Mid-January

11th January

No sooner had I arrived at Pulborough Brooks early this morning and just started to scan the flooded and frozen South Brooks than I received a call from Mrs Matt saying she needed me to help her with a flat tyre, so that put paid to that particular effort! 

Fast forward 45 minutes or so and the tyre was all sorted, so I decided to drop in for a quick look at Waltham Brooks on my way home. It proved to be a good decision as, while I was enjoying the sunshine and the loud cracking sounds of the ice giving way above receding water levels, two ducks appeared into view from the north which revealed themselves to be Goosanders as they powered on over the main lake towards the Arun, where they seemed to drop in a little way downstream. A Great White Egret was also heading the same way, albeit at a more leisurely pace. My first record of Goosander anywhere this year and only my third ever record at Waltham Brooks. Funnily enough, Ed and I had literally just been chatting about the species, as he'd just found two at Frensham Great Pond. Amazing how often that happens!

Goosanders powering off downriver... sadly too slow with the camera this time!

12th January

Back to grey today after a few days of crisp winter sunshine. An early loop of Pulborough Brooks proved to be fairly uneventful, not entirely surprising given the extent of flood water. There were still several hundred dabbling ducks around, mostly Wigeon and Teal, although a lone Tufted Duck drake was on the South Brooks. I missed the Redshank and two Ruff seen by Chris and Juliet Moore but did manage to find a couple of Dunlin among ~500 Black-tailed Godwits huddled on the South Brooks. 

A day with no year ticks was salvaged late afternoon by a Peregrine which flew north over Watersfield, just as I happened to take a screen break and look out of the window (amazing how often that happens!), taking my local list to 90, and 69 within the 1km area. 

13th January

Another gloomy, grey start to the day saw me heading over to the private reservoir near Petworth to carry out my WeBS count a day early. It turned into a surprisingly decent session here, with two site ticks. As I got out of my car, I was greeted by the sound of a Blackbird softly singing nearby, always a heart-lifting sound in the depth of winter. A little further down the track to the reservoir I was surprised by a small falcon which suddenly flew up from the field to my right and gained height before flying off east - a Merlin! The first of two site ticks and no sooner had I processed it than I made my way closer to the reservoir only to discover three Goosanders on the water! Unfortunately they were evidently just as surprised to see me so quickly took flight and, in the half light, I only managed some ropey record shots. The Long-tailed Duck was still present too, which got me to thinking whether I had ever seen those two duck species at the same location before, the answer to which, I'm pretty sure, is no!

Goosanders

On the way home I stopped briefly at Hadworth Farm in West Burton to check out the flooded field here. This also proved decent, as it produced three site ticks in the form of Wigeon, Little Egret and Raven. The former were on the water, the two Little Egrets dropped in to feed along the waters edge and the latter (Ravens) were noisily flying to and from Bignor Park, where I suspect they must nest. 

Later in the day I headed down to Arundel with Kate and B for a stroll round, and to feed the ducks at Swanbourne Lake (of course!). A brief stop at the church in Burpham yielded the nine adult Bewick's Swans in the water meadows there plus at least seven Cattle Egrets in the fields beyond. 

Bewick's Swans

Multiple Cattle Egrets were later seen coming into roost from the Black Rabbit pub by the Arun, along with at least eight Marsh Harriers. 

14th January

A Wildstarts tour saw me spending the morning at Pulborough Brooks, leading a mother and her son around the trail. Highlights included a brief Great White Egret on the North Brooks, which also held ~200 skittish Black-tailed Godwits. The South Brooks were livelier, with singles of Ruff (a local year tick) and Marsh Harrier, ten Shelduck at West Mead and one of the adult White-tailed Eagles in a tree near the Arun which briefly flew and showed off its gleaming white tail before returning to a similar perch. On the way back up to the visitors centre we bumped into the flighty Redpoll flock near Fattengates, all Lessers as far as I could see.

Lesser Redpoll

Lapwing

Teal

A brief check of Waltham Brooks on the way home yielded four Tufted Ducks on the main lake and around 55 Lapwings in flight over Amberley. 

