We were staying just outside Chichester and the day started well. Several roe deer were out in the field opposite while we enjoyed a 'full english' in the warmth of the hotel dining room. I also spotted what I think must have been a little egret fly over. That, or a swan. We were too distant to identify anything properly, and they were gone by the time we made it outside. I did grab a very snatched – distant – shot of a sparrowhawk as it swooped in front of the trees.
Sparrowhawk at full speed
On the Saturday evening we'd seen a sign for a local Falconry Centre. We searched, but without success. A woman in the local petrol station, where we stopped to ask having driven twice up and down the same road, said she thought it had closed a while ago. A shame, but it put us back on course for the planned part of the visit to Chichester Marina. As it turned out, the light was dire, and I was once again forced to shoot at ISO 1000 with an aperture generally wide open to get anything approaching sufficient shutter speed. Plus it was bitterly cold. Even flight shots were awkward as the greyness washed out all the colour. It was my first trip over to the marina, but it won't be the last. There's an amazing array birds, and even on a short trip (we weren't going to stay out for long in those temperatures) I was more than pleased with what I saw.
We started out at a small hide near the marina entrance. It overlooks some reed beds, and almost immediately a heron flew in close.
Heron
A buzzard passed overhead. 
Buzzard
Curlews seem to have emerged from nowhere to be among my more common sightings. A large flock flew overhead, and then a little while later when I was photographing the Brent Geese I saw another one.
Curlew and Brent geese
The geese were out in number, behaving more like starlings than anything else (this one works best enlarged).
Brent Geese
We had more sightings of herons, but the real star turned out to be an ice skating swan. We came across the swan on the small canal which runs alongside the Marina. It was mostly frozen over, and this beauty was caught on the ice, unable to gain sufficient 'thrust' for a take off. I'll let the sequence speak for itself.
There was a happy ending though. Someone popped out from one of the house boats with some bread, freed up the ice a bit and the swan made it to water where it was rewarded with a few tidbits.
I'll close with a view along the canal. If you look closely I swear those coots are wearing skates. :smurf:
There are a few more shots of the heron and geese in the January Birds album. And for those who may have been wondering, my Fox of the Day page is back up and running.
Camera note: all shots taken with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
gdare
5 Jan 2009😆 This is uncomfortable for swans and other birds who got used to be IN water actually, not skating 😀
Flying Red Fox Blog
5 Jan 2009Lovelly photos, the weather wasnt meant to be cloudy yesterday they got that wrong! 😛
Glad you had a nice time not so far from my house, you could have visited Bognor too! 😆
Words
5 Jan 2009Mark, it was a shame it was so dull. Mind you, they didn't mention the snow I've just woken up to :faint: I hadn't realized how close Chichester was to Bognor.
Words
5 Jan 2009Darko, at first we thought the swan was trapped under a rope that went across the canal, but it got itself free and I think was probably trying to get to the house boat where it got some food. It looked much happier once it got on to the water though.
Flying Red Fox Blog
5 Jan 2009Wow you have snow 😛 we didnt get it here lol, Chichester is 9 miles northwest from Bognor.
Words
5 Jan 2009Mark, yes there's a decent layer of snow outside. I'm just figuring out whether I can get the car out safely. Our drive is a steep slope and I could easily end up in the garden opposite. We're at the top of the Downs and if there's snow about, we get it. It's hills all the way around here. I may leave it an hour and see if it clears a bit.
cakkleberrylane
5 Jan 2009Excellent shots! Happy to see the swan made it safely to the water. It's nice that the people in the houseboats seem to be taking care of the birds.
SittingFox
5 Jan 2009I think buzzards follow you around! 😉
Glad the swan got out and the heron in flight is great! :up:
Flying Red Fox Blog
5 Jan 2009I would just ring in and say you are not well for work and have a fun day taking pics of the snowy scenes lol! 😛 Just kidding!
Hope you got the car out safely, otherwise your neighbour wont be impressed at your car in her garden. 😉
Ukwildlife
5 Jan 2009Great photos. I was watching swans on the ice this morning (and saturday), its fastinating to see how the birds sizes affect how they cope with ice
Flying Red Fox Blog
5 Jan 2009Oh dear lol 😛
Words
5 Jan 2009Lois, I was quite worried about the swan at first as it nearly got tangled in the guy ropes that run across the canal, but it seemed to know what it was doing.
Words
5 Jan 2009Neil, the swans don't cope well. It was gouging out a nice ring with its feet as it tried to stand up. Fortunately the ice was not too thick and was breaking up in places. The small birds seem to love it though!
Words
5 Jan 2009Mark, I made it in ok, but only to find that the boilers hadn't fired up and we had no heating in my building. :smurf:
Words
5 Jan 2009Adele, I certainly want to go back there when the weather warms up a bit. We do seem to have a large number of buzzards in this area. Fantastic birds, especially when they come in low. I've heard people mention seeing eagles overhead (if only!).
Flying Red Fox Blog
5 Jan 2009If you wanted to, you could stand up and go polictical correctness saying you are on strike because having a cold workplace is a danger hazard 😆
Words
5 Jan 2009Yes, not nice brrrrrrr :psmurf:
Words
5 Jan 2009Oh I did speak to Health and Safety, don't worry. I know my rights! It was seriously cold. The recommended minimum temperature is 16 degrees (which is hardly hot) and we were hovering at around 3 or 4 for most of the morning.
SittingFox
6 Jan 2009I tried typing in gloves when the heating failed at the Home Office. It wasn't much fun :whistle:
Three or four degrees is far too cold for any workplace. I hope it's better for you today.
Words
6 Jan 2009I didn't try the gloves trick 😉 Heating eventually came back about lunchtime today, but at least we had some blower heaters available so quite a lot better than yesterday.
Vulpes vulpes
21 Jan 2009Ah shame, the poor swan! Glad his efforts were rewarded.
Words
21 Jan 2009Yes, he did ok. Apparently another swan in this are got stuck in the ice recently and had to be rescued.