Short-eared Owl

We had set an ambitious programme of visits for today, in an attempt to fill a few of the gaps in our year lists. It got off to a good start when we picked up Hawfinches in the trees at the back of Yew Tree Cottage in West Dean Woods. They were very distant and did not give any picture opportunities but this is a bird that you are always pleased to see.

The next target was Woodcock and Ambersham Common is a place where we have often flushed them in the past. This usually comes as more of a shock to us than to the birds, as they suddenly burst into the air just a few feet in front of you.

However, today it was not going to happen, the place was full of horse boxes, four wheel drives, and yellow jacketed marshals. We got the definite impression that we were not wanted, they probably thought we looked like hunt saboteurs. For our part we were happy to move on and look for some peace and quiet elsewhere. Not an easy task when there is an "El Alamein" style soundtrack playing out all across Sussex as the landed gentry enjoy their weekend "sport".

Next stop was Lavington Common which proved to be mostly devoid of life other than a few Crows and a couple of dog walkers. The best we managed here were two Yellowhammers.

Yellowhammers

We stopped off at Burton Pond and Lord's Piece. Birdsong was more evident at these two but there was little to look at. Waltham Brooks usually saves the day but even here there was nothing much moving and nothing at all at the Sewage Works. By know I think we had seen more butterflies than birds, not bad for the end of November.

Our final destination was the Burgh to see the Short-eared Owls. The walk in gave us views of Grey Partridge, Corn Buntings, and the usual Buzzards and Red Kite, but unfortunately not the Merlin that we were told had been seen.

Grey Partridge

Red Kite

We had great views of at least six of the Short-eared Owls for about an hour before the sun went down. I was disappointed in that I only managed one decent picture. In bird photography you are always pushing the camera and the lens to the limits of their performance capabilities but I should have done better. Now I am just going to have to go back and do it all over again. Life is hard!

Dartford Warblers Revisited

I went to have another look at the Dartford Warblers today. Walking around the commons there were plenty of Stonechats visible but the Dartfords were a lot harder to find. It was possible to do a 360 degree scan and spot four or five Stonechat pairs sitting out on their territory but the Dartfords appeared to be covering a much larger area.

Having found a suitable spot I found the best way to see them was to sit quietly under a large gorse bush and wait for them to come to me. I still haven't got that perfect picture that I am looking for but it is getting closer. I just need the bird to slow down a bit, it moves a lot faster than my autofocus or my ability to do a manual focus.

Dartford Warbler

There did not appear to be much else about on the commons. I was hoping for a Woodlark but I could not see any sign of them. Everything that moved seemed to be a Stonechat.

Stonechat

I still haven't seen a Corn Bunting this year so in the afternoon I headed up to the Burgh. Their were good views of the usual Buzzards and Red Kites and I also flushed a few Grey Partridges but I could not find any of the usual small birds. Even the Yellowhammers were absent.

Red Kite