Mid July

11th July

Today was one of the few oddly really fine, sunny and reasonably warm days we have had so far this month. I woke up reasonably early but wasn't feeling terribly inspired by the weather to produce much, bird-wise, so just did a short stroll round the local farm fields first thing. Surprisingly, given the weather, there seemed to be a bit of Swift movement going on, with over a hundred noted drifting west in around 10-15 minutes, likely more than this but tricky to count them all from the relatively low level here. Paul Stevens down at Bury also noted a similar movement so it was a reasonably broad front. 

By the time I headed out again a bit later it seemed the Swifts seemed to have dried up, although a heard-only flyover Siskin at Waltham Brooks was my first sign of post-breeding dispersal of this species locally this year. A Nightingale was also calling in the scrub near the road bridge, but it was an otherwise quiet and brief session here. I spent the rest of the day over at Ashdown Forest for work, where I noted lots of calling Siskins and a couple of Marsh Tits. 

Returning to West Sussex late afternoon, still bathed in warm sunshine, I decided to head up Amberley Mount for a brief walk from Downs Farm, where highlights included a Little Owl on one of the farm buildings and a Painted Lady whizzing around right up the top of the hill. 

Little Owl

Painted Lady

12th July

Relatively scant birding opportunity today, though brief checks of Petworth and the local farmland near home both yielded Hobby, typically dashing through low over the farmland at the former, while the Watersfield one was thermalling high with a couple of Ravens for a while before dropping down low and terrorising the Swifts and Swallows. 

13th July

Not much time for birding again today but I did manage to squeeze in a half hour look at Waltham Brooks, which proved pretty quiet aside from a Sedge Warbler busily taking food into a bramble clump near the main lake, out of which also came a female Blackcap and a particularly scruffy-looking Whitethroat.

Sedge Warbler

14th July

An early start this morning for a couple of local wetland site visits. Sadly, Petworth was completely fogged out and I gave up after an hour of staring into the murk here. A heard-only Greenshank was my first of the year at this site, but otherwise nothing much to report really. Onto Pulborough Brooks where I met up with Steve Baines and, later, Paul Evans. The bulk of the interest here was on the North Brooks so we mostly stationed ourselves at the Hanger viewpoint for most of the two hour session. A respectable seven species of wader were feeding on the pools on the North Brooks - at least three Little Ringed Plover, six Green Sandpipers, ten Black-tailed Godwits, three Avocet, a dozen or so Lapwings and singles of Dunlin and Common Sandpiper.

North Brooks, Pulborough

Later in the day a Hobby drifted over the garden; more or less a daily event of late. 

15th July

I had this morning off in lieu of working on Saturday so decided to make the most of it on the birding front. Sadly, the switch to an easterly airflow meant thick fog at dawn, so I had to wait for that to clear before heading out. An hour at Waltham Brooks produced a respectable 46 species, though nothing too noteworthy. As I arrived, a Peregrine was flying south overhead with prey while a female Marsh Harrier was quartering over the reserve briefly before flying north. There was still plenty of song from the breeding Sedge Warblers and Reed Warblers, and a Willow Warbler was calling softly from the sallows in the main lake - my first post-breeding/dispersing record of this species locally this season. 

Next up I headed over to Petworth for a bit of a stakeout as the forecast rain was due to arrive. It took its time coming but did eventually set in late morning, though sadly failed to produce anything of note. A juvenile gull which flew west distantly to the south had all the hallmarks of Yellow-legged, but was just rather too far and rather too brief a sighting for me to be one hundred percent confident to add it to the year list. It would also have been a site tick for this hotspot, sadly one that got away on this occasion. Clearly there was a bit of light gull movement going on though as I also noted two Black-headed Gulls and a Lesser Black-backed Gull flying west, and two Black-headed Gulls also flew high south over Waltham Brooks earlier in the day. 

Hobby

16th July

An early stakeout at Petworth this morning failed to produce any goodies, as the originally forecast thundery downpours failed to materialise and the wind had swung back to the south-west.

Yellowhammer

Heavy rain did arrive later in the morning, just as I decided to drop in at Pulborough. It wasn't really worth the soaking as the North Brooks had topped up considerably since the weekend and held noticeably fewer waders as a result. Highlights were three Avocet, two Little Ringed Plover, four Green Sandpipers and 25 Lapwing. 60 or more Sand Martins and a few Swallows were feeding low over the reserve. 

