Turn the old year go

So, here were are then. My final blog post of 2023 (although not actually published until late January 2024...). All in all, it was a somewhat subdued end to a year of mixed fortunes (both birding and otherwise). My local (~10km from home) total finished on 160, rather short of 2022's 166 - and I did miss some really daft species (Hawfinch, Jack Snipe and others) - but still not too bad, considering all that's been going on. 

If I have the time and inclination to do so I might put together a review of the year at some point, but won't make any promises!

21st December

A quick check of a few local sites today yielded the female Long-tailed Duck still near Petworth along with 21 Shoveler, 22 Tufted Duck and 11 Pochard. Meanwhile, the flooded River Arun near Stopham held 200 Canada Geese, two Grey Herons and a few Teal. 

In the middle of the day I headed up to my old work (Clandon Wood) for Steve Chastell's funeral. It was a good send-off and a nice turnout from the Surrey Birding community. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. An impressive flock of Fieldfares flew over as I and others were leaving. 

On the way home I stopped off briefly at Waltham Brooks which produced 11 Tufted Ducks on the main lake and at least 25 Linnets in to roost in the scrub. 

22nd December

Day two of my Christmas break and, as I had to go down to Chichester this morning for an appointment, I decided to have a walk at The Burgh for the first time in a while (well, it's sort of on the way!). The wind prohibited much in the way of raptor or small bird activity, although the ubiquitous Red Kites were conspicuous in their presence (at least ten). 17 Grey Partridges were noted, including a dozen which flew out from Canada Barn as I passed. Otherwise, highlights from an hour up here were 50+ Common Gulls, ten Yellowhammer, a dozen Skylarks and ~100 thrushes (roughly 60-70 Redwing and the rest Fieldfare).

Skylark

Kestrel

23rd December

A mixed bag of a day with no proper birding as such. A walk round the park/woodland in the centre of Storrington this morning proved surprisingly birdy with six species noted singing in the mild conditions - Coal Tit, Treecreeper, Collared Dove, Robin, Wren, Dunnock - and a flyover Raven. A walk round Watersfield and the farmland near home early afternoon produced good numbers of Redwings but not much else of note (especially not the hoped-for Waxwings!). Finally, a stroll round the hamlet early evening was briefly soundtracked by the screech of a Barn Owl flying overhead in the dark.  

24th December

An enjoyable Christmas Eve morning spent down at Selsey Bill and Pagham with Paul Davy and Steve Baines, for Paul's birthday.

The squally conditions proved for an unseasonably lively seawatch from the eastern viewpoint at Selsey, the clear highlight of which was a dark morph Pomarine Skua powering past, briefly lingering to chase a Herring Gull. Otherwise, notable bits included at least 7-8 Great Northern Divers, five Red-throated Divers, half a dozen Kittiwakes, well over a hundred Gannets and a few Guillemots and Razorbills nice and close in (most went on the list as auk sp., much further out). 

Kittiwakes

Great Northern Diver

Pomarine Skua and Gannet

Continuing an excellent morning for the species, another Great Northern Diver was in the harbour at Church Norton along with a couple of Red-breased Mergansers, two Sandwich Terns and the usual selection of waders including some 250 Knot. A Raven flew over the Severals which was a new species for me here.

Sandwich Tern

We finished up at the Ferry Pool where we added a few bits to the day list including Avocet (22), Lapwing (18) and a single Little Grebe.

25th December

No real birding.

26th December

Birding close to home this morning produced a pair of Tufted Ducks on the main lake at Waltham Brooks, two Little Egrets flying north, and at least 30 Chiffchaffs around the sewage works. 

27th December

Very little birding today owing to the foul weather and other commitments. A check of likely local sites for Waxwing again drew a blank. Hadworth Farm scrape proved quite lively from a quick roadside check, with the highlight being a female Pintail (a first for me here) among 20 Mallards and nine Gadwall.

28th December

A bit of a marathon local session this morning taking in various water bodies and again checking all the potential Waxwing spots (again nothing!). The female Long-tailed Duck was still at the private site near Petworth for at least her 61st day, while the five Russian White-fronted Geese (three adults/two juveniles) were among 100+ Greylag Geese at Amberley. Burton Mill Pond produced the now obligatory Great White Egret plus my first singing Woodlark and drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker of the season, the latter a touch later than in recent years but hardly surprising given the shocking weather we've had recently. At least 30 Siskin and five Lesser Redpoll were noted in the birches and alders around the ponds. 

