Arlington Reservoir

To my 3 readers who have come visiting with the expectation of images of the Arlington Osprey then I offer humble apologies. For some unfathomable reason all the high contrast photos that I took today are unusable, normally I process raw images in PSE9 and adjust for white balance etc when first opening the image. Today, shots that appear to be OK on the camera - sharp focus and correctly exposed, when downloaded appear awful. Furthermore, any other adjustments in PSE9 appear very "steppy" and produce really odd artifacts in the image. - investigation is ongoing.  I have uploaded the lower contrast images but even these are lacking the sparkle that is apparent on the LCD screen of the camera - even on the closest zoom - a bit of a disaster.


Anyway with the forecast of clement weather and reports of a good range of birds at Arlington I ventured forth at an early hour. On arrival I walked straight round to the dam wall where, in the south west corner, there was a profusion of Linnets and Pied Wagtails with a large proportion of juveniles of both species. Tucked in the corner by the farm there was a single Egyptian Goose in the company of three Canada Geese. 




Walk like an Egyptian

Out on the reservoir there were at least eight pairs of Great Crested Grebes, the two nearest to me looked as if they could go into display at any time but obviously finally thought better of it. On the dam wall close to the water there were six Common Sandpipers, normally there would be more but the water levels are very high and the "beach" that is exposed just after the outflow tower is well under water.




Common Sandpiper



Common Sandpiper - flat image quality

Sure enough the Osprey turned up at about 0630 and stayed circling the reservoir until about 0730 when it slowly wandered down the Cuckmere River, not having attempted a single dive. At the far end of the dam I found a pair of Turtle Doves, one dropping down to the waters edge for a drink, just as I lined up the camera two dog walkers came through the gate and I  waved goodbye to the birds. Still, nice to know where I can have another go.


It was nice to catch up with Dick again, ever cheerful and helps raise the spirits when they flag. I am fairly sure that he got good shots of the Osprey and he was certainly keen to show me his Sandpiper shots. Also, I met two nice birders from Pembrokeshire, hope they enjoyed their visit to Sussex




Not a wader

So if the weather holds fair as promised by the Met Office it will be another visit to capture the Osprey if I cannot sort out the problem with the camera.

The presence of a herd of cattle behind the dam wall provided plenty of flies for the Wagtails, Swallows and House Martins





Father and son