Purple Haven!

 Very grey  down at Tidemills, Newhaven this morning. Had a walk to the pier to try and find the Purple Sandpipers that have been reported for the last week or so, after being distracted by a Black Redstart flitting around  on the pier I found, first a singleton, before another couple joined it!! 

Grey Heron on the first tidal pool

Stonechat, pretty much the only bird I saw on the walk to the pier.

Black Redstart, not as cooperative as the Seaford bird! Flitted about a lot!

Purple Sandpiper, think this is the most Purple I've ever seen them, possibly due to the poor light!

Seaford Head!

Another Lighthouse pics, felt a break was needed from the incessant Purple Sand Pics 

There were several Great Crested Grebes around the pier in various plumages! 

Great Crested Grebe

I walked over to the new bridge, very quiet though a very bright Pied Wagtail put on a bit of a show!

Pied Wagtail

I decided to walk the beach in the hope of finding a Bunting or two, failed miserably, though there was a small flock of Waders, Dunlin, Ringed Plovers and Turnstones, which were flushed several times by dogs, of which there were the usual multitudes and the usual tonnage of dog turds😢It was  a bit of a surprise as the last couple of times I've been the poop has been missing, but today I remembered why it's known a Turdmills!!😱😲💩 

Little Egret flyby

Redshank, counted 27 on the tidal pool

Wren, a few about, saw a few Robins, Dunnocks and Blackbirds, 2 song Thrushes of note as well

The Wader flock Dunlin, Ringed Plover and Turnstone!

Turnstone

Ringed Plover

Redshank

Not a bad walk, the Purple Sandpipers are always fun, far fewer birds in general than my last winter visit, notably hardly any Finches, saw one small mixed flock of Goldfinches and Linnets, another even smaller flock of Goldfinch with a couple of Greenfinch. Also no House Sparrows at all! Hopefully numbers will pick up a bit as it gets colder. Also of note up to 3 Water Rails calling from the small Reed Bed to the East of  the entrance track, my suspicions confirmed by the Merlin app, although just after it had ID'd the single calls coming from the Reedbed one of the birds gave a full on squeal removing any doubt!!!

Oop North!

 Well East Anglia but every thing is Oop North from here!! A trip up to Ipswich to see family, but couldn't resist a detour to Abberton Reservoir to have a crack at the returning Canvasback that I dipped twice last year! Well it was 3rd time unlucky, with no sign of the target bird! Was blooming cold as well, with Margie disgracing herself by staying in the car reading her book instead of braving the subzero temperatures with her bins!! Her reputation as a hardcore birder in tatters for sure!!😲In her defence it was finger-numbing cold, I stuck it out for a couple of hours alternating between the causeways but couldn't find it! Plenty of Pochards about, also Great Crested Grebes in impressive numbers, three Goosander, one drake and two female types and two Goldeneye, sadly distant. Lots of Tufties, Coots and dabbling ducks Wigeon,Teal, Gadwall and Mallards. Five Great White Egrets seen, several Lapwing, Redshanks and Black-tailed Godwits lined the bank. I flushed a small wader from the causeway the dark back and white rump on show as it flew away suggested Green Sandpiper but it landed out of sight so couldn't confirm!Three Little Grebes swam  across, another Grebe faraway may be a Black-necked but the pics are terrible and it could just be another Little Grebe. All in all plenty going on but no sign of the target, nice to give the scope a bit of use, mind!!! 

Great Crested Grebe

Pochard

Goosander, along way away

GCG

Pied Wagtail

Great White Egret

Pochard 

Tufted Ducks

Great Crested Grebe

Female Tufted Duck

Little Grebe

GWE

Pochard

Black-headed Gull

Common Gull

Black-necked Grebe or Little Grebe, bill and head shape seem good for BNG overall colouring seems better for LG, was blooming miles away!!! 

So I gave up and Margie stopped reading and we headed on for a weekend of socialising, 3 blooming days of it!! I got through it ok, though my waistline suffered, nice to see everyone though and got some good Birthday Prezzies mainly food related and a very nice Birthday Cake as well!

Gluten Free donuts on top, very nice!

As a break from the relentless social whirl, on Friday we thought it would be  a nice day for a walk at Landguard Nature Reserve, blue sky, sunshine, kin horrendous wind, decided to stay in the car and watch the boats coming in!! This turned out to be quite productive as I soon noticed a cracking Red-throated Diver close in, braved the wind to get a couple of pics then retreated to the cafe for a very nice GF Bacon sarnie!! 

Red-throated Diver

Red-throated Diver, threw some moves in the windy weather

A Herring Gull enjoying the breeze!! By breeze I'm mean ice cold gale force winds!

So a very nice weekend, would have liked the Canvasback to play ball, maybe next time!!! Nice to see a high percentage of the family and all 3 offspring at the same time, for the first time in quite a while, even if it was only for a couple of hours!