Rough-legged Buzzard

Weather conditions were not ideal but we could not risk missing the Rough-legged Buzzard so Wednesday morning saw us travelling over to Jevington to look at what was a truly
magnificent bird.

The photography was difficult with strong winds, overcast conditions and regular heavy showers. It did brighten up a bit later in the day but then we had problems with the white areas of the bird burning out. Photographers are never happy with the light. It just makes you realise what a really efficient instrument the human eye is. Camera manufacturers have a long way to go.

When we first arrived we tried following the footpath up onto the hill behind the Buzzard's usual hunting ground. This would give us views looking down on the bird instead of the usual silhouettes you get when taking pictures against the sky. It was a good idea but the bird must have known we were there and it didn't come close. As soon as we moved back down to the road it started flying up to the area we had been standing in.

Anyway here are my picture. I would have liked better but they are a record of what turned out to be a great days birding. Things have really been looking up over the last few weeks.

Shorelark

Reculver had been looking to be worth a visit for a few days. Shorelark, Snow Bunting, Lapland Bunting, and Desert Wheatear had all been present and showing well. Unfortunately other commitments had kept me away over the weekend, so Monday it was pick up Dave and head over to Kent to see if there was anything left. From reports it looked as though the Lapland bunting had gone but we were hopeful of the other three.

Delaying to the Monday was good in one respect in that whilst there were a few birders about we had missed out on the twitch that would have taken place over the weekend. Unfortunately we had also missed out on the Desert Wheatear that appeared to have moved on overnight. I was not too worried at this, the year tick would have been nice but we had good photographs of this bird from one that had turned up at Worthing in October 2012. The Shorelark was the main target of the day.

A walk along the sea wall from Reculver Castle towards Coldharbour Lagoon soon found us in the right area but with the usual message of "its just flown you should have been here ten minutes ago". We only had a short wait before it returned and gave good views and with the clouds clearing we also had good lighting, a rare combination.

The Snow Buntings proved a bit harder to find but we eventually caught up with them.

There was a large supporting cast of birds just off the sea wall and plenty of picture opportunities.

Dunlin

Juvenile Ringed Plover

Stonechat

Turnstones

Cormorant

Kestrel

Early afternoon and we set off for home with a planned stop off at Oare Marshes. There was the nagging suspicion that the Desert Wheatear would turn up just after we left but overall we were happy with pictures that we had managed to get.

Oare marshes always gives you plenty of birds to look at, so much so that it is often impossible to get a decent picture, but what you do get is a great atmosphere. As you open the car door a wall of noise hits you and there is continual movement as birds move around and squabble for the standing room that is in short supply and flocks of different birds swirl overhead.

Standing room only

Pintails against a wall of Waders

Black-tailed Godwits in flight

It was a long way to drive for a non twitcher but we had a great days birding. Reculver is a place I will be going back to. It has the one thing missing along the South Coast, the sun is over your shoulder when you are taking pictures out to sea.

Red-breasted Flycatcher

I was lucky enough to see the Red-breasted Flycatcher on Wednesday evening, when it was first reported and I came away with a life tick and a couple of reasonable record shots. The photographs were taken in light rain and gathering gloom and as I did not think that it would hang around for long I was more than happy with my pictures. The trouble was that it was still there four days later and there were clearly better shots to be taken.

A magnificent male Red-breasted Flycatcher 

I didn't go over the weekend as there was a marathon in the area on the Saturday and the Sunday would also be very busy both with tourists and bird watchers. Monday looked to be good weather and it should have been a lot quieter. Or so I thought, but when I arrived there were about twenty people already there. The majority where photographers, probably like me, tempted out by the prospect of getting a picture in decent lighting.

I don't usually go to twitches but I have to admit that it was nice to be able to touch base with a lot of old friends. It was interesting with it being mostly photographers, no one got too close, no one flushed the bird just to get their tick, it was all very polite. Everyone was happy just to stand and talk waiting until the bird came to them. Not the usual rabble that tends to be reported on SOS.

On Wednesday evening, when I had seen it, the bird was a lot faster moving and more difficult to photograph. Today it seemed happy to perch up and look at the strange humans who were lined up to admire it. It was not being completely cooperative though as it usually managed to have a branch in front of it or a shadow across its face. Some of these pictures have been doctored in Photoshop to get rid of the offending glitches.

