Tag Archives: wildlife

Ditchling Birding

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When : September 2026 Weather : Warm 15-20C

OM1 mk2 Zuiko 150-400mmPro

We were in Ditchling visiting Bird Cottage (See previous post) and spent a couple of days exploring Dotchling Village, Ditchling Common and Ditchling Beacon.

Opposite the White Horse Inn where we stayed was an old church with a famous person buried there…

Dame Vera Lynn was a famous singer during the World war 2,,she entertained the British troops and was much loved…she was a Ditchling girl and was buried in this churchyard
In the washroom of the Bull….We’ll meet again, one of her most well known songs
A european starling watched over the church
Ditchling common is but 10 min away and there is a small lake which we can walk around in 20-30min…here a juvenile moorhen walking the log
and a wren welcomed us
A common kingfisher and some mallards in and around the lake
Moorhen walking on water in Ditchling Common’s Fish pond
Robin on the lily pads
a dunnock entertained us

On Common Lane which is the road to Ditchling Common is a very large nursery at the back of which is a small nature trail where we spent an hour birding…

close encounter with a goldfinch
A flight of goldfinches
Not far away from Ditchling is Ditchling Beacon, an elevated view point….we had an hour to kill at 4pm and so we headed up the incline…..it was windy and blustery when we got there in the afternoon…but the views were spectacular
view towards the south coast and Brighton
common wood pigeon in flight
A herring gull swept by..
The south downs from Ditchling Beacon
after 30min of blustery wind, the sun finally started appearing on the meadows
In the sky a distant raptor soared and we spent a most agreeable half an hour shooting several of them as they weaved around
from this angle it looked very pale
from beneath the patterned undersurface of the wings showed
and then as the light caught its dorsum, the beautiful chestnut red wings glowed…a european kstrel
contrasted against the green countryside
and then the sun caught the kestrel in full colour
dorsal wing pattern
hovering and looking for prey..this way…
and that…..tail feathers splayed for control
He finally dropped to the ground in an unsuccessful hunt
finally taking a look at us before flying off
the rolling downs of Sussex provided us a most enjoyable hour of birding
And a rainbow bade us goodbye

An enjoyable few days in Ditchling brought a new perspective to birding in the UK…

recommended

Birding Bibra Lake, Western Australia

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When: February 2026 Weather: Hot 30C

OM System

The birder we met at the Big Swamp in Bunbury had suggested that Bibra Lake would be worth a visit and so we arrived there at about 830am. We drove around the whole lake once to recce it and then parked on the East Side of the Lake near the skate park before walking towards the hides which are the nearer the top end of the east lakeside.

the boardwalk to the first hide which was small and rudimentary with nowhere to sit down…..we did shoot a few birds here but the better ones were at the second hide further north…
a few fairy wrens welcomed us
as did the silver eyes
grey fantail
fanning his tail
and flashing his wings!
new holland honeyeater’s colours are almost lost amongst the flowers
he too flashed his wings
rainbow lorikeet
yellow billed spoonbill posed beautifully
white faced heron from the first hide
Australian pelican flypast
oriental reed warblers were busy in the reeds
oriental reed warbler singing

Other local birders told us that we’d have better luck with the target ducks at the second hide and so we hiked over there….

this is the second hide where there were seats around the pontoon and the ducks came much closer……
Here it was we saw our first close up blue billed duck
blue billed duck
blue billed duck
australasian grebe
the rather drab musk duck
musk duck
musk duck
grey teal
grey teal
pacific black duck

As the sun came up nearer noon we thought we spotted some pink eared ducks in the far distance nearer the opposite shore……just a bit far for our lenses….so we opted to go for lunch in a wonderful grill and bar called Carrington’s, just about 10min from Bibra Lake…..they were awarded the best steak sandwich in West Australia so well worth a visit. After lunch we went back and parked on the west side of the lake and made our way to the water’s edge……

the western lake side where there wer many black swans and where the ducks were closer…
black swan flypast
black swan native to WA
and then we finally got close enough to see the lovely pink eared ducks!
Pink eared duck with typical stripes down the side
the pink ear isn’t the easiest thing to see as it’s a very small area but here we can see it quite clearly
notice also the unusual lower beak….

We finally called it a day about 3pm and made the 30 min journey back to Perth. Bibra Lake is well worth a visit from Perth as it is snear, eassy to navigate and has lots of bird activity. Highly recommended.

Marina Grove Birding (3)

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When: Christmas Day 2025 Weather: Cool 23C and perfectly overcast OM1mk2 Zuiko 150-400mm Pro Having been tweaking our OM1 mk 2s to try and optimise our exposure combinations, we headed back to the unexpectedly lovely Marina Grove pond to put … Continue reading →