January 12th 2025: Widewater, Adur and New Monks country park

-

 Back in Sussex, it was a delight to get out in some glorious warm sunshine and enjoy some exercise after a sedentary few days in Shropshire. 

Our first destination was Widewater, where a drake Goosander had been seen in the last couple of days. We just managed to catch this before it flew overhead, circled round and disappeared from the lagoon. 

Goosander

There were a number of Little Grebes here, plus four Coot and four Teal, together with nearly forty swans.  An Sdos colleague reported a Water Rail, but we failed to find this. With lunch beckoning, a short detour to the river gave me a Grey Plover tick, our local white-headed star which has returned to the reserve for several winters now. Lapwing, and the Curlew were feeding on the opposite side of the river.

After lunch, I set out again, strolling by the river towards the country park. A few Dunlin and Ringed Plover were feeding at the water’s edge, and a number of Lapwings posed on the mudbanks. By the tollbridge, amongst the gull roost, I found  a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, my first of the year. A probable Kingfisher flashed low across the water, but I couldn’t make out any colour in the poor light, and it disappeared up the channel by the pumping station and I was unable to relocate it.

Continuing to the country park, I flushed a Heron at the Secret Pool, then as I turned towards the main park, I caught sight of the Barn Owl quartering over the reeds. I climbed to the mound and sat on a rock, where I was able to observe it for several minutes, sometimes perched on the vegetation, with white chest and heart shaped face contrasting beautifully with sandy coloured back and wings. Then it would rise in a gentle motion, before fluttering gracefully through the trees and across the airfield, mesmerising to watch, and a fantastic finale to the day.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Friday 17th January 2025: Pagham Harbour

-
Image
We enjoyed a lovely day out at Pagham yesterday with Sue. We started with a circuit from the visitor centre, but the water levels were high at Ferry Pool and there was little of note. In the channel a few Redshank and Curlew were the best we could muster. We relocated to Halsey’s Farm and walked across the field to North Wall. There were plenty of Wigeon whistling noisily as we passed, and out in the harbour swathes of waders, creating a tremendous spectacle when they all took to the skies, a murmuration of Golden Plover swirling above flocks of Lapwing, and groups of Curlew and Black-tailed Godwit dropping in to the nearby fields. Lines of Brent geese headed further west, calling softly as they passed over.   Wigeon In the area we were thrilled to find a Long-eared Owl roosting, showing surprisingly well near the front of a bush. Long-eared Owl In White’s Creek we were treated to great views of a Spotted Redshank which wandered in very close, allowing us to note its key features. ...
Read more

Saturday 1st March: Sherwood Rough

-
Image
 After ten days of grandparenting duties, it was great to get out birdwatching again, on an SDOS outing to Sherwood Rough.  This is the site we had visited a few weeks ago for Hawfinch, and in birding terms the walk was a tad disappointing, but the company was excellent, with a good turnout of around twenty five members. It was a steepish climb up, but our efforts were rewarded on the ridge top, where a calling Nuthatch showed very well in a tree close to the path, and a Kestrel in the treetops made the effort of carrying my scope worthwhile! Continuing round, the woodland walk was rather quiet, but an open, sunny ride proved a little more productive with Yellowhammer and Firecrest showing very well.  At a small pond, we stopped for drinks and snacks, and suddenly, to great delight a huge, magnificent White-tailed Eagle drifted into view, and circled above us giving stunning views and a real ‘Wow!’ moment.  White-tailed Eagle (Richard Allan) With our spirits revived,...
Read more

Wednesday 12th February 2025: Sherwood Rough and Arundel

-
Image
 The weather was rather dull this morning as we set off for Sherwood Rough, but at least it was an improvement on our last visit, when thick fog had severely restricted our viewing. As we began to climb the slope from the car park, we immediately, encountered a flock of finches, but only managed to get onto two Greenfinches which settled in the treetop. Climbing the hill, we heard Goldcrests and saw them flitting busily in the foliage as we passed.  Traversing the path on the ridge, was pretty disappointing, with limited bird song or activity, save an elusive Song Thrush. Suddenly a flock of finches appeared over the woodland and settled in a distant tree. Through the scopes we could see Greenfinches, but the light was atrocious and apart from the yellow wing flash it was hard to make out any features. We thought we had Hawfinches too, but struggled to get a decent view. We continued on, moving closer towards the birds, and eventually managed to get confirmatory views, when on...
Read more