BIRD NEWS:224

Now we are onto swans again and another info board - with a real life trumpeter swan along with....a magpie! I next entered a hide just along from the trumpeter swan pond area. This time, the most interesting bird to watch was a heron wading about the distant banks.

It just glided through the waters serenely, dipping down to beak at something every so often

A brief update from the back yard. As I write this blog it is now the first of August, and the yard has been fairly empty recently. The past 3-4 days have resulted in a burst of youthful sparrows, but otherwise little has appeared apart from the youngest jackdaw and a pair of magpies. I am uncertain if the pies are scaring the smaller birds or not, but that would not explain the absence of the jay that came regularly for 2 weeks...

The answer to the sand martin question in my last post - which of these 4 birds is a sand martin - is as follows: From left to right - sand martin, sand martin, swallow, swift.

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No, this is not a photo of a cloud with a speck of dust in view. It is a photo of a buzzard flying too far away to get a decent shot - despite zoom and mass megapixels. Ducks in the ducks only gated field I approve of....

Those 2 trees are reportedly the hang out of both the buzzards and peregrines....and it looks like 'a bird' of some sort on one branch... But here is a bird that is easier to identify as it swims close to an info board about itself....a Bewick swan!

As there were not many unusual birds thru the hide windows, I spent one photo on the bust of Peter Scott - LINK - whom is associated with the various wetlands reserves. INFO 

Next, after info links, a bit of fun - a quiz! Which of the 4 birds described on plaques are sand martins....? The answer will be in my NEXT blog post, so people cannot cheat!!!!

Finally for today -  LINK -

''It is like the flocks of wild geese that travel together from the north to the south in huge numbers. If one bird goes off on its own, it will be easily caught, but if they stay together, they are much safer. Near Plum Village there are hunters who use a bird cry to lure the geese down. If a wild goose leaves the flock and comes down alone, he will easily be shot by the hunters. ''

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The birds were better than the coffee alas - which although served in a decent cup and hot enough, lacked somewhat in the flavor department, tasting no better than el cheapo instant. Luckily the budgies made up for the lack of deliciousness and entertained me.

I then wandered off, ignoring the rest of the park. As I made my way back towards the city, I passed another bird - or at least a bird inspired piece of artwork on the wall. I took a snap of the mural to allow regular readers to view something different....

Then I headed towards Arundel and took the above photograph. You might need to look very carefully to see why... This close up might show you - a few bird heads in the cattle field - PIGEONS!!!!

Yes, 2 or 3 wood pigeons were also enjoying the cow field, hence my cameras activity. But of course, Arundel means for certain a trip to the Wetlands Reserve - aka multiple bird shots - this year as my friend Liz gave me an annual membership for my birthday. Here we go.....Regular readers may recall these fellows when they were somewhat smaller...

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Alas, the weather was dull, dreary, and wet. We had wind too - which was ideal for the wind surfers, but not for bird photography. There was a bird in the shot when I took it....but you cannot distinguish it from the wind surfers' parachutes! This next shot was the last one taken on my brief Shoreham trip and is of a pigeon spotted on the sands below...

Back home and I spotted a magpie in my tree. I failed to get a decent shot though as I was still learning how to best operate my new camera.

It was not long before I went on yet another excursion. This one began in Chichester. Regular readers may recall that CHICHESTER usually means budgies. This trip did indeed include a few budgy pictures.

I managed to buy a coffee at the cafe in Priory Park this trip - on my last trip the cafe was closed for renovations. The cafe tables were very close to the aviary, so I watched the birds while I sipped the cuppa.

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Next up, a few shots taken of the bird bath and feeder in the back yard. These were taken to show the busy activity of the starling and sparrow community one day. Much activity was occurring both on the feeder and the bath - and the interactions between the two species were comical to observe, especially as several of the birds were young.

It had all calmed down later on, however. Only one bird was spotted, resting solo on top of the feeder where the scene of the mad rush had been played out earlier.

Where is this roof of pigeons, you may be wondering... Well this takes you to my next excursion. I spent a Sunday early in July at Shoreham, attending a chili festival, mainly. I took a look to see if the toilet row birds were in situ up behind the wire, but they were all on a nearby roof instead!

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Just two more shots of the magpie taken on my new camera, before we move on to the Angmering Fayre. I must recall to lower the file storage size on the new camera shots - they come out twice as large as my giant old camera ones and have to be resized to find anything!

At the fayre there was a birds of prey exhibition, where several birds were stationed on or at little perches to look at. There was a display on the program, but I had left by the time that began as the friend I had pushed down in a wheelchair did not like the look of the black clouds building up in addition to the wind that was quite strong, and was ready to leave after an hour. I did however get several shots of the birds themselves.

In case you wonder what species they are - as I did - I included a shot of the plaques. I figured that two were owls, which was correct, but had no clue what the other two were til I read their info boards.

Next along, was a hawk doing a solo act, though why this one was not with a group, I am unsure - maybe it was the one used for the display, or perhaps it was a grumpy bird and the others did not get along with it very well.

There was just one more set of birds in the exhibit...

Unfortunately, the signs did not come out clearly in my shot, this time - but at least one is a falcon.

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Still adjusting to the new camera - I took a few shots of a bird in the tree to see the difference also. I had to change setting after seeing the results of this group, as the new camera decided to focus itself on the dirt marks on my window instead of the bird...

As you can see the two above did not come out as well as the two taken on my old camera shown below.

Next up, a bunch of shots I took to practice using the new camera. A magpie landed on my tree as July began, and out came the camera...

The magpie was young and preening, also hopping about a few branches. It was not seemingly afraid of me - or my camera.