An afternoon check of Waltham Brooks proved similarly quiet, with just a few House Martins feeding over the lake which held some 65 Mallards and a few Gadwall and Shoveler. 

17th July

An early check of the reservoir at Petworth this morning produced little of note on the deck, although there were signs of a hint of movement overhead in the form of five Black-headed Gulls very high south-west and a Grey Heron flying north. 

A stroll round the local fields at lunchtime in warm sunshine was very pleasant and most notable for the increase in butterflies. Certainly the most I have seen locally so far this summer, including quite a few Large Whites. It was also nice to see a couple of Sand Martins perched on wires with around 30 Swallows. Not a species I often get time to study well in a stationary position!

Sand Martin

Late afternoon it was good to catch up with David Campbell for a stroll at Waltham Brooks, where highlights included a Great Egret on the main lake plus a juvenile Tufted Duck and five juvenile Shovelers. Also good numbers of butterflies here including a beautifully fresh Peacock, my first of the second brood season.

Shoveler

Great White Egret

Peacock

18th July

First time I've managed to get out early for a while for a dawn stroll over to Waltham Brooks and back. It was all very quiet really, with no sign of any of the Great Egret or scarcer ducks from yesterday evening. A few Swifts were drifting about and some 40 or so Sand Martins moved east/south-east over t

the main lake. 

A lunchbreak skywatch on the way back from Woods Mill early afternoon produced a distant female Honey Buzzard circling with Common Buzzards for around ten minutes, my first HB sighting of the year at this particular site which has yielded successful breeding in previous years. 

19th July

Not very much time for birding today owing to me attending the National Trust south-east Rangers conference up in Buckinghamshire for most of the middle of the day. A check of the reservoir at Petworth proved quiet aside from a few Swifts, and an adult Black-headed Gull flying high south-west. 

On my way home from the conference I stopped briefly to stretch my legs along the Rother at Fittleworth where 25 or more House Martins were feeding low over the fields and the river, with smaller numbers of Swifts, Swallows and a couple of Sand Martins among them. 

20th July

Checking the moth trap first thing was gave rather slim pickings. A few new ones for the garden list though including Drinker, Chinese Character and Brown-tail. A brief look at Waltham Brooks on my way to lead a butterfly safari at Knepp didn't produce a great deal, despite the promising conditions. Duck numbers continue to increase on the main lake with a few Gadwall and two Teal among at least 50 Mallards this morning. 11 butterfly species was the total from the butterfly safari at Knepp, though sadly Purple Emperor and Marbled White eluded us; most of these sadly battered into submission by the heavy rain earlier in the week. 

Drinker moth

Chinese Character

A detour to Petworth on the way home produced a few bits including at least 40 each of Swifts and House Martin feeding over the fields and reservoir. The highlight though was my first local Common Gull for three months, which dropped into the reservoir with 25 Herring Gulls and a couple of Black-headed Gulls. It was also interesting to see a number of Little Grebes hauled out on the shoreline, I can't recall seeing that behaviour from this species before. 

Common Gull

Little Grebes

The Summer Ends

September can be a changeable month, both in terms of the weather and the birding. Sometimes it feels like an extension of summer, at other times autumn can start to bare its teeth a little early. Technically we're still in summertime as I write this, astronomically speaking, though of course ornithologically it's been autumn for quite some time and meteorological autumn began when September started. 

Weather-wise this ten day period saw a dramatic shift from some of the hottest weather of the year so far, to proper westerly, squally Atlantic conditions towards the end. It's also mid-September where the birds on offer locally takes a distinct turn towards autumn proper, and this year has been no exception, as the likes of Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat and other passage passerines begin to ebb away, and one's thoughts turn towards the first thrushes, finches and Yellow-browed Warbler. Siskin has been perhaps the most frequently encountered species on many of my birding forays these past couple of weeks - an encouraging sign after a very poor winter for the species last year. 

Plus of course there was the star species, the Aquatic Warbler at Beeding Brooks, which delighted all who went to see it, me included.

11th September

I don't often twitch much these days but couldn't resist the urge when an Aquatic Warbler turned up just 20 or so minutes from home, found by Jamie Wilkinson on the 10th. 