29th December

Just a bit of casual birding close to home this morning which didn't produce too much of interest, though it was good to hear a Mistle Thrush in full song up at Alban Head playing fields.

In the afternoon we headed down to Arundel, where we found at least 20 Cattle Egrets gathered on Mill Road water meadows (seen from the car) and the usual selection of gulls and wildfowl at Swanbourne Lake, including at least 55 Tufted Duck and 53 Gadwall. 

30th December

Another tour of local berry tree sites sadly failed to produce any Waxwings. The female Long-tailed Duck was still at the private site near Petworth which was otherwise quiet aside from two female Pochard and 11 Shoveler.

Shoveler

 31st December

No real birding aside from a couple of stops at likely Waxwing sites (still nothing!).

A bit of unexpected excitement while visiting family in Merrow up in Surrey though came when a female Sparrowhawk caught and killed a Feral Pigeon in the street just as we got out of the car, and then proceeded to pluck and eat it under a parked car. 

Sparrowhawk (and friend)

Happy New Year!

Late August

And just like that, one of the longest and most bird-filled months of the year comes to a close.

I recorded 129 species in August this year, mostly in Sussex, including three UK year ticks and multiple local year ticks, including Tree Pipit, Whinchat and Honey Buzzard.

Weather-wise, August has ended much in the same vein as the rest of the month: intermittent warm sunny spells, punctuated by some torrential downpours or sometimes just grey and murky days. 

I'm still missing a lot of really gettable species for the year round here, and am excited for what local birding might bring in the coming weeks and months. Bring on the autumn proper!

22nd August

After dropping B at nursery this morning I stopped off at Pulborough for a scan of the South Brooks from behind the visitor centre, followed by a brief check of the wooded edge of the heath. The best on the South Brooks were two each of Greenshank and Green Sandpiper and singles of Hobby and White Stork, while a Spotted Flycatcher was on the edge of the heath. 

Later in the day, two Yellow Wagtails south/south-west over Codmore Hill north of Pulborough represented my first passage birds of the autumn.

Kestrel

23rd August

An eclectic day, starting with a short walk around the local farmland, which produced a lively passerine flock as the rising sun caught the willows and oaks. In among the more common species were at least 4-5 Willow Warblers and singles of Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher.

Spotted Flycatcher

En route to Knepp I very briefly stopped off at Amberley Mount for a scan from Downs Farm which produced a few Whitethroats but little else.

Knepp itself was good (I was co-leading a garden safari) with flyover Yellow Wagtail and Raven over the walled garden and a Spotted Flycatcher flying from the garden area to the trees to the west. 

On the way home I stopped in at Waltham Brooks which again yielded a Redstart in the scrub near the main lake and a White-tailed Eagle in flight over Widney Brooks. 

Another brief look at Amberley Mount late afternoon didn't reveal any new birds of note, but I did see my first Hornet Robberfly on one of the paths - what amazing insects they are!

Hornet Robberfly

24th August

An early loop of Pulborough Brooks proved fairly quiet for waders with just four Ruff and two Green Sandpipers on the North Brooks, while the South Brooks held a third Green Sandpiper and a heard-only Greenshank. Passerine activity was relatively limited due to the time of day and cloudy conditions but at least three Spotted Flycatchers and a couple of Garden Warblers were noted around the trail. From Winpenny, a White Stork (GB0S from Knepp) and the usual very pale Buzzard were the most obvious species.

Buzzard

White Stork

Mid-morning I headed down to Littlehampton with B for a stroll along the West Beach. This was somewhat curtailed by the rain, but nonetheless we managed at least 25 Ringed Plover, three Sanderling and 15 Sandwich Terns on the beach, with others of the latter feeding offshore. A Wheatear very briefly alighted on the fence near the cafe and a couple of Yellow Wagtails were heard flying over. 

25th August

A great little session up on Amberley Mount this morning produced a pleasing selection of species, with migrant passerines again the stars of the show in the form of two Spotted Flycatchers and singles of Whinchat and Redstart. At least one Yellow Wagtail was heard flying over. Four Grey Partridges flew up from near the farm buildings at Downs Farm as I passed. 

