Tuesday 31 December 2019

Patching

I snuck in a quick look opposite The World's End pub for my 'Northern Treecreeper' (form familiaris), managing a couple of quick views. Five people twitched it in the short time I was there. Bullfinch and Green Woodpecker were among other species recorded.

Monday 30 December 2019

Rye Harbour

With the promise of a bright day with a modest wind, Phil and I seized the opportunity to bird Rye Harbour in humane conditions and it was most enjoyable. We spent the whole day doing a slow circuit of the reserve, finishing on 79 species (notable omissions included Linnet and Pintail). 48 Dark-bellied Brent Geese included at least 22 young, while other wildfowl included the juvenile Smew, an adult female Goldeneye, and 'casual' counts of 90 Pochards, 250 Shovelers, 155 Gadwall, 145 Teal, 30 Shelducks and 150 Wigeon. A Merlin low overhead was one of the best moments of the day. A Black-necked Grebe was on the Long Pit, along with a Kingfisher. Waders included a vocal Spotted Redshank, 170 Golden Plovers, 290 Lapwings, 31 Grey Plovers, 300 Dunlin, 24 Ringed Plovers, 30 Redshanks, five Curlew, 285 Oystercatchers and three Turnstones. Other birds included three Bullfinches, seven Reed Buntings, three pairs of Stonechats, a Mistle Thrush, 330 Coots, two Green Woodpeckers, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and 12 Skylarks, of which one broke into song.

Shovelers

Five Great White Egrets coming to roost were part of a perfect end to the day at Castle Water, with Cetti's Warblers and Water Rails vocal, and around 70 Fieldfares looking for somewhere to roost while an adult male Peregrine defended its kill against a Carrion Crow, and a Sparrowhawk buzzed the 'mini-murmuration' of 300 or so Starlings. Before dusk, a pair of Marsh Harriers patrolled the reedbeds there and a Buzzard flew over.

Peregrine

Sunday 29 December 2019

Pulborough Brooks RSPB

A couple of hours with Andrew at Pulborough Brooks this morning was thwarted somewhat by the extent of the recent flooding. The whole site is basically a massive lake and the complete opposite to the parched state it was in earlier this year - it seems like it has to be one extreme or the other! A Harris's Hawk was the least expected sighting, a couple of Egyptian Geese and a few Shelducks were alongside a typical assortment of winter wildfowl, including Pintail. Passerines included a singing Mistle Thrush, a Siskin, a Fieldfare, two Stonechats, a Treecreeper, a couple of Nuthatches and small numbers of Redwings and Bullfinches.

Saturday 28 December 2019

Lyminster, Patching and Goring Gap

A healthy 53 species during my Sussex Winter Bird Survey in Lyminster included a Green Sandpiper which briefly alighted on a muddy farm puddle (!), a Marsh Harrier, a Chiffchaff, 418 Lapwings, a Golden Plover, an adult Mediterranean Gull, a Grey Wagtail, 55 Redwings, two Reed Buntings, four Cetti's Warblers and 16 Collared Doves. Sadly, the field frequented by the Cattle Egrets last winter has been sown as a crop and the livestock removed.

I thought I'd check out the treatment works at Patching. Parking by the pond, I crossed the road to the underpass opposite The World's End pub. At the metal gate I encountered two Firecrests, followed by an immediately striking Treecreeper. The bird appeared noticeably frosty, with clean white underparts and white shaft streaks on the mantle. The supercillium was clear white and very flared behind the eye. As (minor) supportive features, photographs showed the front claws to be pure whitish and the bill to look relatively short. It seems to fit the nominate race familiaris and this is certainly the first of the many hundreds of Treecreepers that I have which has caught my eye in this way. The warmer rump contrasted with the rest of the upperparts, while the general colour of the back/mantle and head was rather uniform. After losing sight of it, I crossed the road to the treatment works, where there were two Chiffchaffs (one in song), a Bullfinch and a britannica Treecreeper for handy immediate comparison!



apparent 'Northern Treecreeper' (form familiaris) at Patching

Pied Wagtail at Patching

Calling in at Goring Gap for a short time in the early afternoon, I bumped into Stephen Simpson. A 1cy Yellow-legged Gull made a nice change, though there were no Casps again and I fear the cach streak is well and truly over. There were also three Mediterranean Gulls and upwards of 400 Common Gulls.


