New Year

And so begins another year. My third year of broader local birding, as opposed to intensive patch watching at Pulborough Brooks. I have to say I've found the past couple of years very rewarding indeed, getting to know my local area more thoroughly, gaining greater understanding of the status and distribution of bird species as well as the lay of the land, literally. It's been fascinating to discover relationships between different sites and the fact that I can see some of the most furthest flung sites within the 10km from the highest points such as Amberley Mount. It really does feel like piecing together a jigsaw, and it's turned up some real surprises. 

After finding the likes of breeding Long-eared Owl and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker on my doorstep in 2022, 2023 saw me pin down two breeding pairs of Honey Buzzard locally, in the species' best ever year in Sussex. Aside from the scarce breeders, I also found some real local rarities and scarcities in the form of Marsh Warbler, Golden Oriole and Black Tern (all West Sussex ticks to boot!) as well as incongruous flyover records of Knot and Sandwich Tern just a few hundred metres from home. 

So, here's to 2024 and all the birding memories yet to be formed!

1st January

A first light walk out to Waltham Brooks from home produced 52 species new for the year list. Highlights included two Marsh Harriers, a single Snipe, four Tufted Duck, at least three Water Rail, and 150 Black-headed Gulls north. My second Great Spotted Woodpecker of the season was drumming hesitantly near the sewage works.

Mid-morning I went on a little drive around some local water bodies. A brief look at Burton Mill Pond produced the now usual Great White Egret in flight across to the reeds at the back. Photos later confirmed it was the red-ringed individual from Somerset. 

Over to Petworth next where the female Long-tailed Duck was still present for at least her 65th day, along with 17 Shoveler, 14 Pochard and nine Tufted Duck. 

Red-ringed Great Egret at Burton Mill Pond

Long-tailed Duck

A tour of berry-rich bushes around Pulborough again proved fruitless for Waxwings. My last stop on a circuitous route home was Cross Gate, for a scan of Amberley Wildbrooks. Here I bumped into Pete Hughes and Alice Parfitt who were about to leave having not seen the Russian White-fronted Geese. Luckily, as we stood chatting, a flock of ~80 Greylag Geese noisily flew in from the north-west and landed out on the marsh. Sure enough, the five White-fronts were in amongst them. Other highlights here included ~80 Black-tailed Godwits, and one of the adult White-tailed Eagles. 

The final surprise and year tick of the day came early afternoon when I happened to glance out of the bedroom window to see a small, fast falcon chasing a flock of Starlings over the fields before veering off and powering west/south-west over the house on rapid whirring wings. A Merlin! Not my first from home/the garden but my first locally in a while, and a very welcome addition to the new year list on day one. 

2nd January

My last day off of my Christmas break and the weather gods really saved the very worst until last, with violent winds and heavy rain for much of this morning, and the wind becoming even stronger when the rain eventually stopped early afternoon.

I managed a couple of hours dashing between the hides at Pulborough Brooks in the morning, although RIP my umbrella which blew inside out one too many times to retain its structural integrity. I also only managed a paltry 38 species during the session, with highlights being a single Golden Plover and four Dunlin among the Lapwings, a trio of Tufted Ducks looking to be enjoying the weather, and Coal Tit and Long-tailed Tit both new for the local year list (up to 75).

An afternoon walk round the local farmland was largely uneventful aside from ~120 Black-headed Gulls and a Great White Egret battling into the wind low over Waltham Brooks, the latter banking over Besley Farm and plodding roughly west towards Fittleworth, whether that was its intended flight path or not, as it was clearly struggling!

3rd January

Back to work today so not so much time for birding. A short stop at Waltham Brooks en route to Woods Mill produced ten Tufted Duck on the lake, five Mute Swans which came in from the north then turned and flew north-west, and a Marsh Harrier and around 80 Black-headed Gulls flying upriver. No new species for the local year list though.

Marsh Harrier

Mute Swans

At Woods Mill I was greeted upon arrival by the laughing call of my first Green Woodpecker of the year, while a lunchtime walk around the reserve yielded 33 species including flyover Greylag Geese (2), singles of Firecrest and Siskin and a heard-only calling Yellowhammer. 

4th January

After dropping B at nursery this morning I had a brief walk up at Amberley Mount, as it was the first dry morning for a while. As was the case last time, I fairly quickly picked up a White-tailed Eagle powering south over the vineyard towards the Burgh. I couldn't see this time though whether it was the juvenile or one of the adult birds. Other bits up here were a male Stonechat at the tumulus and two Firecrests together in the brambles at Downs Farm - surprisingly a first for me here. 