Spotted Flycatcher

Whinchat

Redstart

26th August

I started this morning at Waltham Brooks at first light, which proved a worthwhile choice, as one of the first birds I encountered was a Tree Pipit flushed up from the long grass between the railway line and the main lake; amazingly my first record of the species anywhere in 2023, and a particularly welcome 1k and Waltham Brooks tick (123 and 131, respectively). Other highlights here this morning were two Lesser Whitethroats and a Garden Warbler with a couple of tit flocks, a heard-only Kingfisher, and at least 45 Greenfinches leaving roost near the lake. 

A second 1km walk around lunchtime was cut short due to torrential rain, but a late afternoon excursion on foot west home from home proved very good. Having picked up a Spotted Flycatcher on call behind the sports pavilion at Watersfield playing fields, further exploration of Watersfield Common produced rather little until I got to Sandy Lane on the eastern side and found at least two more Spot Flys in an oak here. I figured I needed to get up to the fenceline right by the tree to get the best views - and to check what else might be lurking in the mixed flock (I had already picked up a couple of Willow Warblers kicking about). As I did so, it became clear there were many more Spotted Flycatchers all the way along the hedgerow between where I was stood and the playing fields. Indeed, a proper scan all the way along produced an absolute minimum of ten Spotted Flycatchers (including two fluffy young ones) plus a bonus Redstart. Amazing scenes!

Redstart

Spotted Flycatcher

27th August

No birding today.

28th August

A couple of local outings on foot today, either side of social stuff in Midhurst. The first walk around the local fields this morning proved fairly quiet, though early afternoon two of the White-tailed Eagles drifted high over Watersfield, heading roughly west, chasing each other and tumbling like Ravens as they went. 

Another walk out to the local fields late afternoon was made worthwhile by first a Hobby drifting high south-west overhead, followed by at least two heard-only Crossbills seemingly heading roughly the same way; my first in the 1km this year (124 for that particular list) and my 102nd species in the Watersfield Farmland hotspot. 

Migrant Hawker

29th August

As I had a free morning I decided to put in a couple of hours up at Amberley Mount in the hope of some good passerine action. Redstarts were the stars of the show, with an absolute minimum of nine around, probably more. Other highlights included eight Grey Partridges, three Wheatear and a lone Spotted Flycatcher. 

Grey Partridges

Wheatear

Redstart

The spectacular finale to my walk came in the form of a White-tailed Eagle powering up the valley from the direction of Arundel and straight over the Downs a relatively short distance to the west of me. It was clearly carrying some kind of prey, though it was hard to make out exactly what. 

White-tailed Eagle

With still another hour or so to spare before I needed to head up to Knepp, I decided to pop down to Goring for a quick seawatch in the hope of connecting with a Balearic Shearwater or two (over 200 had been seen off Selsey earlier in the morning). In the end there was to be no such excitement, just a few Sandwich Terns and Gannets offshore and a Turnstone on the beach. 

Turnstone

30th August

A funny, mixed day. A look at the reservoir near Petworth again held three Common Sandpipers and a high count of 43 Tufted Ducks. A walk up to the north-west of Petworth produced a single Swift flying among dozens of Swallows and House Martins.

A late afternoon stroll around the local fields near home was enlivened by an immature Goshawk powering through low and fast into the trees on Lodge Hill, scattering dozens of Rooks and Jackdaws in the process. Not a 10km or 1km tick for this year but my first for the Watersfield Farmland hotspot (species number 103) and still an exciting bird to encounter, despite their rapid increase in this part of the world. 

31st August

An early walk from home out to Thorndale Bridge wasn't particularly productive, though there was a nice scattering of common warblers in the willow scrub just west of the railway bridge, including Reed Warbler, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat.

That was about it for birding today, although a rather late Swift flying over Farnham early afternoon was noteworthy. I don't tend to see many after the end of August. 

Gateway to summer

June is traditionally a bit of a doldrums month for birding but in recent years has increasingly produced some surprises. There's always the chance of late overshoots from the continent and, towards the end of the month, one's thoughts already turn to return passage of waders and dispersal of breeding migrant passerines. This year, spring seemed to start so late that it does feel as though there are still plenty of migrants moving through on their way to breeding grounds - especially waders, which have continued to feature pretty heavily in my local birding efforts in the past week or two.

