BIRD NEWS: 862

 

They have added numbers to the aviary enclosure, so now have 6 avocets at WWT Arundel. Here are the scaly sided merganzers and spectacled eiders....

...basking in the warm spring sunshine. They are above the diving pool feature.

Just so you don't get bored, here is Naboo from his vacation with me in 2023.

Back to the merganzers and eiders....

Next we saw the magpie goose with some friends in the enclosure further along.

Next up, the Trumpeter duo....not nesting.

Shame, but at least they are both alive and well.

BIRD NEWS: 861

The last shot of the mute swan family is shown above. On our way back into Shoreham, I took a couple of shots of pigeons under the bridge.

Maybe these should have been taken on manual not auto mode, they might have been bright enough to see clearly then.

But, that ended my trip last weekend, so here is a Naboo shot from 2023 before I get onto my next April 2024 trip with Liz.

But first, we had stormy weather, and pigeon breeding season had begun - so I took a shot of a poorly wood pigeon on the tree outside the coffee lounge window, watching the Tibetan prayer flagds flapping in the wind and me inside.

He has later been seen regarding the prayer flags and me but with a partially broken beak. I suspect that after a storm drenching, his young have gobbled so fastidiously that they broke their parents bill - otherwise he swerved into something solid to avoid a cat-pounce.

The next excursion we took was a Walk thru the bluebell infested woodlands to WWT Arundel. After lunch, we spotted the 2 female pelicans.

Apparently, they are discussing with Bristol zoo to obtain a male pelican so they can bring multiplication to the pelican enclosure. These geese have been multiplying, however.

BIRD NEWS: 860

 

My last bright-outted picture at Brooklands Park. Then, I managed to take some on 'auto' setting, that actually show what I was attempting to take on 'manual-with-zoom'.

You can also see one of the swans - the other was nesting on an island.

I then attempted a shot of the swans nest - but got a mallard and wood pigeon instead.

Yet again I had forgotton to adjust the brightness/exposure control, just assumed it meant adding zoom. I then changed back to auto - and caught a pair of mallards...but still missed the swan nest.

Next we drove on to our final destination for the day - Shoreham, where we passed a funfair and strolled along the River Adur - spotting a family of 5 mute swans, the parents only just shooing the young of last year away as we met them.

They were sort of half together and half apart as we progressed past them.

I took a few shots, as we did not see that many birds on this excursion.

BIRD NEWS: 859

 

A couple more pictures of the pigeons outside Warnham nature reserve begin today's post.

As I came home, I noticed something on the roof of my house.

The pair of jackdaws that nest in my chimney each year were sunbasking on the roof just undrneath their home!

It must be spring if the sun is warm enough for that! You can see my next door neighbor's chimney is encased - preventing birds from enjoying the possibility of a comfy nesting site.

Our next excursion was via Worthing to Brooklands park...

However, I was playing around with camera settings, and accidentally allowed 'manual' to take too brightly.....

These pictures are of Brooklands Lake, and the seagulls, cormorant, coot, and mallards upon it, though - trust me.

BIRD NEWS: 858

 

One last shot of the greylag goose in the water meadow hide. Then it is back to the largest hide for a second showing of the pheasant.

Very pretty colors, if a little showy.

I took one more piccie...

As we left, we spotted a cormorant hanging with the seagulls on the entry lake.

Nice sunny warm weather for the first time in 2024 was experienced today.

As we began to leave, I spotted the resident fantail.

So naturally, I took several shots.

BIRD NEWS: 857

 

The next excursion we took was taken at the close of March to Warnham nature reserve. I took a bunch of pictures of a red poll....that did not show up very well.

We also saw siskin and reed bunting, but most of my pictures were of the bank voles we spotted, as we don't usually see them either. The redpoll pair was a quite rare spotting for me, though Liz has seen them before.

Above is the female in a tree.

At the next hide, we spotted a male and female pheasant.

The male is very shiny and brightly colored at this time of year, but the female, although duller, is still pretty in her markings.

I then spotted a wood pigeon sitting in the tree.

We then went to the small hide overlooking the boggy fields - and found a greylag goose.

BIRD NEWS: 856

 

One last shot of the supposed linnet before we come to the last bunch of pictures from our RSPB trip....

Show pigeons!!

Lots of them...

1...2...3...4...

5....6...7...

There ended up with me counting 10.

Bye bye pigeons...

If you have been waiting and wondering - HERE are the garden birdwatch results for 2024.