BIRD NEWS:548

But the trumpeter swans were there too - along with a coot. As you can see, it was fairly waterlogged on the grass area.

My pictures clearly show the female and male individuals - remember male birds have metal tags on their right legs - and, on this visit, the duo were more interested in me as well as their surroundings. Having an interest in swans and pigeons, it is good for me when the resident swans do 'accept' me as part of their environment. My last shot of the trumpeter duet also shows a stray mute swan swimming in THEIR lake.

I spotted action in the hedgerow near by - and someone had mentioned a firecrest....I was busily trying to capture the movement in case...but it ws so fast. I took a half dozen or so shots - mostly getting pictures of the bushes, but finally - one picture showed the elusive flitting bird - only to reconsider that it might be a goldcrest due to the eye.

Ok quiztime - what can YOU see in this picture - there are 2 species/3 ducks in the lake....what are they?

Finally for today HERE is a knitting pattern to knit your very own sparrow.

BIRD NEWS:547

I next passed a pair of Nenes and a notice board. I then went into the woodland hide. I was watching what appeared to be an extra large, extra fluffy, great tit - possibly a young one - exhibit odd behaviour. It sat on the feeder nibbling at the seed between its toes - it didn't just dive in, grab and run... One of the staff members popped into the hide and asked what I had been seeing - when I mentioned the bird he mentioned a water rail in clear view right below that I had completely missed due to studying the strange youngster.

i managed to take pictures of both - but didn't know which to focus on. The water rail is a rarer sighting than a great tit - yet this tits behavior was odd. The staff member suggested it may have been taking lessons from a finch, as they are more likely to nibble their food than run off with it. It reminded me of a cockatoo or parrot though.

My attention was then taken to a coal tit - which I was unsure if I had gotten a picture of or not, as a noisy family came along and scared it away. I had also tried to get a snap of the  nuthatch....

Success with the coal tit. I then moved on, as another family approached. I got to the trumpeter swan enclosure and took a photo of a mute swan who was using their lake.

BIRD NEWS:546

My next excursion was with Liz, and we set off on new years day 2020 to spend the day in Brighton. Apart from non-bird related tasks, one of the main reasons we had gone was to see the starling murmuration. My first picture for today is of the seagulls underneath and starlings further out/above, as they began to gather.

We had been wandering along the coast and spotted a half dozen or so birds amassing as we set towards the pier, so went along to watch. More and more and more arrived and they dived and swooped all over the skies. They took about a half hour to gather into 3-4 large groups and swirl and twirl abut the pier in the air - then group by group dived under the pier to roost for the night, allowing us to go warm up with coffee as we had gotten quite cold standing about. Next time, I will take a video...

My next excursion was a solo venture to Arundel WWT the first Saturday of the new year. I started with a hot cuppa as it was fairly cold out that day, then onwards I trod - in anticlockwise or Lizwards direction. I first passed the area that used to house eider, Aussie woodducks, etc but is soon going to house some fancy pelican....then spotted a duo of mute swans with a duck and a coot in a lake.

I passed the new feeding area - and this fellow took a look wondering if I was going to join in. I was more interested in photographing the pigeons though - maybe next time I will feed the geese!

I then took a photo of each of the black necked swans - Mr and Mrs Blackneck.

BIRD NEWS:545

The blue tits were still active on the peanut feeder as you can see above. My next trip was a short solo excursion to Chichester & Bognor and of course this meant 2 things. 1. I went to Cafe Nero for an oat milk latte and 2. I went to Priory Park to see these fellows.

They must just have only been getting up - as on my first pass by there were only three out of the night box. On my next pass, more had come out to forage in the sandy dirt and grasses/leaves.

I spotted multiple colors as usual - and also pure white!

There was more evidence that either one of those nasty cruel black furrballs or a bird of prey had been in my yard - as a pigeon had made a smudge on my window as if dashing to escape....

I actually spotted a red kite hovering about the street next to ours on my way home from Rustington early in the new year, so am aware there is a possibility of danger...

BIRD NEWS:544

As you can see from the first photo taken on a December excursion to Arundel with Liz, our recent wet weather is causing trouble. This strip of water near another strip near a lake is usually a wide footpath near a shallow moat near a field. The tree-lined avenue was on this occasion partially flooded. It did offer more habitat to the swans though.

You can see that little bits of path are still there - but the birds don't care - the mallards, coots, moorhen, and a cormorant all enjoyed the extra water - it is just human feet that did not. This next shot is of the path towards WWT...

The other side of the avenue was no better - with waterlogged grass beside the moat and also water logged foot path in places. It still gave us plenty of swan activity though.

Back home, and this fellow was helping the tits to demolish the peanut supply - our come when it wants to jay! We have not seen him for some time, so it was a delight to watch him munch his lunch - then fly away.