mainly Sussex (January-June 2009)

The following images were taken in Sussex during 2009, before I started a blog.

and next year's Christmas Card is ...  Robin at Burton Mill Pond on 4 January.

King Eider off Pett Level on 17 January

one of the very best birds I've seen in Sussex although having missed it the previous week end I was convinced that I had blown my only chance.  It was with some relief that we heard it had reappeared and some epic driving from Martin Casemore got us there in record time

one of the Waxwings at Windmill Hill on 24 January

another

Waxwing practising juggling

a bird one rarely tires of seeing

First-winter (2CY) Glaucous Gull at Newhaven on 25 January

very dark underparts

looking less of a brute in this image

sadly it seems the bird became entangled in fishing line and perished

similar aged (first-winter/2CY) Iceland Gull on Southwick Beach on 31 January

provided a nice contrast with the Newhaven Glaucous

pale Chiffchaff seen briefly at Coldwaltham Sewage Works on 7 February

Red-breasted Goose at East Head on 14 February

the Iceland Gull was photographed again on 15 February, even worse than previously, this time on Southwick Canal

Red-breasted Goose in the fields at West Wittering car park on 21 February

it occasionally took flight

on a return visit on 23 February the Red-breasted Goose was just inside Chichester Harbour

one of the Waxwings in Goring on 21 February

a show-off when eating

Long-eared Owl at Stump Bottom on 1 March.  A walk with Megan coincided with a downland fun run which appeared to have disturbed a pair of these superb birds.  Sadly the site no longer seems to be active.

Hawfinch at Arundel on 7 March

poor flight shot showing distinctive wing panel

Tree Pipit on Stanley Common on 4 May

Wood Lark on Stanley Common on 4 May

perhaps my all-time favourite songster

Nightingale at Coldwaltham on 4 May, not a bad songster either ...

Whimbrel on the Adur on 16 May, my first efforts at digiscoping

Black-winged Pratincole at Grove Ferry on 23 May.  A rare but very enjoyable twitch outside of Sussex with Martin Casemore

drake Garganey at Grove Ferry on 23 May.

baby Tawny Owl at Stodmarsh on 23 May

male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at nest-hole near Horsham on 25 May

Oriental Pratincole at Pagham Nortrh Wall on 29 May, although few realised its true identity at the time

despite all the relevant features being very apparent

I mistakenly thought all Orientals should show peachy flanks and ruled it out on that basis while completely discounted the lack of a pale trailing edge to the primaries and the short out tail.

I even talked myself out of arguing that it would be very unlikely for both tail feathers to be broken so evenly ...

the extent of red at the base of the bill and the thickness of the black throat surround also point to Oriental but it is easy to spot that with hindsight

of those seeing the bird only Tim Edwards was adamant that it was an Oriental but his opinion was largely discounted

back at the Lesser Spots on 30 May both parents were visiting regularly, here the female with a young males head evident in the nest hole

female feeding young female

young male

Ringed Plover's nest on Southwick Beach on 4 June, three eggs hatched but only one youngster survived to become full-grown

Whitethroat near Lancing College on 7 June

Grey Heron at Abersoch, North Wales on 16 June on an abortive Royal Tern twitch

another Ringed Plover's nest on Southwick Beach, this one also produced one fully-grown youngster

one of the adults

VIETNAM April 2009: Da Lat

Saturday 11 April (continued).  Picked up from Cat Ttien after breakfast and drove towards Da Lat plateau stopping to bird the road at Deo Nui San for 2-3 hours on the way.  Highlights there were Annan Barbet 4 (later to prove very common), White-cheeked Laughingthrush 1, Grey-crowned Tit 3 and Eyebrowed Thrush 25 flying over.

view from Da Lat hotel window

Sunday 12 April.  Driven to Ta Nung for dawn.  All day there concentrating mainly on the flowering trees in the more open areas.  A fairly quiet day, not helped by only Nick seeing Grey-crowned Crocias and Orange-breasted Laughingthrush although I heard the latter.  Highlights for me were Leopard Cat 1, White-cheeked Laughingthrush 8, Black-headed Sibia 2, Black-crowned Parrotbill 2, Lesser Shortwing 2, Slaty-backed Forktail 1 and Vietnamese Greenfinch 1 male.

