joannec
Well-known member
It would have been nice to meet you John. Hopefully another time. The redstart were just fabulous today! I agree the light was bad, only got a few poor pics of some juvs, not good enough to post.
Joanne
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A Good Day at Cuckmere Haven and More (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter joannec
- Start date
It would have been nice to meet you John. Hopefully another time. The redstart were just fabulous today! I agree the light was bad, only got a few poor pics of some juvs, not good enough to post.
Joanne
matt green
Norfolkman gone walkabout
An enjoyable read Joanne, well done with those Redstarts - only ever seen one Black Redstart though they are more commonly seen on the coast around migration time - promised myself a lucky local record last spring but never connected with it:-O
Matt
joannec
Well-known member
paulwfromtheden
Well-known member
Sounds like a good day Joanne, I am going to have a day out at AF, probably this week-end, so will lookout for the redstarts as I have not seen any yet this year.
joannec
Well-known member
Hi John
I find it very hard to get any decent pictures of birds at Ashdown Forest. I think at the more visited places the birds become "tamer", (for lack of a better word), and you have a better chance of getting closer to them. I find this on my patch too which has few visitors other than family. Short of getting a bigger, more powerful and expensive setup, that I would struggle to carry around, I think I have just accepted that I can't get the shots that I want. But it is in these more remote places that there are often more birds, partly because there are fewer people to disturb them. As a case in point, I got pictures of a nightingale at Pulborough RSPB, which I watched closely for at least 15 minutes. Nightingales sing in the woods beside my house but in years here I have only seen one on two occasions.
Joanne
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JohnZ
Well-known member
Joanne, I am primarily a very amateur photographer who got interested in photographing birds. This interest is in grave danger of turning into an addiction ! It is also, as you suggested, a fairly expensive pastime. I think it is generally accepted that a 400mm lens is the minimum requirement and they do not come cheap.
I think you are also correct in the more visited places bit. I go to Oare Marshes quite often and the birds there are wary but not half as skittish as at Ashdown Forest. Still that makes it more of a challenge. Not that I need a challenge as I find it hard enough as it is. But I shall return to AF in the vain hope that I may get a decent piccie of a Tree Pipit or Woodlark.
At the risk of appearing immodest I did get one reasonable shot of a Redstart that is in my gallery.
I think you are also correct in the more visited places bit. I go to Oare Marshes quite often and the birds there are wary but not half as skittish as at Ashdown Forest. Still that makes it more of a challenge. Not that I need a challenge as I find it hard enough as it is. But I shall return to AF in the vain hope that I may get a decent piccie of a Tree Pipit or Woodlark.
At the risk of appearing immodest I did get one reasonable shot of a Redstart that is in my gallery.
joannec
Well-known member
LOL, I know the feeling. I had a look through your gallery; some nice pictures. :t: I'm just a little envious of the redstart.
Joanne
joannec
Well-known member
Pannel Valley and Pett Level
I had heard of Pannel Valley but had never visited it, not really knowing where it was, and when a friend suggested we go there, as it's her favourite place, I jumped at the opportunity. It is a private nature reserve between Hastings and Rye in Sussex. As we walked along the reed enclothed canal towards the hides we heard whitethroat, chiffchaff, blackcap and cettis warbler , even getting a brief glimpse of the latter.:-O Also had fleeting views of several sedge warbler before one perched nicely on the top of a reed and sang vigorously. Swifts hawked the valley, as they do and a kestrel hovered silently.
Arriving at the first hide which was a bit overgrown with reeds, blocking out most of the view, we could see many lapwing. Disappointingly, at this reserve, the hide windows are bolted and padlocked shut, apparantly, Sue was to say, because egg collectors have climbed out of the windows to steal avocet eggs!!! :C :-C The mind boggles at such senselessness, what do they get out of it?!
The next hide gave excellent views and straight away my target species was seen, avocets with chicks :-O . Avocets have eluded me until now and it was a pleasure to watch the 12 adults and 10 chicks in various stages, ranging from only about a week old to almost as big as the adults; delightful that is until one avocet decided to have a go at a tuftie and her tiny chicks. But Mrs T successfully rounded up all 5 and headed off to the reeds.:t:
Lapwings seem to be having a successful breeding season here at Pannel Valley with at least 100 chicks counted. Shoveller, tufted duck, gadwall, mallard, ruddy duck, Canada and greylag goose families were all on the pools. Common tern also breeding here and 5 or 6 med gulls were seen too so hopefully they have bred too. It is educational to be able to compare the med gulls with the numerous black headed gulls at such close quarters.
