Amongst other things, saw a Nuthatch singing away high up in a tree and heard my first Chiffchaff of the season
It was generally fairly quiet and my first sight from the visitor's centre was a small herd of cattle.
Blossom adorned the tops of the hedgerows and
...primroses grew underneath
Wigeon were everywhere; in this one spot there must have been in excess of 100
Deer were grazing (I think they are Roe Deer but I must research this!)
I was thrilled to see an adder - in fact there were two, an adult and young one. The young one didn't stay around to be photographed and the adult proved somewhat difficult too!
One of the many Teal
and on the way out, a Great Tit
Blue Tit
and Chaffinch
Most other birds were far too far away out on the water, to get any pictures.
A quick sandwich in the Visitor Centre and I then headed off for WWT Arundel. Target birds were the Hawfinches but dipped on those!
On arrival in the car park, I saw 5 Common Buzzards - two of which were displaying - fantastic stuff and I watched these for some while. As a result I didn't really have much time left, so I opted for one of the (electric) boat rides and managed to get the last one of the day.
Edited: Forget to mention that I saw 2 water voles from the electric boat - great! :D
Tufted ducks.
(my) First Mallard ducklings of the season - 16 in all!
A moorhen swam by and
on my way out, a very colourful male Pheasant.
I didn't have any time left, so headed off for the car park where, again, I watched the Buzzards before heading off home. A pleasing day, but just wish I could have started early to spend more time there.
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12 comments:
Look like another excellent day out Tricia. Pleased your weather was better the the cold overcast day we have had. Lovely pictures as always - as good as being there myself.
At least you got out Tricia! You had the sun as well, it was cold and cloudy here this pm. bad luck with the Hawfinch, but they are just a little elusive!!
enjoyed your story and photos as usual tricia.love the ducklings.
and how on earth did you spot the adders?
Sheila
Were the LRP about? at Pulborough?
Be careful Tricia going to 2 places on the same day - you will be twitching soon! LOL!
Cheers
C
Barnes has a pair of Garganey there at mo...see my post on BBF
I see there were plenty of Shovellers around as well Tricia.
Pulborough is one of David's favourite sites so he will probably provide a list of 50+ on Monday!
Love the ducklings Tricia!
Sounds like you had a great day, Tricia. Great photos yet again.
From the size of the antlers on that stag, I reckon those deer are Fallows (but I am probably wrong!).
John - sorry you've not had the weather we've had down south!
Warren - one day I'll add Hawfinch to my life list!
Sheila - I can't claim spotting the adders - I can claim seeing someone pointing a camera at the undergrowth and followed his example!
C - I didn't see the LRP but they had been seen there.
Frank - yes many Shovellers I'll have to add the list of what I saw.
Interesting that you mention David as - I did spot a David there today together with a Mrs. David :D Sheer chance (and he will have Garganey on his list - which I won't)
Steve - they do have the "aw" factor don't they..
Graham - They could be Fallows from the colouring and antlers - but they were all uniformly the same colour. My experience with Fallows is that they vary considerably - dark, dappled and very light.. but equally - I could be wrong Lol
Love the Duckling photos Tricia. Sounds like a good day all round. Mandy and I are off to Wakehurst Place on Sunday which is a National Trust place and hope to photograph some wildlife there. Regards Phil
Thanks Phil. I'm sure you'll enjoy Wakehurst. I took my mother there not that long ago
Woow... This looks like a very good walk in nature! You saw a lot of things and did a lot of good pictures. Congrats. I like the tufted ducks, they are so cute and your pictures are so good.
Hi Chris - yes it was a great day out. And thanks too :)
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