Uncooperative cone munchers

A quick drive out to Hundred Acres after reports of Crossbills in previous days. It was a fine, still, blue day but barely above freezing, with a handful of roadside Red-legged Partidges and an even closer Buzzard on roadkill enlivening the drive out.

It didn't take long to hear Crossbills in little groups of 1-5 and were initially given away by the sound of cones being eaten. Sadly, only one female perched up and after half an hour they went silent. A few Siskin and Lesser Redpolls also flew over and Nuthatches and Great Spotted Woodpeckers were particularly vocal.

The mobile cafe in the carpark served a nice coffee and lemon muffin which I consumed at a picnic table whilst 'swapping notes' with a fellow Crossbill enthusiast!!

With Storm Isha on the way over the weekend Wednesday may be the first opportunity for a second visit.

It was surprising to see from notes that the last time at this site for the same species was eight years ago!! Where did the time go.

Foxes

A shopping etc day was not going to be too interesting wildlife wise but, despite plenty of after dark Fox noises in recent weeks, it was still surprising to see a dog and vixen locked in coitus on the garage roof mid-morning!!

The only interlopers today amongst the 400+ Brent in the refuge were three Lapwings. The pond Shovelers still haven't broken double figures

And some nice weather...

 

A more typical winter's day with plenty of sunshine on Thursday (11th) was an opportunity to head to the New Forest and Blashford. First stop for Gos was virtually birdless and with no shelter from the breeze saw me cutting my losses and heading to Ibsley Water. Large numbers of wildfowl were all sheltering on the far side and hence distant. The north facing hide windows were into the teeth of the wind so little time spent other than admiring many Pintail (950 ish according to JMC with another 50 on Ivy Lake); probably my largest count ever. Others had a Black-necked Grebe and Red-crested Pochard. I'm assuming it's last spring's drake Ring-necked Duck that I found on Ibsley which has been on Linwood east, including today.

Elsewhere 2-3 Great White Egrets was the best of the rest. The south side was very poor with no winter finches and the recent Otter didn't put in a show although a couple of large wildfowl disturbances may have been caused by it.

Monday at Titchfield saw the Black-necked Grebe offshore - and found reasonably quickly thanks to IC's early WhatsApp message. Little else in still flooded conditions but a quick scan offshore prior to leaving was rewarded with a very distant eagle over Calshot where JGR reported three a little later!!

Today a brief visit to Burpham for the eight Bewick's Swan saw them below the church as usual but little supporting cast. In WWT the presence of ice and strimmers meant it was birdless and a low-flying Chinook flushed a few Snipe and rattled the cage of about 100 Greylags which landed on the river. Finally, the early-morning Bittern (above) popped out briefly but quickly skulked off down a channel between reeds. 

And still no Waxwings nearby.

And finally another Bittern pic courtesy of Mike Jerome; what a cracker!!

A new year, same old weather!

December had little of note and only two Red Admirals on the 8th, the odd Buff-tailed Bumblebees and a single Eristalis spp representing insects. The three eagles at Pulborough put on a good show in two visits and a single obliging Firecrest along Green Lane was nice. Twenty-five or so Lesser Redpolls along the zigzag were best-of-the-rest.

The most recent and best day of weather (albeit with a couple of sharp showers) saw a few hours at WWT in the company of a friend not seen for some years, 40 or so Cattle Egrets and yet again a fine, obliging Firecrest. 

January has started off as grim as 2023 ended and yesterday, unsurprisingly, both the Arun and Stor were overtopping into the south and north Brooks respectively. With so much water most wildfowl were well scattered,  the eagles were absent and the two White-fronted Geese yet again eluded Pete and I. The trees and bushes were almost totally birdless and sadly the highlight of the visit was the lunchtime Sausage Roll!!

With just 6-7 hours birding this year the total stands at a paltry 61 spp.

On the bright side it seems as if colder, drier conditions are arriving next week. Time will tell whether it proves to be a short interruption or a longer spell of 'proper' winter weather. Maybe its not too late for some local Waxwings - fingers crossed.

Diverless etc

Today, Friday, a brief trip at lunchtime after chores to see if any of the harbour's Great Northern Divers were on show.  Sadly not and, had I checked GoingBirding I would have seen three were off the Oysterbeds at the same time!! This juvenile Shag was on a channel marker and the Mulberry Harbour had about 150 (visible) waders roosting on it, nearly all Turnstones. And no colour ringed gulls today. Last week's BHG was a two year old ringed as age class 3 near Widnes.

Wednesday's PB outing had plenty of the usual suspects but with heavy flooding the birds were all well scattered. Five Pochard were probably the most I've seen there ever. PJ/BJ had the three White-fronted Geese and two of the eagles from Rackham which is why we couldn't find them at Pulborough!!

*EDIT February 2014 saw 20 Pochard at Pulborough but only recorded in single figures on two other occasions.

Despite the very sunny conditions and in response to that, lots of visitors, the best on offer were a few Redwings and Fieldfares and two calling Ravens which chased each other all across the reserve and off towards Pulborough village. Still Red Admirals, Common Darters and Buff-tailed Bees on the wing

The view north bound from Bury Hill was stunning with so much flooding.

Below, South Brooks floods from restaurant and Westmead.

A break in the weather...

Some better weather saw a brief outing to Arundel on Tuesday where the two resident Peregrines were perched up and well lit in the sunshine. Fifteen or so Cattle Egrets flew in and a similar number were in the fields south of the reserve on leaving for home so probably 25+ at least.

** EDIT Over 60 Cattle Egret and a dozen Marsh Harriers came in to the roost that night when late opening was available.

One heavily back-lit hovering Kingfisher and a few Chiffchaffs, some singing, were the best-of-the-rest but after the previous weeks of dire weather just being out in the sun was very pleasant and a few hovers, Red Admirals and Common Darters also enjoyed stunning themselves. A lone Marsh Harrier appeared but headed back northwards presumably to return to roost here later in the afternoon.

Titchfield, sunny day.

Monday was the first dry day for some time and warm enough for five species of hoverfly on warm, sheltered Ivy plus a few Common Darters, Buff-tailed Bees, Red Admirals and Vespula spp.

The flurry of south coast Leach's Petrels after Storm Ciaran had finished before I could get out although one was still present at Selesy Bill early today. Typically, offshore at Hill Head today was birdless. 

The water on the reserve was the highest I've seen with both North and South scrapes combined into one sheet of water and so too high for pretty much any birds; last week's Snipe count of 75+ was down to zero!

The Frying Pan and area to the south held most of the birds including plenty of the five common gull species and three Glossy Ibises, the first time I've seen them for a while.

Locally, no change with just half a dozen Shovelers going round in circles; and this was one of two patches of Armilleria (probably melea group, commonly known as Honey Fungus).

Last week a quick trip to the Oysterbeds produced the Long-tailed Duck fairly quickly although it disappeared frequently by diving before heading out into the north east corner of the harbour. Five Red-breasted Mergansers were the only other waterfowl and two Ravens were best-of-the-rest on the way back to the car.