Weather-wise, after the washout of April and early May, it now hasn't rained properly for about six weeks, grasslands are looking scorched and water bodies are rapidly drying out. Someone said to me recently that the weather we should expect in the UK now is 'est' - hottest, coldest, wettest, driest - which, sadly, seems very accurate, and this is reflected in the increased frequency of odd and out of sync bird records. Examples of highly unexpected local records for June so far have included Dunlin and Mediterranean Gull, both species I would usually only expect here passing through, not at the height of the breeding season!

1st June

Pinch punch, and a blasting northerly wind. It was properly cold out this morning. I got out soon after dawn for a walk out to the river, round Waltham Brooks and home, highlights of which included Lesser Whitethroat, Cuckoo, at least three Nightingales all singing, and 7 Little Egrets together by the Arun at Thorndale Bridge. 

Later in the day I headed up to the Norfolk Estate for a very interesting guided tour of the conservation work taking place there and the Curlew reintroduction project, from the Duke of Norfolk, head keeper Charlie Mellor and farmer Conor Haydon. Best of all was seeing a sitting hen Grey Partridge on a nest. 

Curlews on the Norfolk Estate

In the evening it was good to hear one of the local Nightingales still singing well, from the garden at home (in fact, from the bedroom window!) Hopefully he finds a mate soon though...

2nd June

Today began with a return visit to the area of farmland near West Burton where I carried out my second South Downs Farmland Bird Monitoring survey of the year. Very little of note to report here aside from a handful of Swallows and common warblers, though a calling male Tawny Owl was rather more unusual. Weather-wise it felt more like March/April than early June, with total cloud cover and the continuing stiff north-easterly wind. 

After dropping B at nursery I stopped off at Waltham Brooks for a quick whizz round. Again, fairly quiet really aside from a few bursts of song from a Nightingales, plus the usual warblers and a few Swifts.

3rd June

A check of a few local water bodies this morning produced good numbers of Swifts and Sand Martins near Petworth, along with an unseasonal pair of Teal on the private reservoir there. At Burton Mill Pond, the resident Great Crested Grebe pair were still present, with one sitting on a nest.

4th June

Not much birding today but another dusk safari at Knepp produced a fantastic Turtle Dove encounter, with one seen and heard singing on a dead oak branch in the evening sunshine before flying pretty much over our heads to a nearby sallow where it continued to purr for several minutes before being seen in flight again a little while later. It does seem to be a particularly good year for the species here this year. 

Turtle Dove

5th June

My BBS late visit to Parham Park this morning produced a Spotted Flycatcher in a rather incongruous location (perhaps a late passage bird) and 3 Shelduck - my first of the latter species here for a while. I assume they breed somewhere on the estate but haven't ever been able to prove it. I remember being quite surprised when I made my very first visit here in 2018 and found quite a gathering of Shelduck on the front lawn of the main house!

After Parham I dropped in at Pulborough for my first circuit of the reserve for a week or so. As ever, it didn't disappoint, though it does seem as though the spectacular wader spring may finally be drawing to a close. Still, singles of Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper and Greenshank were nice to see among the resident Lapwings, Redshanks and Avocets. The female Pintail on the South Brooks was still about and joined by a few Teal, while a solitary Shelduck was on the North Brooks. The other noticeable thing was the amount of fledgling birds about - from Long-tailed Tits to Egyptian Geese. We're very much into that period of the year now where there seem to be lots of squeaking things in every tree and bush!

Long-tailed Tit fledgling

6th June

A brief check from Greatham Bridge this morning produced my first signs of post-breeding wader dispersal with half a dozen Lapwings and Redshank dropping onto the marsh near the main lake at Waltham Brooks.

Later in the day, a skywatch on farmland north-west of Pulborough produced a distant female Goshawk and two flyover Siskins - my first locally since April. 

7th June

No real birding today but a White Stork Safari at Knepp produced fab views of a Hobby flying low and fast through the scrub then seen again later circling over the same area. 

8th June

I was over in Byworth first this morning, carrying out my final South Downs Farmland Bird Initiative survey visit of the year. As I've said before this has consistently proven to be the more productive of the two squares I've surveyed the past two years, and so it proved again this morning with 40 species recorded including a singing Firecrest (my first at this site). Best of all though was stumbling across a Kestrel nest just 3 metres up in an oak tree, having a few minutes before seen an adult male flying towards the group of trees carrying a rat, and hearing the squeaking of the chicks. 