5th January

Another busy day with not loads of birding time, but I did manage a quick lunchbreak walk from home to Coldwaltham sewage works where I found at least 25 Chiffchaffs and a Goldcrest busily flitting about in the sallows. Try as I might, I couldn't glean out a tristis from the Chiffchaffs I was able to scrutinise, although one looked perhaps a little colder toned, but not quite enough for me (and wasn't heard to call or responsive to Siberian call).

Chiffchaff - these photos are all of the same bird, just showing what a difference light can make to apparent colouration

6th January

Not much birding today aside from a dusk vigil at Burton Mill Pond which produced three local year ticks, including the obligatory Kingfisher dashing low over the water as I waited for the Egrets to start coming in to roost, and at least one Grey Wagtail very vocal around the Mill building. As per usual these days, a Great White Egret was skulking around the reeds on the southern side before taking flight and heading off over the treeline towards Chingford Pond. A little while later the first little party of Little Egrets came in from the north and headed south to roost. Three to start with, followed shortly after by two, then a single group of 22, which was quite a sight! A very brief stop at Lord's Piece on the way home also rewarded me with my first Woodcock of 2024, sailing overhead from the direction of Bignor Park.

Little Egrets

7th January

A proper circuit at Burton Mill Pond this morning produced just shy of 60 species including the now expected Great White Egret at Chingford Pond (though not the red-ringed bird) plus two Little Egrets and a year tick Mandarin among the various ducks. Nuthatch and Marsh Tit were both new for the local year list here too, the latter among several species noted in song. Onto the private reservoir near Petworth where I found the female Long-tailed Duck back in situ after her brief trip to Burton Mill Pond during the week (found there by Surrey birder Ian Jones). Otherwise it was really quiet here, although the pleasant sunshine coaxed up a few Buzzards (7+) to soar over the nearby woodlands. Waltham Park near Fittleworth was my final stop where I found a few Lesser Redpoll but otherwise not much, though a flyover Lesser Black-backed Gull here was new for the year. 

A short afternoon walk around the local farmland proved reasonably lively, with singles of Snipe and Raven over and the usual Black-headed Gulls and Herring Gulls heading to roost. 

Rooks

8th January

Not a huge amount of birding today aside from a very brief scan of Amberley from Cross Gate, hoping to find the Brent Goose found by Paul Davy yesterday - a local year tick and not a species I've ever seen at Amberley. Given it's so close to my house now, my Amberley list is actually pretty poor, so I'm keen to connect with a few more species here! In the event, it wasn't to be today, and the biting northerly wind made standing here for more then a few minutes very unpleasant! Typically, the Brent was reported again later in the day by Paul Stevens, viewing from Rackham viewpoint. 

A brief late afternoon stroll at a snowy Woods Mill was pretty quiet, although there was a fair bit of passerine action at the bird feeders.

Robin

Dunnock

9th January

A crisp and cold start to the day, with a biting north-easterly - not something we've had much of so far this winter! I headed out on foot from home to Waltham Brooks. A good trudge around in the wet grassland near the railway bridge yielded just three Snipe (not the hoped-for Jack), while the main lake held 14 Tufted Duck among the usual dabblers. Two Marsh Harriers were circling over Amberley and at least three Water Rails were squealing in the reeds. Two Mute Swans flew downriver while at least 110 Black-headed Gulls were heading the opposite way. 

Mute Swans

Picking up B from nursery in Amberley late afternoon produced my first Tawny Owl of 2024, with a male hooting nearby. 

10th January

A really cold morning with a hard frost. Much of the local water bodies were partially or totally frozen over and the sodden ground was now rock solid. After dropping B at nursery I decided to briefly stop off at Amberley Mount. There wasn't much going on here, although it was a beautiful sunrise. 150+ Common Gulls were around in the fields along with a few Black-headed Gulls, and a couple of Red Kites. 

A lunchtime walk at Woods Mill in the relatively warm sunshine (though still a biting wind!) produced a migging Lapwing flying over towards the Downs, and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull heading the same way. Small birds were pretty few and far between aside from singing Bullfinch and Coal Tit and a few Redwings and Fieldfares. 

It begins...

After a dribs and drabs sort of affair for much of March (quite apt after my last blog post), migration has at last stepped up a gear in the past week with some real goodies turning up at Pulborough in recent days.

The undoubted star of the show was the stunning male Pied Flycatcher which has been present since Saturday morning until the time of writing. It was performing particularly well this morning along the fence line in the northeast corner of Brook Field, and this evening was flicking around one of the large Oaks up Green Lane. Although we've had a couple of good autumns for this species on the reserve, this certainly wasn't one on my radar to add to the year list so soon. Indeed, it's the first one I've seen in the spring here, and the first adult male I've seen anywhere for years.

