Greenshank and Green Sandpiper

 

A trip along the coast to Pagham Harbour and Medmerry delivered some good birds. Pride of place goes to the Greenshank, always the most elegant of birds. This one on the Stilt Pool.

There were also Avocets on the pool and a Black Redstart on the rocks at the breech, neither of which were within camera range. Fortunately there were also three Black Redstarts by the windmill on the eastern side of the breech. Also, just inside the breech, a Purple Sandpiper on the shore with a flock of Ringed Plover . Good scope views but again too far away for a picture.

Moving round to Selsey the Green Sandpiper was showing well in the roadside pool close to the Ferry Pool......

......with a Spotted Redshank in the Ferry Channel.

Not many smaller birds around, just brief sightings of a couple of Dartford Warblers and a Cetti's heard but not seen. The usual birds around the feeders at the RSPB visitors Centre and another Long-tailed Tit posing for its picture to be taken.

Dartford Warbler

 

It is always good to see an unusual bird turn up close to home and a Dartford Warbler within walking distance, in a local park, was an opportunity not to be missed. 

The location Brooklands was unexpected. It is a run down recreation park and small lake on the seafront in Worthing although in fairness it is in the process of being converted into more of a nature park. An "outdoor interactive classroom and science learning resource" I think they will be calling it.

There is a small area of rough grass and low vegetation close to the lake that has attracted a couple of Stonechats and a Dartford Warbler. There is not much cover and there are a lot of dogs about but the birds seem quite happy in the area.

The birds displayed typical behaviour with the warbler following the Stonechats, staying low in the undergrowth and feeding low and on the ground, whilst the Stonechat stays high and prefers to perch on top of the undergrowth. It is typical of behaviour seen on the commons in the north of the county and is often the easiest way to find a Dartford Warbler.

The arrangement seems a bit one sided in favour of the warbler. It has the Stonechats providing an early warning system and alarm calls for any dangers and it has longer to forage for food as the Stonechats probably locate good foraging areas for it as well as providing a level of cover. I cannot see any advantage for the Stonechat and there must be an impact on their foraging from loss of food to the warbler.

There doesn't seem to be any attempt by the Stonechats to drive the warbler away although they do seem to move on a bit more rapidly when they have a Dartford Warbler in attendance.

As you would expect I took a lot more pictures but Dartford Warblers are not the easiest of birds when it comes to getting good images. They prefer staying in cover and it is difficult getting them in focus.

January has drawn to an end and it seems to have deliver a lot of rain but there were also some good birding days towards the end of the month. The highlight must be the Sabine's Gull which will probably also be the highlight of the year. I did go back for another look but I couldn't really improve on the pictures I had.

Sabine's Gull

Sabine's Gull

Other observations on the month - more Firecrests and Bullfinches than I usually see in a year.

Bullfinch - a female this time and easily a match for the more showy male.

Firecrest

More Wrens than usual but no Yellowhammers or Siskins and I only found a Corn Bunting on the last day of the month.

Wren

Corn Bunting

And who can resist a Long-tailed Tit.

Long-tailed Tit

Sabine's Gull

 

It has probably been eleven years since I missed seeing a Sabine's Gull that was present on the Brighton seafront. I think it was only there for a day but the memory of having missed it, has been there in the back of my mind ever since. Then a report of one just over the border in Hampshire, a couple of days ago, gave an opportunity to purge the failure from my memory.

Fortunately I spotted the report whilst checking e-mails at six in the morning, just after getting up  to make an early morning cup of tea. By seven thirty I was standing on the sea wall at Southmoor Nature Reserve in Langstone Harbour waiting for the sun to come up.

It didn't look promising, it was cold and dark with the wind was gusting towards gale force and there were a lot of gulls in the area. Spotting one gull, amongst the hundreds in the reserve and on the sea, was proving difficult particularly with the scope moving about in the wind.

My luck was in though, the sun came out and one of the birders that turned up had seen it the day before and knew its favourite feeding area. Sure enough within a few minutes it made an appearance and started giving good views as it was dip feeding in the shallow water.

Even better it was a full adult in summer plumage with dark grey hood and yellow tipped bill so no problems with the identification.

Fortunately the bird was feeding in the pools inside the reserve so standing on the sea wall you had the sun behind you, although this then gave problems with high contrast levels.  So not perfect but certainly a lot better than the usual South Coast problem of having to photograph out to sea into a low winter sun.

I watched for about an hour hoping to get a picture of the distinctive upper wing pattern but it proved difficult to see.

