Still birding!

Wow! Have I really not updated my blog since September?! Very embarrassing. But in case you were wondering, no, I have not quit birding and yes, I still enjoy bird photography as well! 
There'll be more blog posts in 2012, I promise. :)

Some of the birding highlights I didn't tell you about last year include more whinchats (seen around Cissbury Ring) and a beautiful grey phalarope at Prinsted in West Sussex:




More shots of this confiding little bird can be found here: Grey Phalarope

Then, in October, I finally saw crossbills on Ashdown Forest. Beautiful and fascinating finches! I really enjoyed watching them in the autumn sunshine, along with lots of siskins and lesser redpolls. Finch Fest!!



More photos: Crossbills

Also enjoyed the many wheatears - always good to see those little beauties. One juvenile bird allowed me to walk right up to it (very slowly of course) and get my best wheatear shots to date! More pictures can be found here:  wheatear photos.




In November, lots of short-eared owls were reported in Sussex. Would I get to see my first ever wild owl? YES! At Waltham Brooks, I was able to watch up to four owls hunting at the same time. What a privilege!

I did get a few shots as well. :) More here: short-eared owl photos.


 
In December, two snow buntings were reported on the beach at Shoreham (Widewater Lagoon) and as I just LOVE snow buntings, I had to go and see them! We did find them but they were spooked and flew off after two minutes. We went back twice but could not find them. Last week, we were lucky - the birds are still around (in fact were joined by a third snow bunting a few days ago) and we got to watch the pair for over an hour. Here's a shot of the female:


More shots here: snow bunting photos
 
We also had a lovely time watching the beautiful firecrests at Pulborough Brooks (in December and also a few days ago) - not easy to photograph though! Always moving about, always hyper! Check out my firecrest photos

While I'm looking forward to some 'lifers' in 2012 (still loads of 'new' birds to see!), I am not a twitcher and I do not keep a year list. I just love to watch birds, their behaviour and, if possible, take a few nice photos. I can't wait for the summer visitors to return - the first swallow, the first whitethroat and I am always happy to watch and photograph 'common' birds. I just love them all!



I'll tell you about my birding adventures here, so make sure you'll check back soon! Also, my latest bird photos will be published here.



Happy birding, everyone!

Wheatear saves the day

Last Sunday, we went to Church Norton. Some good migrants have been turning up there in the last couple of weeks, including wheatear, whinchat, pied flycatcher and even a wryneck. Unfortunately it was very windy so any small birds that might have been around were all hiding - I only saw one chiffchaff. While watching a lot of swallows, I missed a sandwich tern that was flying right above my head (would have been a first for me!) - I saw a photo of it later that my partner took who was stood next to me. Oh well, a great start! Was this going to be another frustrating day? A trip to Seaford Head and Pulborough Brooks last Wednesday had been fruitless - I saw no migrants at all apart from two VERY distant wheatears.

On the beach, there were a few turnstones, curlews and oystercatchers - they were not willing to pose for a few photos. Great. And SO windy! Makes it VERY hard to handhold a heavy camera and lens!

When I was just about to give up, I scanned the beach for about 5 more minutes - and finally, there was some movement. A lone first-winter wheatear!

So the next few hours were spent trying to get closer to it without chasing it. It seemed to be getting used to me after a while, and I ended up just standing in the same place for a long time, after finding out which spots it preferred for feeding. And it eventually came to me, sheltering from the wind nearby, looking at me. The best shots I got when it was feeding behind the sea defences. I tried to duck & hide - it would only have seen my lens. It was SO cute - when it heard the clicking noise it came running (!) right up to me - it was only about 2 metres away from me - looking at me as if to say 'What ARE you doing there, silly - I do know you are there! Go on then, take a few shots.' :) Made my day!


Who are you?

For more photos of this wheatear and others, click here: Wheatear photos

At last - wheatears!

A few days ago we decided to go to Pagham again - still hoping to find a wheatear. With more and more sightings all over the country (and indeed at the exact places we have been visiting) it was actually hard to believe we still hadn't seen our first Oenanthe oenanthe of the year!

We first stopped off at Pagham Spit - there were a few lovely linnets and the pair of ringed plovers was still in front of the hide, along with a few turnstones but nothing much else around. Any wheatears anywhere? Nope.

Ringed plovers (female left/male right)

So on to Church Norton! On the way up to the beach, we had a chat with a nice couple who had also spent the morning birding. Had they seen anything good? Not really, just the usual waders and a few warblers (sounds good to me though!). Any wheatears? Oh, yes, they saw quite a few a couple of hours earlier, around the visitor centre at Sidlesham. Right...ok then, maybe pop over there later (but what were the chances of the wheatears still being there...whenever we arrive somewhere, they've moved on!). So we decided to check out Church Norton first, as planned.

Male linnet

Lots of linnets around again, singing from the gorse bushes and also quite a few greenfinches. There appear to be more in West Sussex this year than ever before which is great! I'm actually just looking at one on one of my bird feeders as I type this, happily munching away on sunflower seeds! A male in breeding plumage...stunning! So we walked up to the beach, scanning the shingle and shoreline for birds but the tide wasn't out yet so not many waders around.

Back on the path, I all of a sudden noticed movement on the ground, between two gorse bushes. I really had to stop myself from shouting out loud: a wheatear!! And: a MALE wheatear at that, exactly what I had wanted to see the most (the wheatears we saw last autumn were all females so I really wanted to see a male as well)! The bird was on the shingle, busily feeding on insects. It wouldn't let us come close so we just took some record shots and watched it for a while. We soon realised that there were at least one other male and a female, also busy feeding. Fantastic! Finally. :)

Male wheatear We soon left them to feed in peace. Walking towards the severals, we heard a Cetti's warbler singing and willow warblers & chiffchaffs were busy hunting insects.

Willow warbler Chiffchaff While taking photos of these beautiful little warblers, we heard the Cetti's again and were amazed to actually see it flying into a tree right in front of us! Not a bird you get to see very often! I managed to get a couple of shots - not perfect ones, as the warbler was trying to hide behind a twig but I'm still chuffed to bits that we saw it and got a photo or two to prove it - definitely better than my previous record shot. :)

Male Cetti's warbler Two mute swans were flying over only to return a few minutes later and eventually landing on the beach. I have to say that it was a rather unusual sight! A swan on the beach!

Other birds of note were five sand martins in off the sea, redshanks and oystercatchers. I was actually sure that the first hirundine I saw flying above us was a swallow (or possibly a house martin) but it disappeared too quickly; the distant shot I did get of another bird following the first one shows a sand martin.

Do swallows ever travel together with sand martins? Or would house martin be more likely? Anyway, lovely to see any hirundines!

When we arrived at Sidlesham later, there were no wheatears there at all - so just as well we'd spotted our own on the beach! :) Two beautiful male linnets posed for us - quite unusual really, they tend to be so shy.

Male linnets (if you look closely you can see they are two different individuals!)

A smart looking blackbird

A wonderful day's birding indeed! :)

An afternoon visit to Pulborough Brooks a couple of days later produced our first (definite!) house martin of the year, a swallow, a wren collecting nesting material and lots of singing chiffchaff, willow warbler and blackcap. Swallow House martin One of a pair of robins catching flies - there are probably some chicks waiting for dinner somewhere! Busy wren

Male blackcap singing

I was hoping to see my favourite migrant warbler, the whitethroat - two were reported a few days ago and also the first nightingale. Very early! We didn't see (or hear) either so I shall look forward to our next visit there! :)