Every March the Wheatears turn up, and Karen gets bothered that she hasn’t seen one yet (even though we’ll see loads as the year moves on). We haven’t seen one yet, but it was a major surprise when the first Wheatear of the year turned out to be a Desert Wheatear at Goring yesterday afternoon. Karen has never walked 5 miles as fast (and she was well behind me, as I was going like the clappers). Fortunately it was still there when we arrived and showed beautifully at times. A smart bird. Otherwise it’s been a bit rubbish on the migrant front (unless you seawatch while I’m at work, it’s great for them).
Sompting
One of the disadvantages of getting a great start to the year is that it has to end sometime. Recently I’ve had a series of long and medium walks that have yielded very little. Still, it’s better than staying in a house that’s in turmoil due to prolonged upheaval as we get our kitchen done.
Robin Redbreast
We had a trip to Eastbourne on Friday, to see the American Robin, which has been there for nearly a week. A smart bird, viewed from above rather than inflicting ourselves on the folk in the cul-de-sac. While there, we also managed to get brief views of the Hume’s Leaf Warbler, but that took too long to allow us to get the Hooded Crow on the way home.
We’ve also had a couple of walks, nothing too long, which has added a Merlin and, even better, a Jack Snipe onto the on foot list. No photos of them, alas.
The Walk of Shame
In order to add a few common ducks to the walking list, we walked to Swanbourne Lake in Arundel last Sunday. Pochard, Tufted Duck and Mandarin are not birds you would normally make an effort for, but they’re not reliable locally, so this is the lowest form of twitching, hence the name.
A glorious day saw us add Siskin to the year list walking through the Dover and distant Cattle Egrets were in sight as we approached Arundel. At the lake there were loads of Tufties and a huge population of Gadwall. Mandarin put in an appearance as a female cruised across the lake with a retinue of 8 males, all looking stunning. Pochards were in short supply. A walk up the hill to the Hiorne Tower gave us a chance of Hawfinch, which unexpectedly turned up just as we were leaving. Back on the lake, still no Pochard. A circumnavigation of the WWT reserve didn’t find any in with the collection either, nor was there any sign of the Glossy Ibis that had been around a few days before. Nice views of a Cattle Egret were welcome, though.
The Walk of Humiliation next autumn – 28 miles for a Pochard – could be a major test of my commitment to the walking list.
Again, the pictures aren’t up to much as I was carrying my small camera.
I’m back
After several weeks unable to edit the site and a couple of efforts with technical support (including a 2.5 hour marathon tonight), I can finally post pictures. (I seem to have lost one or two posts, but never mind.) It’s a pity I haven’t done much photography in the meantime: the year has largely been walking rather than photographic, and there hasn’t been that much of note, but here’s a few shots to be going on with…
Back local
There’s not been much excitement bird-wise around us of late. A few walks around Sompting Brooks have found some Snipe and a few other birds, and it has been very quiet on the Downs. Today, though, there were Ring Ouzels at Cissbury, one of which gave brief and fairly distant views, and a Dartford Warbler. Hope it overwinters again.
Choughs and Chiff
A week in Cornwall in October is enough to get a birder’s pulse racing. Last week we finally went on holiday there, with my brother and sister in law. There was a marked lack of migrants, and those that were around either eluded us, or left before we could get there. The seawatching was good though, with literally hundreds of shearwaters (Manx, Balearic and a few Sooty), 5 Leach’s Petrel, a lifer for me, Grey Phalaropes and two Sabine’s Gulls that are only our second UK view. Distant birds on a lumpy sea aren’t good for photographs, though.
Walks on the clifftops had many Choughs that started colonising in 2001 and have spread well from Lizard all the way to Land’s End and the north coast. They’re a devil to photograph, though, as they’re always changing direction in flight, and always hideously backlit. It doesn’t help that they’re laughing at you while tormenting you. Eventually some gave themselves up.
Migration
Migration continues with a steady trickle of birds through the back field. We’re still getting Spotted Flycatchers and Blackcap numbers are increasing. Out on the Downs it’s the same, but, other than an elusive Grasshopper Warbler and a Wryneck that we missed, there hasn’t been too much to excite us. Over at Sompting Brooks there has been a bit of entertainment, with a Wasp Spider, one of the introduced Storks flying over and a Green Sandpiper was an interesting bird here for autumn.
A few insects
After the excitement of the Albatross, it’s back to migration on the Downs, which seems to be a bit slower than last year, although we’ve had Redstart, Whinchat and Spotted Flycatchers at home so far. It’s also a good time for insects, with a few late butterflies, and an excellent variety of dragonflies and damselflies in the wetland behind us.
And there was much rejoicing
A deeply unsatisfactory glimpse of the Black-browed Albatross back in early July had healed the desperation, but we still wanted a proper view of the bird; we just weren’t prepared to dash around the country for it. Predictably enough, it left just before we headed to Yorkshire for a few days, and its last trip was long enough for us to completely miss it if stayed away as long this time. Leaving Worthing at 0445, we headed north with a simple decision to make: if it is reported before the M18 turn off, we go to Bempton, if not, we carry on to Harrogate. To our delight it was reported about half an hour before the M18, so off we went, still nervous, as we had been so close last time and all we had was a rubbish view.
When we got there the bird was about half a mile offshore, just about identifiable through a fully zoomed telescope. An improvement on last time, but still not quite the thing. After a long wait, it took to the air and meandered its way towards us. It then gave us a fantastic display circling off the cliff. After a while it landed on the cliff, out of sight of course. After a while it left and went back on to the sea for a wash and a rest. Another lengthy wait ended with it coming back to us and performing superbly, giving us close range views at eye level. Many pictures were taken, but a bird that size is difficult to photograph that close.
Best bird ever!