Water Pipit

We started the day at the leisurely hour of 0800 and headed west for Warblington, ostensibly for better shots of the Cattle Egrets but mostly because we missed the turning for Apuldram. Only one bird at home and away from the cattle. Our attempts to get close resulted in the bird relocating to the field beyond the cemetery - well out of range. A quick visit to the Nore stream revealed no waders in residence so we finally set off for Fishbourne creek and the reported Water Pipit. Having parked up at the church and passed the time of day with some local birders we headed off down the path, pausing only to record the Yellowhammers on the manure heap by the stable.

Bernie's report for the bird was spot on, there it was on the beach directly in front of the three white yachts - great year tick. However it wasn't too keen to pose for us as it was constantly defending its territory by driving away any Rock Pipits that had the temerity to come close.

 

By the sewage works we found a Grey Wagtail whose life was being made difficult by the ice on the frozen ditches.  We found three Common Snipe but unfortunately no sign of a Jack Snipe. The channel was full of birds but we studiously ignored them and returned to the Water Pipit for another go, this time a Rocky had held the ground for some time but finally succumbed to the protestations of the Water Pipit.

An odd looking Wren provided us with some excitement, a broad white crown present on its head. Further examination revealed that the patch was really only present on the port side- so not a Bewick's Wren after all.

On down the peninsular - nothing on Ferry Pool, I guess the road works and traffic control don't help, we eschewed a visit to Church Norton and made for the Bill. Nice to meet Owen  who was having a quiet lunch - until we arrived. With the square root of nothing out on the sea, we decided to pay WWT Arundel another visit - hopefully the Great White Egret would be showing again.

Sure enough we had great, if fairly distant, views of the exotic visitor - a Sussex tick for Martin. I had a GWE in exactly the same place in September 2014 - just a tad warmer then.

Not so elegant on the ice!

On round to the Ramsar hide where we had views of the GWE wandering round on top of the ice, my finger remained poised in the shutter release, it would have made a cracking shot if the bird had stuck its head through the ice. Plenty of Common Snipe about, some of them trying to feed in a narrow strip between the shore and the edge of the ice.

Life is difficult when the water is frozen.

Lots of Shelducks roosting here

On the way back to the restaurant for a pot of tea we were alerted to a Water Rail out in the open. Sod's Law - I had stowed the camera  away, I hastily removed it from the case and proceeded to take several frame-filling but totally out of focus shots. If the cold weather persists it might be worth another visit.

Kingfisher

It has been a steady start to the new birding year, plenty of birds to be seen, most at a good distance so the opportunities for a photograph have been slim - until yesterday. We started at Pagham North Wall where all the usual suspects were present, just in lower numbers than last week. We added Golden Plover to our slowly growing tick list. A trip to the other side proved almost as fruitless with just two Stock Doves being the outstanding species. Next up was Swanbourne Lake at Arundel in search of a couple of Mandarins - alas lower water levels meant that tree cover was well above the shoreline and we failed to locate the birds.  On up the hill above Offham Farm where we found the five Bewick's Swans out in the field. No sign of the Great White Egret on the river so we paid a visit to the WWT Wetland Centre. Most of the lakes had a thin covering of ice - just enough to prevent ducks falling through and of course putting Kingfisher feeding on hold. However, there were several small patches of open water and the Kingfishers were trying their best to find prey. One bird, adjacent to the path, had decided that human onlookers were less of a threat than starvation and gave stunning views to a host of onlookers.

 

 

Another bird at the "normal" distance.

The other inhabitants of the reserve were also feeling the effects of the freeze, particularly the Teal. Great to watch the surprise of one bird landing as it skidded across the ice.

Some record shots from our first trips out this year.

The 1st winter Scaup on Ivy Lake....

......a Curlew with a crab at Church Norton.....

 

 

....two of the eight  Cattle Egrets at Warblington, unfortunately a fair distance away....

 

 

and finally the Ring-necked Duck at Dungeness.

Don't mention the Stejneger's Stonechat

 

Arundel Osprey

We started another baking hot day up on the downs, just below Kithurst Hill, in search of the juvenile Pallid Harrier. Unfortunately, after two and a half hours we had seen virtually nothing, well that's not quite true as there were hundreds of immature Pheasants and Red-legged Partridges in the stubble fields before us. A single Buzzard was the only raptor seen so we decided on pastures new. The Red-backed Shrike on the north wall at Pagham was a likely candidate but as we set off we received a Tweet from Nick Bond informing the world of an Osprey perched in Offham Hanger above WWT Arundel.

Sure enough when we arrived it was sitting out as bold as brass, we grabbed the cameras and set off to get closer. On the way we met Nick who informed us that it couldn't be seen from the road  - not quite true as a few minutes later I found myself face to face with the bird. I don't know who was more surprised, me or the bird - we played peek-a-boo around a tree trunk and as I desperately tried to withdraw he decided to leave.  I felt a tad annoyed with myself that we didn't get a decent session on what was a great bird. At least I now know that you can get a view of that dead tree from the road.

 

 

 

 

 

"Action crop" - which is an excuse for not getting the subject in the centre of the frame.
At least it shows that the bird carried no rings.

We searched for the bird on the reserve with no result and constant scanning of the Hanger revealed only a flyby Peregrine -  next time I will be a little more careful.