Leopard Cat

Black-headed Sibia

Monday 13 April.  Driven to Mount Lang Bian for dawn and spent all day there.  We were not able to drive up the mountain and no taxis around to take us so we walked up to the start of the trail.  A superb day despite some heavy rain in the afternoon.  Highlights were Silver Pheasant 1 female, Grey-headed Parakeet 12, Jay 6, Grey-crowned Tit 15, Grey-bellied Tesia 1, Pigmy Wren-Babler 1, Vietnamese Cutia 2, Collared Laughingthrush 2, Black-crowned Fulvetta 5, Eyebrowed Thrush 1, White-tailed Robin 4, White-throated Rock Thrush 1 male and Blue & White Flycatcher 1 cumatili.

White-tailed Robin

Blue and White Flycatcher

Grey-crowned Tit

Vietnamese Cutias

Tuesday 14 April.  Driven to Ho Tuyen Lam for dawn and spent all day there concentrating on the far ridge trail.  Highlights were Silver Pheasant 1 male, Blue Pitta 1 male, Slender-billed Oriole 4, Grey-crowned Tit 5, Lanceolated Warbler 1, Black-hooded Laughingthrush 1, Orange-breasted Laughingthrush 2, Yellow-billed Nuthatch 2 (on the ridge trail) and White's Thrush 3.


Wednesday 15 April. Driven again to Ho Tuyen Lan for dawn and spent all day there although didn;t go so far up the far ridge trail.  spent more time in the pines above the lodge complex.  Highlights were Chinese Francolin 1, Crested Goshawk 1 displaying, Burmese Shrike 7, Slender-billed Oriole (1), Grey-crowned Tit 10, Eyebrowed Wren-Babbler 2, White-cheeked Laughingthrush 1, Vietnamese Cutia 3 (1 male, 2 females), Velvet-fronted Nuthatch 2 ( in open forest), Vietnamese Greenfinch 1 male and Vietnamese Crossbill 8.


Thursday 16 April.  Driven to Ta Nung for the morning where highlights were White-cheeked Laughingthrush 2, Grey-crowned Crocias 4 and Slaty-backed Forktail 2.  Then back to Deo Nui San where two Long-tailed Broadbills and a White-browed Shrike-Babbler were seen.

Grey-crowned Crocias

Friday 17 April.  All day on he forest trails at Deo Nui San.  Several times we heard what we tought was Green Cochoa but never managed to track it down.  Frustrating.  Highlights were Long-tailed Broadbill 1, Orange-breasted Laughingthrush 2, White-browed Shrike-Babbler 3, Black-headed Sibia 4, Black-crowned Parrotbill 8, Large Niltava 2.

Black-crowned Parrotbill

Large Niltava

Saturday 18 April.  A final morning attempt on Green Cochoa at Deo Nui San was unsuccessful before we were driven back to Ho Chi Minh City for our flights home.  Highlights were Spot-throated Babbler 2, White-cheeked Laughingthrush 3, Black-headed Sibia 2 and Black-crowned Parrotbill 3.

VIETNAM April 2009: Cat Tien

Nick Preston and I had visited Vietnam for two weeks in 1997.  It was nowhere near long enough to do this fascinating county justice and a revisit was a priority, more so as we had missed Blue-rumped Pitta.  Having only two weeks again we decided to concentrate on Cat Tien and the Da Lat plateau, the latter an area we’d not fitted into our earlier trip.  We arrived late at night, were met at the airport and taken to a nearby hotel.  We set off early on Sunday 5 April and were dropped at Cat Tien late morning.  The rest of the day was spent birding the Lagerstroma trail, particularly in an area near the start of the trail where Ding Li had seen Blue-rumped Pitta a couple of weeks earlier.  This particular section off the forest was very busy with noisy School parties when we arrived but had quietened down later on, especially during heavy afternoon showers.  The rainy season appeared to have started in earnest leaving the forest rather wet.  This did not bode well for hearing birds rustling in leaf litter.  Highlights of our first day included Banded Kingfisher 1, Blue-eared Kingfisher 1, White-browed Piculet 1 and Siberian Blue Robin 1 female.