Kestrel chicks

Firecrest

9th June

After dropping B at nursery I swung by Waltham Brooks for the short loop down the river and past the main lake. It's a good one to do when short on time and lately has produced a decent selection of species (45-50) in less than an hour. Today's highlights included six adult Mediterranean Gulls which I picked up on call coming in quite high from the Pulborough direction. They circled over the site a few times before continuing west towards Watersfield. Also of note here this morning were two Little Egrets flying north together and my first Whitethroat fledglings of the year. 

Juvenile Whitethroat

Mediterranean Gulls

10th June

The hottest day of the year so far and not much birding for me today but a quick look at the roadside pool at Southlands Farm in West Chiltington in passing in the evening produced a singing Reed Warbler - a first for me at this particular site.

11th June

A dawn start to check out some local water bodies didn't produce much. In fact, the highlight of the morning was a Barn Owl over the junction of Bury Gate and Waters Lane, just a few hundred metres from home.

Late morning I headed up to the Burgh with Kate, B, and Sean and Abi Foote, who were visiting from Wiltshire. It was still cloudy and pleasantly cool when we parked up but it didn't take long for the sun to burn through and raise the temperature significantly. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't particularly lively on the bird front, aside from a Grey Partridge and plenty of Red Kites and Whitethroats. It was good to have Sean's eye for invertebrates present though, which resulted in us finding my first Bryony Mining Bees of the year. 

Bryony Mining Bee

In the evening I stopped off at Waltham Brooks for a quick dusk session which produced a singing male Cuckoo down the river towards Amberley and a squealing Water Rail in the reeds. 

A sunny day at the end of every freezing night

The changeable winter continues, despite us being into the dwindling weeks of the meteorological season. Temperatures took a tumble again early in February with some very icy starts to the days in this two week period, and also some pesky foggy mornings which took until lunchtime to lift. Still, in the days of sunshine there has been a noticeable increase in birdsong and early breeding activity like raptors soaring and resident passerines carrying nest material and inspecting likely nesting spots. February can be a tough slog sometimes but on the best days it can also be full of hope.

5th February

An early morning walk round the local farmland didn't produce too much of note but there was some notably spring-like behaviour from some of the local resident species, including a Starling singing its quirky song from our rooftop and various House Sparrows flying to and from the neighbours' eaves.

A dusk walk over to the riverbank near Thorndale Bridge produced a Barn Owl hunting over Waltham Brooks and four Egyptian Geese quarreling over Amberley Wildbrooks. Mainly though, it was just a welcome novelty to be heading out for a birding session at 5pm and still managing to get in 40 minutes or so.

Song Thrush

6th February

The first frosty morning in a couple of weeks and I decided to drop in for a look at Amberley Wildbrooks as I was passing. Scanning from Cross Gate on the southern side, I was amazed at how much the water levels had dropped since my first proper visit here for a fortnight or more. There were still 80 or so Lapwing dotted about the place but otherwise no water birds at all really aside from a Little Egret, a few Grey Herons and a couple of Mute Swans. Just as I was thinking about leaving after about 45 minutes or so, my attention was drawn by a group of corvids mobbing another bird quite high over towards the western side. Getting the scope on the melee, I realised the bird causing the consternation was a ringtail Hen Harrier, which gained height for a while before dropping down onto the western side where it started hunting up and down before powering over the eastern side. My second in the 10k this year, and in fact it could be The Burgh bird relocating, as I don't think there have been any records of that bird for a while now.

Very distant Hen Harrier, with escort

Herring Gulls

7th February

Thick fog this morning precluded my planned visit to Burton Mill Pond so I instead dropped in the check the lake at Waltham Brooks, with a view to the birds being closer. The fog still made it difficult to pick out much on the water, although a calling Little Grebe was my first in the 1k area this year. Also on the lake were a drake Pintail and two Shelduck, while a lone Snipe flushed up from the shore as I passed. At least two Cetti's Warblers were calling in the bushes, one of which obligingly popped up and showed quite well briefly (for a Cetti's Warbler anyway...).

