Little Egret

 Common as muck elsewhere but a Little Egret feeding by the orchard was very pleasant this morning.

Yellowhammers at Saltern's Way

The Bill was generally poor this morning (maybe the incoming cold might stop the mediocrity) but three late Swallows were nice to note. Along the Marina trail were 33 Curlews, at least a dozen Yellowhammers, two Cetti's Warblers, two Siskins near the stables and the usual Brent Geese and Wigeon. Two Goosanders were with c.10 Red-breasted Mergansers off Dell Quay and a few Stonechats were further up at the outfall. The Grey Partridges were still in the new crop field and there were 00's of corvids, Wood Pigeons & Stock Doves on the plough. A Mediterranean Gull was perched on the groynes at the Bill yesterday. 

Grey Partridges

 Generally quiet on the Marina/Salterns circuit today, highlights were two Grey Partridges near the farm, six RB Merganser off the lock and a Kingfisher at Lavant outfall. Plenty of Wigeon but no Pintail or Goldeneye for me. 

Snow Bunting etc. at Pagham Spit

 A look at Pagham Spit failed to find yesterday's Black Redstart but did turn up the four Goosanders, the female Goldeneye and a confiding Snow Bunting...the latter flew across from Church Norton spit to join me for a while before inevitably being flushed by cur and owners...a late Common Tern was also in the harbour mouth...

Goldeneye, Snow Bunting& Goosanders;

Coastguards & the Marina

Started off at the Bill this morning but soon my view was shall we say "blocked" so moved on to the Medmerry cliffs area. A wander around here & coastguards found a nice Black Redstart around the buildings but not a lot else. 

At the Marina there were 46 Curlew in the fields, plenty of Wigeon were in the creek and three Stonechats were along the shingle..no sign of ant target birds such as Black-necked Grebe & Water Pipit though..manana...

LTD LSW

 A LTDuck has been on a nearby reservoir recently but due to access issues the location must remain undisclosed for now. Elsewhere a LSW in our newly cleared orchard was a massive surprise and the Green Sandpiper finally showed at Shripney.

Geese

 There was a reasonable selection of geese at Hunston today including c.85 Greylags, 40 Canadas and two Egyptians as well as quite a few of dubious parentage from the farm next door! A Kingfisher at East Trout Lake was the best at the lakes which also held increasing numbers of Gadwall; the paths remained quiet however.

Firecrests

 Firecrests are apparently like buses... none for ages then two at once, on my year list a bit later than normal but very welcome at the gravel pits. Also another Bullfinch (and two more on the farm later- super year for these !) and a Treecreeper in the same area. A quick look for a Nuthatch but no joy alas and the wildfowl remained much the same...wherefore art thou Bittern?

Gulls

 A surprise at the lakes was an adult Yellow-legged Gull in with the Herring Gulls on the ice; flew before I could get much of picture as you can see below; also a few Common Gulls about and plenty of wildfowl but nothing out of the ordinary today. 

YLG (honest guv!) and Common Gull:

Bullfinches

Not a bad Bullfinch day! Five at Drayton, three elsewhere! Not much else going on at Drayton North & South, three pairs of Coal Tits now but that was about it; the lake is sill frozen atm.

Geese at Ivy Lake

 

Lockdown

Well I managed to get to 114 species for the Peninsula before the lockdown came and am now limited to the local gravel pits for a good few weeks. Surprisingly bumped into a few out of area birders there on Wednesday so I guess not everyone is abiding by the “local” edict; that said I am a believer in personal responsibility so at the end of the day it must be up to the individual to act as they see fit. 

One thing I do find annoying is that as a keyworker (as is the wife for the NHS) it’s Ok for us to work like dogs 24/7 (no day off for me until Xmas Day for me in 2020) but a  decent walk in the countyside or at the beach - no way!

I was heartened to see that the Angling Trust had managed to get fishing recognised as “exercise”; wouldn’t it be good if birding/seawatching was regarded in a similar light? Perhaps that is what birding is missing, an organisation that works for birders and is not conservation/survey/reserve/cash - centric. I’ve a feeling I might have a long wait for that one... 😀