Losing 1-2 to Snow Buntings and goose successes (26 November - 1 December)

Tuesday 01 December. I took Cookie to Dacre Gardens, we crossed the Adur and walked down to Coombes seeing a Great Spotted Woodpecker and 5 Fieldfares. Walking back north we saw 6 White-fronted Geese in the field immediately south of the A283 but reaching for my phone to put out the news I realised I'd left it in the car. Unbeknown to me until I was able to check my phone Matthew Palmer had seen the geese while driving past, stopped at High Trees to identify them and put the news out.

White-fronted Geese and 'pig city' from the Adur riverbank

five of the six White-fronted Geese seen from the riverbank just south of the A283

White-fronted Geese and Bramber Castle

Monday 30 November Megan and I took Cookie to Brooklands where we saw 2 Teal, Kingfisher, Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, 2 Coal and 8 Long-tailed tits, Chiffchaff and 7 Goldcrests. Back home I was about to set off for Arlington for my third attempt at seeing a Snow Bunting in under a week when news came through a flock of White-fronted Geese being there too and Beans and White-fronted Geese in the Cuckmere. I needed no further encouragement to head east. Edward Paxton was watching the Snow Bunting when I arrived. It was right by the bank but soon flew to the water's edge. I walked on to see the 20 White-fronted Geese in the hope it would be a bit closer when I returned. It was and in very little time I managed to take 5-600 photos of it. Well it was close and is one of my favourite birds. Walking back to the car a message told me the Cuckmere geese had flown north over the A259. I decided to stop at High and Over and can from there. It worked with the Lammergeier and did so with the Cuckmere Geese. First I picked up 7 White-fronted Geese just north of Charleston Reedbed and then, with a bit of help from those watching from Friston Forest, the 7 Beans and 15 White-fronted Geese to the south. Distant but having the extra height helped. In the far distance I could see a moderately sized gull flock in the Cuckmere and decided to check them rather than Friston Forest for better views of the geese. In hindsight it wasn't my best decision. I saw single Brent and Barnacle Geese, 400 Great and 20 Lesser Black-backed Gulls , 55 Sky Larks and 30+ Pied Wagtails. Amongst the gulls was a sleeping individual that might have been an adult Yellow-legged but it never moved in the time I was there.

Teal at Brooklands

half the Arlington White-fronted Goose flock

Snow Bunting on the dam at Arlington Reservoir

quite a relief after recent failures in West Sussex

a brilliant bird, and one of my favourites, especially when seen well

sadly it had an issue with its right foot which it repeatedly picked at

sitting a lot may have been a consequence

five of the seven White-fronted Geese north of Charleston viewed from High and Over

Cuckmere Bean Geese from High and Over

gulls in the Cuckmere - the rear sleeping bird was the only one warranting a better view but it never moved

Seven Sisters and Cuckmere Haven

Sunday 29 November. I left home early and was at Chichester Marina well before dawn. I gave it until 07:15 hearing Water Rail and Cetti's Warbler before heading on to East Head. There were already 19 cars in the car park but much less disturbance in the Snow Buntings favoured area. I'd taken a stool and sat overlooking the area for two hours. Disturbance was much less and I was initially hopeful. Six Sky Larks, and 11 Meadow Pipits were coming and going and 2-3 Pied Wagtails were around most of the time but no sign of the Snow Buntings and again I gave up. Returning to the car via Snowhill Marsh I saw 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 48 Sanderling, Greenshank, 2 adult and 2 juvenile Sandwich Terns, 2 Jays and 4 Stonechats.  Another couple of hours at Chichester Marina at least provided views of Kingfisher, Cetti's Warbler and 2 Chiffchaffs but low flying Pheasants over the reedbed were the closest I came to a Bittern. Maybe if I'd not gone to Specsavers ... Cold and boredom became the better of me an I gave up on bittern too. This time I made sure I was looking out for the Sherwood Rough layby and climbed up to the clearing where I spent a couple of hours overlooking the valley to the south. In the first hour I saw at least 11 Hawfinches flying around and sitting in tree tops, mostly ones and twos but once 8 flew across from the west while there were already 3 in trees to my left. Also seen were Coal and Marsh Tit, 3 Redwings, 2 Mistle Thrushes, a Nuthatch, 10 Greenfinches and 4 Crossbills. Finishing with an hour at the Black Rabbit at Arundel produced 5 Egyptian Geese and a Little Egret into Arundel WWT and 5 Marsh Harriers flying north. Again no Barn Owl and news of the East Head Snow Buntings being seen after I'd left just about summed up my day. At least Lewis Hamilton won the Bahrain Grand Prix although Romain Grosjean's crash looked horrific.

Chichester Marina reedbed

Cetti's Warbler at Chichester Marina

Hawfinch at Sherwood Rough

Saturday 28 November. I seawatched at Widewater from 07:35-08:35 in a light NE wind with the Rampion hardly visible. Flying east were 5 Brent Geese, a Common Scoter, Kittiwake, unidentified auk, 13 close Red-throated Divers and 3 Gannets. A Great Crested Grebe and a Guillemot flew west and a pair of Wigeon, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers were on the sea. Two Sanderling were with 13 Turnstones on the beach and 8 Little Grebes and a Kingfisher on the lagoon making it my best visit in a while. Two Purple Sandpipers and 10 Turnstones were on the wooden jetty at Shoreham Fort where I was pleased to see shingle moving doesn't happen at weekends. Checking the Selsey blog in the evening I discover the East Head Snow Buntings had been seen again and also the Bittern at Chichester Marina. Later Nick Preston told me he'd seen a Bittern at South Gare several mornings running just before dawn which had me thinking I should head west again.

Sanderling and Turnstone on the beach at Widewater

Kingfisher at Widewater

Grey Heron at Widewater

Friday 27 November. I went to East Head hoping to see the two Snow Buntings that had been present for a couple of days. Arriving soon after 09:00 I spent a couple of hours looking over their favoured area but they did not show. An almost constant procession of walkers, most with two or more dogs, probably didn't help and I assumed they had moved on. While there and at Snowhill Marsh I saw 650 Brent Geese, 2 Eider, Avocet, 2 Golden Plover, 27 Black-tailed Godwits, 39 Sanderling, 2 Greenshank and a male Stonechat. A brief visit to Chichester Marina produced 4 Tufted Duck, a Water Rail heard and 3 Fieldfares. That the Bittern might appear in the half-hour I was there seemed a very long shot. Dell Quay was little better with a Greenshank and 3 Sandwich Terns the highlight. I'd intended stopping at Sherwood Rough but unintentionally drove past the lay-by and so rather than turn back I continued on to Arundel. A slippery walk along the Mill Stream to the Black Rabbit was very quiet, apart from me squelching through the mud, with only a Great Spotted Woodpecker to show for it. Watching from the latter for an hour from 15:30 produced at least 4 Marsh Harriers, probably 5 or 6, flying in to the WWT reedbed and heading out again. Eventually 4 flew north up the valley as did 2 Egyptian Geese and a Peregrine. Two egrets came into the WWT reedbed from the south, both were probably Little Egrets, the first certainly was. A Tawny Owl was heard but no Barn Owls were seen. All in all a rather disappointing day.

Sanderling at East Head

they really are quite nice when seen well

Thursday 26 November. Megan and I took Cookie along the boardwalk to Shoreham Fort seeing just 4 Turnstones, there was a lot of shingle moving going on which probably didn't help. At low tide on the Adur I saw 2 Grey Plovers, 19 Dunlin, 9 Redshank, 2 Little Egrets and a Kingfisher but very few gulls.