A nice looking day after yesterday's roof issues and the two previous dreary days with few birds led me on a year-ticking twitch to my old local patch of Goring Gap for the typically confiding Snow Bunting. Arrived to find myself bumper to bumper with NB who kindly pointed me in the right direction. With strong wind, low bright sun and a constant stream of four-legged disturbance it wasn't an easy bird to photograph. Chatted to JK and RF and spent fifteen minutes looking out to sea where the windfarm (not here last time I visited!!) was surrounded by birds. In Hampshire a couple of Gannets constitutes a good seawatch so to be faced with hundreds of large gulls, good numbers of Gannets, a few Kittiwakes and a constant stream of auks was a real delight. Thirty-eight Cormorants went high to the west and probably another twenty were offshore where four Red-throated Divers together also went west. Sadly, I couldn't pick out any Guillemots for the year with most auks being distant and just the odd identifiable Razorbill. On the sea, well in excess of a hundred Great Crested Grebes and maybe half that of mergansers.
Back at the car the nearest crop field held 80 or so roosting waders, mostly Dunlin, but nothing special in a very small gull roost; a tap on the shoulder whilst photographing some roadside Skylarks was GT and wife also out for a bunting twitch.
Coffee and breakfast at Sea Lane was nice, although too busy to get a seat indoors, and improved immeasurably by finding myself next to an ex work colleague (PG), probably only seen once in the last 15-20 years; much in the way of anecdotal stories and some real laugh-out-loud moments.
Dropped in to WWT on the way home where two Kingfishers and ten Snipe put on a good show. Twenty grazing Wigeon were uninterested in joining up with an overflying group 45 strong which eventually landed on the river briefly before deciding to head back north. This Chiffchaff was following a tit flock, the Buzzard flushed up the eighty or so Greylags, the Treecreeper was playing hard to get and a single Raven was best-of-the-rest.
And lastly on a non-birding related note it was good to catch up with HHinH who, like me, struggles a bit with January, being the month we both lost other-halves. Hopefully we'll get to catch up later in the year.
Earlier in the week, Wednesday's session at Pulborough saw us watching a post-perched Peregrine, single c/c Marsh Harrier and a flock of 25 Meadow Pipits and later, chatting to Chichester RSPB group, were able to point out four Dunlin and five Ruff (a year tick) amongst the disturbed mass of Lapwings. Just a handful of Redwings and a couple of calling Reed Buntings represented winter passerines.
Tuesday's very brief visit to Titchfield was quiet with even MFs sharp eyes and determination unable to find anything; two sparring Marsh Harriers over the meadow were the best.