Little ringed plovers were seen, 4 including 1 juvenile, with close enough views to see their yellow eye rings. They were a good find as they are scarce breeders in Sussex. o
A surprising find were 2 black tailed godwits , one in summer plumage, one not. We were a bit confused by this.
Three oystercatcher were seen but no sign of any juvs. Altogether 41 species were seen at Pannel Valley, only 1 raptor. We decided to move on to Pett Level on the coast. In the pools before the beach were 18 avocet with only 2 chicks. Shelduck families, oystercatcher, 2 ringed plover, a solitary redshank, more lapwing with many chicks, little egret and grey heron were seen. In the distance a curlew was spotted among the grazing sheep. Stonechat, linnet and reed bunting were among the reeds.
Moving on to the beach, it was now early evening, we watched the common tern diving for fish in the evening sunshine. I learned to recognize gannet; Sue found them first but I was able to find more later using my new more stable tripod. Postcard Peter, if you are reading this, they are just what I needed :t: to replace my wobbley ones and work a treat with the head you recommended.....even managed to carry it around all day along with everything else!:-O
A sea watch revealed a flock of scoter ducks, a small group of GC grebe and all the usual gulls. Pett Level beach has cliffs at one end; we could see birds on them but couldn't ID them from the distance, so we drove down to Pett Level village and walked down nearer the cliffs. Soon, could see they were nesting fulmar, at least 10 pairs with the females sitting but no sign yet of any chicks. We happily watched these 'flying milk bottles' for some time. A male kestrel with one juvenile we spotted in someones garden.
And lastly but not least, a visit to the ladies loo (yes, a village that still has public conveniences:take note.) had a nest of 4 swallow chicks in it. Nice that the council leaves all the windows open for them!
Altogether 62 species today and a great days birding in the most beautiful weather! A few pictures; will add more later as it was also a good photography day for a change.
I had heard of Pannel Valley but had never visited it, not really knowing where it was, and when a friend suggested we go there, as it's her favourite place, I jumped at the opportunity. It is a private nature reserve between Hastings and Rye in Sussex. As we walked along the reed enclothed canal towards the hides we heard whitethroat, chiffchaff, blackcap and cettis warbler , even getting a brief glimpse of the latter.:-O Also had fleeting views of several sedge warbler before one perched nicely on the top of a reed and sang vigorously. Swifts hawked the valley, as they do and a kestrel hovered silently.
Arriving at the first hide which was a bit overgrown with reeds, blocking out most of the view, we could see many lapwing. Disappointingly, at this reserve, the hide windows are bolted and padlocked shut, apparantly, Sue was to say, because egg collectors have climbed out of the windows to steal avocet eggs!!! :C :-C The mind boggles at such senselessness, what do they get out of it?!
The next hide gave excellent views and straight away my target species was seen, avocets with chicks :-O . Avocets have eluded me until now and it was a pleasure to watch the 12 adults and 10 chicks in various stages, ranging from only about a week old to almost as big as the adults; delightful that is until one avocet decided to have a go at a tuftie and her tiny chicks. But Mrs T successfully rounded up all 5 and headed off to the reeds.:t:
Lapwings seem to be having a successful breeding season here at Pannel Valley with at least 100 chicks counted. Shoveller, tufted duck, gadwall, mallard, ruddy duck, Canada and greylag goose families were all on the pools. Common tern also breeding here and 5 or 6 med gulls were seen too so hopefully they have bred too. It is educational to be able to compare the med gulls with the numerous black headed gulls at such close quarters.
Little ringed plovers were seen, 4 including 1 juvenile, with close enough views to see their yellow eye rings. They were a good find as they are scarce breeders in Sussex. o
A surprising find were 2 black tailed godwits , one in summer plumage, one not. We were a bit confused by this.Three oystercatcher were seen but no sign of any juvs. Altogether 41 species were seen at Pannel Valley, only 1 raptor. We decided to move on to Pett Level on the coast. In the pools before the beach were 18 avocet with only 2 chicks. Shelduck families, oystercatcher, 2 ringed plover, a solitary redshank, more lapwing with many chicks, little egret and grey heron were seen. In the distance a curlew was spotted among the grazing sheep. Stonechat, linnet and reed bunting were among the reeds.
