The week has passed without incidence - snuck in another birthday yesterday - yes mine ! - have definitely stopped counting - a lovely meal out with Sal and the girls last night was more than sufficient reminder.
On Monday I managed another half day birding, again without much planning did a similar route to Saturday - It was a pretty grey day and not more than 5c, I started at West Wittering, where Snowhill Marsh held 2
Spotted Redshank,
Greenshank, Little Egret and a count of
65 Snipe - but no sign of a Jack Snipe, the tide was low and there was nothing in the dunes and the channel had a single female
Scaup and
c20 Red-breasted Mergansers. Fishbourne Creek again on a rising tide was full of birds, I managed to pick out a
Black Brant amongst the flock of
Dark-bellied Brent Geese and a
Spotted Redshank was visible. The
Black-tailed Godwit numbers seemed to have increased again since the weekend in excess of 500 - but no Jack Snipe. I headed inland to West Dean and quickly saw
Lesser Redpoll, a male
Firecrest followed by
2 Ravens. The Little Owl tree was empty and the big finch flock around Staple Ash Farm held
Chaffinches, Greenfinches and
House Sparrows only. I then entered gun territory and was constantly dodging trailer loads of tweed-coated shooters - not that our paths actually crossed but just made birding uncomfortable with the constant sound of gunfire - so headed back to the car without a Bambling or Hawfinch but as consolation a
Red Kite that took flight from a tree in the woods was a satisfactory end to the afternoon.
Today (Friday) was bright and sunny but deceptively cold - at most 1c but bitter in the wind. I've been making sure the bird feeders have been topped up this week in advance of the RSPB big garden Birdwatch this weekend - an annual tradition The bird species tend to be pretty constant at this time of year and looking back at last years' list I recorded both Bullfinch,Yellowhammer and Redwing on the 31st Jan, the former 2 I haven't seen at all around the house this year so comparisons will be interesting.
I managed a brief walk in the woods this afternoon and saw
Buzzard (3), Sparrowhawk (1), Tufted Duck (1), Coot (2), Moorhen (2), Mallard, Great-Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Lesser Redpoll (10), Siskin (4), Bullfinch (1), Fieldfare (1), Great Tit, Blue Tit, Marsh Tit. Photo's recently have been a bit tricky - not least because of the lack of light but also I just seem to be getting camera to bird too late ? ! - maybe another Winter ailment - so a few rubbish pics below are probably better than none at all.
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| Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Wigeon, Brent Goose and a Black Brant (back left) - Fishbourne Creek |
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| Black Brant (top bird) with Dark bellied Brents. |
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| Not dust specks on my lens - 2 Ravens West Dean woods. |
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| Male Siskin with Greenfinch / Goldfinch crowd in Garden |
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