A quiet afternoon..

A female Goldeneye was present on Pagham Lagoon today but no sign of the drake reported last week.

 As ever there were plenty of Coots and Little Grebes, this one looking particularly attractive in its green surroundings.

Little Grebe

On making my way to the North Wall I noticed aYellowhammer balancing on a fence wire just by the Lagoon...

Yellowhammer...not often seen at this location.

Once at the North Wall it became very apparent how quiet it was, particularly noticeable following last weeks storm force gale....not a breath! Not too many birds in evidence either but here's a flavour....

Gadwall...two of the four present

The other two!

Drake Teal

Wigeon in flight

Wigeon...take off 'blur'

Returning along the 'dog walk' ...a Great Spotted Woodpecker 

and a.....

Robin Redbreast

An SEO on the Spit.

After a very windy night resulting from an attack by Storm Barnie I ventured onto the Spit and besides a few Skylaks and Meadow Pipits hunkered down, a Short Eared Owl  flew up from virtually under my feet and headed out over the channel to the offshore spit. No chance of a photo but here's one from earlier, as 'they' say!

Little else of note in the strong wind!

...and now, today, a Black Redstart in the garden!

...only momentarily,  but nevertheless a quick visit...very quick! Not even a record shot possible!

 Apart from that highlight, a pretty quiet day.

However, there was a Stonechat  and a couple of Reed Buntings on the Spit path.

Better things tomorrow, hopefully.

Black Redstart in the Churchyard.

A visit to the Spit and North Wall proved largely uneventful....a few small flyover pigeon flocks, several groups of Starlings moving west, Lapwings, distant Golden Plovers and the usual Cettis Warbler  in the reed bed.  A group of Redpolls flew east, calling.
There have been recent reports of a Black Redstart in the churchyard so as the clouds gathered and the wind 'got up' I decided to have a quick look...and sure enough it was feeding on the ground by the church entrance. Very quickly it shot up to the top of the roof and just as the rain started I managed to point the camera in its direction and got a couple of record shots...just to prove it was still there!

Not brilliant pics but no doubt about its identity

.
..and just for fun, a shot of another visitor to the churchyard ...

...ratty in a hurry!!!

From the Spit hide...

A quick visit to the hide this morning and there at the far end of the metal work a....

 Kingfisher

I waited patiently as no one was about (as they are easily disturbed and would clear off without delay if a dogwalker appeared) as I had hoped it would edge along a little closer to where I was sitting in the hide. Sure enough it made several attempts to grab a breakfast and soon it appeared close enough to get a shot of it...complete with a small fish.

Breakfast!

A quick change of  position.

Nice one!

On the way back along the beach the only birds noted were Turnstones....

Turnstone on the tideline.

...and that's it for today!

It's November ...Part 2!

 A somewhat dire week weather wise with 29.5cm of rain recorded in my rain gauge. Fog, rain and today, wind, has made birding both slow and difficult. However at 4.00pm this afternoon the sun appeared briefly and a chance to 'air' the camera!

Brent Geese on the move....numbers have increased considerably this week.

Pintail and a single Golden Plover...I think!

From the Spit hide just to prove I'm still here!.....

Oystercatcher 

Common Gull

Wigeon feeding at low tide

Wigeon..drake





These grebes had me guessing initially..Red necked? but maybe just Little?

A long way off, poor light,wrong lens,heavy crop!

During best part of the week 4 Pochards still on the Little Lagoon, Kingfisher present,Green and Goldfinch flocks, Skylarks , Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtail flyovers .Earler in the week I missed a Dartford Warbler and a Short Eared Owl...thanks Tim(sorry about the Pagham weather...better luck next year!)

It's November!

Following a report a few days ago that a Slavonian Grebe had been seen on the Lagoon I set out this morning to have a look myself. It was a typical November misty, even foggy morning and having spotted the bird at quite close range I decided it was worth a photo so hurried back to 'base' to collect the camera but meanwhile  a dog walker had spooked it and it was way out in the middle...hopeless...see above!

A few Reed Buntings were present and one landed in a bush not too far away....

Later in the day I wandered down to the Lagoon as the light had improved...yes, it was there, in the sunlight so back for the camera...but on returning the clouds had rolled in and it had again drifted into the middle of the Lagoon. A few shots but at 800 ISO...so a bit noisy after a heavy crop.

A better shot, but not good!

There's always tomorrow. I did however, meet Tim from Bedford (Leicester, actually), a regular visitor to Pagham who I managed to get confused with someone else and made a complete fool of myself. I'm slightly better at bird I.D. than people I.D...always have been...sorry Tim!!