Pied Flycatcher

One of the true harbingers of spring at Pulborough, the first Nightingale of the year rather hesitantly announced its arrival along Adder Alley on Easter Day, followed by another singing very briefly at the Hanger this evening; three days earlier than my previous earliest record here. 

There's a nice selection of waders to be seen on the North Brooks now, with up to three pairs of Avocet looking very settled, plus up to three Little Ringed Plovers, several pairs of Redshank and Lapwing and five Ruff. 24 Black-tailed Godwit stayed for a few days last week, many resplendent in breeding plumage, but these have since moved on. A Grey Plover on the North Brooks this morning was the first I've seen on the reserve since 2019. Sadly, its stay was short-lived as it met its end at the talons of a Peregrine this afternoon. 

Wildfowl numbers have really dropped now. There were a couple of drake Pintails lingering into this weekend and a dozen or so Wigeon and Shoveler as of yesterday but otherwise it's only really the Teal hanging on in reasonable numbers. The first Garganey of the year, a splendid drake, showed well on the North Brooks on Wednesday and Thursday but hasn't been seen since.

Garganey. Photo: Dave Carlsson

Warbler numbers continue to increase, with dozens of Chiffchaffs around now, many paired up and already nest building, and Blackcap numbers are steadily building too. The first Willow Warbler turned up on 31st March, followed by at least two more this past weekend. Strangely no Sedge Warbler or Whitethroat yet, although it's still early days, but the Cetti's Warbler persists below the Hanger.

Chiffchaff

It took until the last weekend of March for me to see my first Sand Martins, and Swallows only began trickling through last week, but this past weekend has seen good numbers of both, plus the first House Martin of the year on Easter Day.

Other highlights from this weekend included a year first Great Crested Grebe on the Arun on Saturday and Sunday, a fly-through male Hen Harrier on Saturday and a sloughing male Adder enjoying the sun (out of the wind!) most days.

Great Crested Grebe

Adder

After such a great ten days or so, my patch year list now stands on 119, out of a total of 121 for the reserve so far. Hopefully once this icy spell has passed the flood gates will really open!

Signs of spring

The water levels remain very high at Pulborough but it's still been an excellent week on the reserve, with several new birds for the year, taking the 2020 site total past the hundred mark, with my own year list now teetering on 99.

Despite the seemingly ceaseless barrage of Atlantic storms in recent weeks, the steady (and early!) emergence of various Prunus blossoms, Grey Willow catkins and early wild flowers in increasingly vibrant spells of sunshine truly herald the transitioning seasons - and the birds are playing ball too.

First up was a Brent Goose, of the pale-bellied race hrota, found by Gary Trew on the 25th, and still present as of today. Then on the 26th an unusually early drake Garganey turned up - possibly the first true spring migrant of the year. It's also stuck around for a few days, and was certainly still present as of Sunday. 

The weekend saw some signs of early wader movement with the first Redshank of the year at West Mead on Saturday - probably wondering where all its nesting habitat has gone, as site manager Julianne pointed out - followed by the first Curlew of the year on Sunday. Adding to the spring feel was a Chiffchaff flycatching and intermittently singing at Redstart Corner on Sunday morning, my first one on the reserve proper this year after one on the edge of the sewage works on 6th February. 

Winter isn't quite done with us yet, however, with three White-fronted Geese still present this morning plus the usual selection of ducks, though numbers are admittedly starting to dwindle.

Garganey at West Mead, 26th February. Photo: Chris & Juliet Moore

Redshank at West Mead, 29th February

Curlew at West Mead, 1st March

Chiffchaff at Redstart Corner, 1st March

26th and 27th January: Pulborough and Coldwaltham

I didn't get in a huge amount of time on the patch this weekend owing to being in Hampshire from Saturday lunchtime to Sunday lunchtime for the wedding of two very good friends. Despite that, I still managed to sneak a couple of patch year ticks.

Two hours at Pulborough first thing on Saturday before the wedding and the rain was a fairly lively session with my first Barn Owl of 2019 quartering over the South Brooks followed by an immature male Marsh Harrier causing havoc over the North Brooks. A decent selection of waders too with the highlights being at least five Ruff (Ads Bowley had ten later in the day), 36 Black-tailed Godwits and a single Golden Plover in with the Lapwings. Shelduck numbers are starting to increase now with at least 17 yesterday and 16 today.

Sadly I couldn't find the two White-fronted Geese that have been around on and off a few times this month, most recently on Friday, so it was a bit galling to see Sean Moore and Ads Bowley reporting them as present again on the North Brooks from late morning yesterday. Clearly these birds don't get up as early as I do!