1cy Yellow-legged Gull at Goring Gap

Tuesday 24 December 2019

Shoreham Fort and Widewater Lagoon

I visited Shoreham Fort this morning, at last catching up with the three Purple Sandpipers on the wooden jetty, along with at least five Turnstones.

Purple Sandpipers at Shoreham

Seeing as I was in the area, I stopped at Widewater Lagoon, walking to the west end and back to the car. Highlights included a Kingfisher, an adult drake Red-breasted Merganser which showed very well as it 'snorkled', seven Little Grebes, seven Mute Swans, a female Stonechat and two Redshanks.

adult drake Red-breasted Merganser on Widewater Lagoon

Monday 23 December 2019

Cissbury Ring and Goring Gap

Ringing with Val and Pete today saw us catch three Redwings, a few Bullfinches, a retrap Firecrest and a small number of Goldcrests. I finally saw a local Woodcock when we flushed one near one of the nets. Other highlights included a Reed Bunting, a Raven, two Meadow Pipits, a Fieldfare (Pete had a flock of 12 over), a male Tawny Owl hooting first thing, and three Kestrels, including superb views of a hunting pair at the top when we had a brief, unsuccessful search for the Great Grey Shrike after packing up.

adult male Kestrel at Cissbury Ring

adult Redwing at Cissbury Ring

A very brief look at Goring Gap on the way home led to me at last connecting with a Red-legged Partridge there. An adult Mediterranean Gull was present among the gulls, mainly Commons, which were present in reasonable numbers, but I didn't have time to count the latter. At least seven Skylarks and six Pied Wagtails were present.

Red-legged Partridge at Goring Gap

Sunday 22 December 2019

Ferring Rife and West Worthing

Feeling I was overdue a visit to Ferring Rife, that's where I went this morning. It was a rather nice day to be out for once, and highlights included a pair of adult Peregrines, a female Sparrowhawk, a Kestrel, a Grey Wagtail, a Little Grebe (scarce here), a Green Woodpecker, a Grey Heron and 16 Moorhens. The most bizarre sight of the morning was two Cormorants quite happily chilling in the middle of a stubble field despite plenty of more 'normal' positions easily available. I've definitely never seen Cormorants in this situation before. A noisy gang of 17 Magpies was another highlight.

Cormorant

Back at home in West Worthing, garden observations included a Firecrest moving through the gardens at a pace, and two Redwings.

Saturday 21 December 2019

Goring Gap and Adur Estuary

An early morning visit to Goring Gap was aborted after about 40 minutes. There was simply nothing moving offshore. Flocks of Dunlin, Sanderling, Turnstone and Ringed Plover were moving along the beach and an adult Mediterranean Gull was seen but that really was about it. I returned briefly at lunchtime but today there was no Caspian Gull to be seen, though a Lesser Black-backed Gull was noteworthy, and I counted 49 Common Gulls.

Mid-afternoon, a visit to the Adur Estuary was quiet. The tide level was not ideal for waders. Birds included 11 Oystercatchers, two Ringed Plovers, four Redshanks, two Turnstones, in excess of 600 Starlings, 15 Skylarks, a Reed Bunting and a Meadow Pipit.

Friday 20 December 2019

Goring Gap and No-Man's-Land area

Another quick look at Goring Gap at lunchtime bagged my third Caspian Gull of the season, and I've only done four or five 'gull drive throughs' so the success rate is very high. This bird was another 2cy, this time unringed. I was pleased to see waders using the roost field for the first time in a while, though they were actively feeding. The fields are very wet and some large puddles are forming so this may add to their appeal for both waders and gulls. There were at least 180 Dunlin, 47 Ringed Plovers and three Lesser Black-backed Gulls of note.

