Water Pipit

We started the day at the leisurely hour of 0800 and headed west for Warblington, ostensibly for better shots of the Cattle Egrets but mostly because we missed the turning for Apuldram. Only one bird at home and away from the cattle. Our attempts to get close resulted in the bird relocating to the field beyond the cemetery - well out of range. A quick visit to the Nore stream revealed no waders in residence so we finally set off for Fishbourne creek and the reported Water Pipit. Having parked up at the church and passed the time of day with some local birders we headed off down the path, pausing only to record the Yellowhammers on the manure heap by the stable.

Bernie's report for the bird was spot on, there it was on the beach directly in front of the three white yachts - great year tick. However it wasn't too keen to pose for us as it was constantly defending its territory by driving away any Rock Pipits that had the temerity to come close.

 

By the sewage works we found a Grey Wagtail whose life was being made difficult by the ice on the frozen ditches.  We found three Common Snipe but unfortunately no sign of a Jack Snipe. The channel was full of birds but we studiously ignored them and returned to the Water Pipit for another go, this time a Rocky had held the ground for some time but finally succumbed to the protestations of the Water Pipit.

An odd looking Wren provided us with some excitement, a broad white crown present on its head. Further examination revealed that the patch was really only present on the port side- so not a Bewick's Wren after all.

On down the peninsular - nothing on Ferry Pool, I guess the road works and traffic control don't help, we eschewed a visit to Church Norton and made for the Bill. Nice to meet Owen  who was having a quiet lunch - until we arrived. With the square root of nothing out on the sea, we decided to pay WWT Arundel another visit - hopefully the Great White Egret would be showing again.

Sure enough we had great, if fairly distant, views of the exotic visitor - a Sussex tick for Martin. I had a GWE in exactly the same place in September 2014 - just a tad warmer then.

Not so elegant on the ice!

On round to the Ramsar hide where we had views of the GWE wandering round on top of the ice, my finger remained poised in the shutter release, it would have made a cracking shot if the bird had stuck its head through the ice. Plenty of Common Snipe about, some of them trying to feed in a narrow strip between the shore and the edge of the ice.

Life is difficult when the water is frozen.

Lots of Shelducks roosting here

On the way back to the restaurant for a pot of tea we were alerted to a Water Rail out in the open. Sod's Law - I had stowed the camera  away, I hastily removed it from the case and proceeded to take several frame-filling but totally out of focus shots. If the cold weather persists it might be worth another visit.

Out in the Cold

I thought that the little grey cells had come up with a masterplan, with below zero temperatures most freshwater would be frozen, resulting in wildfowl and waders galore being out in the open. Somwhat similar to Eyeworth Pond on Monday. Where to go? A posting on SOS about Pulborough Brooks having numerous Snipe showing along with a friendly Water Rail and a stonking male Bullfinch clinched it. So, just after 0900 we arrived at PB and set off for the West Mead hide. At the bottom of the Zig Zag we encountered several Bullfinches but none were willing to stick around and in Fattengates Courtyard I tried, unsuccessfully, to record a highly mobile Goldcrest. It was at this point that it dawned on us that, yet again, we had been misled by the BBC weather forecast. The promised sunshine was nowhere to be seen, in fact it was downright gloomy. Also, I have doubts that the little grey cells can be trusted - in an ornithological sense.

Onward to the hide, where the improvements to the scrape are paying dividends. Just in front  of the windows was a flock of mixed ducks, probably 400 strong. Shovelers, Wigeon, Mallard, Teal and Pintail were all present. Out in the grass to the left of the hide at least 10 Snipe that were slowly moving toward us.

 

Sadly after this it was all downhill until we returned to the top of the Zig Zag, Winpenny and Nettley's hides returning virtually nothing. Nice to meet Russ out and about on the reserve. On the path back to the VC I managed to record Greenfinch and finally a distant but cracking looking male Bullfinch.

 

 

 Cutting our losses we departed for WWT Arundel to see if we could find anything there. At least a chance for Martin to get the female Bullfinches that were close to the Sand Martin Hide. From the hide, close views of a Grey Wagtail kept us interested.

After several attempts to capture a Water Rail we slowly made our way back to the VC. Just before the main path the peace was shattered by much wailing - two Moorhens were disputing either territory, partners or both.

Curlew Sandpiper and Little Ringed Plover at Breech Pool

Not surprisingly my blog today is almost a replica of the Pagham Birder's Blog, of course as we spent an hour or so together at Breech Pool we managed to photograph the same birds at the same time. I went in search of the Little Stint but a no show meant that I had to concentrate on the Little Ringed Plovers. As I was happily snapping away another bird landed on the mud, my first impressions were Curlew Sandpiper! and as there was another birder present I asked for his opinion - 95% sure a CS and later he made it 100%. All was well until Trevor arrived who, quite correctly,  challenged the ID
- Larger than a Dunlin - yes.
- Longer finer tipped and more evenly decurved bill - probably
- More elegant outline - not really
- White rump, obvious in flight - not seen - it landed facing me and had not flown since.

Having had a "mini" Dunlin earlier in the week what was wrong with a "maxi" Dunlin? The arrival of Andrew House finalised the discussion with a succinct - Adult Curlew Sandpiper. However processing the photos at home there are distinct traces of "peach"  on the upper breast.

I know the vagaries of light, especially on birds adjacent to water, can change colours and that the camera can accentuate colours but in this case the bird looked much paler - anyway a selection of shots provided below so you can form your own view.




A tad peachy



Different light - no peach

 

Definite white rump - look!

 

 

 

Nice to see Ian too, hope he has managed to find the blog.

So in the end we had 9 Dunlin, 1 Curlew Sandpiper and 3 Little Ringed Plovers, large supporting cast including a single Shoveler and several Snipe. Teal numbers are rising fast but BTGs and Lapwings seem to have thinned out somewhat since last week.

 

The early morning low angled sunlight provided a pleasing warm glow to the images, much sought after by some creative photographers. It can be reduced with Photoshop but I left it in, just as they were captured.



Dunlin

 

Who am I - with a little red eye??