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Friday 8th January 2010
Thorney Island, West Sussex.
The colour ringed Greenshank within Emsworth Harbour.
A close view of a Dunlin with Emsworth Harbour.
The snow from Tuesday is still settled though mostly turned to hard ice, which has made our roads somewhat treacherous in places though most of the main roads are passable with ease. However, the side roads, including mine, are somewhat iced over though can be negotiated with due care. Unfortunately, you still get the idiots that must get from A to B in great haste, so I don’t have any sympathy for them when they spin out of control. It’s just the carnage these twats leave behind.
Another very cold day and with that north easterly blowing with a wind chill factor of around –5 degrees centigrade, it left me with a numb chin this morning! So, having an unexpected week off due to the weather this week, I concluded today with a trip to Thorney Island.
I have never been to Thorney with snow upon it and yes, it was very beautiful but lets face facts, snow is a killer and seeing that most of the island was inundated with the nasty stuff, the likes of the reedbeds by the Little Deeps suffered most. If it wasn’t bad enough with the Lake being frozen over, the reedbeds were reduced to a few islands of reeds, therefore totally inhospitable to any birdlife; however, I did still see a Bearded Tit, a female, in an isolated pocket of reeds! I even heard a Reed Bunting though I never saw the bird. Let us see it from a Bearded Tits point of view, it must be like an apocalypse to these birds with their whole habitat reduced to a few isolated areas and virtually no water or probably food. I hear that Sunday has more snow in store for us but lets hope for a big thaw soon afterwards as our birdlife will be severely hit by this cold spell. Cetti’s Warblers, Bearded Tits and Water Rails beware!
The snow was about a foot thick along the footpath to the west side of the harbour wall but little birdlife around except for some Wood Pigeons in the bushes and trees and both Fieldfare and Redwing flying over occasionally. I decided to climb the sea wall and scan the harbour for a few more year ticks as I had Greenshank, Knot and Golden Plover to find. The first species, Greenshank, was soon picked up with a solitary bird out on the mudflats within a small creek. This lone bird sported a red ring on its right leg and a yellow ring on its left leg (see photo) as I watched it preen itself in the bright morning sunshine. Dunlin was in good numbers scattered about in flocks upon the mudflats however, a few birds ventured much more closer near the harbour wall for me to take a few photos. Black-tailed Godwit and Grey Plover were abundant and Ringed Plover was in smaller numbers. Out in the harbour channel, up to ten Mergansers swam in the icy water. I kept an eye out for any Red-crested Pocahrds which were somewhere in the area apparently. These were seen yesterday flying over Langstone Bridge into Emsworth Harbour, but no sign of them for me this morning, nor Golden Plover or Knot this morning either.
The sight of a near flattened Little Deeps was sad to say the least and virtually birdless except for a couple of Mute Swans sitting on the ice. A couple of Kestrels were seen hunting over the area but nothing else of note as I carried on towards the Great Deeps. Passing the Gorse field to my left, I heard a Green Woodpecker calling but failed to find the bird, which I needed for a year tick. However, a pair of Hares was found sat by some gorse, with one animal cleaning itself. Cute. A flock of Linnets flew overhead heading towards the gorse then settled out of view. A single Meadow Pipit flew up and flew out into the harbour and as I neared the gate at the end of the footpath by the Great Deeps, I caught sight of a Water Rail (another year tick) walking over the snow by the edge of the Lake. The bird then flew down onto the shoreline and scurried along the waters edge near where I stood. I took a few photos but I was looking directly into the sun. A Grey Heron sat quietly by the waters edge on the opposite side, as did a large congregation of Teal, keeping out of the raw wind blowing. Several Gulls and Mallard swam on the ice-free part of the Lake but nothing more unusual here.
The walk back was as usual fairly quiet though a Common Buzzard soaring over the fields kept me entertained. Out on the mudflats, good numbers of Brent Geese were seen but nothing more unusual amongst them. Some people had their children sliding down the embankment with their dog keeping an eye on proceedings. I gave the dog a pat on the head as I passed then negotiated the thick snow back towards the car, which was parked back at the Sewage Works car park.
Pleased with picking up three more year ticks, I thought I would give it a quick look along Thornham Lane despite being very slippery with thick ice on the road. I did hear some 'crests calling and even caught sight of one but it was too quick as it disappeared into deep vegetation before I could identify it. Its a good area for Firecrests here but no diamonds today as all went quiet. A Grey Wagtail flew overhead though which was nice to end the trip with.
I failed to write about the very pale Buzzard Andy and myself saw at Blackgutter Bottom last Saturday seeing a report of a Rough legged Buzzard was reported there apparently. However, having read some news sent in on Hoslist by avid readers, it turns out that this bird IS a very pale Common Buzzard as does the photographs prove. When Andy and I were there, I didn’t take my scope with me and so I presumed it was a very pale Common Buzzard, so I am glad I was right in the first instance.
