Had a day off last week so thought I would take advantage of being able to go out midweek by visiting Rye Harbour. Had been advised that March was a ggod time to see Sandwich terns so thought I would give it a go.
First new bird I saw was a lovely male Wheatear. A female appeard as well but I didn't get a shot as some idiot let there dog run under the fence which then chased all the birds away (including the pair of Wheatear). Fortunately I did get a shot of the male.
73. Wheatear

I also saw a lovely pair of avoecets from the wader hide.
74. Avocets

I then headed to the beach where I saw a large flock of Sandwich terns. I was especially pleased to see these as they were the bird I had gone for. Sadly I couldn't get too close but at least I got a group shot.

75. Sandwich Terns

I also saw a pair of Oystercatchers on the beach.

76. Oystercatchers

After Rye I headed to Dungeness for an hour or two. Managed to get a good sighting of a tree sparrow

The only new species for my list I managed to photograph was a Meadow Pipit. I did see Bearded tits but was unable to get a photo. Also heard a bittern booming but sadly did not see it.

Also saw a couple of Marsh Harriers while trying to see the Bittern. Over half way there now but it's getting harder!

Another Day in London

My son has just got a DSLR camera and new lens so I asked him to choose somewhere to go to use it - he chose Kensington Gardens as he wanted to see an owl. He wasn't disappointed and we all had a great day out.
Although I had already been to Kensington twice I did manage some new species for my challenge. We also spent the afternoon at the WWT in Barnes which was great and certainly a place we will return to as a family.
66. Mandarin Duck

67. Greylag Goose

68. Coal Tit

69. Magpie

70. Treecreeper

71. Black Headed Gull

72. Brambling

I also managed a few shots I like of birds I have already photographed:

A Sanderling at Last!

I have been to various beaches during the winter in the hopes of photographing a Sanderling but never managed to get one. Yesterday I went down to Worthing to photograph a Little Gull which was showing very well (but was a bugger to try and photograph due to it's fast and erratic flight!). I had hoped to see a Grey Wagtail too but sadly couldn't locate any. As the sun was out I assumed the beach would be packed with people but it was completely empty apart from a number of waders which I managed to photograph. I managed to get my Sanderling and also got a decent Dunlin picture. I would have got a good ringed plover picture but having spent about 10 minutes crawling on my tummy along the beach to creep up on it (much to the amusement of people walking along the coast road!) someone came onto the beach and scared it off!

63. Lttle Gull

64. Teal 

65. Sanderling

Dunlin 

Kensington Gardens

I went to Kensington Gardens with my eldest son today hoping to see the Tawny Owl again but sadly it was hidden in it's hole. Didn't matter as we had a great day and my son fully enjoyed feeding birds from his hands and getting such good views of ring necked parakeets. Only 2 new birds for my list but a couple of other pics I quite liked too.
60. Carrion Crow

61. Starling

Have already counted Ring necked Parakeets and Blue Tits but I was pleased with these pics:

And finally a picture I forgot to post last time:

62. Reed Bunting

A day at Dungeness

Spent Tuesday at Dungeness with my sons. A slightly disappointing day on the photography front as a lot of the birds we saw were too far away for photos. Did manage a few new species however.
57. Wood Pigeon

58. Tree Sparrow

59. Kestrel

I stated at the start that blurry, distant record shots would not count. Therefore unfortunately I cannot count this Great White Egret seen:

Over a third of the way there!

Managed to squeeze in a days photography in between watching the winter olympics and football. Fortunately the weather was good and I managed to see quite a few birds and get a few half decent pictures.

I started the day at Paghem North Wall where there was a low but rising tide. There was a nice curlew on the mud flats that provided me with my first photo op. I then walked along the river a bit to see many ducks and geese - sadly many of these were a little too distant to photograph but I did get some shots.

48. Curlew

49. Wigeon

50. Brent Goose

Saw pintail, teal and various waders too but sadly all  alittle too far away.

I then headed to Pagham Lagoon where I was particularly pleased to see a Slavonian Grebe quite close to the edge allowing some photo ops.

51: 

52. Goldeneye

53. Mediterranean Gulls

I then headed from Pagham to Widewater lagoon. I was hoping for sanderlings on the beach but due to the good weather there were too many walkers around for waders to be present. I did get a couple of new species for my list though.

54. House Sparrow

55. Goosander

My final stop for the day was Beeding Brooks where I had hoped to see an owl or two. I wasn't disappointed and managed to see both short eared owls and a barn owl. I didn't manage a barn owl picture but did get a couple of the short eared owl

56. Short Eared Owl

A morning at Arundel.

With the forecast being good for Sunday I wanted to get out somewhere but couldn't decide where. With the Albion playing Sunday afternoon I wanted to get back to listen to it on the radio (wish I hadn't bothered!) so I only had the morning free. I opted for a morning at Arundel. First of all I went to the WWT centre and got some nice close up views of various ducks including:
44: Gadwall

45. Pochard

46. Shellduck

After a little while at Arundel I decided to head up to the Burgh to look for Red Kites. Sadly I didn't see any but did manage a (slightly dodgy!) picture of a yellowhammer:

47. Yellowhammer