A great bird to see and great to get some decent pictures for a change. Other birds seen on the day were mostly Stonechats and charms of Goldfinches.

Goldfinch

Stonechat

Stonechat

Some great pictures today but there are always the ones that you miss. I did not get a shot of the Flycatcher with a fly in its mouth and even at 1/800 sec I could not stop the blur that was this Wren as it moved through the picture. Five shots in a couple of seconds and this is the best I could get.

Not even worth attempting to take the shadow off the Flycatcher.

White-winged Black Tern

I waited four days, telling myself that I could not justify the drive over to Rye just to see one bird, but in the end I had to go. My justification, to myself, was that I was sure to see something else whilst I was out and that would make it all worthwhile. Little could I have known that my second bird would be a Red-breasted Flycatcher giving me two life ticks in a day.

The Tern was easy enough to find. It was sitting on a mudbank just in front of the Castle Water hide. Birders using a telescope would call it showing well. Birders with a camera would call it not showing anywhere near well enough. No luck with it moving either, each time it was disturbed it went back to that same spot, just that little bit too far away.

White-winged Black Tern

Wing stretching

Eventually I followed it round to the western end of the water where it was feeding and  I spent a surprisingly enjoyable if somewhat frustrating hour or so trying to track it in flight and keep it in focus. The results were not brilliant but you can at least see the identifying features.

Much as it grieves me to promote someone else's work you need to take a look at John Standen's shots on flicker (click here) to see how it should have been done.

There were a lot of other good birds around Castle Water. A Ruff and a couple of Little Stint were showing well on the mud in front of the hide. A Marsh Harrier made  a couple of passes over the area putting most of the birds into the air. I managed to put up a flock of five Bearded Tits that then disappeared into the centre of the reed bed and there were Meadow Pipits and Wheatears on the fences around the reserve.

Marsh Harrier

Meadow Pipits

Wheatear

The light was starting to go so I took the long walk back to the car and was about to set off for home when Mick Davis turned up and tipped me off to the Red-breasted Flycatcher at Beachy Head. It was only a short detour off the route home and I had never seen one before so it was worth a look. It was in the old trapping area and again was surprisingly easy to find. Getting a clear view though, to confirm the sighting, was really difficult. It may have a white belly and red breast but in the thick cover it was using it was just another fast moving little brown job.

Red-breasted Flycatcher

When I eventually got a good view it turned out to be a really smart looking male. The pictures do not do it justice, they were taken on high ISO in the gathering gloom and light drizzle. I have already seen a couple of shots of it on the web that are streets ahead of mine.  If the sun shines tomorrow I may well be going back to give it another go.

A strange days birding. I have picked up two life ticks and I should be over the moon, but I'm not. It's photographing the birds that I really like doing. I've got the record shots but there is nothing here that I could class as good. It seems a long time since I last took a picture that I was really happy with.

Yellow-browed Warbler

Tuesday saw me up on Cissbury Ring for the annual pilgrimage to see the Ring Ouzels. It's always one of the most frustrating days of the year. The birds were in the large Yew tree as usual and you could see them flying in and out, but once in the tree they were completely hidden. Getting a picture is virtually impossible and this year I came away again with just a few out of focus shots of the birds through gaps in the branches. They seem to be a lot easier to photograph when they come through in the spring (see here) but of course a lot harder to find.

Perhaps I should be grateful though, at least the Yew tree is still there. It looked for a time as though the National Trust were going to cut it down. So much for National Park status and protecting the countryside.

Today, Thursday, had all the makings of another difficult day. I was over to Selsey to see if I could find the Yellow-browed Warbler that had been reported there. Armed with details of its location from the Seley blog it did not prove  too difficult to find. Getting a picture though, proved a lot harder. The bird was very mobile and very fast moving and after a couple of hours I did not really have anything to show for my efforts. Birders came and went, happy just to have seen the bird and got their tick, but I had to have a picture.

In the end the effort paid off but it was hard work

Yellow-browed Warbler

A quick walk around Church Norton found it unusually quiet so I decided on an early finish and spent the next hour sitting in traffic jams as the schools emptied out.