Farlington Marshes - Winter Birding.

Earlier this year I made three visits to Farlington Marshes, one of my favourite sites on the south coast, to enjoy the spectacle of winter birding.

 

One of the main attractions being the thousands of Dark-bellied Brent Geese that migrate southwards from their arctic breeding grounds in late September to spend the winter months in and around Langstone Harbour.

The reserve and surrounding harbour attracts large numbers of waders, including Dunlin, Knot, Grey Plover and Oystercatchers (above) plus Ringed Plover, Turnstone and Black-tailed Godwit (below) in their drab grey winter plumage.

Wildfowl increase through the winter months with particularly high numbers of Teal and Northern Pintail (above) plus Shelduck (below).

During these winter visits I have logged 64 species including Avocet, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, Water Rail, Water Pipit, Short-eared Owl, Bearded Reedling and one of several Spoonbill (below) that irregularly visit this site.

I will be revisiting this area throughout the year and hope to share the diversity of species that can be seen here.  FAB.

Linking to:
Saturday's Critters
I'D-Rather-B-Birdin'

Winter Birding.

A few images of species seen during my winter birding forays.

A reflective pair of Mute Swans on a very cold January day at Frensham Little Pond on the only ice free patch of water.

On the same January day a rare inland Surrey sighting was this juvenile Long-tailed Duck that spent some weeks at Frensham Great and Little Pond.

A Kestrel just taking off. A resident and regular sighting on my local patch.

On a sunnier day in January a record shot of a Dartford Warbler, a resident breeder on Thursley Common. This species appears to have fared well this winter.

A Kingfisher seen at Tices Meadows in February seeking food from a very small stream when most of the main water areas were frozen.

A trip to Staines Reservoir in early March produced this record image of a long staying male Scaup (top left) in the company of Tufted Ducks .....

... and during the same visit several Black-necked Grebes in various plumage's.

Finally, my favourite winter goose, the Dark-bellied Brent. Just one of a few thousand seen around Langstone Harbour earlier this month.

Linking to:
Wild Bird Wednesday
Saturday's Critters
I'D-Rather-B-Birdin' 

Farlington Marshes Fieldtrip.

On Sunday I drove southwards to lead a Surrey Bird Club field trip at Farlington Marshes.

The weather forecast was not promising with heavy rain predicted for most of the morning but fortunately this failed to materialize with any significance. Under an overcast sky and light drizzle just two members, Trevor and Victoria, joined me at 9am for the planned walk around the reserve.

High tide was due at around 11.30 so we started by scanning the extensive mudflats locating numerous Dark-bellied Brent Geese plus good numbers of Shelduck that traditionally overwinter around Langstone Harbour. Small groups of Northern Pintail with the elegant males in their full finery were spotted together with a few waders; Dunlin, Grey Plover, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher and Curlew.

As the tide rises the Brent Geese leave the harbour to fly into the grazing marsh.

Heading inland towards the stream the first of several Cetti’s Warblers boldly called from the nearby vegetation, typically moving ahead of us out of sight! Amongst a small group of gulls we found two Mediterranean Gulls enabling a clear comparison with their Black-headed companions. A few Lapwing briefly appeared in the sky above the reed bed. Due to the damp conditions, not surprisingly, we failed to see any Bearded Reedlings near the information building where we sheltered briefly from the constant drizzle. At this point Victoria unfortunately decided it was time to return home.

The sun eventually tried to make an appearance and the drizzle finally abated so under a lightening sky and hopeful for an interesting afternoon Trevor and I walked out to rejoin the sea wall path.

Oystercatchers flying across the harbour. This image was taken just a week earlier under better lighting conditions.

With flat calm waters on the falling tide we finally spotted a small flotilla of Red-breasted Merganser, a single female Goldeneye and Great Crested Grebe. An LBJ flitting through the field edge shrubbery was eventually identified as a Chiffchaff. Walking towards The Deeps we added Wigeon, Shoveler plus a distant perched Kestrel eating its prey.

Another image shot a week earlier shows a collection of waders; Dunlin, Grey Plover, Turnstone and Knot: taking refuge on a tiny reducing island at high tide.

At the Deeps, a winnowing Little Grebe failed to make an appearance but a pair of Reed Buntings and Tufted Duck were added to our day list. Several more Skylarks were seen and heard. Having earlier heard a Meadow Pipit calling in flight we located 2 Rock Pipits feeding in and out of the grass margins on the sea wall path.

At around 1.30pm while watching various flocks of waders moving out across the harbour I turned around only to find a Short-eared Owl hunting over the Point and then disappearing out of view. We retraced our steps and relocated this individual sitting on a fence post before it eventually flew of east towards North Binness Island.

Chatting to another birder helped us to get scoped views of a preening Spoonbill at the back of the distant reed bed. A definite rarity for this site and an excellent addition to the trip list. Shamefully I had previously spotted and discounted an unmoving white blob well-hidden way out in the grass as probably a plastic bag!!

Moving further around the Point and thinking that having seen one ‘Shortie’ was a bonus we were delighted to have even closer views of a second bird who after briefly flying around perched on a grassy mound allowing for another photo opportunity.

Short-eared Owl. 

Returning full circle back to the main pool we enjoyed close views of a feeding Little Egret and Common Snipe and logged 5 Greenshank and a single Spotted Redshank in its typical grey winter garb.

Little Egret.

My thanks to Victoria and Trevor for their company and making this a worthwhile trip to the coast with a final tally of 60 species. FAB.

Linking to:
I'D-Rather-B-Birdin'

A winter favourite at Farlington.

