Honey, Sandwiches and other local delights

As a birder and all-round naturalist, I always find it tricky to decide on my favourite time of year. At a push though, when August comes around, I am reminded just how great late summer and early autumn can be. The golden and misty mornings and atmospheric evenings, and the feeling that you could bump into absolutely anything every time you leave the house, make birding extra exciting at this transitional point in the year. 

Indeed, this past ten days or so has delivered some of my most enjoyable birding moments of the year to date, including two 10km year ticks and three 1km year ticks. My Watersfield Farmland hotspot close to home has tipped past the 100 species mark with the addition of three new species, two of which were entirely unexpected (more on that later).

Since surpassing my 150 species target at Pulborough Brooks two years ago, I have been enjoying spreading my net further afield, while still staying local to home, and it's times like the past couple of weeks when I'm reminded just how rewarding that can be.

12th August

An early morning walk from home around the local farmland revealed a noticeable increase in Willow Warblers and Whitethroats, with a minimum of 8 of the former and 5 of the latter just in the hedges and scrub on the edge of Watersfield. There was no sign of any other notable migrant passerines though.

Whitethroat

A walk up towards Watersfield Common with B later in the morning produced two Hobbies hunting Swallows together. I'm sure this species must have bred somewhere locally this summer but haven't yet worked out exactly where. 

Talking of Hobbies I also had one low and fast over Shalford Common in Surrey in the afternoon, while up there catching up with friends. 

13th August

No early birding today as I was busy checking the contents of the moth trap, which included Jersey Tiger, Webb's Wainscot, Canary-shouldered Thorn and White-point.

Canary-shouldered Thorn

White-point

A check of Waltham Brooks on my way to Knepp produced a juvenile Marsh Harrier and a couple of Swifts powering south/south-west, but little in the way of passerine activity in the now quite brisk wind. 4 Gadwall were among the Mallards on the main lake. 

14th August

A quick look at the South Brooks from near the visitor centre at Pulborough proved fairly quiet, with just a few Lapwing and a single Little Egret of note. The strikingly pale Buzzard was perched on a fence post on the bank of the Arun, a bird surely responsible for more misidentifications than any other in the area!

Late morning, a walk near The Mens produced a nice immature Goshawk briefly circling above the wooded hillside to the west. 

15th August

No time for any of my own birding today as I was in East Sussex for a meeting in the morning then hotfooted it down to Dungeness to lead a Wildstarts tour at the RSPB reserve. It was a productive afternoon, with 50 species recorded. All three UK egret species were present and correct, although we unfortunately didn't complete the set with the reported Glossy Ibises at the ARC pit as we didn't make it out that far. Other highlights included Common Sandpiper, a flyover Hobby carrying prey, a heard-only Greenshank and my first Whinchat anywhere this year.

Cattle Egrets

16th August

A bright and golden early autumn start to the day felt like the perfect inspiration needed for a walk up on the Downs. The only issue with Amberley Mount is that a morning walk means ascending towards the sun, so the first hour or so felt a little quiet and frustrating aside from a female type Redstart at the top of the slope. Things livened up once I got up onto the plateau though, where I found two Wheatears and a Corn Bunting along the fenceline, the latter surprisingly my first record of this species at this location. I tend to find I have to go to other downland sites further east or south to find them around here. 

Returning down the slope towards Downs Farm things got even better with a spanking male Redstart revealing itself in the scrub. Two fluffy Little Owl juveniles were playing hide and seek on one of the buildings at the farm and two Whinchats were flycatching from the telegraph wires here - my first locally this year. 

Ravens

Whinchat

Little Owls

17th August

A grey and rather foggy start to the day. My occasional early morning circuit from home to Thorndale Bridge and up the river to Waltham Brooks and back took a particularly exciting and unexpected turn when I heard the distinctive grating call of a Sandwich Tern as I approached the riverbank from the railway bridge. Looking up in the direction of the call I picked up a single bird, quite high, powering in through the murk from the south-west. As it called again I quickly realised there were two birds, rather separated from each other but clearly travelling together. I fired off a few record shots and grabbed a short recording before just standing and enjoying the spectacle as they disappeared off upriver towards Pulborough. 

