Red-throated Diver

I had great views of the Red-throated Diver at Arlington today. Winter plumage of course, so no red throat at the moment but still a great bird to photograph. I had about fifteen minutes with the bird all to myself, until a dog walker turned up and walked too close, resulting in the diver heading out towards the centre of the reservoir, out of range of the camera (and the dog).

heading off out of range

A great set of pictures but what to do next. There was a big flock of Redwing in the fields south of the Reservoir but they were all a bit distant.

Redwing

So I decided to try the Black Redstart at Tidemills again. It was there but if anything it was even more distant than last time I tried. There is a lot of building work going on in the fenced off compund so the Black Redstart was out in the reptile translocation area most of the time. You can get good telescope views but it is really out of range of the camera and to get a shot you are photographing into the sun. 

I would not normally have bothered with these pictures but there is one new development, it looks as though there is now a female in the area. She seemed interested but I think he needs a bit more encouragement.

Male - keeping his distance

Female - with the male out of focus in the background

I would really like to get a picture of this male but he is proving to be hard work.

Out of interest is anyone aware of what is happening with the reptile translocation area? Have any reptiles been translocated or is this just a cover to support the expansion of the east docks. I would have thought that the two areas were quite different environments?

I finished off the day at Newhaven west. I could not find the Iceland Gull that had been reported there but that may just be a reflection of my gull identification skills. It was worth the visit though just to see the Fulmars setting up their nests on the cliffs.

Fulmars always look like devoted couples.

but aggressive in defending their nest sites

A friendly Turnstone on East Pier - probably use to being fed by the fishermen

A good days birding with some decent photographs to show for it but I have dipped on getting a decent photograph of the Black Redstart yet again.

Firecrest

Today it was a choice between the Red-throated Diver at Arlington Reservoir and a return trip to Arundel Wetland Trust for another go at the Firecrest. Both were tempting but having failed to secure a decent picture of the Firecrest yesterday, and in fact having failed to get a decent picture of one ever since I started birding, it had to take top priority.

After two hours with hardly a sighting of any birds it was beginning to look like a bad decision. I was bored and hungry and really needed a bacon sandwich. I would have gone but Dave kept winding me up about the bird turning up as soon as I left. It was just as well that he did because that is exactly what would have happened.

Fortunately I hung on and with a Goldcrest and then a Firecrest arriving in quick succession all thought of eating disappeared.

Photographing the Firecrest was hard work. They are very fast moving and you rarely get clear views of them. By the time the camera has focused on them they have usually moved on and you are left with a shot of an empty perch or the back end of the bird as it disappears out of the picture.

This time we were lucky, the bird stayed in the area for a decent length of time. I had an awful lot of failures but in the end weight of numbers told and I ended up with a few good shots.

Am I satisfied, no not really. The background of most of the pictures is very messy. I didn't get a shot of the bird with its crest up, and all my flight shots were blurred. However, as Dave always says, they are a lot better than the pictures I had this morning.

Little Owl

My blogs seems to have been mostly about Owls of late but then who could resist the opportunity to photograph this pair of Little Owls? Dave certainly couldn't and you will see an almost identical set of pictures on his blog. All except for the Firecrest that is and I will get on to that later.

This now looks like a possible nesting pair so forgive me but I am not going to publish any details of their whereabouts.


Later we went to Chichester Gravel Pits to look for the Red-crested Pochard. They were there, on Ivy Lake, but staying well hidden under overhanging willows on the far side of the lake. My thanks to Sarah for putting us onto them, I don't think that we would have found them without her assistance.

With a White-fronted Goose on East Lake, the area became a bit like a birding reunion, with a lot of old faces and a newly shorn Bart Ives (not looking quite so Organic now) turning up to view the birds.

White-fronted Goose

The Great Crested Grebes seem to have suddenly developed their breeding plumage. This is a bird that we tend to ignore for most of the year and then, with a chance of seeing a Weed Dance, they become the centre of attention for a short period. These two looked as though they would kick off but then seemed to loose interest and drifted away.

Great Crested Grebes

Great Crested Grebes

We then decided to head over to Arundel and visit the Wetland Centre. I still haven't managed to get a decent picture of a Firecrest and this is one of the most reliable places for seeing them. There was a great looking bird feeding around some of the brambles with probably half a dozen or more photographers trying to get a picture of it. 