15th January

A whistle-stop tour of likely Waxwing sites around Pulborough before work this morning drew a blank again. It was a beautiful, crisp sunny winter's day so I couldn't resist getting out for a walk at lunchtime, to Waltham Brooks via the local farmland. No new species for the local year list, although I did add three species to the 1km from home list. First up a Little Egret circling overhead near the sewage works before heading south, then later two Shelduck flying downriver and finally two Grey Wagtails at the sewage works. On the lake it was usual fare, with a dozen Tufted Ducks the most noteworthy among the standard set of dabbling species.

Shelducks

16th January

No time for birding for work today, perhaps not too bad given it was -7c when I left the house! A lunchtime walk at Woods Mill in glorious sunshine did wonders for the soul, with four species added to my site list here including two Little Egrets which flew west, presumably looking for unfrozen water. Despite the cold, many species were singing and visibly pairing up including Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Collared Dove and Dunnock, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard drumming. A lovely first winter Grey Wagtail was feeding around one of the frozen pools. 

Grey Wagtail

17th January

After dropping B at nursery first thing I headed up the Downs for a quick walk at The Burgh. Both Red-legged and Grey Partridge were added to the year list almost immediately, followed closely by a Hen Harrier ringtail which was quartering around the fields near Canada Barn. A little walk eastwards from the barn produced the usual array of small birds, including 100+ Linnet, 50+ Redwing and Fieldfare, ~200 Starling, and the odd Yellowhammer. Returning to my car I tried again to scope the Bewick's Swans down in the valley and sure enough found eight adults. There were also at least nine Cattle Egrets in the fields up towards Offham. All in all a very successful 45 minutes or so which produced five local year ticks and three eBird hotspot ticks.

Spot the Bewick's Swans!

Hen Harrier

A lunchtime check of the flooded field/scrape at Hadworth Farm/Bignor Park produced 26 species including at least six Snipe feeding in the grass by the water's edge - a new species for me here - plus 8 Wigeon, 4 Gadwall, 6 Coots and a Little Grebe on the flood. The local Ravens were again very active and vocal, flying in and out of Bignor Park. 

18th January

Another bitterly cold but beautiful morning with the deep frost lit up by golden sunshine. I decided on a bit of woodland birding after dropping B off at nursery this morning so headed over to Fittleworth for a brisk (very brisk!) walk there. It was largely uneventful but pleasant with highlights being a few Redpoll (uncooperatively not landing to allow me to check them for Mealy), Siskin, drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker and a tumbling pair of Ravens. Just as I was about to leave though, I caught sight of a male Goshawk drifting overhead, quite high, and only in view for a few seconds. This is a site I have seen the species at before, so it's reassuring to know they're still around. It really is amazing how fast the species seems to spreading in this area now, based on how often I bump into one without really looking for them.

A lunchtime check of Hadworth Farm/Bignor Park revealed the flooded field/scrape to be holding the largest number I've birds I've seen on it to date, including 37 Teal, eight Wigeon, four Gadwall and presumably the same Little Grebe as yesterday. 25 Canada Geese were gathered on the shore along with a single Greylag Goose.

The scrape at Hadworth Farm, West Burton

19th January

I was up near Haslemere for work this morning, so decided to drop in at Benbow Pond near Midhurst on the way home, to have a quick look for the Waxwings found by Penny Green at the weekend. I am starting to get just a little anxious I might miss out on seeing this species in what is proving to be a bumper winter for them - especially since my own attempts at finding some locally have so far proved unsuccessful. Today it wasn't to be either, although the area where they had been - a grove of massive old Lime trees absolutely draped in Mistletoe - was a pretty special spot and busy with Redwings, Mistle Thrushes and various small birds. The Black Swans down at the pond showed nicely anyway, as did a Buzzard low overhead.

