Sunday 20th January - More of the same

.. and that means more snow, throughout the day on Sunday although, it really just topped up what had been around on Friday, so we didn't venture too far from the house all day  just took a few more pictures,  although at one point I did clean the window !.

There were 17 Blackbirds on the ground around the feeders early in the morning with 3 Fieldfare still and 2 Song Thrushes and a small flock of 8 Redwing flew over at dusk. A male Brambling reappeared for an hour or so, although no sign of the Marsh Tit, the Chaffinch flock was counted at 28 birds.

I had been saying only a few weeks ago that this part of West Sussex, right down to the coast had been void of Winter thrushes, but this cold snap has brought thousands in to the area with Fieldfares especially being reported everywhere in large numbers, particular on the coast.

A hungry fluffy Fieldfare

Nuthatch

Fit for a Christmas scene - but too late this Robin was actually showing signs of Spring randiness.

Song Thrush joined in the Thrush Revolution.

Sal and I spied this Roe Deer hidden in the undergrowth.

Male Brambling was a brief visitor

Saturday 20th January - remaining White

A little more overnight snow and freezing temperatures, meant there was a healthy covering this morning. The animal tracks were plentiful, with Badger and Deers being the most obvious but also Fox and Rat. We managed to get the car exchanged in Bognor, with the main roads being clear enough.

There was a similar bird roll call to yesterday, although no Brambling but the Marsh tit still made an appearance, 3 Fieldfares stole the show under the bird table and up to 12 Blackbirds and Song Thrush  making a very thrushy scene. Late in the afternoon the cacophony made by the Blackbirds led me to a Tawny Owl quite high in one of the conifers.

Fieldfare

One of three Fieldfare under the bird table.

Badger tracks

Friday 18th January - Snow !

It was forecast and they got it right - we had a dusting Monday morning and then a dusting last night but by 6am this morning  it was in full flow and has been snowing all day -there is now a consistent depth of between 5 and 6 inches everywhere. The trains had already put emergency procedures in place yesterday so there was no way I was attempting the commute - the girls went up to school but quickly returned after about 30 minutes when it was clear conditions were going to continue and get worse - so they had a day sledging and building stuff in the snow.

I had been home early on Tuesday when in some late afternoon sunshine I  was surprised to see a Marsh Tit on the bird table, the first one I'd seen for at least a year and very pleasing because they are a bird with a decreasing population and were more common a few miles further East when I was at Greyhound and I'd only seen one briefly a few times since moving here.

The birds took a while to arrive in the snowy conditions this morning but over the course of the day from the kitchen window I managed to see 1 Marsh Tit, 1 Bullfinch, 1 male Brambling, 20 Chaffinches, 2 Goldfinch, 1 Siskin, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Nuthatch, 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Redwing, 10 Blackbird, 2 Dunnock, 2 Robin, Woodpigeon, Pheasant, Stock Dove, Starling, Jackdaw, Magpie, Jay.

all the pictures below were at home this week, the first few were in the sunny late afternoon on Tuesday - the rest today in increasing snow.

Marsh Tit on bird table (thru grubby kitchen window)

The domestic flock in Winter sunshine on Tuesday

Looking back to house from end field.

Wren outside kitchen

From back door early Friday

From front door early Friday

Brambling (from grubby kitchen window)

The poultry pen in the snow

between the 2 barns

House from the end field

A snowy barn

A female Blackbird - with a very light variation of plumage - it made me look twice !

Another bit of snow

Sunday 13th January - A bit of Sea

Saturday was taken up with cars. We've been pondering what to do with the car for a while and keep putting off making a decision, but the repair bills keep going up and have started to arrive more frequently. So the latest incident made our mind up and we've sorted out a change of car for next weekend, the weather on Saturday was truly dreadful in addition to a sharp drop in temperatures,  the south coast suffered another deluge.

Without a better plan I headed for Selsey first thing on Sunday morning , my start of the year sea-watch had only yielded a Red-throated Diver and all 3 species had been reported continuously over the last couple of weeks as well as Velvet Scoters, at least I thought I had a chance of picking up one of these.

