Semipalmated Sandpiper

Over the weekend there had been lots of reports and also a few good pictures, of a Semipalmated Sandpiper on Oxey Lagoon, Pennington. Monday dawned fine and clear so I decided to make the journey. This is a site I have visited a few times in the past but it is really at the edge of my day birding area. It's a pity that it is so far, as there are always a good selection of birds to see there.

It wasn't difficult to find. I parked up and walked a mile or so along the coast path and soon saw a gathering of three or four people standing overlooking the lagoon. I had expected more, it's quite a rare bird, a life tick for me, and there had been some discussion over the possibility of it being a much rarer Western Sandpiper.

There wasn't a great deal to do. It didn't seem fazed by our presence and I watched it feeding for about half an hour taking a few snaps as it moved around.

Eventually it hauled out under the bank, spent a few minutes preening and then settled down for a siesta. A good time for me to move on. 

As for the issue of Western or Semipalmated - I am no expert and the bill does look a bit long for a Semipalmated but everything else seems to support this conclusion. Colour, straight stout bill, breast markings, etc, but it is a difficult call. They are very similar species and I have no experience of the variations within each. This is one where I will have to be guided by more experienced eyes.

I picked up a Long-tailed Duck on one of the other lagoons

and there were probably seven or eight Spotted Redshanks about but none of them were giving good picture opportunities.


There were probably other things to see around Pennington Marsh but this time of year daylight hours are short and the hours for photography are even shorter. I wanted to call in at Eyeworth pond on the way home to see if there were any Mandarins at home. The ones on my local pond back in Sussex have gone AWOL this year, or at least they have on the occasions I have gone looking for them.


I was pleased to find that there were Mandarins on Eyeworth although they were keeping their distance and sheltering under the bushes on the opposite side of the pond for most of the time I watched them. There was also a Goosander

and a wonderful Muscovy Duck that came rushing over to see one lady who then proceeded to feed it from a dog bowl full of seed.

Possibly an escapee or just a bird that has learnt how to get an easy meal but it needs to take care or it could end up on someones Christmas table.

By now the light was going so I headed back to the car and off back to Sussex.

Snow Bunting

It looked promising today, the wind had dropped, the sun was breaking through and there was no rain in the forecast. The target was the Snow Bunting at Medmerry and it was good to get out, into some decent weather for taking photographs.

But perhaps not that decent. About a hundred metres from home and I was in thick fog that stretched all the way along the coast to Chichester and down to Selsey. Still I was out and I needed the fresh air so there was no point in turning back. Parking up at Selsey, if anything, the visibility had closed in even further. However, the walk to the Medmerry Breach would be good exercise particularly as most of it was on shingle.

The highlight of the walk was a flock of about forty Ringed Plovers hunkered down on the beach. I had no idea they were there and it was quite a shock when they spotted me and half the beach seemed to lift into the air. They did one quick circuit allowing me to make a quick count but then disappeared westward probably to the Stilt Pool on the other side of the breach.

The breach itself was really spectacular. It was the first time I had seen it with a real high tide running and with the fog making it impossible to see the other side the warnings not to attempt a crossing really carried some weight.

Sitting on the rocks eating my sandwiches the sun started to make itself felt and the fog gradually began to clear. Soft bright light opening up the view and there was the Snow Bunting sitting on the fence of the last caravan.

It was perhaps more wary than some Snow Buntings that I have photographed but as long as you moved slowly it showed little inclination to flight.

I did lose it at one stage when a gardener complete with strimmer appeared and put it to flight but as he moved on the bird soon reappeared and started searching the grassed areas for seeds. I watched it for a while and then had a second chance to photograph it on the fence.

It was good to get it isolated from its background. Most times you see Snow Buntings they are on shingle and their colours tend to blend into the background.

I searched for Black Redstarts but did not see any and with rain threatening I headed back to the car. Half an hour finishing of my lunch, in the car park at the Bill, gave me a few Turnstones but with the rain setting in I headed for home.

I was lucky, it didn't last for long but this was my best lighting and best picture opportunity for months.

Great Bustard

I had left it a few days but in the end I had to go to see the Great Bustard. It had been reported over at Rookery Hill, on the downs just outside of Bishopstone. The bird, which is showing a red ring with the number 92, is a juvenile female and part of the Salisbury Plain re-introduction program. However, you cannot see that from my pictures. As well as being knee deep in Kale it is over 300 metres away. I would have liked to have got closer but there is no point in upsetting the farmer.

Apparently she did fly in from Spain, back in May, but  that was in the form of an egg. She was hatched and then released in August, to join the rest of the reintroduced population. Why it is now in temporary residence in Sussex and what it will do next is still unclear.

I guess I will have to wait a few more years to see a British born Great Bustard but it was well worth going to see. A great bird even if it is half tame.


The best of the rest from a few trips out around Selsey and Pagham Harbour and up onto the Downs. Starting with one of the many Black Redstarts that have been appearing locally.

