Today just felt like birding at its best. I was semi-reluctant to spend the little time I had this morning at Steep Down but I drove home so glad that I did. My main target was the
Quail, remarkably still on territory, and I did eventually succeed in hearing one short burst of song from the bird. Among the grounded migrants were singles of
Redstart,
Spotted Flycatcher and
Lesser Whitethroat, plus five
Whinchats, three
Wheatears and four
Willow Warblers, while flyover action involved 20
Yellow Wagtails, a
Tree Pipit, a juvenile
Marsh Harrier and, least expected, a
Snipe. I couldn't resist constantly re-setting my scope on a nearby pylon to admire a pair of
Peregrines taking an easy start to their day, preening and surveying their territory before eventually taking off. Two
Sparrowhawks buzzed a flock of some 400
Linnets, while other farmland birds included two
Grey Partridges and 13
Corn Buntings. I also noted two
Ravens, a
Reed Bunting, two
Swifts, 11
Swallows, a
Kestrel, five
Buzzards, two
Skylarks, two
Meadow Pipits, a
Grey Heron, two
Green Woodpeckers, eight
Whitethroats, three
Blackcaps and a
Chiffchaff.
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| Peregrines at Steep Down |
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| juvenile Marsh Harrier over Steep Down |
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| Corn Bunting at Steep Down |
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| Sparrowhawk at Steep Down |
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| Spotted Flycatcher at Steep Down |
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| Wheatear at Steep Down |
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| Wheatear at Steep Down |
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| Whinchat at Steep Down |
After sorting some stuff out at home, I headed out again, this time joined by Ingrid, to Pulborough Brooks RSPB. Once we had spent a while peering into the ponds at newts, we set out and bumped into Chris and Juliet. While we were chatting, I clocked a
Honey-buzzard circling overhead! It was in view for several minutes as it gained height alongside a
Buzzard - I think the first time I've seen these species directly side-by-side - before it was lost to view. Result! Just before we left Chris and Juliet, they noticed two
Spotted Flycatchers in a nearby hedgerow. When we finally made it to the North Brooks, we found three
Green Sandpipers, 37
Lapwings, three
Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a few
Shoveler and
Teal but little else. A
Stonechat, two
Treecreepers, two
Green Woodpeckers, a
Bullfinch, two
Nuthatches and three
Buzzards were among the other birds we logged.
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| Honey-buzzard over Pulborough Brooks RSPB |
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| Honey-buzzard (left) with Buzzard over Pulborough Brooks RSPB |
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| Honey-buzzard (right) over Pulborough Brooks RSPB |
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| Spotted Flycatcher at Pulborough Brooks RSPB (these have always been into the light for me this autumn so far! [i.e. today and yesterday]) |
