Burton Mill Pond

I didn't quite get to Burton Mill Pond for dawn as I had initially planned but  I ended up spending a very satisfying few hours there till shortly after noon, by which point I'd recorded 67 species. After staking out the heron for good while, I walked the loop round the pond, passing Chingford Pond and walking back through the heath and along the road. 

There were three clear highlights of the visit. The first was a Woodlark flying over one of the viewpoints over the pond. Next was a Yellow-browed Warbler which gave three calls by 'Woodlands' just as I completed by circuit - it went unseen but was sound-recorded thanks to my constantly running recorder. Finally, just as I was closing the boot of my car to head off, the shout came from across the road that the juvenile Purple Heron was showing again! It spent several minutes preening low in a waterside tree before heading back into the reedbed. A new county bird for me.

There were several other highlights. Several encounters with Crossbills were mainly flyovers but included a sighting of four in the conifers on the other side of the pond. One or two Hobbies hawked over the margins and at least one Kingfisher was very busy around the edges. At least four Firecrests and five Marsh Tits were seen or heard along my circuit. 14 redpolls and 70 Siskins - at least - flew over, along with minima of 120 House Martins, 15 Swallows, 22 Meadow Pipits and 13 Pied/White Wagtails, plus nine Mistle Thrushes and two Grey Wagtails. 

A couple of Reed Warblers and a Cetti's Warbler were in the reeds, while four Mandarins and at least 40 Cormorants passed by. Three Red Kites, four Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk completed the raptors. Other birds included a Bullfinch, three Nuthatches, five Treecreepers, a Gadwall, nine Little Grebes, five Pochards, 38 Tufted Ducks, five Great Crested Grebes, four Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a Green Woodpecker.

Goring Gap, Waltham Brooks SWT and Burton & Chingford Ponds LNR

All was quiet at Goring Gap first thing this morning, save for a seemingly new Reed Bunting calling at the seaward end of The Plantation. 12 Red-breasted Mergansers were on the sea but there was literally nothing else. On the beach were 36 Sanderlings, a Ringed Plover, nine Oystercatchers and 15 Turnstones. Two Linnets, a Meadow Pipit and a singing Skylark were also noted.

I cut my losses after an hour, heading to Waltham Brooks, where I joined Chris and Juliet in admiring a handsome - but sleepy - drake Garganey on the flood. Three Sand Martins flying over provided another year tick. A Cetti's Warbler, a Raven, a singing Treecreeper, a couple of Reed Buntings, a Bullfinch, a singing male Stonechat, a Water Rail, a Buzzard and three Meadow Pipits were among the other birds recorded.

drake Garganey at Waltham Brooks

A visit to Burton and Chingford Ponds produced a singing Firecrest, my first Blackcap of the year, six Little Egrets, a Water Rail, two drumming Great Spotted Woodpeckers, six Little Grebes, three Great Crested Grebes, 56 Tufted Ducks, two Treecreepers, three Nuthatches and six fly-over Meadow Pipits.

Burton and Chingford Ponds, Borden and Goring

Burton and Chingford Ponds this morning produced two Firecrests, three Pochards, 42 Tufted Ducks, three Gadwall, 12 Little Grebes, a Great Crested Grebe, six Great Spotted Woodpeckers, three Green Woodpeckers, two Buzzards, a Marsh Tit, seven Coal Tits, five Treecreepers (one singing), a Nuthatch, 15 Redwings, a singing Mistle Thrush, a Grey Wagtail and five Siskins.