The number of birders gradually increased with one of the photographers eventually stepping over the fence into the reserve to get a closer view. He was on his own for a time but the the second crossed the fence, then a third and in a short time most of the twitch was in the reserve on the edge of the pool.

To be fair the bird did not seem to be spooked in the time I watched but it did move further away. For new people turning up there was little choice. The view from the sea wall was obstructed by all the people in the reserve and to see the bird they all had to join the throng. Sad really, does anyone read the birdwatchers code these days, birding etiquette seems to have gone out of the window.

Fortunately I had seen enough and made my way back to the car. If the bird is still around in a few days time I might go back. There is always a better picture to be had.

A new Birding Year

 

In some ways 2022 was a disappointing year for bird watching, with only 160 different species seen in the UK. Looking back a few years the count could reach as high as 240. That is a significantly bigger number but then that did always include a weeks winter birding in Scotland and perhaps a willingness to travel further to see the birds.

This year I am determined to do better, if only by a modest degree, so I have set my target as 161. Something to aim for if I am ever lacking the motivation to get out into the countryside.

I can usually get the list off to a good start by spending an hour or so birding the back garden but this year has been a disaster. In a weeks garden birding I have recorded Herring Gull, Crow, Starling and Magpie, with the only small bird being two Blue Tits on the feeders. None of the Sparrows, Dunnocks, Thrushes, Great Tits, Green or Gold Finches or other occasional visitors that I was getting before Christmas. Even our garden Robin has gone AWOL. The Big Garden Birdwatch is going to be a bit of a let down this year.

Fortunately a trip down to Pagham Harbour got the numbers moving with thousands of ducks, waders and geese across the harbour. A really spectacular site when they all took to the air at once. A Peregrine or Sparrow Hawk would have been nice but it was only a light aircraft skimming the reserve.

As usual the waders were too distant for any decent pictures but the Snow Bunting was still present and in the same spot where I had seen it two months ago. By now it must be one of the most photographed birds in the country.

Snow Bunting

Snow Bunting

There were two female Goldeneye, one in the harbour and the other on the Lagoon and a Slavonian Grebe also out in the middle of the harbour.

Goldeneye

The Slavonian Grebe was a bit distant but still worth recording.

Slavonian Grebe

It was good to get the bird list moving a bit faster. The only wader I think I missed was the Whimbrel that has overwintered for the past few years. I must check to see if it is still with us. A couple of life ticks in the local area or perhaps a few Waxwings would be a good next step.

Pagham Snow Bunting

 

Whilst not a common bird Snow Buntings usually turn up somewhere local on the Sussex coast every year. If I am lucky it is within walking distance of home with Goring beach being a regular location. This year, with November drawing to a close and no local sightings, I had to travel down to Pagham Harbour for my year tick.

Snow Bunting

The Snow Bunting had been in the area for nearly two weeks and had been reported regularly so finding it should not have been so difficult. However, the bird is well camouflaged and can be difficult to locate when on its usual foraging area on the pebbles along the tide line. With most birds you would expect to flush them if you walk too close but with the Snow Bunting you usually have to be close enough to tread on it before it will move.

Snow Bunting

I searched the tideline along the spit a couple of times but could not locate it, so thinking it may have relocated to a different area over high tide, I decided to come back later. Fortunately on the way back to the car I met up with "Pagham Birder" who seemed mystified by my inability to find the Snow Bunting. We returned to the harbour wall where he quickly located it in its usual spot. 

My thanks to Trevor for the help but it's always a bit easier when you know where the usual spot is!

Snow Bunting

After a vey quiet autumn it was great to see the harbour starting to fill up with birds. Duck numbers where building nicely, with Brent Geese starting to arrive and flocks of waders circling around the harbour.

Particularly impressive where some large flocks of Knot roosting out on the shingle bars and harbour islands.

Knot

They were even more impressive in flight but it is always difficult to capture the scale and effect of the swirling flock in a still picture.

Knot

There were plenty of Stonechats along the spit but it was sad to see that the little lagoon had been eliminated by tidal movements and that the trees and bushes used for nesting by the linnet flock were now underwater.

Stonechat

There were Mergansers and a Slavonian Grebe in the harbour but having left the scope in the car I did not get to see them. 

Also interesting was a Sandwich Tern fishing in the harbour. It was probably a lot easier than attempting to find food on the rough sea beyond the spit. Its attempts proved successful and the shot below shows it flying off with a rather large fish.

Sandwich Tern

To finish, two of pictures of a Black-necked Grebe resident  for a short period  at the beginning of October on the lake at Brooklands Park. It is good to see that recent improvements there are turning it into a more promising area for nature.

Lets hope the Grebe is a sign of better things to come.