Another couple of days away from Pagham.

 

A visit to the WWT at Arundel on Thursday to get some close up shots of the now 'long stay' Great White Egret  resulted in one heavily cropped long distance shot!  Other photographers have had some excellent photos but this record shot was the only one for me!


Today it was time to try for the Water Pipit At Fishbourne Creek.  It was where it had been reported in front of three white yachts but I found it a rather skittish individual with a well defined shallow  circle of fear. It tended to watch my every movement! However I was pleased to obtain a few shots, again heavily cropped. A record though!

One last look!

In search of THE starling!

In view of the much publicised Rose Coloured Starling that has been frequenting a back garden in deepest Crawley I decided it was time for me to get a shot of it and so with a good forecast I was on my way. On arrival there was just one lady with a camera pointing at a cherry tree and there it was! The only problem it tended to hide behind the branches and was half in the bright sun and half in shadow...not ideal. I met local photographer, Sandra Palme who suggested I went round the back and sure enough as I waited a few moments the bird flew down on to a garage roof  in full sun and with the ideal dark background of a pine tree. As I raised the camera to my eye it saw me and that was that...gone!!! What a shot that would have been but alas it is just a memory!
Here are few of my efforts....

...and finally a close up of the head in the sun 

Not all bad but could have been so much better...nice bird though!


Stopped off at Warnham local nature reserve on the way home to check for Redpolls, Siskins or hopefully a Brambling but saw none!

Nonetheless the usual 'garden birds' were well represented.............

Long Tailed Tit

Nuthatch

 Pheasant

Great  Spotted Woodpecker 

Great Tit

Song Thrush

Chaffinch (f)

Warnham is always a good spot  for 'the usual'!

In search of a Kingfisher.

A tip off from Dave Potter a couple of days ago had me visiting Arundel WWT  at the earliest opportunity to capture an obliging Kingfisher. Unfortunately I was not able to get along yesterday when the sun shone all day and today in the afternoon the lighting was far from perfect and most of the photos were taken with an ISO of 3200! However the bird was present and even in these conditions the brilliant colours were amazing. It is the kind of bird that just begs for photos but although during the time I was watching he never caught a fish....I will have to return to get that classic 'fish in the beak' picture!
Here are a few for starters.....

I will return!

Sanderlings on the beach

A walk along the beach this afternoon was rewarded by finding a couple of Sanderling scurrying over the pebbles in search of molluscs. They are just like clockwork and run hither and thither in search of food....very tricky to photograph!

 They do pause every now and again!

Turnstones enjoying the late afternoon sunshine.

Black Headed Gull....winter plumage( I have noted a few are already starting to get their dark brown 'summer' caps)

An interesting Gull?

Whilst walking along Pagham Beach this afternoon I came across this gull feeding alongside several Black Headed and Mediterranean Gull. Its mantle was obviously  very pale and but the ear coverts and wing tips were 'normal'. I deduced this was an instance of leucism as in every other aspect it was very much a Black Headed Gull. I have not seen this bird before and don't recall any other reports. Any comments would be of interest.

Conditions were not good for photography as it was very foggy in the late afternoon but these shots taken on my compact camera give a reasonable record.

An unwelcome garden visitor.

Unwelcome, that is,  by the local House Sparrows....they will now keep a very low profile for the next few days. Once they know this fellow is about they always seem to disappear for a few days and the seed and fat balls remain virtually untouched.

Those steely eyes soon saw me poking my lens through the window and within a minute he was gone.

A very high Spring tide.

The high tide wader roost on Pagham Spit was truly impressive this morning.
Here are just a few shots ....
A mixture of Redshanks, Grey Plovers, Knot and Dunlin...an amazing sight.

A mixed flock against a backdrop of Butlins of Bognor.

A mini Snettisham!