14th January - Warblington, Posbrook Floods and Chilling, Hampshire

So after leaving Pagham my first stop was just in Hampshire on the border with West Sussex in the village of Warblington.  I was here for the Cattle Egret and after not being able to find them in the fields opposite the farm, I saw some cattle in a field closer to the round-a-bout.  I walked up to the gate and could see five feeding around the cattle.

From Warblington I was off to a new location, a group of lakes on Milton Common.  This was on the western side of Langstone Harbour.  I drove to the end of Moorings way and then walked the short distance to Swan Lake.  I found the Greater Scaup at the first viewing area.  There were three present, two females and a first winter male.  All three had their heads under their wings, but this female woke up.

Larger than the Lesser Scaup and Tufted Duck, it is the larger of the Aythya duck.  It is a diving duck and more maritime than the Lesser Scaup.

Like the female Tufted Duck, the female Greater Scaup is a rufous brown and has a white patch at the base of the bill like the Tufted Duck, but in the Greater Scaup the white patch is larger and more pronounced.

The first winter male was showing signs of acquiring the breeding plumage, grey speckled upper parts and the black head.

Waking up the male had something to say.

Moving around with the two females.

Whilst it swam off with them it returned to a roost position but continued to paddle to keep up.

I left the scaup, they looked settled and will probably be around for awhile and hopefully the male will look quite smart.

I set off for Bridge Street and Posbrook Floods.  From the car park I walked along the canal path and quickly found the Glossy Ibis, only two were present and they showed briefly and did not allow any pictures.  There was another duck I was after.  I originally turned up on Normandy Lagoon at the weekend, but then relocated to Brownich Pond yesterday.  It had been reported today so I drove the short distance to the car park and Chilling Barn and set off along the footpath to the pond.

The area of the field close to the car park was quite muddy and there were several Pied Wagtail feeding around the puddles and also a nice Grey Wagtail.

On reaching th epond there are only a few places you can view the water.  I stopped at the first place and scanned the water.  The Ferruginous Duck, a drake stood out amongst the Tufted Duck, the obvious feature was the white flank at the back of the tail.

Another feature is the peaked crown and white eye.  The colouring on the flanks and head give the duck its name, while the back is a darker brown.  The duck appeared to be displaying to the Tufted Ducks, lifting the head in the familiar displays of ducks.

It followed the Tufted Ducks across the pond, getting further and further away.

Just after Christmas Ian and I had come here to see a drake Goosander, it was still here, preening on the far side of the pond.

I moved around to the weir and eventually the Ferruginous Duck came out following the Tufted Duck once again.

After some preening there was the obligatory wing flap.

The duck was my fifth Aythya diving duck of the year, there are twelve species around the world, with the Western Palearctic having five of them, other familiar species are the Canvasback, Redhead and Ring-necked Duck, all found in North America, but are also vagrants to the Western Palearctic.  Other members are found in Asia and Australasia.

Walking back to the car a Great Spotted woodpecker was quite vocal in the bare trees along the footpath.

A great day, catching up on some difficult year ticks.  Am I year listing?  I am not sure yet, I always keep a list, but have never been completely focused on the task, not sure if I will this year, but I am off to a good start.

14th January - North Wall, RSPB Pagham Harbour, West Sussex

After the disappointment of the poor weather yesterday I watched the weather forecast closely overnight.  Once again clear skies were possible in the morning and when I woke just before dawn it was clear and cold, but still.  However Pagham is thirty odd miles to the east and the weather conditions could be different.  However I decided to try once more and crossed my fingers that the sun would shine on me.

When I arrived at the bend in Rookery Lane the sun was still out.  I quickly kitted up and set off through Halsey's Farm, not stopping to see if the Redpoll were about.  As I crossed the field I could see the field was full of Brent Geese and the rife with Wigeon.  Up on the sea wall the light was perfect and this drake Wigeon reflecting nicely in the still water of the rife.

More Brent were dropping into the field.

Walking around the wall I could see some people looking into the same spot as yesterday.  As I got closer I could see one owl with the naked eye.  It was sitting in the bush we had located one yesterday with the thermal camera, clearly enjoying the sunshine.

The trick is to find a spot where the branches and are obscuring the least of the owl.

I walked on a little bit to see if I could get a better view, this is what I was looking at.

From this position the Long-eared Owl was looking at me, or to be a little more truthful it was head on.

The branches from this position though were quite a problem so I walked back to the original spot.  The wise old owl enjoying the sunshine, with just a glimpse of those orange eyes.

And then some movement, not sure what it was reacting too, maybe the geese calling.

A serious stare.

A ruffle of the feathers makes it look huge, but in reality they are quite scrawny under those stunning feathers.

Then more activity, some preening.

The ears, that are just feather tufts that aid with camouflage when the owl is disturbed.

I moved once again and captured this as the owl stopped preening and shook itself.

A shrieking call then went out and a Merlin came over the sea wall and flew out over the harbour diving in amongst the spooked Golden Plover.  I managed to watch it go across the harbour and wasn't successful in catching anything

Then back to the original place and the owl preened again, but stopped to react again to some noise.  This pose as an almost cat like appearance, the orange eyes so striking.

A closer view of the eyes.

A full frontal.

Back to a shake of the feathers and eyes wide open.

This is quite a comical photograph, did it taste something it didn't like.  It was trying to preen the feathers under the bill.

Its the facial disc and almost binocular vision that gives the owl its description of wise.  The fact that owls are nocturnal has given humans an unjustified suspicion of them, the reality is so different, Owls are not necessarily wise, but that doesn't stop us admiring them.

Another cat like pose.

While this shot gives off a very regal appearance, beard and a crown.

This is almost like a defensive pose, making itself big.

But it was never really concerned by the goings on that were happening on the north wall.

I went for a walk along the wall to the sluice looking for anything else.  Coming back the Spotted Redshank flew over calling and settled in a boggy part of the field on the other side of the wall.

But the morning was all about the Long-eared Owl, but by now the sun had gone in.  Th eOwl was still quite active and ruffling the feathers and staring across the reed bed

The Owl was quite active so I decided to take some video.

With the sky clouding over I decided to make my way back to the car, however a little further along there was a group looking into the bushes, I thought maybe they had found one of the other owls, but it turned out there was a female Sparrowhawk hiding behind the branches.

There were even more Wigeon on the waters of the rife.

And as I walked through Halsey's Farm one of the Redpoll flew up from the field into the tree I had seen them in yesterday.

After a successful morning I decided to go back into Hampshire for some year ticks.