Red-necked Phalarope

Phew What a Scorcher!  The hottest September birding day for 105 years and we were out in it. Actually, out on the north wall at Pagham it was a beautiful morning. Oddly, the wind was from the east and it was pleasant to be out. However no one had told the birds - just the usual suspects to be found - Black-tailed Godwits, Greenshank, Snipe, a couple of Dunlins and a raft of Redshanks inhabited the exposed mud. A Ruff flew in and after a swift bath, hid amongst the godwits. So we waited for something to turn up and boredom soon set in so we departed. On the way out we met several birders and we ended up heading for Thorney Island and the Red-necked Phalarope. This bird has been present for over a week and we have eschewed a visit because usually it is at a distance, affording little opportunity for a photograph.

Anyway, as we approached the Little Deep, Martin spotted it almost immediately, happily feeding away at a fair distance. Luckily, several times during our stay the bird ventured closer to our position and we were able to get some decent record shots.

As we left I mused aloud that it was great to have a lifer but that it was a shame that it wasn't a Sussex tick too. Now my Geography isn't bad and I do have some qualifications and experience in navigation but it did come as a bit of a shock that I could be so wrong - of course Thorney Island is in Sussex - Doh! Ticks all round then. Not only that, whilst updating my records I noticed another milestone - this is my 300th bird species to be photographed - where the definition of a photograph is that it is a recognisable bird - not just a clump of pixels.

The previous day we had ventured to Titchfield Haven in search of the Semipalmated Sandpiper, unfortunately a dip, a not unlikely event as I don't seem to have much luck at this venue. Anyway I considered five hours in one of the hides to be sufficient effort and we left without a sniff of the bird. Of course other birds were present and I whiled some of the time away capturing an obliging Ruff and a confiding Snipe.

Finally some shots recorded on days when I didn't have enough to blog. First an inquisitive Buzzard that gave us the once over on Honer Farm.

 

 Followed by two birds that have almost given me the slip this year - Wryneck and Curlew Sandpiper - maybe next year.

And finally the yellowest Yellow Wagtail of the year

Greater Yellowlegs

A leisurely drive over to Titchfield Haven for the long staying but easily dipped Greater Yellowlegs. Information at the visitor centre was that it had been seen everyday - wouldn't be a problem. The upshot was that if it hadn't been for one of the local birders I would have probably missed it. As it was, the views I had were distant and brief - at least I got a picture as evidence.

Not much of a picture - but a lifer for me.

 The bird flew north to the Posbrook area and seemingly remained there at least until early afternoon.

A Curlew Sandpiper approaching summer plumage was entertaining the visitors from the Meon hide, so I joined them and managed some nice records of a cracking bird in unusual garb.

Some of the Avocets have successfully hatched chicks and two were in attendance in front of the hide, the parents dutifully stood guard and, given how territorial Avocets are, it wasn't long before a dispute with a pair of Shelducks broke out.

Attentive parent.

Argumentative parent

 

With a keen westerly and the promise of rain it was time to go - not really any chance of some sunshine to make the Curlew Sandpiper really glow.

Curlew Sandpipers

Following Trevor's blog of the Curlew Sandpipers in White's Creek, Pagham Harbour, I decided to give them a go. I was intending to do a trip to Farlington Marshes  but given that the morning was set fair with blue sky and some really nice sunlight, it was a no brainer. It was an opportunity to kill three birds with one stone. I wanted to give the 1D another go, also to try it with the 2x extender as the Canon 1 series will autofocus down to F8 with this unit. Of course I also wanted to get some decent shots of a delightful bird. Most importantly this is the species that I sponsored in "The Birds of Sussex", how could I ignore them?

Just after I arrived Trevor turned up, attempting to improve on his already excellent capture that he had posted on Flickr the previous night. Yet again we will no doubt be publishing very similar photographs.

Nice to meet Joanne, always good to put a face to a name, hope you had a good birding day.

 

 

 

 

Curlew Sands normally give their worms a good wash before eating them.

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??