This was a particularly remarkable record given that just the previous day Ed and I had been discussing historical records of this species in my local area, after he had two over Enton Lakes near Godalming. As I had stated, any tern species is a pretty rare thing in this part of inland West Sussex, so to have these two fly right over my head within about 15 minutes of walking out of my door this morning was particularly extraordinary! As far as I can work out, it's the first record anywhere in the inland Arun Valley area since 2002.

Sandwich Tern

The rest of the walk paled into insignificance to be honest, after such a breathtaking moment as that. Highlights at Waltham Brooks included a few Reed Warblers, Willow Warblers, juvenile Stonechat and at least 18 Greenfinches.

Later in the day I took B down to Arundel for a stroll around Swanbourne Lake, which provided a few bits of interest including at least 3 Willow Warblers, Marsh Tit, two each of Mandarin and Pochard and a flyover Peregrine. 

Pochard

18th August

Rain arrived from the east early this morning and by around 8.30 had turned decidedly biblical. I decided to head over to Petworth for a bit of a stakeout at the private reservoir there. In the end I rather wished I hadn't bothered as I barely scraped to 20 species in 90 minutes, with a Common Sandpiper really the only bird of note. 

Later in the day, after drying off at a home, a walk round the local farmland produced Hobby, Peregrine, a Common Gull drifting south, and a Lesser Whitethroat in the bushes just west of the boundary with Waltham Brooks; the latter species number 100 for my Watersfield Farmland hotspot!

Common Gull

An evening check of local water bodies including a distant scan from Greatham Lane towards Hardham Reservoir, in the hope of Black Terns (lots around elsewhere this evening), didn't produce loads, although heard only Raven and Greenshank here were noteworthy. This section of farmland and wetland is effectively the connecting corridor between Pulborough Brooks and Waltham Brooks but is very underwatched. It's the same area I had two Little Ringed Plovers earlier in the year. 

19th August

An early morning stroll round the local farmland produced very little so later in the morning I headed over to Burton Mill Pond with B, which proved rather more lively. The highlight was a mixed passerine flock in the trees at New Piece (western side of the pond), which included several Marsh Tits, a Willow Warbler and a family part of Spotted Flycatchers.

Spotted Flycatchers

20th August

WeBS day today, so I headed over to the private reservoir near Petworth where I do my monthly count. It was rather uneventful today, as it has been for the most part of late, to be honest. Still, three Common Sandpipers represented my second highest count of the species here (4 on 4th May this year) and I again saw one of the leucistic Egyptian Geese in flight with one of the small flocks flying about to and from the reservoir - 59 in total today.

Common Sandpipers

Egyptian Geese

Later in the morning, a walk out to check the local fields and scrub on the western side of Waltham Brooks proved relatively quiet aside from a flyover Hobby worrying the Swallows and a somewhat out of context Reed Bunting in a hedgerow down River Lane. 

Hobby

In the afternoon I was back at Knepp leading a safari, the highlight of which was a lovely female type Redstart in one of the hedges north of New Barn Farm; my first here this year. 

21st August

My car was booked in for its MOT this morning, so I decided to try the walk home from the garage in Pulborough for the first time (around 4km). I was interested to see how long it took (admittedly at a birding pace) but also explore any bits of less familiar habitat I encountered along the way.

It was actually fairly quiet for the most part, until I reached Waltham Brooks, with the exception of a Tawny Owl in flight along the Wey South Path on the west side of Widney Brooks. Waltham Brooks itself held a few Willow Warblers and a female type Redstart in the scrub, the latter my 130th species for the site.

The best was yet to come though as I exited the reserve and headed into the farmland that separates it from home. I was in a 'home straight' sort of mindset by this point, having been walking for around two hours, so wasn't perhaps quite as alert as I had been at the start. Nonetheless, I immediately recognised the raptor heading straight towards me from the north-west as something 'interesting' and lifted my bins to confirm it was a Honey Buzzard, powering east/south-east on flat wings. A lovely adult male, it briefly circled over my head, gaining height as it did so, before continuing onwards towards Parham/Amberley. Needless to say, my first for the 1km recording area and my 101st species for the eBird hotspot here. 

Honey Buzzard

Hlāfmæsse

That's Old English for 'Loaf Mass', also known as Lammas or Lughnasadh in Gaelic. As I said in my last blog post, it was traditionally celebrated on 1st August, being exactly halfway between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox. It marks a turning point in the year, when the growing season gives way to the harvest season, when hay would be cut and grazing animals returned to the meadows, and when fruit begins to ripen on the trees.