Arriving early, 4 other regulars were on site. It was bitterly cold and the wind was slightly NE, which although not the best for pushing seabirds nearer the coast it meant there was a bit of shelter underneath the sea wall.

2 Great Northern Divers were fairly close on the sea and a further 2 flew in later on and at least 2 Red-throated Divers did the same, 4 further Diver sp were seen at a greater distance heading either E or W but not fully ID'd, although none came close to resembling the missing Black-throated.

2 Slavonian Gebes were seen in flight. Several Red-breasted Mergansers and only c20 Common Scoters of the previously large flock were on the sea, joined temporarily by 5 Wigeon. A Sanderling dropped onto the beach with the 15 Turnstone and a Curlew and 2 Bar-tailed Godwits headed inland.

4 Med Gulls were on the tideline and a small number of Gannets and Kittiwakes passed at a distance. A few small groups of Brent Geese had passed by in an Easterly direction, perhaps up to 60, when another group of 9 were heading East quite close, the shout went up 'RED-BREASTED GOOSE' and sure enough the third bird in line was a Red-breasted Goose, the group eventually disappeared around the headland but were hugging the coastline so the call was put to alert those around Pagham to keep an eye out in case they entered the harbour. Half an hour later a flock of 15 Brents were heading back West and there it was again (obviously changed it's mind as to where they were heading). It was surprising how structurally in flight the bird appeared larger than the accompanying Brents.
 So an unexpected rarity, which although being recorded less than annually in Sussex, it had never been recorded at Selsey before. There has been one wintering with the large Brent flocks just across the border in Hampshire, which is presumably this bird. Always more satisfying when something unexpected happens like this.

I headed home a little later than expected, Around the house, birds were a little thin on the ground, despite the harsher weather there were less birds around the feeders than a week ago with only a small number of Great, Blue and Coal Tits, 3 Goldfinch and the same of Siskin, and only 6 Chaffinches, although 4 Long-tailed Tits and 2 Jays were the first I'd seen this year. Outside a constant procession of Black-headed and Common Gulls were passing over in a NW direction, which is more unusual as Gulls are generally absent from this area.

Saturday 5th January - Misty Mornings

At least the heavy rain has temporarily abated. I headed out early again although was worried about the misty conditions with a constant drizzle (the stuff that makes you really wet).
I went to East Head, West Wittering, a place you have to get to before the hoards of hounds arrive, despite this being  National Trust owned, it is the largest dog toilet in Sussex where, for some reason, dog owners arrive with packs of canines but without the normal pooh catching kit that is now mandatory in public parks. So birding, can involve being sniffed and barked at as well as inadvertently standing in a steaming dog turd. Just makes me a bit grumpy !

However my problem this morning was that I couldn't see into the channel when I arrived due to the low mist and mizzle, but I persevered and walked out to the head through the dunes. The boggy area in the middle of the dunes is often a good winter haunt for Jack Snipe, but I only managed to flush a Common Snipe from one of the bogs and other than a Meadow Pipit and a Reed Bunting the dunes were void of life.

I viewed the channel from the Head, finding lots of Great Crested Grebes and Red-breasted Mergansers, then a group of 3 Slavonian Grebes and eventually a single Black-necked Grebe, but no sign of the red-necked that had been reported the previous few days. There was a constant procession of Brent Geese flying over and distant wader flocks commuting to Pilsey Island. on the walk back, a small flock of Linnets, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks held 1 Rock Pipit and an Eider was in the mouth of the channel.

I walked up to Snowhill Marsh, which was covered in Wigeon, Teal and Lapwing, and large numbers of Common Snipe and a small group of Black-tailed Godwit, eventually I found 1 Spotted Redshank at the back of the marsh. Given it's location and generally favourable wading water levels it always looks good to me for finding a rare wader - but I'm not sure it has ever had any rarities recorded - maybe it's just underwatched.

I moved onto West Dean woods but middle of the day shooting parties and bird scarers were exploding everywhere, a few Marsh Tits, Bullfinches and a single Raven left me a little frustrated with my mornings efforts and I thought whether I should head home, but no, I drove cross-country to Amberley and again stopped at the viewpoint from the village over the flood. A Peregrine had flown over the car just as I passed the station. The wildfowl numbers had considerably increased since New Years Day and certainly gave a spectacular sight, and it wasn't long until I found the first group of 10 Bewick Swans, a further 5 were out on the flood and then another 2 'winter' swans came into view from behind a treeline which were Whooper Swans - the day had started to improve.