After dropping B at nursery I headed down to Beeding Brooks where I found a group of around ten birders already gathered, most of whom had already seen the bird. It showed pretty quickly but only very briefly in flight a few times before giving fleeting perched views at 9.20 then going to ground for two hours. When it eventually reappeared at around 11.30 it proved a little more showy for a short time, deigning to stay in the open for as long as five seconds - enough to appreciate the warm ground colour, strong head stripes and tramlines on the back and relatively plain face. A world lifer for me - my first in the UK for quite a while. 

The bird never quite showed well enough from my angle to get any photos today, but see further down this blog post for pics from my second attempt.

Other highlights from the morning here included a flock of five Crossbills north-east, a Hobby south-west, at least one Kingfisher flying past three times (or three different Kingfishers!), heard-only Siskins and a couple of Ravens.

Beeding Brooks

Raven

In the evening a Barn Owl was heard calling near home. 

12th September

For the first time in quite a while I had a proper two hour session at Burton Mill Pond, checking all three water bodies (Burton Mill, Chingford and Black Pond). It felt distinctly autumnal in the misty, murky conditions, although still warm and very humid. The selection of passerines encountered was rather less summery, with three each of Firecrest and Marsh Tit the highlights among the usual tits, Nuthatches and a few Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. Very vocal adult and juvenile Hobbies were flying around over the trees at Newpiece. In terms of water birds, Chingford Pond was where the action was happening - as is often the case here - with minima of 70 Gadwall, 40 Tufted Duck, 15 Teal, 10 Shoveler and half a dozen Pochard. The water level has been dropped to allow work to be carried out on the outflow channel, so the margins are looking perfect for waders. Unfortunately, none were to be found today, though there were workmen and a photographer present around said margins. 

Gadwall

Hobby

Early afternoon, a short walk round the local farmland and brief skywatch produced just the faintest whiff of autumn vismig starting to pick up, with around 150 hirundines (mostly House Martin) west/south-west, a single Meadow Pipit south and a heard-only Siskin - the latter recorded locally for the third consecutive day. 

13th September

A return visit to Beeding Brooks this afternoon after a morning co-leading a garden safari at Knepp. Thankfully, the juvenile Aquatic Warbler proved much more showy than on Monday, showing well within ten minutes of my arrival and several more times in the next hour before going to ground again for a while. I even managed to get a couple of record shots this time! A search further upriver for the reported Red-backed Shrike proved sadly fruitless but other bits of note from a couple of hours here included a Green Sandpiper which flew up from the pool by the river and off east (apparently quite a good record here according to local birders I spoke to), two Ravens west and at least five Yellow Wagtails over. 

Aquatic Warbler

14th September

A morning safari in the Walled Garden and orchard at Knepp produced Hobby and Spotted Flycatcher plus Blood-vein and Brindled Green among the usual suspects in the moth trap - although it has to be said the catch was fairly minimal owing to the overnight temperature dropping into single figures for the first time in quite a while. Brrr! 

Blood-vein

On the way home I stopped off at Chantry Hill for a walk round. It was rather quiet but very pleasant nonetheless with highlights including two Wheatears, two Common Whitethroats, singles of Stonechat and Lesser Whitethroat, a Hobby worrying a flock of around 40 House Martins and at least one flyover Yellow Wagtail. 

Red Kite

Wheatear

15th September

Not much birding today, though the moth trap produced Frosted Orange and Pale Mottled Willow, both new for the garden. A quick look at Waltham Brooks on the way home from Knepp early evening revealed two Stonechats in the scrub near the road and the usual selection of Gadwall, Shoveler and Teal on the main lake. A small group of Gadwall were also heard flying over the garden in the evening.

Frosted Orange

16th September

Another day without much birding, though a short skywatch in the garden early morning produced a little trickle of Siskins heading south/south-west, a theme that continued at our allotment later in the morning, with more heading over. Also of note here were a Common Gull flying west and a Willow Emerald Damsefly in nearby trees, a species that is rapidly spreading across West Sussex.

Willow Emerald

A walk at Knepp with friends early afternoon yielded 15 White Storks, a couple of Red Kites and Buzzards and other usual fare. In the evening, a short walk/skywatch on the local farm fields produced a little flurry of southbound Swallows. 

17th September

An early start this morning for WeBS day. Sadly the low cloud and north-easterly didn't produce a tasty wader at my private reservoir site over near Petworth, or any waders at all for that matter, with even the recent lingering Common Sandpipers having moved on at last. Highlights on the water were three Shoveler, 11 Pochard, 52 Egyptian Geese and a site high count of 126 Coot. It was fairly lively on the passerine front with Yellow Wagtail and at least two Siskins heard flying over, plus a few Meadow Pipits.

