Parking up at Goring Gap this morning, the tide was far out, there was barely any wind and I just couldn't face putting in an hour or two just for the sake of it, so got back in the car and headed to Westdean Woods. I spent a tranquil hour-and-a-half walking along the Monkton Farm track, enjoying nice views of good numbers of common birds. There were around 200
Chaffinches scattered about, with a female
Brambling and a female
Reed Bunting in their midst. Three
Marsh Tits and three
Mistle Thrushes were also encountered, while a couple of
Yellowhammers were in an adjacent field. Three
Red Kites, a
Buzzard and a
Kestrel were logged. A couple of
Siskins, two
Ravens, a
Treecreeper and a
Nuthatch were also noted.
Greenfinch,
Linnet and
Song Thrush were in song. A Stoat dashed across the path.
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| Robin at Westdean Woods |
Stopping at Burpham, bad views of four
Bewick's Swans (three juveniles) were had from the church before another
Chiffchaff-watching session at the sewage works. Half a dozen birds were noted. They're fascinating birds to watch in winter, both for their behaviour and plumage variation. I could not see the '
fulvescens' type bird but there were one or two which felt like reasonable
abietinus candidates. A
Pied Wagtail defended the filter bed against a
Grey Wagtail, and occasionally had a pop at the
Chiffchaffs, while a
Water Rail called and three
Redwings, a
Reed Bunting and a
Fieldfare were logged.
