Wednesday 24 April 2013

Avocets, Bonelli’s Warbler and a Chaffinch

Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs
Yesterday I visited Pagham Harbour in the vague hope that the Long-eared Owl was still there. Many others had the same thought! Apparently it was showing well on a tall gorse branch set back from the path by the visitor centre on Sunday and Monday morning, but was less visible when the wind increased Monday afternoon. I enjoyed my wander around the reserve, seeing a Whitethroat and my first red Admiral and Comma of the season. The Comma was in aerial combat with two much larger Peacocks and saw both of them off.  There were plenty of Peacocks (butterfly variety) around. A Chaffinch proclaimed his territory from the top of a gorse tree. I saw my first Avocets since Pensthorpe on the mud flats of the Ferry Pool when I checked the hide.

A birder told me the Bonelli’s Warbler was still at Church Norton so I headed there. It was easy to find as there were a dozen or more borders at the back of the hide. The bird was difficult to see and there were other warblers around, but every so often it showed itself 70 metres away, but never stopped still for more than a few seconds. A Willow Warbler landed near me so I grabbed a shot.
Avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta
Avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta
Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs
Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs
Comma, Polygonia c-album
Greenfinch, Carduelis chloris
Magpie, Pica pica
Peacock, Inachis io
Red admiral, Vanessa atalanta
Redshank, Tringa totanus
Redshank, Tringa totanus
This Redshank kept bobbing up and down and pursued another nearby, which then flew off.
Western Bonelli's Warbler, Phylloscopus bonelli






Whitethroat, Sylvia communis
Willow Warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus
reflections

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