Pearl-bordered Fritillary

If you have already looked at Dave's blog Friends of Groyne No 4 then this is going to look very similar. We had a very limited agenda today. A quick look at Waltham Brooks on the way through to Pulborough Brooks where we wanted to see a Nightingale. The rest of the day would then be spent in pursuit of the Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

Sightings of a Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler got us off to a good start and gave me a couple of year ticks. We had seen them both previously but I had said that I would not count them until I could get record shots and that had proved harder than I had expected. Even today the pictures are not good but you can at least you can see what the birds are.

Whitethroat

Sedge Warbler

Walking back to the car we came across a Nightingale. There was no problem hearing it but seeing it and getting a photograph proved a lot harder. So I now have a set of three partially obscured birds from the mornings birding, better than nothing I suppose.

Nightingale

The good news was that we no longer needed to visit Pulborough Brooks and could make an early start on looking for the Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

Clouds were starting to cover the sun, it was getting a lot cooler, and there was rain in the air as we approached our intended search site. The conditions did not look good, however, luck was with us and we were straight on to two of the butterflies. The cool air then played into our hands. We managed a few quick shots but then as the butterflies settled we managed to track one to its resting place and had forty five minutes to take pictures before the sun came out and it started moving again.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Waiting for the sun

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Paler and slightly bigger so this could be a female

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

The Pearl-bordered Fritillary was a life tick for me. Strangely there were no other butterflies of any type to be seen in the woods but there were a few other insects about and some of them quite photogenic.

Bee Fly

Green Tiger Beetle

Ring Ouzel

Ring Ouzels were the target of the day. We usually see them in the autumn on their way south, but one had been reported in a paddock field in Warners Lane Selsey and it had been there for eight days. Of course when we got there on the ninth day it had moved on but the field was still interesting with half a dozen Wheatears, two female and one male Redstarts, and assorted other small birds. The male Redstart looked really smart but he would not come close enough for a photograph. Fortunately one of the females was more obliging.

Female Redstart

There must have been a big fall of Wheatears overnight as we found them wherever we went on the peninsular including the unusual sight of eight sitting in a tree in Rectory Lane.

Wheatear

A walk up the west side of Pagham Harbour from Church Norton towards the Visitors Centre gave us plenty of views of Linnets, Whitethroats, and probably a Lesser Whitethroat, although we could not really get a satisfactory view of the latter.

Linnet

Then we managed to get onto another Ring Ouzel, this one a male with a bright white breast band. We watched it for a while but found it difficult to get a decent picture.

Ring Ouzel

We were then joined by Dave Smith, Bernie Ford, and Dorian Mason, and they spotted a second Ring Ouzel close by. We ended up with two in the same tree, but I was a bit slow and missed that picture. When we were left on our own we decided to stake out its favourite perch and wait for a better picture opportunity. All looked good, it was gradually coming closer......

.......and then a Magpie took exception to its presence and chased it off. Perhaps the similar black and white colouration led the Magpie to see it as a threat.

There goes my picture opportunity

Magpies have never been my favourite bird. They have now becoming public enemy number one.

We were also fortunate enough to get a flyby from a Cuckoo that we had been hearing in the distance for about an hour. I did manage to get a record shot but you would have to be a good birder to recognise it as a Cuckoo from the silhouette that I ended up with.

Pheasant - there are so many about that I thought I should include a picture.

We then headed round to the north wall. The water was very high in the Breech Pool so there was nothing much to see there but further along the path we saw Dave Shepherd who had another Cuckoo in his scope although this one was strangely quiet.

A couple of weeks ago we had photographed a Little Grebe sitting on a nest. Dave told us that she had hatched three chicks so we went along to have a look. Sad to say there only seemed to be one left, but it seemed happy tucked up under her wings.

Little Grebe on nest  - taken a couple of weeks ago

Safely under mum's wings

Happy that is until she started diving for food. He survived a couple of dips but then ended up floating on the surface whilst she searched for food below. He looked very vulnerable on his own, you can see why the survival rate is low.

Looking a bit lost

Mum's Back with food

When last seen she was back on the nest with the chick scrabbling to get back under the safety of her wings.

We also had a lot of Whimbrels past and I had a lesson from the others on what to listen for to be able to tell Whimbrel from Curlew as they fly over.

Then to finish of the day there was a Whinchat in the Horse Paddock at the end of the wall. It was a great looking bird but it just wouldn't come any closer and I only ended up with a record shot. So not the perfect end to a perfect day but pretty close.

Whinchat

Magnificent Cormorants

Yes, you did read the title correctly. That boring dull bird you see everywhere and only check just to make sure you are not missing a Shag or a Glossy Ibis. Where does the magnificent come from? Well you have to see them in breeding plumage.

Cormorant

I had gone over to the sea cliffs at St Bees Head hoping to see Razorbills, Shag, Puffin, or even a Black Guillemot. It was all very disappointing. There were birds on show but they were Kittiwakes, Fulmar, and Common Guillemots. Nice to watch but not the birds that I was looking for. Then I came across a small group of Cormorants. They didn't look like the birds I see on the south coast and a quick check in Collins had me thinking about the subspecies sinensis. I am still not sure but sinensis is a bird of the east coast and it seems unlikely that I would find such a large group over on the west coast. I think this must just be breeding plumage.

Displaying

Already a couple?
 - do the different colour patches below the eye differentiate between male and female?

Cormorant

Most other birds were too far away for a decent picture but there were lots of Meadow Pipits on the cliff tops and a single Buzzard over the fields.

Meadow Pipit

Buzzard

And finally my first shot of a Red Squirrel in the wild. I have taken pictures of them at feeding stations before  but this is the first time I have managed to get a picture as one runs past in the woods. I had time for just a single shot and it was gone and I was amazed to find that I had it in focus.

Red Squirrel

Dipper

A weeks walking holiday with the family in the Lake District kept me busy but still left me with a few opportunities for birdwatching. Top of my birding list, whenever I am in the mountains, is always the Dipper and this year I was fortunate enough to find a pair about a quarter of a mile from our cottage nesting underneath a bridge.

Dipper

They always appear to be such an active bird, constantly in and out of the water gathering food, and then flying back to the nest with mouths full of assorted invertebrates. They also seem very tolerant of people. This pair where nesting under a busy footpath with children throwing rocks into the river, where only a few minutes before I had seen the birds searching for food. Fortunately most people don't seem to notice nature happening around them and the nest in a shaded spot underneath a small bridge went unnoticed by the people passing by.

Dipper at the nest - The camera lies,
 the nest was much darker and harder to spot than this picture shows

Feeding the young

searching for food underwater

and on the rocks

Must be a lot of young to feed

It's a fascinating bird to watch as it walks or swims underwater looking for larvae or flies up and down its stretch of river with rapid wing beats just a few inches above the water.

Also on the river were a small group of Grey Wagtails. Not as close as I would have liked but at least this one kept its tail still long enough for a picture.

Grey Wagtail

Bassenthwaite Lake with its Osprey observation point was only a couple of miles away. Checking the map it did not look very promising. The nest site looked to be about a mile from the observation point and would be well beyond the range of my camera. Still there were telescopes provided at the observation point, it would be a year tick, and there was always the chance of a flyby.

Spot the Osprey - Camera view about the equivalent of a pair of 10X50 binoculars

Heavily cropped and a bit of a mess but it is a year tick

We saw the Osprey (just) through the telescope but there was no flyby. In fact the Osprey did not leave the nest and adjacent tree in the time we watched.  More details on the Bassenthwaite Osprey at http://www.ospreywatch.co.uk/ . There is also a public hide on the A66 that would give good views if the birds were fishing out over the lake.

Up on the hills there were plenty of Wheatears on show and they all seemed to be males. I had a go at getting pictures but they were all very skittish. Then early one morning I found this one sitting on the wall close by the cottage. He seemed a lot slower than the rest and looking at the picture you can see some form of wound on its chest, possibly caused by a pellet or some form of parasite. He still looks good though, so I just hope he made it up on to the hill and found a mate.

Wheatear

Avocets

Beautiful spring weather this morning, sunshine, clear air, and all the right conditions for photography. Just a pity then that the best bird of the day, the Avocet, is the one bird you really need overcast conditions for. Its a really elegant bird and great to watch but the camera just cannot cope with the huge contrast between the black and white in bright sunlight.

Avocet - Ferry Pool Pagham Harbour

Still with the birds going through their mating ritual and with the possibility of successful breeding pairs on the Ferry Pool it was worth getting a record.

Seeing off the other contenders

Female bending forward and lowering her head into the water in submission (or as an invitation?)

Mating

Followed by the kiss - touching bills

There were no real signs of the migration getting into full swing. The week has proved to be a bit slow and today was no different.We did see a few Wheatears but there were no picture opportunities. Chiffchaffs could be heard all around, and the usual suspects were much in evidence.

Chiffchaff

Linnet

Treecreeper 

Song Thrush

The warm weather today did see more butterflies on the wing so there should be some good picture opportunities soon and Dragonflies are not far away.

Comma