Black Redstart

Cattle Egret

Chiffchaff

Singing competition

Stonechat

Wren

Nothing unusual but it is at least nice to see a few birds. Is it just me or are they getting very thin on the ground? Some of the once reliable places I visit now seem to be completely devoid of birds.

Grey Phalarope

It has been a frustrating autumn migration, made even worse by the reports of good birds from around the country. I really don't understand what the birds have against coming to visit us in Sussex. I have spent hours walking the local birding spots looking for a rarity, have stalked many promising looking birds only to discover Chiffchaffs, Reed Buntings, Goldfinches, etc. and have generally started to sink into a state of despair over birding the local patch. I don't think I have taken a single decent picture since the Eastern Olivacious Warbler back in mid September.

Today I decided to change my luck. A Snow Bunting at Shoreham Fort and a Grey Phalarope at the Cuckmere were bankers. Both appearing to be in residence for a few days, both species loyal to a small patch so making them easy to find, and both easy to approach giving the promise of some decent photographs.

It was going to be a good day, except it didn't start too well, the Snow Bunting had gone AWOL. Undaunted I moved on to the Seven Sisters Country Park and headed off down the footpath to the Phalaropes location. On the way I spoke to one kind lady who told me that there was a police car down there with the occupants flying a drone out along the cliffs and that the drone had flushed the Phalarope. It didn't look good.

The valley looked great with the meanders and the flood plain mostly under water but on arriving at the target location there was no sign of the bird. I stood on the path scanning the area for about ten minutes just hoping I would see it flying back in but with no sign of it I decided to move on. Fortunately Alan Kitson, walking in from the opposite direction,  kindly pointed out that the Phalorope was feeding under the bank less than three metres from where I was standing. All credit to Alan, he even managed to keep a straight face whilst he was telling me!

What a great bird to see and to photograph. It paid no attention to me, to the people walking by, or to the police car passing close to it. Its sole interest seemed to be the task of clearing the Cuckmere of flies which it was picking up off the weed covered surface of the pool.

A great bird to see, easy to photograph, although strangely difficult to get a good photograph. Dull lighting and a grey bird against a grey background don't make for the best  of photographic opportunities.

Only usually seen in the UK when on migration and in this dull grey plumage the bird is known outside of Europe as a Red Phalarope due to its bold red breeding plumage. Migration from the arctic breeding grounds is usually down the western coast of the UK to the Atlantic Ocean where it winters off the coast of Africa and South America. Recent storms have probably driven this one inland where it is topping up on supplies before it completes the rest of its migration.

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler

I don't do twitches - but when I do, I particularly dislike twitching "little brown jobs". Birding for me is about spending time with the birds, observing and connecting with them and hopefully leaving with a good record shot or on very rare occasions a quality picture of the bird. A warbler twitch is definitely not the place to be.

Then why did I go to Farlington to see the Eastern Olivaceous Warbler? It is a rare bird, it would be a life tick and it was on what I consider to be my larger birding patch but equally I knew that I wouldn't like it. I called Dave up to see if he wanted to go but he refused to have anything to do with it. A man of principles!

What's worse is that it was a Sunday and parking at Farlington Marsh would be a nightmare. I got out of that one by parking just along the coast at Broadmarsh and walking the mile and a half to the twitch. The walk in was great with Spotted Flycatchers, Whinchats, and various other birds on show but I didn't stop to photograph them for fear of missing the target bird.

I did get to see it, two or three times, probably for a total of thirty seconds in a two hour and a half hour watch, but did I really see it? I was actually too busy getting the camera onto the bird and in focus to really spend time looking at it.

The twitch was exactly what I expected and I didn't enjoy it. I don't blame anyone. It's a free country and the bird does not belong to anyone other than perhaps the finder. I am fortunate in being able to stand off with a large lens and still get my picture, as are the expensive scope brigade but other less fortunate people still want to see the bird. Some people do get too close but then who am I to set the rules.

What else was around? Well, I didn't get to see any Bearded Tits and on the walk out, the Spotted Flycatchers and Whinchats had all disappeared. Disappointing day? Not really, that evening I did enjoy adding a tick to the life list that I don't like to admit to keeping!

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And that should have been an end to the blog.........

.....except three days later and the bird is still there. My record shot above is poor, numbers at the twitch will have dropped, the weather is nice, and even Dave is now interested. So back we go and I am really glad we did. On Sunday, with all the crowds around, the bird was playing hard to get and I ended up with three record shots from about two and a half hours watching. Today it was showing a little better and I had five hundred plus shots from about an hours watching. 

Admittedly most of the shots are poor, being out of focus or with the bird partialy in cover, but there are a couple of decent ones in amongst them. More importantly I had time to study the bird today. The tail pumping is very distinct and it seems to have a different hunting style to other warblers. If I ever come across another one I think I would now have a good chance of recognising it.

Below are some of today's shots. A slightly better result than the picture above!

If only all little brown jobs showed as well as this.