9th September 2025: Lttle Stint

-

 Tim was at the allotment when, news of a local Little Stint came through, so I rushed round to alert him, and we were soon on our way.

The location, near the iron bridge in Steyning,  was a long shallow ‘puddle’ in the field, a semi permanent flood feature which normally attracts little more than Pied Wagtails. However today, there was a juvenile Little Stint, with characteristic tram lines on the back, and also a Dunlin, allowing a helpful comparison of the size differential.

It was unusual to get such close views of this species, so a worthwhile effort in going along to find it.

Little Stint with. Dunlin 

Little Stint



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome!

-
Image
Welcome to this new blog for sharing observations, photos, or thoughts about  nature and wildlife - birds, butterflies, moths or just incredible views or anything you think that would be interesting to share. Pagham Harbour family outing Autumn 2019
Read more

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

7th March 2024: Muddy Woods and Goshawk Hunting

-
Image
 Richard Allan kindly took us to his old stomping grounds around the Crawley area for a morning out, in search of  Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Goshawk. The woodland was decidedly wet and muddy, following extensive rain over recent weeks, but not unattractive. There was plenty of birch, favoured by these woodpeckers, and we managed to hear several bursts of drumming, once at close range, but sadly failed to locate any birds. The woods were pretty quiet, but nevertheless we managed to find a few typical woodland species for the time of year, with Nuthatch, Marsh Tit , Treecreeper and Redpoll all new ticks for my annual list. A beautiful male Bullfinch wowed us with his brilliant orange-red chest and solid black cap as he chuntered softly on a nearby branch.  Scarlet Elf Cap Green Elf Cap With Richard a keen naturalist it was not all about the birds, and he was rather excited to spot these colourful fungi, especially the fruiting green Elf Cap, which  commonly stains ...
Read more