Kingfisher

It has been a steady start to the new birding year, plenty of birds to be seen, most at a good distance so the opportunities for a photograph have been slim - until yesterday. We started at Pagham North Wall where all the usual suspects were present, just in lower numbers than last week. We added Golden Plover to our slowly growing tick list. A trip to the other side proved almost as fruitless with just two Stock Doves being the outstanding species. Next up was Swanbourne Lake at Arundel in search of a couple of Mandarins - alas lower water levels meant that tree cover was well above the shoreline and we failed to locate the birds.  On up the hill above Offham Farm where we found the five Bewick's Swans out in the field. No sign of the Great White Egret on the river so we paid a visit to the WWT Wetland Centre. Most of the lakes had a thin covering of ice - just enough to prevent ducks falling through and of course putting Kingfisher feeding on hold. However, there were several small patches of open water and the Kingfishers were trying their best to find prey. One bird, adjacent to the path, had decided that human onlookers were less of a threat than starvation and gave stunning views to a host of onlookers.

 

 

Another bird at the "normal" distance.

The other inhabitants of the reserve were also feeling the effects of the freeze, particularly the Teal. Great to watch the surprise of one bird landing as it skidded across the ice.

Some record shots from our first trips out this year.

The 1st winter Scaup on Ivy Lake....

......a Curlew with a crab at Church Norton.....

 

 

....two of the eight  Cattle Egrets at Warblington, unfortunately a fair distance away....

 

 

and finally the Ring-necked Duck at Dungeness.

Don't mention the Stejneger's Stonechat