birds that have been passing the bill over the past few days. We were a little disappointed. Not only were there no birds but there were no sea watchers either. A most unusual occurrence.


We also drew a blank at the Coastguard Station. The target was a Black Redstart that had been in residence for a good few days. It had been seen that morning but had gone by the time we got there and has not been seen since. We did however get to see a Grey Seal that had hauled itself out onto the beach and seemed to be enjoying a siesta.

Grey Seal

Church Norton gave us sight of the over wintering Whimbrel that had eluded us on the past couple of visits. The sky was really turning grey by now so the picture quality is not very good. However you can at least see the crown stripe.

Whimbrel

Heading for home, we called in at the Burgh. Scanning from the triangle we had hoped for a Grey Partridge or perhaps a Corn Bunting. No luck with those although we did have three or four Red Kites flying close and a rather large Raven on the manure heap. I fired off a few dozen frames in the hope of getting a half decent record shot but the light had gone and the pictures all ended up being deleted.

Nightingale

I have been out of circulation for the past couple of weeks and seem to have missed out on most of the spring migration. Today was a chance to do some catching up, with a trip to Pulborough Brooks to see the Nightingales.

There were a couple calling in the zigzags and three more round in adder alley but as usual none were sitting out giving clear views. The singing was beautiful but it was the picture that I really wanted. After about half an hour it all went quiet as the birds set about feeding and once on the ground I did get a few better picture opportunities.

They always seem very confiding when they first arrive. This bird was coming within about ten feet of where I was standing and often just seemed curious about what I was doing standing there.

I didn't get any pictures of them singing but there will be opportunities over the next couple of week as more arrive.

I also managed to see the American Wigeon. It was about two hundred and fifty metres away so the picture is poor. This is getting to be a bit of a bogey bird. I have seen three over the past couple of years and I still have not managed to get a decent shot.

American Wigeon

Blackcaps and Whitethroats were around the bushes but not showing very well. There was a good selection of the usual subjects, with the Dunnock, Song Thrushes, and Skylarks posing nicely.

Dunnock

Song Thrush

Song Thrush

Skylark

I also had good views of a Water Vole from Netley's Hide. She obviously had a nest close under the hide and swam straight towards us across open water.

Water Vole

It was only when she swam back that it became obvious that she was transferring the young between nests. She was being a lot more careful in this direction, keeping to the side of the water and using the long grass for cover. Very frustrating, there was a brilliant picture to be had here but I didn't manage to get it.

Water Vole carrying young

A quick trip to Pagham North Wall on Sunday gave me brief views of the Cattle Egret as it left the roost and flew across the harbour. I followed it down the east side of the harbour but could not relocate it. This is the first one that I have seen in breeding plumage in this country.

And to finish off, a moth from the back garden. Moths are not my area of expertise and after studying a few books and looking it up on the web, I had to resort to putting a picture up on the web and asking for help. I am told that it is an Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa) a moth of the family Noctuidae. It's also quiet common so I should have been able to do the identification myself. I have a lot to learn.

Cyprus

I had a week in Cyprus over Christmas on a family holiday. Whilst that meant no going off  by myself for the day birding, I did still get to see plenty of birds. We were based in Paphos so a walk around the headland always presented a good opportunities to see the birds, although unfortunately, not the Greater Sand Plover that I had been told were almost guaranteed there.

Waders were in short supply and the only ones I saw, Common Sandpipers and Golden Plover, hardly set the heart racing. Pictures were also harder to come by as I did not have the large lens with me.

Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Golden Plover

Golden Plover

And with a Kingfisher sitting by one of the rock pools it felt just like being at home.

Kingfisher

The most common birds were House Sparrows, Larks, Black Redstarts, Stonechats and Hooded Crows.

Crested Lark

Crested Lark

Woodlark

Woodlark

Skylark

Black Redstart

Hooded Crow

Hooded Crow and Kestrel

We had one day up in the Troodos mountains and this was the one that I had been looking forward to. I had great hopes of seeing some decent raptors - but it didn't happen. We got up over 6000ft and had some great views out over the valleys but there were no birds flying. All I saw all day were Chaffinches and Sparrows and one very distant raptor that was too far away to identify.


Back down on the Paphos headland I finally caught up with a couple of decent birds, a Spanish Sparrow and a Sardinian Warbler.

Spanish Sparrow

Sardinian Warbler

Sardinian Warbler

I didn't see any signs of shooting or of the lime sticks that I have seen on other Mediterranean islands but there were caged birds around, in particular Turtle Doves. Its sad when I think how long I spend each year trying to see them in the UK.

Linnet

As always, I would have liked to have seen more. Perhaps I will be able to get back sometime in the future and spend a bit more time tracking down some of the birds but that's it for now.