2cy Caspian Gull at Goring Gap

2cy Caspian Gull taking flight at Goring Gap


Later, despite the breezy conditions I couldn't resist a scan over the downs in the late afternoon. Eventually, the regular ringtail Hen Harrier floated through but was quickly lost to view, and other sightings were just about limited to two showy Ravens and two Kestrels, one of which was mobbing a Buzzard.

Thursday 19 December 2019

Whipsnade Zoo

Today saw my inevitable return to Whipsnade Zoo, this time with Ed Stubbs and Sam Jones, and this time the adult male BLACK-THROATED THRUSH duly performed very well. It divided its time feeding on berries in its favourite bush, and dropping to the ground to pull the occasional worm from the adjacent pig pen.




adult male Black-throated Thrush

Other birds included a Red Kite, a Mistle Thrush and around 50 Redwings. The highlight of the journey back was a flock of around 40 Lapwings near London Colney.

Wednesday 18 December 2019

Cissbury Ring

I couldn't get away till quite late in the afternoon today but was then soon joined by Gareth James to twitch the shrike which had made an unexpected second coming. With the day drawing to an end in overcast, breezy conditions we didn't feel that optimistic but eventually spotted the Great Grey Shrike in the scrub near the western yew... A fantastic bird for our 10km Worthing area 'Uber Patch'! A clear but relatively brief view, I'll hopefully get a chance for another look at it before too long, assuming it hangs around. 12 Yellowhammers flying to roost was the most notable other sighting.

Great Grey Shrike

Tuesday 17 December 2019

Goring Gap

There was only time for a brief bit of birding again today, so I had just under an hour at Goring Gap at lunchtime. In fact, I only stayed that long because I came across a beautiful 2cy Caspian Gull in the southwest field. Like my recent 1cy, after a few minutes I realised it was ringed. This time it was yellow, XCJV, from a German project.

Most significant about this bird is, after a strong run of 1cy individuals, this is at last the first older bird recorded at the Gap. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before we complete the set. I'm particularly looking forward to an adult dropping in...

2cy Caspian Gull

Also present were two adult Mediterranean Gulls and 36 Common Gulls of note.

Sunday 15 December 2019

Whipsnade Zoo

A novel location for a twitch, or rather a brutal dip. Arriving just after midday, we missed the Black-throated Thrush at its favourite bush by about half an hour. I staked it out but Ingrid soon went off exploring around the zoo. Over two hours later news came through that the bird had been relocated by the railway - the crowd rushed over but literally just as we got there the bird flew. It hadn't necessarily gone far but almost an hour later there was no sight of it and Ingrid understandably wanted to call it a day. Damn frustrating it was, my idyllic plan for the day of eyeballing a Black-throated Thrush then a day snooping around the enclosures and exhibits, scuppered. We did see a couple of Red Kites (more en-route and on the way back), a Grey Wagtail, a Fieldfare and perhaps 30 Redwings...

Saturday 14 December 2019

Goring Gap

Feeling I was overdue a visit to Goring Gap, but not having much time, I gave it about an hour first thing this morning. There were not many birds on the beach, and there was very little going on offshore. The beach held a Redshank, six Grey Plovers, 44 Dunlin, 48 Sanderlings, 24 Turnstones, seven Oystercatchers and an adult Mediterranean Gull. On the sea were two Red-breasted Mergansers.

