Saturday 8th January - Winter Birding

The shock after being away somewhere warm is more stark with the lack of daylight as well as the drop in temperature. Commuting to London at this time of year means journeying in the dark both ways so I've hardly seen daylight since returning. The train was also full of sick people as was the office - oh help ! - I was at least going to get my UK birding list for the year off to a start today.

I headed out early (still dark !) down to Selsey Bill, getting there just after 8am, without a real plan for the day just thinking I'll visit a few sites. Overnight the rain had been heavy and very windy but the forecast was no rain and the winds to gradually drop. Spent a good couple of hours at Selsey hiding behind the wall in a  strong westerly. The birds were as follows. Slavonian Grebes 2 on sea and flying around, Red-necked Grebe 1W,  Brent Goose 7W, Red-breasted Merganser 32W, Gannet 22W, Common Scoter 1E, Razorbill 2W, Guillemot 1E, Auks sp 5, Red-throated Diver 7E, Eider 10W, Little Gull 1W, Kittiwake 2W, Rock Pipit 1 around beach with 2 Meadow Pipits and  Pied Wagtail after enough coffee time for a move.

On to Fishbourne Creek on a rising tide, a good number of common waders Dunlin, Redshank,  Knot, Grey Plover, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits, Snipe, Curlew and Ringed Plover. A rintail Hen Harrier was marshaling the far bank of  the creek. Several Goldeneye a few Wigeon, Pintail and a flock of Dark-bellied Brents flew into the channel, a group of Canada Geese had a single Greylag and a White-fronted Goose as companions. The wind however had picked up and skies had darkened, which made viewing difficult into the wind (both watery eyes and jiggly scope) so none of the more prized waders that seem to Winter here were picked out. After a banana, back round to Pagham spit, a scan of sea showed 3 Red-throated Divers a close Razorbill, 6 Common Scoter and a few Great Crested Grebes another Merganser flew up the channel. The tide was high and large wader numbers were congregating , but no new species. Several Med Gulls were around the spit and harbour (c20). The lagoon had 2 female Scaup with a single Pochard and Tufted Ducks (although they were all asleep). Large numbers of Brents were flying into the harbour much further down the North Wall, rather than wander in that direction I decided to head inland. A fleeting look at Drayton Pit added Shovelers and Gadwall to the day list. Then stopped at Rackham overlooking Amberley Brooks and found the flock of White-fronted Geese that have been wintering in the valley saw about 40 birds, but many of the 100 strong flock were out of view. Good numbers of Wigeon and Teal were present and this end of the Arun valley appears to have really come into its own this Winter with good numbers of wintering birds. Stopped briefly at Pulborough to get some bird food rather than see any birds then onto Burton Pond (It was now around 4pm). A superb Bittern was showing well through the scope just in front of the reed bed and put on an excellent performance for the next half hour before it flew into the reeds. So a good dose of daylight and 87 birds at a relaxed pace .