Ashburnham Place and Shackleford

 Ringing at Ashburnham with Pete, accompanied by Christian and Adrian. Catches included my first ever Grey Wagtail ringed, a Swallow and a young male Great Spotted Woodpecker. Other birds noted included a redpoll overhead, a couple of Siskins, a Marsh Tit, a Firecrest, a Treecreeper, 60 Swallows and a few House Martins.

A return to Surrey in the evening saw an eventful evening at Shackleford, where the Short-toed Lark - Ed Stubbs's mindblowing find - showed nicely in its usual field, where a male Sparrowhawk shot through.

Wartling, Ashburnham Place and Worthing

On my way to Ashburnham, a Barn Owl flew over the road near Wartling. Today's ringing session at Ashburnham was quieter this time but birds around included at least 30 Mistle Thrushes, two Firecrests, four Grey Wagtails, two Siskins, two Marsh Tits, two Bullfinches, a mix of House Martins and Swallows, flyover Cormorant, Grey Heron and Lesser Black-backed Gull.

At my Worthing garden in the evening, there were one or two Willow Warblers in the tree next door.

Ashburnham Place and Worthing

Christian helped me with the inaugural ringing session at Ashburnham this morning. It was quite successful with only the one net site up, which produced 37 birds of 10 species, including a Marsh Tit, six Siskins and three Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Our station turned out to be well positioned for general observations, with a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker suddenly bursting into voice nearby and showing fleetingly in flight. I had ruled out encountering this species in 2020! A brief visit from a couple of Spotted Flycatchers was another treat. Two Firecrests were also audible and at least two Bullfinches were heard.

25 Swifts were again over my garden in Worthing in the evening.

Ashburnham Place

A short visit to Ashurnham Place with Christian featured a Raven, three Mistle Thrushes (one singing), four Gadwall and three tussling Buzzards plus a Nuthatch and a male Great Spotted Woodpecker the main attractions at the new feeding station.

2cy Buzzard

male Great Spotted Woodpecker

Ashburnham Place, Horse Eye Level and Adur Estuary

The morning was spent with Christian, him showing me the grounds of his beautiful new workplace, Ashburnham Place. Two Firecrests, a Kingfisher, four House Martins, four Marsh Tits, a Buzzard, a Sparrowhawk, a Siskin, two Grey Wagtails, five Pied Wagtails, six Swallows and a couple of Green Woodpeckers were the best, alongside a healthy scattering of Treecreepers, Bullfinches, Nuthatches, Goldcrests, Coal Tits, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps.

As I was in the area, I stopped off to look for last week's reported Red-backed Shrike again on the levels north of Rickney. This time I made it to the correct area, and I gave it a reasonable amount of time, but there was no sign of any shrike. Two Ravens displaced a Peregrine from one of the pylons, while 15 Cormorants were sat atop a neighbouring pylon. Eight Meadow Pipits, three Reed Warblers, four Buzzards, a Whitethroat and a Kestrel were also seen.

As I was driving home, in the slow traffic along the A27 I spotted a large wader on the Adur just below the bridge. I couldn't resist stopping off and it turned out to be a lovely adult Black-tailed Godwit. A Whimbrel was more distant, and other birds included three Little Egrets, 15 adult Mute Swans, two Oystercatchers, a Pied Wagtail and two Swallows.

Black-tailed Godwit on Adur Estuary