Another very cold day and with that north easterly blowing with a wind chill factor of around –5 degrees centigrade, it left me with a numb chin this morning! So, having an unexpected week off due to the weather this week, I concluded today with a trip to Thorney Island.
I have never been to Thorney with snow upon it and yes, it was very beautiful but lets face facts, snow is a killer and seeing that most of the island was inundated with the nasty stuff, the likes of the reedbeds by the Little Deeps suffered most. If it wasn’t bad enough with the Lake being frozen over, the reedbeds were reduced to a few islands of reeds, therefore totally inhospitable to any birdlife; however, I did still see a Bearded Tit, a female, in an isolated pocket of reeds! I even heard a Reed Bunting though I never saw the bird. Let us see it from a Bearded Tits point of view, it must be like an apocalypse to these birds with their whole habitat reduced to a few isolated areas and virtually no water or probably food. I hear that Sunday has more snow in store for us but lets hope for a big thaw soon afterwards as our birdlife will be severely hit by this cold spell. Cetti’s Warblers, Bearded Tits and Water Rails beware!
The snow was about a foot thick along the footpath to the west side of the harbour wall but little birdlife around except for some Wood Pigeons in the bushes and trees and both Fieldfare and Redwing flying over occasionally. I decided to climb the sea wall and scan the harbour for a few more year ticks as I had Greenshank, Knot and Golden Plover to find. The first species, Greenshank, was soon picked up with a solitary bird out on the mudflats within a small creek. This lone bird sported a red ring on its right leg and a yellow ring on its left leg (see photo) as I watched it preen itself in the bright morning sunshine. Dunlin was in good numbers scattered about in flocks upon the mudflats however, a few birds ventured much more closer near the harbour wall for me to take a few photos. Black-tailed Godwit and Grey Plover were abundant and Ringed Plover was in smaller numbers. Out in the harbour channel, up to ten Mergansers swam in the icy water. I kept an eye out for any Red-crested Pocahrds which were somewhere in the area apparently. These were seen yesterday flying over Langstone Bridge into Emsworth Harbour, but no sign of them for me this morning, nor Golden Plover or Knot this morning either.
The sight of a near flattened Little Deeps was sad to say the least and virtually birdless except for a couple of Mute Swans sitting on the ice. A couple of Kestrels were seen hunting over the area but nothing else of note as I carried on towards the Great Deeps. Passing the Gorse field to my left, I heard a Green Woodpecker calling but failed to find the bird, which I needed for a year tick. However, a pair of Hares was found sat by some gorse, with one animal cleaning itself. Cute. A flock of Linnets flew overhead heading towards the gorse then settled out of view. A single Meadow Pipit flew up and flew out into the harbour and as I neared the gate at the end of the footpath by the Great Deeps, I caught sight of a Water Rail (another year tick) walking over the snow by the edge of the Lake. The bird then flew down onto the shoreline and scurried along the waters edge near where I stood. I took a few photos but I was looking directly into the sun. A Grey Heron sat quietly by the waters edge on the opposite side, as did a large congregation of Teal, keeping out of the raw wind blowing. Several Gulls and Mallard swam on the ice-free part of the Lake but nothing more unusual here.
The walk back was as usual fairly quiet though a Common Buzzard soaring over the fields kept me entertained. Out on the mudflats, good numbers of Brent Geese were seen but nothing more unusual amongst them. Some people had their children sliding down the embankment with their dog keeping an eye on proceedings. I gave the dog a pat on the head as I passed then negotiated the thick snow back towards the car, which was parked back at the Sewage Works car park.
Pleased with picking up three more year ticks, I thought I would give it a quick look along Thornham Lane despite being very slippery with thick ice on the road. I did hear some 'crests calling and even caught sight of one but it was too quick as it disappeared into deep vegetation before I could identify it. Its a good area for Firecrests here but no diamonds today as all went quiet. A Grey Wagtail flew overhead though which was nice to end the trip with.
I failed to write about the very pale Buzzard Andy and myself saw at Blackgutter Bottom last Saturday seeing a report of a Rough legged Buzzard was reported there apparently. However, having read some news sent in on Hoslist by avid readers, it turns out that this bird IS a very pale Common Buzzard as does the photographs prove. When Andy and I were there, I didn’t take my scope with me and so I presumed it was a very pale Common Buzzard, so I am glad I was right in the first instance.
Left, the Hares seen in the Gorse fields south of the Little Deeps. Right, the showy Water Rail feeding on the shoreline of the Great Deeps in the south west corner. This was one of the few ice free zones on this side of the island with half of the Great Deeps covered in ice.