I drove to  Coldwatham and walked down towards the sewage works, 3 Chiffchaffs and several Goldcrest and for me remarkably a small flock of Fieldfare ! - my first this winter - Winter thrushes are really quite sparse in this part of Sussex this winter. I walked up to the railway bridge and waited there with another birder for around 45 minutes before first a hunting Barn Owl appeared and then a ringtail Hen Harrier, so satisfied about the improved second half of the day I walked back to the car as the light was fading and heard a number of birds calling as they flew into cover and just had enough light to pick out a Firecrest amongst them. Birding days out are rarely the same and this one definitely improved in the afternoon. The camera stayed in the bag all day as the light was typically poor so I'll have to try taking some pictures next time.

Wednesday 2nd Jan - New Year Birding

Tuesday 1st January

Happy New Year !!!

We had a quiet night watching the (spectacular) fireworks on TV last night, so it wasn't a particularly late one so I was up early and went out for a days birding, without a particular plan as to where I would end up but I headed first for Selsey Bill.

As with all things New Year, heightened anticipation is the key phrase that most fits the situation, irrespective of whether you've visited the same sites just the previous day, the thought of a New Years birdlist gets the pulse racing again for a few weeks. The weather was mild, fairly bright with a stiff North West wind, so a huge improvement on the rainy Christmas. A few regulars were already gathered at the Bill, but the birds were fairly slow in the couple of hours I was there, with c100 Common Scoter, 1 Slavonian Grebe, 3 Gannet, 1 Red-throated Diver, a dozen Red breasted Mergansers several Med Gulls and c20 Kittiwakes.

I drove to Siddlesham, parked up at the visitor centre and walked via the ferry pool to the harbour where the  tide was starting to rise. 3 Bearded Tits were in the reeds at the start of the long pool, which is unusual for here, and 15 Avocets were roosting at the end of the first creek. The harbour was very  different to a couple of weeks ago as it was teeming with birds. A few thousand Lapwing, several hundred Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Knot, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit all in good numbers along with Wigeon, Teal and Pintail. 3 Goldeneye were at the far end of the harbour, but new species then became difficult to find, with conspicuously no Turnstone, Ringed Plover or Bar-tailed Godwits on view.

Next stop was at the Burgh but despite the glorious weather the birds were again difficult to find. I did manage several Buzzards, 4 Red kites, 2 Corn Buntings and 20+ Grey Partridge, but nothing more. I headed towards Amberley wildbrooks looking at several floods for Winter Swans on the way without luck. A view from the village, showed an entire valley under water, with plenty of common wildfowl but nothing new for the day, so I headed for a last stop at Burton Mill to see if the Bittern would appear and just as the light was going and I was about to give up one flew in over the reedbed and dropped in to perform it's reed climbing at exactly 4.30pm just as I was ready to give up.

Wednesday 2nd Jan

My last day of the Christmas break before back to work and I stayed local. I wandered around the garden and the fields first thing. With birds on the feeders including Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch , Goldfinch ,Siskin, Nuthatch, Robin and Dunnock all worried by a male Sparrowhawk. A Green Woodpecker was calling and a commotion near the stables had  me peering into an ivy-clad oak where eventually I found the Tawny Owl. A Goldcrest and Treecreeper were also seen on my wander.

I then persuaded Adie to come on a walk from the house, the footpaths were still incredibly boggy. 3 Bullfinch were seen in the hedge in the closest field and a Buzzard and Great-spotted Woodpecker were added before we spent a while hovering over a moving Mole hill, as Adie has never seen a live Mole - we came close but it didn't surface, so inches away from seeing the real thing. 2 Marsh Tits were seen and with the large finch flock that had amassed around a big stubble field with around 100 Chaffinches, I found 3 Brambling and 6 Linnet. The furnace pond had no birds at all, so we re-traced our steps just before the rain started.