Cetti's Warbler

An early afternoon skywatch from local farmland produced three Ravens heading east but not much in the way of raptor action despite the sun breaking through.

8th February

Another very foggy start wasn't conducive to birding first thing so I cracked on with work and headed out for a lunchtime stroll. I walked over to the bank of the Arun at Thorndale Bridge to scan the sky and Amberley Wildbrooks, but it had turned into such a beautiful day I decided to carry on up to Waltham Brooks and walk home from there. Not a huge amount to report here really, although at least three Red Kites and two Buzzards were up and enjoying the sunshine and two Ravens flew east. At least three Water Rails were squeaking away, including one in the reedbed on the Amberley side of the river. At the sewage works I found at least 25-30 Chiffchaffs flitting about and flycatching from the bushes around the fence line and up the concrete track. Not quite as impressive as Bernie Forbes' report of 56 yesterday but still lovely to see.

Buzzard

9th February

Mercifully no fog this morning but still very cold. I got out early (light enough for birding by 7am  now!) and headed over to Pulborough for a quick circuit of the reserve. Highlights here from an hour and a half included singing Woodlark over the heath, at least five Ravens raucously flying over, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, 1200 Lapwing and at least 90 Pintail among ~1000 Wigeon and Teal, mostly on the North Brooks. No eagles or other wader species for me (Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit and Dunlin were reported earlier in the week) but still an enjoyable session. Most noticeable, both at Pulborough and at home were the Dunnocks, which seemed to have universally decided that today was the day to ramp up their singing and courtship behaviour. They seemed to be everywhere around the trail at Pulborough!

Teal

10th February

Another foggy morning so I decided to head up the Downs - Kithurst Hill, specifically, which I haven't visited for a while. Corn Buntings and Yellowhammers were in fine voice, particularly around the dew pond just west of the Chantry Hill car park. There were plenty of singing Chaffinches about too and a lone Marsh Tit. A single Grey Partridge was with a little covey of Red-legged Partridge south of the dew pond, while the usual Ravens and Red Kites were patrolling around the hillside. A nice bonus local year tick on the way back to the car park in the form of an adult winter Mediterranean Gull among 200+ Black-headed Gulls and Common Gulls swirling around over a ploughed field.

Kestrel

Corn Bunting

Back home it was nice to see a resplendent breeding plumage Starling singing on our chimney. The resident species are definitely full of the joys of spring now!

11th February

A bit of a tour of a few North East Sussex sites today, starting with Ashdown Forest, where I met a couple at Old Lodge for a South Downs Wildlife walk. It was a decent little walk here, given the time of year, with flyovers of Woodlark and two Ravens, a Dartford Warbler and a singing Mistle Thrush. Most numerous though were the Coal Tits which seemed to be in almost every tree!

Raven

After saying goodbye to the guys here I decided to stop at Weir Wood Reservoir in passing, which produced nine Pochard, 23 Tufted Duck, Marsh Tit and lots of activity from the nesting Grey Herons and Cormorants in the trees at the western end.

Final stop on the way home was Red House Common, part of the the Chailey Commons complex. This was a new site to me and one I've literally just written about for the 'Where to Watch Birds...' book. I was impressed with it, especially the great views of the sky and the wider Wealden landscape. Not a huge bird list here today but I hope to return when the heathland migrants are back in. 

12th February

Another gloomy morning. Kate, B and I headed over to Pulborough Brooks mid-morning, having just heard news from former RSPB warden Pete that the regular young pair of White-tailed Eagles had been chasing and trying to catch an unfortunate Grey Heron. The show was still going on as we arrived and we bumped into Pete, Alice Parfitt and Gary Trew by the visitor centre. One of the eagles was perched up in a tree by the river but the other took off again chasing a Grey Heron which was flying over towards Hardham. I've seen WTE do this kind of hot pursuit before and am still amazed at their capability for speed when required. The eagle was clearly gaining height to get up to where the heron was flying, when suddenly the heron whiffled and dived, so the eagle did the same, straight after it. We couldn't see the outcome as they disappeared behind trees, but it was amazing to watch! 

Later on, we saw one of the eagles in the 'owl tree' on the North Brooks, viewed from the Hanger viewpoint. From here we also found singles of Dunlin (102 for the Local Big Year list) and Ruff with the many hundreds of Lapwing and at least 8 Shelduck - my highest count of the species locally so far this year (plus at least 3 on the South Brooks).