Egyptian Geese

On the way home I dropped in at Burton and Chingford Ponds for a brief look. At least 52 Gadwall were on Chingford Pond and there was a light easterly passage of hirundines, otherwise highlights included a vocal juvenile Hobby again, 5 Red Kites circling together and a minimum of 50 Siskins. 

Continuing the vismig theme, a short stint in the garden mid-morning produced a little flurry of hirundines and a couple more Siskins, followed by a kettle of 19 White Storks which took a while to decide on their direction of flight before drifting strongly south-west, apparently later seen over Southampton. 

White Storks

Late morning saw us heading up to Surrey to meet friends for a quick walk at Thursley Common before lunch. Perhaps unsurprisingly the first bird I heard as soon as I got out of the car was Siskin and their 'pew' calls soundtracked what turned into a pretty short walk, as our storm chaser friends alerted us to the rush of wind preceding a torrential downpour, meaning we thankfully got to shelter before the rain hit (Amazingly, an inch of rain fell in the following hour!). Just prior to the rain I noted around 20 House Martins drifting east.

Back at home in the evening I took a short stroll out to Thorndale Bridge which produced a vocal male Tawny Owl (new for me at this hotspot) and 2-3 Water Rails squealing on the Amberley side of the Arun. 
 

18th September

The morning after the storm before. A midnight thunderstorm of biblical proportions which brought down trees in the local area and blew out the bulb in my moth trap (that will teach me to bodge a rainguard with a garden umbrella...). Unsurprisingly, all the moths had vacated the Skinner by the morning, with just a few Willow Beauties scattered about and a new for the garden Garden Carpet doing a rubbish job of trying to camouflage against some nearby woodwork. 

Garden Carpet

After dropping B off at nursery I popped by Pulborough Brooks for a brief scan of the North Brooks which produced my first Pintail of the autumn (at least five among hundreds of Teal) plus 3 Ruff, 5 Snipe and a perched adult Hobby. 

With more rain on the way and a bit of a window of opportunity I decided to dash back over to the reservoir near Petworth, in the hope that the storm had dropped something in. It proved to be a very worthwhile decision as I approached the rim of the reservoir and peered over to be greeted by the sight of two juvenile Black Terns hawking up and down over the water - not just a first for this hotspot but a first for me anywhere in my local area and, indeed, anywhere in inland Sussex. For the next hour or so I delighted in watching them feeding over the water and occasionally resting on the buoys at the southern end. A truly wonderful bird to encounter in this unlikely location in the middle of rural West Sussex, following on from the lingering Long-tailed Duck here last winter. What next! 

Other highlights here this morning included a showy Wheatear on the fence by the reservoir and a Lesser Whitethroat in nearby scrub, the latter actually a hotspot tick but rather overshadowed by the terns!

Black Terns

Black Tern

Wheatear

19th September

Another distinctly autumnal morning with drizzle in the air and a brisk south-westerly wind. While driving through Houghton/Amberley this morning I noticed an adult Great Black-backed Gull on the river bank near Houghton Bridge. Not a regular sight round these parts, especially not on the deck. After dropping B at nursery I decided to head back over to Petworth to check if the Black Terns were still around. They weren't but, frustratingly, I did have another tern flying away from me heading purposefully south-west, but didn't get good enough views to clinch the ID. It seemed fairly uniform grey on the back and very buoyant, but unfortunately will have to go down as one that got away. 

There was a bit of House Martin passage going on with at least 110 birds powering straight into the wind during my 90 minutes here. Otherwise, highlights were restricted to ten Pochard and 14 Shoveler on the water and a flock of 20 Meadow Pipits overhead.

20th September

Very little birding today, as I was leading a garden safari at Knepp in the morning and heavy rain set in by mid-afternoon until nightfall. Passing glances at Waltham Brooks and Southlands Farm, West Chiltington on my way to and from Knepp, respectively, revealed much the same species on offer at both sites. 20 Shoveler were on the main lake at Waltham Brooks plus a few Gadwall and a lone Grey Heron perched on the post in the water, while Southlands hosted 10 Shoveler and five Teal. The almost total absence of waders at both these sites in recent weeks reflects what a generally poor wader autumn it's been everywhere, combined with higher water levels than we were experiencing this time in 2022. 

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