A day to remember

When I moved down to Pulborough from near Guildford two years ago, fellow Surrey emigrant and one time Pulborough stalwart Jon Winder assured me 'you'll never have a bad day at Pulborough Brooks'. He was absolutely right; even the less action packed days here serve as a stark reminder of just how quiet a quiet day at my previous patch, Shalford Water Meadows, could be. Other days are just outstanding and today was one of those days that all patch birders look forward to. 

There's something about early spring that I just love - the bristling feeling of expectation in the air and almost palpable sense of birds rushing towards our shores from warmers climes - and after heavy rain last night I was particularly excited to hit the Brooks this morning.

West Mead was fairly quiet with just the usual selection of ducks on show and a Water Rail squealing somewhere towards Black Wood. At Winpenny the fun started though as I quickly picked up the two White-fronted Geese that have been lingering locally since the back end of 2018. Searching through the Lapwings in front of the hide I found the first Dunlin of the day. I could also hear a Redshank calling but wasn't able to locate it. The Lapwings were very vocal and displaying but I was sure I could hear a Curlew calling in among all the bustle and, sure enough, a minute or so later one flew in from the south and dropped down on the marsh; my first here this year. No sooner had it done so than all the waders whooshed up in the air as a male Merlin made a dash through the middle of them and lunged straight for the Meadow Pipits and Skylarks hiding out in the grass. It gave excellent views as it twisted and turned at breakneck speed inches above the ground before vanishing towards the farmland across the Arun as quickly as it had appeared. The Curlew attempted to land a couple more times but the Lapwings gave it a less than warm welcome so it eventually gave up and disappeared off to the west.

The North Brooks were rather quieter than of late with just a further four Dunlin, five Ruff and three Black-tailed Godwits of note. A few Gulls - Common and Black-headed - were dropping in but not like the numbers seen yesterday which produced a 2cy Med Gull and an adult, the latter of which I missed. After a while I moved on, with a vague plan to check down at Jupp's View. At the top of Green Lane, however, I paused to scan across the Mid and South Brooks, from where I could see there were hundreds of Gulls down towards Hail's View. That rather changed my plans and I hastily made my way in that direction, a flyover Crossbill or three en route (heard from under the trees) providing the second year tick of the morning and a nice bonus in the form of a singing Firecrest.

Down at Hail's View I made a quick estimate of the Gull numbers - at least 300, mostly Black-headed - and soon picked out an adult Mediterranean Gull in near summer plumage. Fairly quickly though the whole lot were flushed up by the first of two Marsh Harriers and it was clear the Med I'd seen was not the only one around, as I could clearly make out calls from what sounded like at least two or three more birds as more and more Gulls seemed to wheel in from all around. Time and again they settled and flushed again. Eventually they settled for longer, by which time Paul had arrived, and I was pleased to be able to pick out three smart adult Meds for him. Also of note down here were two Peregrines, noisily mobbing any Buzzard or Marsh Harrier foolish enough to get close, a pair of Stonechats, a Sparrowhawk and much better views of the White-fronted Geese. 

A day to remember and, with at least four singing Chiffchaffs around the reserve, further sign that birds are on the move and spring is getting into gear.