Sunday 28 May 2023

May, week two

 7th May

A dawn safari at Knepp this morning produced great numbers of warblers and at least two Cuckoos. On the way home I stopped off at Hail's View to scan the South Brooks, from where I was treated to fab views of two Hobbies hawking low over the marsh and dozens of Swifts and Swallows above. A check of Black Wood yielded a singing Firecrest but not the hoped-for Spotted Flycatcher. 

That was about the sum of my birding for the day, although while visiting friends in Godalming in the afternoon I noted at least 20 Swifts screaming over the Portsmouth Road, and a short walk around the area of rough grassland and scrub near Wood Farm produced another Swift along with singing Whitethroat, multiple Chiffchaff and Blackcap, Linnet and several Greenfinches.

8th May

An overcast but mild start to the day. I headed out on foot from home to do the loop from River Lane to the Arun then up to Waltham Brooks and back. There were no great surprises to be found but it was lovely to enjoy the chorus of birdsong from the full set of resident and migrant breeding species now all back on territory, including at least 5 Nightingales and similar numbers of Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat, along with a couple of Garden Warblers. At least two male Cuckoos were singing well between Waltham Brooks and Amberley, while a female was perched on a fence across the river on the west side of Amberley. 

9th May

A morning sweep of wetlands and water bodies proved to be fairly uninspiring, although it was good to see double figures of Swifts at the private reservoir near Petworth. 

In the afternoon I was up in Aldershot when news broke of the Hoopoe at Frensham Little Pond, so I couldn't resist swinging by for a look on my way home. The bird was elusive and flighty but eventually showed well, albeit briefly, on the east side of the pond. 

Hoopoe

10th May

Not loads of birding today owing to it being Mrs Matt's birthday, but a brief stop at Pulborough Brooks after dropping B off at nursery produced my hoped-for first Spotted Flycatcher of the year in the trees on the edge of the heath - in the same area the Wood Warbler and Pied Flycatcher were in last week. Also here were a singing Garden Warbler and a Robin feeding a fledgling. 

For Kate's birthday we had lunch at The Pig in Madehurst where casual observations included Blackbirds busily feeding young, three Red Kites and lots of House Martins overhead and a Red-legged Partridge 'singing' in the grounds. 
Spotted Flycatcher

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