Once again birding and blogging have taken a back seat during the past few months partly due to the demands of stubborn, aging parents whose health, mobility and living issues increasingly require more physical support. 

Fortunately a recent outing to Farlington Marshes lifted my spirits as I reconnected with one of my favourite over wintering species, the Dark-bellied Brent Geese (Branta bernicla), that frequent the marshes in their thousands.

As the tide rises in Langstone Harbour the geese leave their watery feeding areas and move onto the marshes, some stopping at the lake together with a varied mix of waders and ducks, including Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin,  Redshank, Greenshank,  Knot, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Shelduck, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, and Pintail. 

Both large and smaller family groups eventually settle on the grassy fields to feed and rest offering an opportunity to get much closer to this delightfully dapper goose.

 Above is a juvenile lacking the white crescent neck band of the adult pictured below.

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday

More Coastal Birding.

Whenever we visit my father-in-law on Hayling Island I usually manage to wangle an hour or two to wander part of the shoreline overlooking Langstone Harbour and yesterday I was able to extend my time by walking part of the 'Billy Trail'. With the tide well on the ebb most of the waders; Curlew, Godwit, Redshank, Dunlin, Grey Plover and Knot; were specks out on the expanding mudflats with large numbers of Brent Geese also seen flying to other parts of the harbour.

Looking inland this Little Egret was sitting quietly by the edge of a stream that crosses one of fields which is also often frequented by a Kingfisher but no sighting during this walk. A Common Buzzard (below) made a brief appearance overhead before disappearing beyond the nearby woodland.

With little else catching my attention I retraced my steps and made my way towards the old Oyster Beds with the strident calls of hundreds of gulls increasing in volume the closer I got to their nesting site. A month ago there were just a handful of Black-headed and one or two Mediterranean Gulls but now the colony was alive with activity as they jostled one another for their allotted spaces.

I will feature some additional images taken of the Mediterranean Gull in a separate post very soon. 

Close to the path I disturbed a Rock Pipit while out in the harbour I also spotted a pair of Shelduck and a single Red-breasted Merganser.

One of a pair of Brent Geese wandering around the edge of the tidal pool and close by a couple of Oystercatchers (below) were seeking out morsels from the muddy margins.

Now if my visit yesterday had coincided with a high tide I might well have experienced the joy of watching mixed gatherings of thousands of waders; usually Dunlin, Grey Plover, Redshank and Knot; taking refuge on the much depleted shingle shoreline. The images below were taken just about a month ago.

Linking to:
Saturday's Critters
I'D-Rather-B-Birdin'

Coastal Birding.

Today I am raiding the recent archives for some more images of the birds seen during my visits to the coastal marshes around Langstone Harbour last month.

I enjoy watching large numbers of any species and the overwintering Dark-bellied Brent Geese always put on a good display as they fly in from their tidal roost to feed on the grazing marsh. Their gargling, guttural calls are very distinctive as they chatter amongst themselves while feeding. 

A very dapper looking goose.

The evocative call of a Curlew is another common sound as it passes overhead to seek out another feeding location.

A pair of Common Buzzard make a brief appearance, lazily floating above the marsh.

A lonesome male Teal makes its way across the harbour at high tide.

Little Egrets fly in and out of the reed fringed pools where they can be seen waggling their bright yellow feet to disturb their likely prey.

Linking to:
Saturday's Critters

SBC Fieldtrip to Farlington Marshes.

As a follow up to my previous post 13 hardy souls joined me on Sunday morning, with the temperature hovering just a few degrees above freezing point and a very strong north-easterly wind, for the scheduled Surrey Bird Club walk around Farlington Marshes LNR.

Due to the weather conditions I didn't find many opportunities for additional photos during this walk so some inclusions are of those species seen but captured during my recce visit last week.

A scan over the extensive mudflats produced our first sightings, albeit distant, of six different waders.

Views around Farlington Marshes LNR.

The inland pool was nearly devoid of any water fowl but it did enable us to get much better views of the elegant male Northern Pintail in all it breeding finery.

Male Northern Pintail.

Trying to unsuccessfully get out of the gusty wind we followed the stream which enabled us to get reasonably close to the Brent Geese and plenty of Black-tailed Godwit, many beginning to show signs of their breeding colours.

Black-tailed Godwit with Teal. Brent Geese, Black-headed and Herring Gulls

Moving on to the eastern sea wall with the tide well on the turn provided more views of waders including Dunlin, Turnstone, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover and Oystercatcher. 

Grey Plover, Knot, Dunlin and Turnstone.

Scanning the inland marsh when a flock of Lapwing and other species took flight I spotted a very small falcon, probably a Merlin, but it disappeared before any of the group could see it!

Lapwing.

Brent Geese, Pintail, Oystercatcher and Shelduck.

Along the western sea wall a couple of Pipits tested our ID skills as they flew up briefly and then disappeared back into the waterside vegetation. With perseverance we eventually identified them as Rock and a Water Pipit ... nice additions to the day list.

Finally a couple of images of the most numerous species seen throughout our walk the Dark-bellied Brent Geese.

List of my sightings:

Blackbird, Common Buzzard (2), Coot, Carrion Crow, Curlew, Dunlin, Little Egret, Black-tailed Godwit, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Canada Geese, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Grey Heron, Lapwing, Magpie, Mallard, Red-breasted Merganser, Merlin, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Northern Pintail, Rock Pipit, Water Pipit, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Redshank, Robin, Shelduck, Northern Shoveler, Skylark (heard), Common Snipe, Starling, Stonechat, Teal, Turnstone, Wigeon, Woodpigeon, Wren. [44].

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday.