The Downs, Sullington, Petworth Park and Warnham LNR

A day with Phil. Two Corn Buntings on the downs off Titch Hill included one singing. A couple of Red-legged Partridges announced themselves and a flock of over 60 Pied Wagtails was feeding in the fields. Other sightings included a Raven, a Stonechat, a Sparrowhawk, male Kestrel, 40 Linnets, a Reed Bunting and a flyover Lesser Black-backed Gull.

A quick stop at Sullington secured views of a Little Owl.

Little Owl at Sullington

 We visited Petworth Park in the hope of Goosander. We had no luck on that point but a hearty pub lunch made up for it! We did have two Mistle Thrushes, two Egyptian Geese, a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker, three Pochards, 32 Tufted Ducks, a Redwing, two Green Woodpeckers and two Great Crested Grebes.

We changed our original vague plans and ended up at Warnham LNR for the rest of the afternoon. Two Marsh Tits, eight Pochards, two Gadwall, six Teal, four Reed Buntings, two Nuthatches, two Treecreepers, a Great Crested Grebe, a Grey Wagtail and the nesting Grey Herons (at least one was sitting) were the highlights, along with a pair of very showy Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

male Great Spotted Woodpecker at Warnham LNR

Grey Heron on nest at Warnham LNR

drake Pochard at Warnham LNR

Reed Buntings at Warnham LNR

No Man's Land area

A fine and windless day tempted me onto the downs west of Titch Hill. The clear highlight was a 2cy male Hen Harrier which performed well early morning, presumably the bird seen regularly over the winter but not reported for a little while. Two Grey Partridges and three Egyptian Geese were also my first local sightings of the year, while heard-only Little Owl and Barn Owl were also Worthing area year ticks. A Peregrine, three Tawny Owls, a Lapwing, a singing Corn Bunting, three Red-legged Partridges, a Yellowhammer, a Fieldfare, 200 Linnets, 10 Reed Buntings, two Kestrels, seven Meadow Pipits, 24 Pied Wagtails and two Buzzards were other highlights.

2cy male Hen Harrier

2cy male Hen Harrier

Buzzards (2cy left, adult right)

adult male Kestrel

Brown Hare

Dell Quay, Pagham Harbour, Shoreham and Titch Hill

Dell Quay offered a Spotted Redshank, a Greenshank, two Red-breasted Mergansers, a Rock Pipit and a pleasing suite of wintering waders and wildfowl.

A look from Church Norton produced a Sandwich Tern, along with a good scattering of Knot and Bar-tailed Godwits among other waders.

Peregrine at Church Norton

Shoreham Harbour had one Purple Sandpiper and five Turnstones on the wooden jetty. On the RSPB reserve on the Adur was a Wigeon, along with eight Teal, 14 Redshanks and a flock of 20 Linnets.

Purple Sandpiper at Shoreham

Late afternoon, a period scanning from Titch Hill offered 17 Fieldfares, a female Sparrowhawk and
a Kestrel, but little else.

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.

Patching, Angmering Park Estate and No Man's Land area

Curious about the Patching area, I headed there this morning. I'd heard bad birding reviews of Patching Pond but looking at the satellite map I thought it worth a go. There was not a single bird on the water but a flock of 23 Long-tailed Tits moved through. On to Patching Hill then. There I found a Firecrest, a Red Kite, two Buzzards, four Yellowhammers, two Bullfinches and three Skylarks. A Song Thrush was in voice. A limited venture into the Angmering Park Estate featured a noisy Raven, a flyover redpoll, two more Firecrests, a Treecreeper, a couple of Nuthatches, etc. A Red-legged Partridge was heard beyond the woodland.

Yellowhammer at Patching Hill

In the late afternoon I visited the downs near No Man's Land. I realised I'd picked a bad vantage point for scanning for raptors but it was too late to change. Two Grey Partridges and four Red-legged Partridges were the best on offer.