Checking later, Trevor Guy, who we met there, and Dave seemed to have nailed it as probably did everyone else apart from me. Checking the back of the camera showed a lot of empty perches and blurred shots. The best I could manage was this head shot below. Better than nothing but not really the picture I was after.

Firecrest

I suppose I shouldn't be too despondent, at least it's the head, I usually just get the rear end as it flies out of the picture.


One last shot. This is the Ashdown Forest Great Grey Shrike that I saw a couple of days ago. It was about a hundred metres west of the Long car park but very mobile. There were a lot of people and dogs walking in the area and it was avoiding these. You could probably get it down to about forty metres but any closer and it would fly.

If you want to see pictures of a much more obliging bird have a look at my November 2013 blog.

Ashdown Forest Great Grey Shrike

Another great day for bird photography but there was a definite heat haze building this afternoon despite the chill in the air. That window of optimum lighting and clear air is all to brief.

Short-eared Owl Revisited

Whilst we were taking pictures of the Short-eared Owl yesterday Dave thought he caught a glimpse of a Great Grey Shrike. We were unable to confirm the sighting but a couple of birders we spoke to later had also seen it. Today I was passing through Arundel and with a bit of time to spare I thought I would go and have another look.

Despite a good search there was no sign of the Shrike but I did come across a Short-eared Owl perched up on a post by the railway. A second great opportunity in two days. I did feel a bit guilty as there was a sizeable group of people down by the wooden bridges waiting for an owl to appear, but I soon got over it.

An unexpected find - searching for food from a post

Food is the first priority

Checking me out to make sure that I was not a threat

Note that in the shot above, with half the face in shadow, the pupils are a different size. The problem is that when you manoeuvre around to get the whole of the face into sunlight, the light is too bright for the owl and it keeps its eyes half closed. Not only do you need the perfect opportunity but you also need a day with high thin cloud to give a nice soft diffuse lighting. Then of course your speed will be too low and you will get a blurred shot. The joys of bird photography in the UK.

This bird had very contrasting plumage with pale buff white and heavy dark streaking. It is probably the first bird seen yesterday, the second one being a less contrasty rufous colour.

Stay outside the birds threat zone and when you go make sure that it is left peaceful and undisturbed.

It looks happy enough but I guess it was still listening out for any noise that I made just in case I become a threat. I tiptoed away with out disturbing it, only for a train to come thundering through less than ten foot away from it. Even then it seemed reluctant to take to the air.

Short-eared Owl

Another lovely day for bird photography but initially very little to photograph. Fortunately it all came good at the end of the day.

We had started off at Warnham LNR hoping to see Redpolls and the Brambling that had been reported there over the weekend. Neither showed and we were left with a couple of Siskin and the usual range of birds on the feeders. The highlight was probably this Bank Vole putting in an occasional and very fleeting appearance.

Bank Vole

And a quick visit from a Jay.

Jay

With Reed Buntings making up the numbers.

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting

We moved on to Pulborough Brooks which proved to be a slight improvement. We saw Bullfinches and Ruff but the former were feeding deep within a hedge and the later were too far away for a picture. A pity really, as one of the Ruff looked to be showing a white collar, perhaps the start of its display plumage.

There were also Fieldfare and Redwing feeding in the fields but I only had this one picture opportunity.

Redwing

We decided to finish the day at Waltham Brooks looking for Owls. As it turned out, it was a good decision. There was no Barn Owl but we did have two Short-eared Owl quartering the brooks. The pictures never really do justice to the magic of seeing the owls but it is still nice to get them.

Short-eared Owl

The second Short-eared Owl

The lighting is different in these two pictures but the wing markings suggest that these are two different birds. The first bird showing much more contrast in its plumage whilst the second is the more usual rufous colouration.

Eventually one of the birds settled in a tree about one hundred and fifty metres away and seemed content to stay there a while.

Too good a chance to miss

Having made sure that none of the other birders present objected I decided to try to get a little closer. Yet another photographer trying to spook the bird I hear you say. Well I did get a lot closer and I did get some good pictures but when I backed off the bird was still sitting in its tree looking quite relaxed. The birders were probably more upset as they would have liked to see it flying again.

The sad thing is that I have delete around a hundred pictures that are arguably just as good as the ones above.