Moving on to the beach, it was now early evening, we watched the common tern diving for fish in the evening sunshine. I learned to recognize gannet; Sue found them first but I was able to find more later using my new more stable tripod. Postcard Peter, if you are reading this, they are just what I needed :t: to replace my wobbley ones and work a treat with the head you recommended.....even managed to carry it around all day along with everything else!:-O
A sea watch revealed a flock of scoter ducks, a small group of GC grebe and all the usual gulls. Pett Level beach has cliffs at one end; we could see birds on them but couldn't ID them from the distance, so we drove down to Pett Level village and walked down nearer the cliffs. Soon, could see they were nesting fulmar, at least 10 pairs with the females sitting but no sign yet of any chicks. We happily watched these 'flying milk bottles' for some time. A male kestrel with one juvenile we spotted in someones garden.
And lastly but not least, a visit to the ladies loo (yes, a village that still has public conveniences:take note.) had a nest of 4 swallow chicks in it. Nice that the council leaves all the windows open for them!
Altogether 62 species today and a great days birding in the most beautiful weather! A few pictures; will add more later as it was also a good photography day for a change.
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matt green
Norfolkman gone walkabout
Sounds a fantastic spot, Joanne
I can just make out an Avocet chick in the first pic! - have been lucky enough to see some for myself in the broads near Norwich recently.
Matt
I can just make out an Avocet chick in the first pic! - have been lucky enough to see some for myself in the broads near Norwich recently.
Matt
joannec
Well-known member
Yeah Matt it is a fantastic spot, and relatively unknown. There were very few people there.
I hoped you would spot the avocet chick, you have good eyes.
Joanne
JohnZ
Well-known member
I noted that you said it was a private reserve at Pannel Valley. Does this mean you need a permit ? I remember asking Deborah many moons ago about Pannel Valley but I don`t think she had heard of it. There are often reports from PV on rxwildlife.co.uk but it seems a bit daft if you cannot gain access ?
Nice piccies by the way.
Nice piccies by the way.
joannec
Well-known member
Hi John
It's private in the sense that is privately owned and funded by an individual. You don't need a permit and it's free but rather hard to find and down a lane with no sign to say it's there. Thanks for comments about the pictures.
Alas Mark, no. My friend had heard that it had moved on so we wern't expecting it .....but even without it, it was a brilliant day.
A few more pictures; they aren't great but still gives a flavour of what it's like. All except the last one were taken at PV, the last at Pett Level.
BTW, can anyone explain why one of the black tailed godwits I saw was in winter plumage? Sorry no picture, they were too far away. It seems too early for one of this years youngsters.
Joanne
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matt green
Norfolkman gone walkabout
Can't answer your question regarding the Godwit, Joanne
But you've gotta be a little envious of anyone with their own private nature reserve.....complete with Avocets!!
Matt
But you've gotta be a little envious of anyone with their own private nature reserve.....complete with Avocets!!
Matt
joannec
Well-known member
Just seen my first lesser spotted woodpecker o and it was on my farmland/woodland patch.:t: It was perched on top of a telephone pole foraging and then flew back and forth to the woods several times. Great views! I've often thought that this was a suitable habitat, mixed woodland with mature oaks, but had never seen one before. I'm feeling really chuffed that they are here! :gh:
and it was on my farmland/woodland patch.:t: It was perched on top of a telephone pole foraging and then flew back and forth to the woods several times. Great views! I've often thought that this was a suitable habitat, mixed woodland with mature oaks, but had never seen one before. I'm feeling really chuffed that they are here! :gh:
matt green
Norfolkman gone walkabout
Just seen my first lesser spotted woodpecker o
Well done Joanne, fantastic little birds (I've only ever seen one!!)
Hope you manage to get some picso
Matt
Mark43
Well-known member
Just seen my first lesser spotted woodpecker o
Ok everyone round Joanne's patch NOW:-O :-O
Well done Joanne:t: :t:
joannec
Well-known member
Hope you manage to get some picso
Matt
Got the camera at the ready!
LOL
Joanne
