July Skies

Another mixed bag from the past ten days or so, as we teeter on the brink of August and the start of the harvest or Lammas season (1st August - halfway between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox).

I think that means I'm officially allowed to start using the 'a' word now? It's certainly fair to say the weather has been decidedly autumnal for the most part in the past fortnight. The dominance of low pressure, Atlantic weather systems delivering day after day of squally, grey, drizzly conditions has been particularly strange and unsettling given the news and images coming from further south in Europe. I remember something someone said to me a few years ago which has really stuck with me - nobody alive today has known what it's like to live in stable climatic conditions, and that is becoming more and more evident as each year passes.

In the context of local birding and other wildlife watching, it's been a fairly quiet and unremarkable period again, although it's clear we are experiencing a particularly good year for butterflies after a slow start back in the spring. It's been the best Purple Emperor season at Knepp since the best ever year of 2018 and everywhere I look at the moment I seem to be seeing Red Admirals. I had a pretty extraordinary count of ten together on the garden Buddleia the other day!

20th July

I headed out late morning for a fairly lengthy walk from home up towards Fittleworth to scan the valley across the Rother to the north. Raptors were out in force, with multiple Red Kite and Buzzard, at least three Kestrels and a single Sparrowhawk noted during an hour's skywatch here. 

Otherwise it was a relatively quiet session, though at least 35-40 Swallows around the stables at Ashurst were nice to see, as were two juvenile Green Woodpeckers in the same area. 

21st July

A quick look at Pulborough Brooks this morning, scanning the South Brooks from behind the visitor centre. Among 14 Little Egrets (there have been up to 21 recorded here in recent days) were singles of Greenshank and Green Sandpiper on the pool at West Mead while three Red Kites were soaring together in the distance.

En route to Knepp I briefly stopped to check the pool at Southlands Farm in West Chilt which again produced a Green Sandpiper. 

Knepp itself was again on fire, with a female Purple Emperor greeting me as soon as I arrived at the Operation Wallacea campsite. Out in the wildland with my group, highlights included a Barn Owl flying from a known nest site, the very vocal Sparrowhawk family near their nest site and a group of 31 White Storks kettling together over the Exmoor herd towards the far southern end of the estate.

Purple Emperor

After Knepp I headed down to Goring to catch up with David C. While we were chatting by our cars, a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull flew past with a juvenile Herring Gull in tow. After poorly David headed home I indulged in a c.45-minute seawatch from the beach which proved to be quite lively, with three Whimbrel and two each of Dunlin and Mediterranean Gull heading west, and two each of Sandwich Tern and Gannet feeding offshore. 

Whimbrel

Mediterranean Gull

22nd July

This morning I headed down to Medmerry, primarily for work-related reasons but it was a nice opportunity to have a little walk about and check out the Stilt Pool, which yielded singles of Common Sandpiper and Black-tailed Godwit among the Oystercatchers, Cormorants and Black-headed Gulls.

On the way home, with rain due to start at any minute, I had a quick check of the private site near Petworth which produced a juvenile Little Ringed Plover and at least 80 Swifts but little else of note.

No more birding after that as the weather turned decidedly October-esque, with heavy rain and wind - lovely!

23rd July

A brief look at Waltham Brooks en route to a day working at Knepp proved fruitful, as the very last bird of the session was a 1km year tick and Waltham Brooks lifer in the form of a Whimbrel powering south/south-west overhead and disappearing down the valley towards the Downs.

Knepp delivered again on the Turtle Dove front (it's been an astonishing year for the species there) with one seen flying up from a main path not long after I arrived. Otherwise it was mostly about the butterflies today, including what surely must be one of the very last Purple Emperors of the season.

A quick scan of the pool at Southlands Farm in passing on my way home again produced a lone Green Sandpiper. 

24th July

After dropping B at nursery I popped to Pulborough for a quick look at the North Brooks where I found a decent selection of waders - 10 Avocet, 24 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Green Sandpiper, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Common Sandpiper and a single Greenshank - and, sadly, a rather sickly looking adult Mediterranean Gull. 

Avocets

Black-tailed Godwits

25th July

Not much birding today, but it was a pleasure to lead a safari for members of the RSPB Youth Council at Knepp. Highlights included two Turtle Doves (one singing and displaying and another in flight), two Sedge Warblers (Hammer Pond) and my last Purple Emperor of the year. 

26th July

A diverse day which started with a walk from home up to the river at Thorndale Bridge, and a brief skywatch from the fields near home. It certainly felt autumnal, with a lovely fresh feel to the air and a light mist over the river, but it doesn't feel as though the season has quite got into swing yet, ornithologically speaking. Highlights were a Little Egret high east, adult and juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gulls high south and a Water Rail squealing along the river.