I revisited a nice site I discovered a couple of years ago near Borden, spending a couple of hours there early afternoon. Just as I was about to head off, my target species appeared, with an immature female Goshawk soaring across my view.  Other raptors were a Sparrowhawk, two Red Kites and nine Buzzards, while three Cormorants flew over. I was delighted and somewhat perplexed to find three Woodlarks, a singer and a courting pair, around some arable fields. The singer of the pair followed the other bird within a tree, while both birds bobbed incessently and flicked their wings and tail. Two Crossbills, 30 Siskins, a singing Mistle Thrush, two Treecreepers including a singer, a Redwing, a redpoll, 11 Meadow Pipits, a Fieldfare, six Stock Doves, two Nuthatches and a Skylark were also noted.

immature female Goshawk near Borden

Goring Gap had 10 Mediterranean Gulls and 82 Common Gulls. Another adult Mediterranean Gull was seen along the greensward as I drove home.

adult Mediterranean Gull at Goring Gap

Goring Gap, Pease Pottage and Burton Mill Pond

Goring Gap continued to accommodate our popular 2CY female Snow Bunting. Offshore were 320 Great Crested Grebes but only 20 Red-breasted Mergansers. Many of the grebes were feeding very close inshore on the ebbing tide, perhaps enjoying morsels washed off the beach. Further out, a pair displayed. Five Dark-bellied Brent Geese (seemingly the first spring migrants of the year) and a  Curlew flew east, two Wigeon went west and other birds offshore included two Kittiwakes, seven Red-throated Divers, three Gannets and a small handful of Razorbills. 19 Oystercatchers and three Ringed Plovers - the latter particularly sporasic among the waders this year - were among the usual suspects on the beach, along with two adult Mediterranean Gulls. A Goldcrest called from gardens near The Plantation.

The woods off Parish Lane in Pease Pottage kept me occupied for a few hours up to lunchtime as I grilled a flock consisting of around 50 Lesser Redpolls and 20 Siskins. I'd quickly teased out a smart Mealy Redpoll but getting a fitting record shot required a great deal of patience. Three Marsh Tits, two Bullfinches, a Grey Heron and a couple of Treecreepers and Nuthatches were also present while I stopped the car at a nearby field to enjoy a mix of 128 Fieldfares, seven Mistle Thrushes, 66 Redwings and four Song Thrushes.

Mealy Redpoll at Pease Pottage

Fieldfares at Pease Pottage

I spent the rest of the day's light at Burton Mill Pond, failing again to find a Bittern but logging a Kingfisher, 56 Cormorants and 20 Pied Wagtails to roost, a Little Egret, two Grey Herons, a Water Rail, nine Pochards, four Teal and a Tawny Owl. Six Little Grebes demonstrated snorkling behaviour and produced some lovely, almost diver-like, whinnying calls as dusk fell, that I'm not sure I've heard many timed before.

Little Grebes at Burton Mill Pond

Arundel, Selsey Bill, Petworth Park and Burton Mill Pond

Feeling enthusiastic for tracking down some woodland species, I got to Arundel Park for dawn but the drizzly forecast held true and conditions were far from ideal. In just under an hour staking out the cricket pitch, I had two Treecreepers, two Buzzards, a Nuthatch, a Grey Wagtail and 140 Jackdaws of note.

An hour at Selsey Bill was a spectacular experience, with hundreds of Razorbills streaming by, many at quite close range. The odd Guillemot was mixed in with them while Kittiwakes and Gannets trickled by. Two Slavonian Grebes, a 2CY drake Eider, eight Common Scoters, four Turnstones, six Red-breasted Mergansers and two Mediterranean Gulls were logged. I paused briefly at the Sidlesham Ferry Pool, seeing a Chiffchaff in the car park an assortment of Lapwings, Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler on the pool.

At Petworth Park, I found a redhead Goosander on the larger lake, where other wildfowl included small numbers of Gadwall, Teal, Pochard and Shoveler, as well as two Egyptian Geese. A nice area of scrub and alders held a Chiffchaff, eight Siskins and two Bullfinches. A Treecreeper, two Stonechats, a Mistle Thrush, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and singles of Kestrel and Sparrowhawk also featured.

redhead Goosander at Petworth Park

Burton Mill Pond had two Firecrests, seven Pochards, a Kingfisher, two Treecreepers, three Little Grebes, a Water Rail, a Grey Wagtail, 20 roosting Pied Wagtails and 33 Cormorants.