Alongside the avocet sextet, were spectacled eider, scoter, and mandarin ducks.
The spectacled eiders were a spectacle indeed....
It may not be evident in the still shots. But in the video below it should show them clearly swimming up and down along one edge in a trio.
Next up, a swan goose.
The black backed radjah shelducks and goldeneyes were lazing on the shingle bank while the mute swan preened.
They seemed happy there. The shingle beach hadn't been there before.
The emporer geese are back!
I took a few pictures of the pelicans at WWT Arundel – all four are still alive.
Also in the pelican pond were a coot and her youngster.....and a ripple....
…..that turned out to be another youngster diving.
As we passed by the pelican pond towards the aviary, we spotted a Greylag family.
They eventually came up to us, came on land and walked across into the marshy bog land the other side of the path one by one....parents keeping a watchful eye on us as we watched them.
inside the aviary were 6 avocet and a red shank.
There were plenty more birds, but these were the first to catch our eye.
Answer - the inside of the budgy aviary at Chjichester's Priory Park! For some reason, instead of a dozen plus budgies of all colors flying about in the aviary, they appear to only have 4-5 chattering away from inside the shut off bit at the rear. We are not sure if they are removing the aviary or if its for bird flu protection.
Nearby, was an ornately designed bench.
Amongst the variety of birdlife seen, we found a blackcap, reed bunting, 4 types of warbler, and this little fellow.
We also saw the inevitable lapwings, seagulls, heron, mallards, robins, blackbirds, crows and more.
Although not birds, we spotted a mother and two young deer and a water vole amongst our many sightings on this trip.
One monday after we had had coffee at hers, Liz suggested we take a brief trip to WWT Arundel. Our first stop was the pelicans.
One was swimming about, the other three hanging about – with a seagull joining them.
Further along, we spotted oyster catchers.
We saw quite a few birds - mostly seagulls though.
Only sightable by zoom or noccies though.
What was that that we spotted in the grasslands?
Shelduck!
That brings us to the end of that trip - so I will leave this post with a mystery photo. What is this a picture of, can you see?
The crow abandoned the idea of getting a tasty treat from the empty smoothie glass, and decided to pick out some more sauce sachets.
It made quite a mess, tossing unwanted ones around, before it once again tried to get into the HP sauce sachet. Maybe it was the color that attracted it to that specific item?
Tap, tap, tap....ah!
It seemed to get some sauce finally....and tried 3 pecks before abandoning that flavour and looking for something tastier. It ended up having a drink from the dog water bowl then disappearing round the corner - taking the sauce sachet with it!
We wandered along the coast to West Witterings and spotted an egret.
We kept walking along.
Then found a better view of the egret.
This is the last picture I took of the Egyptian geese family at Wakehurst. Next I found another bird to photograph.
A male pheasant dashing across the pathway.
What a lot of goslings that family had - 10!
10 goslings is quite a large number.
Our next excursion took us to Itchenor, where we started our coastal hike with coffee. Whilst Liz sipped her latte, we spotted a crow...
....who was investigating a previous occupants leftovers.
The crow found a few crumbs to nibble, then moved on to investigate other items on the tabletop.
It seemed to be wondering of the empty smoothie glass or condiments box were the better option, once crumbs were gobbled.
It actually investigated both.
It began to peck at the HP sauce sachet....while Liz and I watched on in amusement.
The glass or the sauce? hmmm...it had stuck its beak into the glass and the sachet....so we wondered if it would continue with either or both. The smoothie perhaps?
...or maybe not...
Nah....back to the sauce sachet!!