Monday 6 April.  All day was spent on the Lagerstroma and Uncle Dong trails.  Unfortuantely Nick left the forest for an hour in the middle of the day and hadn’t been gone more than ten minutes when on another circuit of Ding Li’s site I saw a female Blue-rumped Pitta 8m off the trail although after a minute or two it hopped further in and disappeared.  Highlights were Germain’s Peacock Pheasant 1 male, Blue-winged Pitta 1, Bar-bellied Pitta 3 (2 males and a female), Blue-rumped Pitta 1 female and White-crested Laughingthrush 3.

Blue-rumped Pitta site, Lagerstroma trail

Tuesday 7 April.  We hired a jeep to take us to the start of the Bau Sau trail and walked to Crocodile Lake for the day.  The jeep picked us up an hour before dusk.  Highlights were Siamese Fireback 2 (male & female) Red Junglefowl 2 males, Dusky Broadbill 2, Bar-bellied Pitta 5 (4 males) and Indochinese Green Magpie 1.

Emerald Dove

Crocodile Lake

Stork-billed Kingfisher

White-rumped Shama

Wednesday 8 April.  We spent the morning on the Lagerstroma and Uncle Dong trails and hired bikes in the afternoon to visit the more open grasslands south of the centre.  We finished in the bamboo by the Swimming Pool, another recent Blue-rumped Pitta site that proved unsuccessful.  Highlights were Chinese Francolin 1, Red Junglefowl 1 male, Green Peafowl 5 (in grasslands, 1 superb male), Black & Red Broadbill 2, Bar-bellied Pitta 1 male, Blue-winged Pitta 1, Siberian Blue Robin 1 male and White-crested Laughingthrush 12.

big tree on Lagerstroma trail

lizard

butterflies on the road

Dusky Broadbill

Black and Red Broadbill

Thursday 9 April.  We again hired a jeep to take us to the start of the Bau Sau trail and walked to Crocodile Lake.  Highlights were Siamese Fireback 3 pairs (two on trail and one on road), Green Peafowl a pair from Crocodile Lake hide, Bar-bellied Pitta 6+ (3 males and 3 females on walk out, two males on walk back) and Blue-winged Pitta 1.

Blue-winged Pitta (requires some imagination!)

Crocodile Lake

White-breasted Waterhen

Siamese Fireback on the trail

Siamese Fireback on the road, late afternoon

Siamese Fireback displaying

Friday 10 April.  One of the rangers suggested the rattans along the Bau Sau trail as being the best area to look for Blue-rumped Pitta so we devoted our last full day to this, again by jeep, finishing on the Lagerstroma trail.  Highlights were Siamese Fireback 2 males) Germain’s Peacock Pheasant 1 male, Blue-bearded Bee-eater 1, Black & Red broadbill 1, Dusky Broadbill 4 and Bar-bellied Pitta 3 (2 males).  Low points were my only getting a poor flight view of a calling Banded Broadbill and our continuing lack of success with Blue-rumped Pitta.

Saturday 11 April.  The final throw of the dice for Cat Tien as we were being picked up after breakfast.  After much thought we decided the start of the Lagerstroma trail represented our best bet.  We entered the forest before it was light and sat quietly scanning the section of trail that Ding Li had recommended and where I had seen one from on our first full day.  At 05.45 a female hopped onto the side of the trail where I was scanning.  Nick quickly got onto it as it stood motionless before it then hopped across the trail and out of sight.  Nick then saw it beside the trail looking at us and I got onto it before it melted away.  We waited but it didn’t return.  A brilliant end to our time at Cat Tien, we breakfasted, checked out and crossed the river to find our driver waiting.  Best birds were Dusky Broadbill 5, Blue-rumped Pitta 1 female, Blue-winged Pitta 4 heard, Racket-tailed Tereepie 1, Puff-throated Babbler 2 and Siberian Blue Robin 1 male.