Little Egret

Swallows

Mid-morning I headed back down to Medmerry for work. While I was there I had a look at the Stilt Pool which yielded 3 Common Sandpipers, a Green Sandpiper, several Oystercatchers and a heard-only Ringed Plover. A quick look at the sea produced 3 Sandwich Terns, 8 Mediterranean Gulls and a single Gannet. While I was down at the coast I also dropped in to Church Norton briefly which produced a pleasing selection of waders including at least 3 Whimbrel, 2 Sanderling and a Bar-tailed Godwit.

Sandwich Tern

Early afternoon I met up with David C at Pulborough, and a stroll round the reserve produced a few bits, notably 10 Avocet, 2 Green Sandpipers and 3 Black-tailed Godwits on the North Brooks and a single White Stork (GB6S from Knepp) following the tractor around on the South Brooks, just like they're supposed to!

Brown Argus

27th July

A drizzy day, with more than a hint of autumn in the air, only exacerbated by the sound of a Curlew flying over Knepp Castle as I was in the orchard prepping for a garden safari. Other highlights here included a heard-only Raven and a Hummingbird Hawkmoth; the latter very obligingly dropping in to feed on a Buddleia as I had stopped with my group to chat about the importance of nectar sources in a garden!

On the way home I dropped in at Waltham Brooks for half an hour which produced another heard-only Raven, two Cetti's Warblers in the reeds and willows by the main lake and seven Gadwall on the lake itself.

28th July

A walk from home this morning, checking local fields and scrub and a skywatch proved fairly quiet aside from a Hobby terrorising the Swallows before flying off north.

A check of Amberley after dropping B off at nursery produced singles of Redshank, Raven and one of the White-tailed Eagles. 

29th July

Another local session on foot early morning proved quite productive with a Hobby again chasing Swallows about, a Peregrine high south-west and at least 50 Swifts drifting slowly south. That's more like it! I'm excited for my first full autumn vismigging from this area, I do think the funnel effect of the Arun Valley so close to the South Downs could be quite interesting.

Later in the morning, a Big Butterfly Count in the garden at home produced an impressive ten Red Admirals together on the Buddleia. I honestly can't remember such a good summer for the species, they just seem to be everywhere at the moment!

Red Admiral

30th July

A really enjoyable couple of hours out first thing this morning, although it again was feeling unseasonably fresh ahead of the rain that arrived later in the day. First up I checked the private reservoir over near Petworth which yielded very little aside from a noticeable increase in Little Grebes and a flock of at least 450 Jackdaws in flight off the nearby fields.

A visit to Lavington Common produced a Spotted Flycatcher in the pines round the car park and a family group of at least four Dartford Warblers a couple of hundred metres north of the car park. 

Dartford Warbler

Finally, a stake-out on the viewing platform at Burton Mill Pond produced a welcome return encounter with the red-ringed Great White Egret I last saw here back in late January. She's 'ACA', a female ringed in the nest at RSPB Ham Wall back in May 2022. Interestingly, another juvenile from the same ringing scheme, ACJ, has been hanging out at Warnham LNR quite a bit recently - so definitely worth taking a closer look at any individuals of this species you see out and about in Sussex.

Great White Egret

Late afternoon, a Hobby made two low passes over home, first heading south-east, before flying back west.

31st July

Another very autumnal day, weather-wise, with a blustery south-westerly and drizzle/light rain persisting until mid-afternoon. After dropping B at nursery I swung by Pulborough for a brief check of the North Brooks. As I walked down, a tight group of around 25 Swifts drifted west. On the North Brooks were 36 Black-tailed Godwit, 30 Lapwing, 16 Black-headed Gulls and singles of Greenshank and Snipe, the latter only making its presence known when a Buzzard flew through low and flushed everything. 

On the way home a quick scan from the river bank near Greatham Bridge produced an incredibly close encounter with a Kingfisher, dashing past upriver. A return visit to Waltham Brooks late afternoon produced another or the same Kingfisher in flight over the main lake, a Hobby flying east, Peregrine south and a juvenile Marsh Harrier hunting and drifting north. 

Marsh Harrier

Is it autumn yet?

It's always tricky to get back into the swing of things after any trip away from home, and returning to the later stages of summer in Sussex after a week away in Spain has proved no exception.

Of course, July can be a very exciting time of year, with spring migration well and truly done and dusted and the first subtle hints of return migration beginning to get into gear as the breeding season starts to wrap up for a lot of species. 

Certainly it felt rather longer than a week we had been away, when one sees how things have progressed in the natural world at this time of year. Take the Purple Emperors at Knepp for example, which were just a fortnight into their season when I was last there at the start of July, and are now already burning out fast like a spent firework as I write this in the third week of the month. 

The birds too are rapidly coming to the end of their various breeding cycles, with the cacophony of song that defines April, May and early June now reduced to just a few bursts, and most migrant species now just content to give their various whistles, tacks, croaks and squeaks in the bushes as we pass.

So it is to this backdrop of summer winding down and autumn just beginning to poke its head above the parapet that we ease into this rather brief summary of a somewhat unspectacular ten-day period of local birding. It's still been good, but don't expect any fireworks!