Black Swan

Buzzard

A brief check of the private site near Petworth afterwards revealed the Long-tailed Duck to not be present, though there was an impressive 78 Shoveler and 32 Tufted Duck (plus a single Pochard), clearly evidence of birds displaced from frozen ponds and lakes elsewhere. Finally, a very quick look at the Hadworth Farm scrape revealed at least one Green Sandpiper and three Snipe still present, although duck numbers had reduced since yesterday, presumably owing to even greater ice cover. 

20th January

A whistle stop tour of local sites this morning, starting with a scan from the river bank near Greatham Bridge, which proved pretty quiet aside from seven Shoveler flying north. Next up, Hail's View to scan the South Brooks in the hope of locating the Water Pipit found by Alan Baker yesterday. Sadly no joy, but it was nice to catch up with Michael and Daniel Booker here. 20 Dunlin were out on the ice, a pretty remarkable count here for this time of year, and these and 30 or so Lapwing were flushed up by an adult White-tailed Eagle which flew through and landed in one of its favourite trees by the river. Very few ducks, which was unsurprising given the lack of unfrozen water. 

Talking of ducks, my last stop of the morning was the Hadworth Farm scrape, which I have been checking most days lately owing to it having a bit of a purple patch due to some remaining unfrozen water. Today produced undoubtedly the most birds I've seen there yet, including 72 Teal, 70 Canada Geese (and a single Greylag), nine Wigeon, a female Pintail and two Green Sandpipers again, one of which flew up and over my head a couple of times.

Green Sandpiper

Assorted wildfowl on the ice at Hadworth Farm

Later in the day, just as I had finished chopping some firewood in the garden I glanced up to see a Woodcock flying east, low overhead. A garden first and first for the 1k area list this year. 

Savage and serene in one hour

I did title my last blog post 'Fool's Spring' for good reason. After some pleasant, spring-like days in mid-February and despite the onset of meteorological spring, winter has really returned with a vengeance in early March, with only the second proper covering of snow of the winter on the ground as I write this. Emily Dickinson once said 'March is a month of expectation'. Well, it's fair to say the expectation and anticipation of spring migration has, temporarily, been placed on hold. I think a more appropriate quote right now would be: 'Our life is March weather, savage and serene in one hour.' (Ralph Waldo Emerson). 

Weather aside, I also haven't been out birding as much as usual during this ten-day period, due to some pretty dreadful personal news on the first weekend of March, although I have found getting out even for half an hour or so some days has helped, despite the weather. 

27th February

This morning I headed out to Sparrite and Greatham Commons between Rackham and Pulborough, a site I have only visited once before. The species I had in mind was Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, as the habitat here looks spot on. Sadly no joy today but I will return. The effects of excessive numbers of Fallow Deer were much in evidence, with little to no understorey vegetation across much of the landscape. The best of the birds were a Firecrest and around 40 Meadow Pipits; my largest count of the latter species locally since September.

Greatham Common

Meadow Pipit

After popping into Pulborough village mid-afternoon, I decided to stop off for a quick look at the stretch of farmland between Pulborough and Hardham, or rather a quick listen, as it was here I connected with Little Owl last year. Sure enough, I heard two different birds calling simultaneously here today, albeit rather distant and not seen. Sadly this species is getting harder and harder to find locally now - I had more records of Goshawk at a greater number of sites in 2022 than I did Little Owl and, given it's taken me until the end of February to find the latter this year, it seems 2023 will be much the same.

28th February

A quick loop of Burton and Chingford Ponds this morning proved fairly quiet, although it was good to see a pair of Great Crested Grebes on BMP (and a single on Chingford). It was nice, too, to bump into Bernie Forbes and Owen Mitchell as I was leaving, who were hoping for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. They looked disappointed when I said I hadn't seen any - and, indeed, had had very little woodpecker activity at all - which made it even more gripping when I received a call ten minutes later to say they'd just found a LSW! Normally I would have raced back to see it but I had somewhere to be so sadly couldn't, but still a great find from them.

Later in the day, Paul Stevens came round to fit a Swift nest box and some House Martin nest cups on our house. Fingers crossed they're used in the coming years!