Indeed, as I write this I can confirm I have already enjoyed my first wild blackberries of the season, and very nice they were too! To some extent it does feel rather as though we have been in a perpetual state of autumn for much of this short summer, weather-wise at least. The warm spell we have just experienced on 9th and 10th of this month, though far from record breaking, marked the hottest days recorded in the south of England since early July.

Nonetheless, whatever the weather, there can be no denying that autumn is truly approaching now and the ornithological wheels are turning accordingly. As I am writing this I have just seen a lone Swift tagging along with a few Swallows zig-zagging their way south, and my early morning walks from home are now often misty, rather gloomy and strangely quiet aside from the odd huuet, tak and churr from warblers in the bushes.

1st August

A brief look at the South Brooks from the tea terrace at Pulborough this morning didn't produce a huge amount aside from a few Swifts trickling south. 

A skywatch from just north of Pulborough later on proved very productive, however, with highlights including at least one each of Goshawk and Hobby and two juvenile Marsh Harriers which drifted north together at around 09:45.

Knepp in the afternoon was rather quiet aside from two Hobbies together in a dead tree in the Southern Block.

2nd August

Another squally, autumnal day. Waltham Brooks proved rather quiet for the most part, with the highlight being a Cattle Egret flying downriver just as I was about to leave. My first locally since March.

Cattle Egret

Mid-morning I headed back down to Medmerry, where the Stilt Pool yielded a Common Sandpiper and a few Gadwall among the usual wildfowl, gulls and Cormorants. A Sandwich Tern made a couple of low passes over the pool, clearly struggling to make headway west into the wind. A short seawatch before the weather deteriorated (horizontal rain and salt spray coming straight at the beach!) proved worthwhile as a dark phase Arctic Skua flew west before landing on the sea, where I quickly lost sight of it thanks to the wind and swell. Evidently, two had been seen off Selsey earlier in the morning, so it was surely one of the same birds.

Sandwich Tern

3rd August

An early morning stroll round the local fields and a short skywatch proved quite lively. First off, a Curlew flew powerfully south straight down the valley. In fact it was motoring it to such an extent that I barely had time to confirm the ID through bins, let alone attempt to get a record shot! This was closely followed by two Ravens and a Great Black-backed Gull heading the same way, plus a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls south and four west. A few Swallows were drifting south-west and a Grey Heron flew east. 

Great Black-backed Gull

Ravens

At Knepp later in the morning, leading an Operation Wallacea safari, highlights included a flyover Hobby, a migrant Willow Warbler and a couple of Lesser Whitethroats in the scrub, a Nightingale in the hand (thanks to the ringing team!) and mating Willow Emeralds.

4th August

Another early walk and skywatch near home again proved fruitful with the highlight being a juvenile Marsh Harrier powering south-east quite high and a tight flock of 11 Black-headed Gulls heading south/south-west together, also at height. Local interest, meanwhile, came from a Hobby again putting the wind up the resident Swallows, plus a Willow Warbler in the scrub.

Marsh Harrier

My final Operation Wallacea safari of the year at Knepp proved a little on the quiet side, although there were again plenty of passerines busy in the scrub, including a Garden Warbler which was a nice bonus to point out to my group.

In the afternoon I headed up to Guildford to catch up with my former work colleague Gareth, and a walk round my old stomping ground of Shalford Water Meadows. It was, perhaps unsurprisingly, a little quiet here given the time of day, but there a few small birds in the bushes including juvenile Reed Buntings, and a couple of young Kestrels practicing their hunting skills over the meadows too.

Reed Bunting

5th August

A very wet start to the day, with the south-westerly wind increasing throughout the morning. A lunchtime break in the rain allowed for a brief circuit of the local fields which proved reasonably lively, with at least 30 Swallows and 10 Swifts feeding overhead, the latter drifting slowly south, plus singles of Hobby and Peregrine over and a couple of Willow Warblers in the bushes.