White-tailed Eagle

13th February

The first day of the year when a coat almost felt like an optional extra with the temperature well into double figures by lunchtime. In the morning I was at Knepp for my first safari of the year. There was plenty of birdsong around the place including lots of Song Thrushes and Dunnocks, and several of the resident White Stork pairs were busy feathering their nests and generally looking very cosy and loved up.

The Hammer Pond held the usual Great Crested Grebe and a few each of Teal, Shoveler and Gadwall, while a check of the Mill Pond on the way home produced a couple of Great Crested Grebe, a single Little Grebe, three each of Shoveler and Teal, six Pochard, five Tufted Duck and 15 Wigeon.

14th February

Another foggy morning with the murk very slow to clear. Eventually, by early afternoon the sun had started to break through though so I took a lunchtime walk up to some local woodland which produced plenty of singing resident species including Coal Tit, airborne Buzzard and Red Kite and a vocal flyover Raven. I also inadvertently flushed a Woodcock from an area of low bramble and bracken which gave possibly the best ever flight views I've had of this species to date, lit up beautifully in the sunshine though, of course, too brief an encounter to get a photo.

15th February

A misty start to the day but not too cold and with the promise of warm sunshine burning through relatively early on. That sounded like ideal conditions to find Lesser Spotted Woodpecker so I headed out to a likely area of woodland (location withheld) and was delighted to hear one calling in an area of birch not long after I arrived. This one did a disappearing act pretty quickly but an hour or so later I found the same bird or another one (this one definitely a male - the previous one unsexed due to being backlit) drumming enthusiastically a couple of hundred metres away. Wonderful!

Marsh Tits were in fine voice too as were several Song Thrushes, Great Spotted Woodpeckers and all the common tits. As I was about to head home I flushed my second Woodcock in two days. All in all a pretty great morning!

Marsh Tit

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

By lunchtime it had really turned into an absolutely stunning day so Kate and I headed out for lunch and a brief walk at Fittleworth Common. This was a really unexpected gem, with Marsh Tit again, several Red Admirals on the wing and also a completely unexpected arboretum hidden away among the Sweet Chestnut coppice.

New year, new list

Yes, I'm back blogging! After a very hectic but thoroughly enjoyable year in 2022 where blogging pretty much went out of the window, I've decided to try and ease back into it with semi-regular diary-type updates on my day-to-day birding. (Thanks to Ed for the inspiration and encouragement!)

1st January

A leisurely start to the new year campaign saw me strolling over to Waltham Brooks for a couple of hours. Water levels were the highest I've seen them so far this winter, which produced good numbers of ducks, including five Pintail. Passing Peregrine and Marsh Harrier flushed all the ducks as they headed over towards Amberley. A check of the sewage works produced the usual scattering of Chiffchaffs and a Grey Wagtail, while a Marsh Tit was calling in the woodland just to the south as I departed.

2nd January

In keeping with seemingly most of West Sussex I headed over to Pulborough Brooks mid-morning. The regular White-tailed Eagles put on a great show, tucking into a carp brunch on the North Brooks. Just as I arrived Steve B and former Pulborough stalwart Jon W had just found a Water Pipit from the Hanger which was still present and showed well (for Pulborough) during our stay at the viewpoint here. Also on show on the North Brooks were a Kingfisher and various other year ticks including Common Gull and three flyover Skylarks. Round on the south side I also caught up with the adult Great Black-backed Gull found by Paul Davy the previous day - almost as rare here as Water Pipit! At West Mead four Snipe showed nicely on one of the islands; another year tick.

White-tailed Eagle

Kestrel

Snipe

3rd January

I'd resigned myself to a non-birding day today after a couple of hours working at Knepp early morning followed by a dentist appointment. Just as I was leaving the dentist though, my phone pinged with a message from Pulborough RSPB volunteer Gary T, saying he'd just found two Bewick's Swans on the South Brooks. I dashed round (it was on the way home, after all!) and enjoyed distant views of them from behind the visitor centre. I tried to get a closer look from the Black Wood side a bit further down the road towards home but, evidently, by the time I got there, the birds had departed.