With that in mind, when we got home just after noon today I quickly set up my scope in the attic and set about scanning what was clearly a good size flock of geese just south of the Stor. It took a while thanks to unfavourable sunlight and the distance but I eventually picked up the White-fronts among the Canadas and Greylags. Later on I dropped in to the reserve and had much better views of them from the Hanger - they were still in much the same spot when I headed home a little after 16:00.

With no news on the Glaucous Gull at Holmethorpe SP in Surrey since yesterday morning - which I was tempted to go and see - I decided instead to stay much closer to home and dropped in to Coldwaltham Sewage Works early afternoon in the hope of finding the two Siberian Chiffchaffs which have been around for a week or so at least.

Having not visited since the autumn I was pleased to find the place absolutely heaving with Chiffchaffs - certainly at least fifteen but likely many more. Some clumps of Willow had four or five in at a time and there were often as many as that flycatching out over the filter beds. I quickly found a Firecrest flicking around the brambles near the main gate but after an hour of sifting through the Chiffs still hadn't seen one I felt happy calling a tristis. Another look through the gate just as I was about to call it a day revealed a very cold two-tone looking Chiff on the edge of one of the filter beds - this looked the part. It flew off into the brambles and a short while later I heard a couple of clear tristis-type calls close by and the two Siberian Chiffchaffs revealed themselves together. As reported by Alan Kitson last week, these two do seem to associate with one another rather more exclusively instead of just tagging along with the other Common Chiffs. Nice birds to see so close to home.

Siberian Chiffchaff, Coldwaltham Sewage Works

Pulborough, 23rd-25th March

A day off work on Friday saw me make a couple of visits to the Brooks in between other appointments, the overnight rain and rather more southerly winds filling me with hope for some new arrivals. The morning visit was a chilly affair but boosted by at least five singing Chiffchaffs around the nature trail; the most I've heard here, or anywhere for that matter, so far this year.

Chiffchaff

A hunting Peregrine caused havoc at West Mead and very nearly caught a Lapwing before coming down on the grass closer to the Arun. From Winpenny were a pair of Redshank, while a loud 'choo-wit!' which seemed to echo around the whole hide could have only come from a Spotted Redshank, but try as I might I couldn't locate the bird - I suspect it may have flown straight over. On the North Brooks were a single Dunlin, two Little Egrets and just seven Black-tailed Godwits. Gull numbers were higher than usual with at least 35 each of Common Gull and Herring Gull through during the morning visit, slightly fewer Black-headeds and five Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Sadly, try as I might, I couldn't find a Little Gull with them...

Peregrine

The afternoon visit, meanwhile, produced a pair of Stonechats and a squealing Water Rail at Hails View, and a single Redshank on the North Brooks, but best of all was a ringtail Hen Harrier hunting over towards the village - my first of the year here so grateful thanks indeed to the couple I was chatting to who alerted me to its presence. It briefly disappeared from view before we picked it up again, higher up and being chased towards the river by a Carrion Crow. The Harrier ducked and dived to evade the corvid and eventually disappeared around the corner towards the Mid Brooks.

Hen Harrier from Winpenny Hide, photo by Chris and Juliet Moore ©

A rather quieter visit on Saturday morning again produced at least five singing Chiffchaffs but also my first singing Meadow Pipits of the year with a couple of males performing display flights out on the Mid and South Brooks. Notable by their absence were Black-tailed Godwits - aside from during the very cold weather my first Godwit-less visit to the Brooks since the autumn. Three Redshank put on a good display from Winpenny and West Mead, constantly calling and occasionally flying around, while a single Ruff was feeding out with the Wigeon in front of Hails View. Shelduck numbers remain high with a conservative count of 29 onsite. After the first two of the year mid-month, Coot numbers reached a personal patch record count of six today. Still a few Fieldfare (7) and Redwing (12) around too while the session ended with a mating pair of Kestrels at Wiggonholt.

Redshank

I only had time for a couple of hours on the reserve early doors on Sunday but it was good to notice another increase in Chiffchaffs to at least eight singing males including an odd aberrant one on the path down to Nettley's. Slowly but surely spring is coming, although it's hard to believe it's the last weekend of March and I've still yet to see Sand Martin or Wheatear! Another species noticeable by its increase in number was Gadwall with five present today.

Gadwall pair at West Mead. There were another three on the North Brooks today

At least two Redshank were again vocal on the Mid Brooks while after yesterday's absence there were two Black-tailed Godwits on the North Brooks. The undoubted highlight though was the Great White Egret I picked up from The Hanger. I assumed it to be the same bird that's been doing the rounds locally for a while and Gary and I saw on Wednesday but thanks to a heads-up tweet from Emily Summers I was alerted to the presence of TWO on the North Brooks later in the day which I was able to get from the attic window!

Great White Egret through the mist from The Hanger this morning

A pretty productive weekend in all, taking both the garden total and patch year lists to 106.