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.

Red-necked Phalarope

I wasn't going to bother going to see the Phalarope at Pulburough Brooks. It's a great place for birds but not so good for bird photographers, especially in the summer when the water in the brooks seems to retreat back over the horizon. Then sitting at home you start to think - I haven't seen a Phalarope for a couple of years; I haven't been out all day; I do need to top up on the bird feed supplies. In the end I was convinced. I did get to see it and I did get my shot although it was a little distant!

Red-necked Phalarope on a 600mm lens combination

With a big crop you can at least see what it is. It was nice to catch up with it although I don't think that it will be taking pride of place amongst my Phalarope pictures.

Better news though, in a Spotted Flycatcher, that at first landed too close for me to focus on. Fortunately, after staring me out for about fifteen seconds, it did give me a second chance, moving a little further away before quickly disappearing into the distance. One of those all too fleeting magic moments.

Spotted Flycatcher

This was my first Spotted Flycatcher of the autumn although I have seen a number of Pied Flycatchers. A reversal of the usual autumn norm.

Walking back up the zig-zags to the visitors centre its always worth inspecting the Stinking Willies (Ragwort) for insects. This time finding an obliging Clouded Yellow.

Clouded Yellow

and a Painted Lady in reasonable condition

Painted Lady

A couple of shots from the past week. A Whinchat, all I had to show from a morning searching for the Beachy Head Montagu's Harrier.

Whinchat

and an ugly duckling but it won't be long before he turns into a beautiful Reed Bunting.

Reed Bunting

Nice to get some pictures but we could do with a rarity on the patch.

Wryneck

A morning up on Chantry and Kithurst hills, earlier in the week, gave great sightings of up to ten Ravens and half a dozen Buzzards. We watched them for a couple of hours as they practiced aerobatics, squabbled over territory, and just seemed to be enjoying themselves tumbling in the updrafts.

Great fun but a bit of a disaster for me, photographic wise. I took lots of pictures but the quality was just not there; poor light, blurred, out of focus, heat haze, mist, lots of excuses but at the end of the day, probably just that the photographers skills were not up to the challenge. So only one shot from the session.

Ravens on Kithurst Hill

Find of the day was this Wryneck spotted in the distance as we waked up towards the trig point. Nice to find our own rather than have to go twitching someone else's bird, even if we did only get fleeting views.

Big crop of a distant Wryneck

Lots of Yellowhammers and Corn Buntings about although the flock of Corn Buntings seemed to be making a point of avoiding anywhere that I chose to stand.

Yellowhammer

A trip up to Cissbury today produced mixed results, with the usually reliable Monarch's Way proving to be virtually birdless. We did see a few Yellow Wagtails in with the cattle but these were spooked by the farmer coming through on his quad bike.

Yellow Wagtail

Cissbury Ring itself was also looking quiet with just a raven and a couple of Wheatears.

Wheatear

Second Wheatear

But fortunately, as we were about to leave a mixed flock of Spotted Flycatchers and Redstarts came through the wooded area on the east of the ring and rescued the day.

Redstart

Spotted Flycatchers

Earlier in the week we had seen a good number of Yellow Wagtails in with the cattle at the western end of the North Wall but these had proved to be very flighty. With good numbers of Cattle Egrets being reported it seemed to be worth another visit.

Grey Heron on the Breech Pool

There was no sign of the Yellow Wags but the Cattle Egrets were showing well with a group of twelve birds, consisting of eleven Cattle Egrets and one Little Egret. A record number for me in this country.

Eleven Cattle Egrets and One Little Egret front right

We also managed to get a distant sighting of the Spoonbill out in White's Creek but missed out on the Curlew Sandpiper that has been around for a few days.

Black Tern

We went over to Shoreham today, to see the juvenile Black Terns, that have been feeding around the harbour for the past few days. We parked up at the Lifeboat station and had great hopes of getting pictures of them sitting on the rails around the station.

As we arrived there were a number of Sandwich Terns feeding over the water but no sign of the target birds. Fortunately after a short wait Dave picked them up approaching from the other side of the harbour.

Black Tern

They are a great bird to see flying. Very different from the Sandwich Terns, mostly low over the water and very elegant, making the Sandwich Terns look rather clumsy alongside them.

We watched them for about an hour but in that time they did not appear to land anywhere. The best we could manage, were a few all to distant flybys. 

Black Tern

One of the Sandwich Terns was a bit more obliging coming into land on the spot we had reserved for the Black Terns.

Sandwich Tern

Earlier that day after the rain had cleared we had spent some time around Pagham Harbour looking for migrants. It seemed like ideal conditions, a clear night with heavy early morning rain, it looked a certainty for a fall of migrants waiting to cross the channel.

Once again it was a disappointment. There were a few birds around, Spotted Flycatchers, Yellow Wagtails and a single Redstart but numbers were low and I have still failed to see a lot of the usual autumn migrants. Even worse, decent opportunities for photographs seem to have dried up this year.

Spotted Flycatcher

Willow Warbler 

Things must improve soon!

Mallorca - the rest

Raptors were in short supply during the week we were in Mallorca. An Eleonora's Falcon would have been nice but I think we were a couple of weeks too early. Best Raptor of the trip was this Black Vulture photographed above the Cuber reservoir.

Black Vulture

Booted Eagles were a common sight at various places we visited and we also managed to pick up lots of Kestrels and Marsh Harriers.

Booted Eagle

Marsh Harrier

Kestrel

The Boquer valley was a bit of a disappointment. It is a lovely walk and well worth doing but other than one distant Rock Thrush, a few Sardinian Warblers, and a couple of Booted Eagles we did not see much. Fortunately I had taken some reasonable pictures of a Rock Thrush at Beachy Head only a couple of weeks before (see here)

It was worth spending some time at the start of the walk in the area between the car park and Finca Boquer (Boquer Farm). The farm is private property but you are allowed to walk through it and it gives some wonderful views out across the adjacent fields and wooded areas.

Cirl Bunting in the fields below the Finca

Pied Flycatcher at the Finca

Woodchat Shrike in the fields below the finca

We saw three different Woodchat Shrikes but the only ones close enough to photograph insisted on giving me long views of their backs.

Sardinian Warbler at various sites

Serin at the Pine avenue

Yellow Wagtail (Iberiea) Albufereta

Spotted Flycatcher 

The local race of Spotted Flycatcher, balearica, is noticeably paler and less streaked than the ones we see in the UK.

Wheatear - Cuber Reservoir 

Yellow-legged Gull - Puerto Pollenca

The problem with birding in a place like Mallorca is that you want to visit every location and see every bird. It was our first time there and that is what we tried to do. I think that if I were to go back I would be a bit more selective. Identify just a few target birds and spend the time getting some really good pictures.

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.