Monday 9 December 2019

Rye Harbour

A shamefully hurried visit to a gusty Rye Harbour saw me connect with the redhead Smew which has been viewable from the Denny Hide for a few days. It kept drifting out of sight into a distant corner at first, but after a bout of relentless dives it eventually drifted nearer to the hide and took some time out, affording much better views. I didn't have time to do much else, but there were well over 400 Golden Plovers on view, along with 17 Grey Plovers, an adult Dark-bellied Brent Goose and a couple of Pintail, while along the path there was a loose gathering of Reed Buntings and Skylarks. A Rock Pipit flew up from the saltmarsh on the way back to the car.

redhead Smew

Saturday 7 December 2019

Canons Farm and Banstead Woods

I led the CFBW Bird Group's Winter Tour this morning. It was popular as ever, with 20 participants enjoying the birds on offer. It was a fairly quiet walk, but winter sights included 60 Fieldfares, 30 Redwings, 11 Yellowhamers, 200 Linnets and 150 Chaffinches. At least 14 Rooks were present, and a Bullfinch calling in Canons Farmyard was unusual for its location. A Grey Wagtail was the most notable bird for the site, flying over the Watchpoint. We heard a Little Owl nearby and other sightings included three Buzzards and a Common Gull.

A brief foray into Banstead Woods offered participants views of Nuthatches, Coal Tits and Goldcrests, while a Bullfinch was seen in flight and a Treecreeper called.

Friday 6 December 2019

Worthing and Goring Gap

In Salvington early morning I heard a Firecrest near Rogate Road. I've been trying to find the time to drop in to Goring Gap at lunchtime (i.e. gulltime) for weeks and just haven't been able to. Today I finally managed to swing by for a few minutes. There were not many gulls in the fields - and no waders - but I've found that, for some reason, locally the goodies are often in with small groups. Anyway, immediately obvious on the outskirts of the gathering was a smart 1cy Caspian Gull - result! When I moved angle, I noticed it had a black ring on its right tibia reading 'TL', part of a Dutch scheme. A few minutes later it flew off. Two adult Mediterranean Gulls were also present.

1cy Caspian Gull bearing Dutch darvic ring

Thursday 5 December 2019

Sullington

The only birding today was an hour's stroll near Sullington while I waited for Ingrid at a tank maintenance call-out. The usual trees hosted a pair of Little Owls, while other birds included 19 Fieldfares, a Mistle Thrush, a Grey Wagtail, two Yellowhammers and a Kestrel.

Little Owls

Wednesday 4 December 2019

Dell Quay, Pulborough Brooks RSPB, Coldwaltham, Rewell Wood and Amberley Wildbrooks

Having been knocked out of action for some time by a nasty chest infection, I was delighted to get back in the field today. The intention was to ease back into birding but it ended up being a full day out! First up was Dell Quay, where I spent an hour scanning the waders and wildfowl. Most importantly, the Long-tailed Duck was still present, diving frequently to the south, near three Red-breasted Mergansers. 300 or so Dark-bellied Brent Geese were present, along with good numbers of Teal and Wigeon. Waders included singles of Spotted Redshank and Bar-tailed Godwit, as well as numbers of Grey Plover, Dunlin, Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher and Lapwing. A Kingfisher was hunting from moored boats and a Peregrine flew over.

Long-tailed Duck at Dell Quay

I met up with Phil Wallace at Pulborough Brooks mid-morning but this turned out to be an unwise choice of location as the floods were shrouded in heavy fog. We did hear a Golden Plover fly over, though, and the calls of Snipe and Wigeon were evocative in the mist. A Mistle Thrush, Fieldfares, Redwings, four Bullfinches and a Treecreeper were noted along the trail. Throughout our visit a noisy Raven was touring the site.

Coldwaltham sewage works was visited fleetingly in the hope of some Chiffchaff action, though just three were seen and all were collybita. A Grey Wagtail broke into song, a handful of Fieldfares and Redwings were seen, plus a Bullfinch.

Sherwood Rough mid-afternoon produced at least three distant Hawfinches, plus a Yellowhammer, a Marsh Tit and three redpolls.

As the light faded, we managed to squeeze in a visit to Amberley Wildbrooks, looking from the Rackham Viewpoint. Through the mist we caught sight of a ringtail Hen Harrier, a Short-eared Owl, three Buzzards and a Kestrel while hordes of Wigeon and Teal called.