10th July

Our first full day back in the UK and, after dropping B at nursery, I decided to swing by Pulborough for a quick look at the North Brooks (I didn't have time for the full reserve loop today) which produced a tasty selection of waders: 2 each of Greenshank, Green Sandpiper and Avocet, 10 Black-tailed Godwits, at least 8 Little Ringed Plovers and a single Common Sandpiper. 

A short walk and skywatch round the local fields at lunchtime produced a light trickle of Sand Martins moving through, roughly south, and my first UK Painted Lady of the year nectaring on bramble flower. 

11th July

A check of local water bodies today proved fairly quiet. A Common Sandpiper was at a private site, while Burton Mill Pond yielded juvenile Grey Wagtails and Reed Warblers from a quick look in passing. An afternoon check of Waltham Brooks yielded just usual fare.

In fact, the resounding highlight of the day was not a bird but a butterfly - a Brown Argus, to be precise - which briefly alighted on a Viola in our garden at lunchtime, just as I had sat down to eat my sandwich! My first record for the garden here.

Brown Argus

12th July

A sweep of local water bodies today either side of a garden safari at Knepp. The afternoon saw some lively showers moving through with one in particular producing a substantial amount of rain. A private site near Petworth produced a Common Sandpiper and two juvenile Little Ringed Plovers, while a Common Sandpiper was also found on the pool at Southlands Farm, West Chiltington on my way back from Knepp.

Common Sandpiper

Knepp itself was good too (it always is, to be fair!) with heard only Lesser Spotted Woodpecker calling in trees near the Walled Garden and at least one Spotted Flycatcher about too. 

13th July

Another busy non-birding day but I managed to squeeze out for an hour round the local farmland and a brief look at Waltham Brooks at lunchtime. Highlights included the two White-tailed Eagles soaring together north of Greatham Bridge (the first time I've seen both together for quite some time), at least a dozen Sand Martins feeding over the main lake and a few Swifts trickling south-west. 

14th July

A cool, grey and squally day, more akin to October than mid-July. A whizz round Pulborough this morning proved quite productive, especially for waders. Highlights were 28 Black-tailed Godwit, 9 Green Sandpiper, 3 Greenshank, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Common Sandpiper and 2 Avocet. A Grey Wagtail flew over Green Lane as I was walking back to the car park, and around 8-10 each of Sand Martin and House Martin were feeding over Uppertons Field, Fattengates and the South Brooks.

North Brooks looking autumnal

15th July

A particularly autumnal day with severe winds (gusting up to almost 50mph), leading to the cancellation of various summer fayres and other events (Goodwood Festival of Speed included). I was also looking after B all day, so no birding today.

16th July

For the first time in a while I got out early for the loop up the river from home to Waltham Brooks and back past the sewage works. The clear highlight of an otherwise relatively uneventful couple of hours was a Grasshopper Warbler reeling intermittently on the north-western side of Amberley Wildbrooks, just across the river east of Thorndale Bridge. It was hard to pinpoint exactly where it was, given the still blustery wind, but it was unmistakable nonetheless. My first record of the year, taking the local year list to 147 and the 1km area list to 117.

Also of note were a female Teal with six juveniles on the main lake at Waltham Brooks and a family group of Nightingales flitting about and calling constantly in the scrub right next to Thorndale Bridge. There was just a hint of some south-westerly movement of Swifts overhead throughout the session, but still nothing spectacular - still waiting for a really big day for these this summer. A pair of Stonechats were by the railway crossing at Waltham Brooks and there were several juvenile Whitethroats about. 

Stonechat

Despite the wind, there were plenty of butterflies out, even at this early time of day, including a couple of box fresh Peacocks sunning themselves on a fence near home. There seem to be so many of these and Red Admirals about at the moment!

Peacock

17th July

A day where I was all over the place but didn't squeeze in a whole lot of birding. Perhaps the most notable bird of the day was at least one flyover Crossbill (heard only) while I was surveying some private land near North Chailey in East Sussex - only my second record of this species anywhere this year!

At Knepp in the afternoon, the remarkable Turtle Dove summer there continued with a single bird low over the heads of my safari group in the Southern Block - a pleasing Knepp first for one of the staff members present. Also of note here was my first Willow Emerald of the year. 

On the way home a quick look at Southlands Farm in West Chiltington produced a Green Sandpiper, while a family group of 5 Peregrines were noisily flying around over Amberley Station as the female brought back prey. 

Green Sandpiper

18th July

No birding today. 

19th July

An early walk from home out to Waltham Brooks and back proved fairly quiet, aside from the usual fare at the main lake (7 Shoveler, Cetti's Warbler, Water Rail) and 25 Swallows perched on the telegraph wires near home. 

Later in the morning I headed out to the private site near Petworth which produced a single Common Sandpiper and 25 Egyptian Geese, including two striking leucistic individuals. 

Egyptian Geese

On the way home from Knepp in the afternoon I stopped at Southlands Farm to check the pool there, which again held a Green Sandpiper, presumably the same bird from a couple of days ago.