6th August

An early start to take in a loop of the local farmland, Thorndale Bride, the river and Waltham Brooks. While nothing particularly out of the ordinary was encountered in the two hours or so I was out, it was one of those wonderful early autumn mornings where every tree, bush and hedgerow seemed to be heaving with passerines. Indeed, I think the only warbler species I might have expected at Waltham Brooks but didn't encounter was Grasshopper Warbler (despite my best efforts!). Otherwise, there were multiple Willow Warblers, dozens of Chiffchaffs, at least a couple of Lesser Whitethroats, Sedge Warblers, Reed Warblers and a single Garden Warbler in the scrub near the main lake. A couple of Nightingales were still whistling and croaking away in the bushes along the railway line and a single White-tailed Eagle flew low across the west side of Amberley Wildbrooks.

Lesser Whitethroat

That was basically it for birding for today, although while seeing friends up at Frimley in Surrey in the afternoon I did note a Swift, a few Swallows and a couple of Red Kites over Frimley Lodge Park. 

7th August

The end of the first week of August already! And it's fair to say we are getting into the peak of the passerine passage season now. It was another gorgeous, golden August morning today and, after dropping B off at nursery, I decided to swing past Pulborough for a quick look at the North Brooks. The hedgerows and scrub along the eastern footpath of the reserve were teeming with warblers, mostly Chiffchaffs but also at least 8 Willow Warblers and a couple of Whitethroats. A Nightingale was whistling away in scrub on the eastern side of the North Brooks while on the North Brooks itself were 9 Black-tailed Godwits, 14 Lapwing, ~30 Teal, 2 Shoveler and a single White Stork (GB6S from Knepp again). Another White Stork was also circling around over towards Stopham before later drifting back towards the reserve. A Little Ringed Plover was heard but not seen and 3 Ravens drifted over from east to west.

Willow Warbler

8th August

A grey and drizzly day for the most part. An early walk round the local fields and a skywatch didn't produce a massive amount, aside from a group of 9 House Martins and a few Swallows trickling south/south-west. The bushes and hedgerows held a scattering of Blackcaps and a single Willow Warbler. The highlight was a Peregrine dashing through in pursuit of a Woodpigeon, the end result of which I unfortunately didn't see as both birds disappeared over the trees to the south. 

A rainy afternoon check of the private reservoir over near Petworth revealed a Common Sandpiper, eclipse drake Shoveler and a single Sand Martin but otherwise not much of note. 

9th August

A glorious late summer/early autumn morning with golden sunshine soon burning off the mist. A couple of Willow Warblers were 'hu-weet'ing among the tit flocks around Watersfield as I took an early stroll around the local fields. Not much else of note was found though. After dropping B at nursery I headed up to Lithersgate Common for a walk round which produced two family groups of Spotted Flycatcher.

Early morning in Watersfield

In the evening, both Barn Owl and Tawny Owl were heard from home.

10th August

The wind had switched to north-easterly and dropped overnight which could mean only one thing: mist! Unfortunately, this rather thwarted my attempts at an early morning bush-bashing session in the 1km area between home and Waltham Brooks. Nonetheless, I did manage to prise out Nightingale, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler and Willow Warbler in a mixed flock near the railway line at Waltham. Typically, the mist really started to burn off just as I had to head home. 

A foggy Waltham Brooks

Mid-morning I headed over to Knepp with B to see the latest release of captive-bred White Storks from the Cotswolds. Non-stork highlights here included Lesser Whitethroat and a sub-singing Reed Warbler in the hedgerow near the campsite and a family group of Sparrowhawks up in the air nearby. 

11th August

An overcast start to the day with a light south-westerly wind. A check of the bushes near home and a brief skywatch didn't produce a great deal aside from two Hobbies high east together a little before 07:00. 

A scan of the South Brooks in passing at Pulborough produced one of the White-tailed Eagles on the deck, worrying the Grey Herons and a particularly irate Little Egret which kept mobbing it! Later in the day, two White-tailed Eagles were seen together from home, circling over Amberley. 

An early evening stroll around the local fields turned out to be very productive, with Spotted Flycatcher and Garden Warbler in a mixed passerine flock in the hedgerow on the western edge of Waltham Brooks, plus my first ever Great Green Bush-cricket in brambles near home. This is a species I have been trying to track down since we moved to Watersfield, as I've heard it's a good area for them. Incidentally, Spotted Flycatcher was 119 for my 1km year list and number 99 on the local farmland hotstpot. What will 100 be, I wonder?

Spotted Flycatcher

Great Green Bush-cricket