Bewick's Swans

4th January

A brief check of Burton Mill Pond first thing yielded a lone drake Pochard, four Little Grebes, a squealing Water Rail and two Ravens tumbling overhead. This was planned to be my only birding of the day but, just as I was about to head home, news broke via Chris and Juliet Moore of a Little Gull over at Pulborough, so I dashed over there for the second time in two days. A 15-minute scan from Hail's View sadly didn't produce any gulls at all, with just the standard wildfowl and four Red Kites on show. I decided to head home via a short stop at Greatham Bridge, in the hope that the Little Gull had relocated to Waltham or Widney Brooks, given the amount of flood water in the valley at the moment. It hadn't, but a Cattle Egret hunched on the riverbank was a nice consolatory year tick, as was a Nuthatch calling in the trees just to the east of the bridge.

5th January

Another early morning stroll over to Waltham Brooks from home produced two new species for the local year list. The first came just as I had crossed the railway line into the main reserve when I picked up three Little Egrets flying north together just beyond the Arun. The second only made its presence known as I was heading home past the same area about 40 minutes later and heard the distinctive chur call of a Dartford Warbler. After a little while it appeared, typically with a pair of Stonechats in tow. This was in the exact same spot I had a Dartford on 17th October, so it seems likely it's the same bird that's been wintering in the area. Other highlights from this morning included two Snipe flushed from the marshy ground a little way east of the railway crossing, at least three squealing Water Rail and nine Tufted Ducks on the main lake.

Dartford Warbler

Stonechat

6th January

Only the second sunny start to a day so far this week/year saw me exploring a stretch of local woodland which produced my first Firecrest of the year as well as a few early hints of spring, including drumming and squabbling Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a vocal pair of Mistle Thrushes.

Back home for work, I watched the weather gradually deteriorate through the window, but it didn't dissuade two young Red Kites from putting on a great show low over the rooftops of our neighbourhood, one even swooping down into a nearby garden before lifting back up clutching a wad of grass.

Firecrest

Red Kite

7th January

A wet and windy morning which didn't encourage me to get out early. Eventually I dashed over to Pulborough Brooks for the fourth time this week, mid-morning, to see the three Brent Geese found by RSPB volunteer, Rob King. Viewing from the edge of Black Wood, it didn't take long to pick them out among the grazing Canada Geese. After a blank year in 2022, these were my first local Brents since May 2021.

There didn't seem to be much else going on here so I headed down to Amberley to have a scan of the flood water there, hoping for a Little Gull or even a Kittiwake which had been turning up at a few inland sites in recent days. Scanning from near Rackham Mill I found a drake Goosander, Marsh Harrier and at least 2000 Lapwing. A message from Paul Davy alerted me to the presence of the two adult Bewick's Swans, which I wasn't able to see from my angle. I got him on the Goosander before heading up the hill to meet him at Cross Gate. Luckily I stopped a little way further up to have another scan and picked up the Bewick's, as by the time I got to Paul they had departed south-west (later seen by others at their popular haunt of Burpham Water Meadows near Arundel). It was still good to catch up with Paul though and from the higher viewpoint we also had the two White-tailed Eagles drifting over the reserve.

Brent Geese

8th January

Not loads of birding today but a walk down the lane this morning produced a Grey Heron rather incongruously feeding among the Rooks and Jackdaws in a horse paddock, followed by a flyover year tick Sparrowhawk. Late morning we headed over to Waltham Brooks which was relatively quiet aside from at least 20 Tufted Ducks on the main lake and a flyover Red Kite. The local year list now stands on 86, with 73 of those species recorded in the 1km from home recording area.

Grey Heron

9th January

A walk around local farmland up to Thorndale Bridge this morning didn't produce anything particularly out of the ordinary but a Marsh Harrier was flushing Teal from the marshland near the bridge.

Bird of the day was the Marsh Tit which visited our garden very briefly mid-morning, attracting my attention with its sneezing call while I was working in the house. It stayed a matter of seconds before flying off west. 

10th January

Another squally morning, and a check of some local water bodies first thing didn't produce much other than some very wet optics and the need for a full change of clothes when I got home. 

A stroll round the local farmland mid-afternoon in a break in the rain was similarly uneventful, although it was good to see several hundred Lapwing wheeling about over Amberley Wildbrooks. Otherwise, today definitely felt like a 'roll on Spring' kind of birding day!

Roe Deer