PINTAILS WITH FRIENDS

29 January 2024  What a difference a week makes. I again returned to RHNR and joined a Friends Walk yesterday but this time it was approaching high tide, there was no ice and the sun was out. There were in contrast to a week ago birds everywhere. Three pairs of Stonechats were seen along with five Long-tailed Tits near Cuckoo Corner. At the Barn Pools Wigeon were out grazing and Teal were slumbering. Flatbeach was the star attraction with high tide roosts of the usual waders and an exceptional record number ( 315 according to PJ ) of Pintails, very elegant ducks. They arrived in numbers last Wednesday, no doubt a cold weather movement after the recent cold snap, but from where? maybe even from the near Continent. They were spread out all over Flatbeach but unfortunately were mostly roosing as was the resident Spoonbill. The DC sluice had both a close-by Grey Heron and a Little Egret to amuse the visitors. The Brent Geese are still absent and the Heron was being bombed by angry Herring Gulls.

Context So more about these Pintails in a pseudo historical context, I asked Barry Yates about recorded peak winter numbers over the last thirty years on the reserve. His reply was a maximum of 25 until December 2023, when it rose to 80, and now in his words ” they have gone mad “. JT and AP carried out several counts on Flatbeach today, the 01 February 2023, and recorded an average number of 425 with another flock of 35 coming in off the sea. So all completely unprecedented for the RHNR.

ALL CHANGE

21 January 2024 Weatherwise, last Friday was the end of the cold snap but unfortunately I decided on a low tide Flatbeach circuit in the morning at the RHNR. I should have known that it was a bad idea, it was still -2 degrees when I arrived. The Salt Pool was iced over and deserted, just 4 Magpies and two Long-tailed Tits in the brambles and a small flock of Coot on the only small patch not iced over. Ternery Pool had more open water but all Ducks there were just roosting around the edges. Flatbeach was even worse with only a few Teal on the bank, two Shelduck out on the ice and again a few active Coot. So where were all the birds? The Saltmarsh near the DC was not iced over so there was some activity there but no Brent Geese or the usual Spoonbill - though it did appear later when it warmed up a bit in the afternoon towards high tide. I should have gone to Castle Water instead where there were large numbers of Gadwall and Shovelers the day before and probably still some open water. So back to Pett Pools where by contrast there were thousands of birds!

Back at Pett Pools a flock of Brent Geese c20 were out on the Moorlog, probably ex RHNR birds. Out west of the Pools were huge numbers of Greylag and Canada Geese, Curlew, Dunlin, and Wigeon amongst others. When disturbed flocks of Geese and Wigeon descended on the Main Pool. A flock of 19 Greater White-fronted Geese did a circuit out to sea and back and wheeled around overhead, one showing just how much under body barring they have.

Yesterday I again returned to Pett Pools in the morning by which time the wind had freshened and swung round to the south west. The usual Waders were feeding on the edge of the outgoing tide. A larger flock of Brents c40 was on the pastures, along with a single Barnacle Goose nearby. A few Whitefronts were still around but bird of the day was yet another new weird hybrid Greylag Goose with a white belly and dark breast band. The Coots were separated into two flocks and doing what Coots do in winter. The Roadside Pool was still partly iced over but a Common Gull did not seem to mind but a juv. Herring Gull looked less secure with its claws trying to grip the ice.

FAR AFIELD

14 January 2024 My intention this morning was to pop over to Camber and then just over the border into Kent to the Scotney Gravel Pits but it did not go to plan. The promised sun did not arrive, just a heavily overcast sky. The Scaup Pool on the edge of Camber held Tufted Ducks, Shoveler, Gadwall, and Great Crested Grebes, two of the Grebes already in summer plumage and displaying to each other. A female Goldeneye on the Pool was unusual. I then headed off to Scotney where hundreds of assorted Ducks were out on the water. Unfortunately on my arrival the local farmer appeared on his quad bike to check on his sheep and flushed all the Geese, Waders and anything else that could fly from off the eastern grass sward at the edge of the main Pit. So off to Dungeness was the only solution. En route to the RSPB Centre was the usual Marsh Harrier in flight but also around 15 Barnacle Geese, recently arrived with the cold weather, though probably feral. At the Burrowes Pit the three Great Northern Divers were very distant so only a record shot in the poor light. The Black-throated Diver was closer but the best birds were a group of Goldeneye. One male flew across to join the others and a maniacal display from the males soon commenced. Plodding Birder put me on to the only remaining Glossy Ibis at the moment near the ARC Pit, with the bird looking drab in the winter gloom. Back at Pett Level the single Pink-footed Goose was in the company of Brent Geese for a change but still no sign of the recent two Tundra Bean Geese. However two are now with some Bewicks Swans out on Romney Marsh, so possibly the same birds recently near Pett Pools.

MORE GOOSEY STUFF

08 January 2024 Two more goosey related items from recent days. Last Friday I made a brief visit to the RHNR and found little on a rapid circuit in a biting NE wind, with many birds hunkered down out of the wind. However in front of the Discovery Centre I was surprised to find two Dark-bellied Brent Geese flocks, one of about 30 more distant birds and presumably the same flock that has been present since December. The other larger flock of about 40 recently arrived birds was directly in front of the DC and only ten metres away from the main path, I have never seen them so close, too close for a group photo. This did however allow close scrutiny and the characteristics of the differences between adults and last summers’ juveniles was clearly evident. The juvs show extensive white fringing on the back and wing feathers, very diagnostic. The last photo of part of the distant flock showed about a 50:50 ratio of adults and juvs.

The other goosey item relates not to another Goose but to Goosanders, members of the sawbill duck family. Unusually recently up to three red head female Goosanders have been on a small pool in Alexander Park, Hastings and flying to and fro to one of the nearby reservoirs. Lee Cornes aided by CD had the good idea of inviting some members of the RX WhatsApp group to convene to view the Goosanders, an ideal opportunity to put faces to names. I arrived early to take photos and found two of the Goosanders asleep under a large tree on an island in the pool. They soon woke and swam around sometimes diving. They are very elegant birds and assumed to be wild not escapees. The WhatsApp group continued with a walk further up into the Park and recorded 33 species including a Kingfisher and also had good views of up to 3 Firecrests.

Addendum 10 January 2024 Yet another Goose species. Yesterday two Tundra Bean Geese were photographed at Pett Level. This morning I went down to try to find them, but no luck. The recent Pink-footed Goose was still present with the Greylag and Whitefront Geese, along with the usual Ruffs and Dunlin, all on the fields to the west side of Pett Pools.