Swift box and House Martin nest cup

1st March

The first day of meteorological spring, not that it felt like it in the freezing north-easterly under gun metal grey skies. I was at Ashdown Forest for most of the day for a meeting about the proposed Black Grouse reintroduction project. Brief birding highlights here were singing Skylark and Stonechat at Pippingford Park and a singing Woodlark at Friends Clump.

On the way home I stopped off at Waltham Brooks which produced a single Shelduck, Little Grebe and 10 Pintail on the main lake, 60-70 Linnets into roost and a Marsh Harrier flying south, presumably to roost at Arundel. 

2nd March

A busy day for work today but I managed to get out for a couple of hours late morning/early afternoon, the first sunny day for a while just too much to bear while trying to work indoors. Although it was still bitterly cold in the north-easterly wind, the sunshine brought some raptors out to play, and I managed seven species of bird of prey from a local skywatch, including one of the White-tailed Eagles thermalling distantly over Amberley and a 'first adult' plumage female Goshawk which drifted quite low into a nearby wood. This was the closest I have seen Goshawk to home but sadly it was clearly too windy and cold to coax her back out as I didn't see her again. Other highlights included a distant Peregrine, a few Common Gulls heading north and a small but pronounced south-westerly movement of Stocks Doves in small groups.

A dusk walk down the lane didn't produce a great deal apart from a Chiffchaff calling in one of the hedgerows; the first one I've had this year away from the wintering hotspots like Coldwaltham sewage works. 

Stock Doves

3rd March

Taking advantage of another bright start to the day (albeit icy), I headed out ten minutes before sunrise for a stroll through local farmland to the Arun. Not a massive amount to report from an hour session here really although it was nice to hear Great Spotted Woodpeckers going for it so early in the morning, as well as Marsh Tit, Blackbird, Reed Bunting and Chiffchaff in full song. 7 Snipe flushed up from the marshy ground near the river, while a pair of Stonechats were just across the river on the western side of Amberley Wildbrooks.

Treecreeper

After dropping B at nursery I headed over to Pulborough Brooks for an hour or so. One of my target species here was Avocet, which I seem to keep missing recently, despite the first report of a returning bird being a couple of weeks ago now. Luckily, today was the day my luck changed and I found three roosting together on the North Brooks. Other highlights here were comfortably a thousand or more Lapwing (~200 on the North Brooks and at least 800 on the South Brooks), with 3 Ruff among them, two Marsh Harriers and two Peregrines (an adult female on the South Brooks and an immature female inadvertently flushed from the big Ash tree near the Hanger viewpoint, midway through its breakfast by the looks of it!)

Lapwings

4th March

I was busy working on the book all morning but managed to get out for a couple of hours around lunchtime. First up I headed over to Pulborough Brooks, specifically, Wiggonholt Common, to try and catch up with the Crossbills seen there yesterday. This species, along with all northern finches, has been in seriously short supply this winter. In fact, a check of eBird told me it's been over seven months since I last saw one. It didn't take too long to pick one bird up in flight, giving its distinctive chup chup call and, a little later, I had distant views of three birds together in the tops of pine near the tumulus - adult male and female and a third bird which I couldn't age or sex due to the distance and bad light, but Jon Winder later reported two males and a female. 

Crossbill

After this I headed over to my private WeBS site near Petworth which produced some impressive numbers of gulls moving from the farm reservoir to the ploughed fields and back. Exact counts were hard to ascertain due to the constant to-ing and fro-ing, but given there were birds drifting around the whole time I managed a minimum of 120 Black-headed Gulls and 140 Common Gulls, many of the latter looking resplendent in their summer plumage. Certainly one of my best gull counts here to date. Otherwise not much of note aside from a scattering of Tufted Ducks, Shoveler and 3 Gadwall.

Common and Black-headed Gulls

 5th March

No birding today.

6th March

A very brief look at Waltham Brooks this morning in passing produced 4 Little Grebe, 9 Pintail and a single Shelduck on the main lake along with another Shelduck flying high south-west.

7th March

This afternoon I headed out for a 1k area walk, first to Thorndale Bridge via the local farmland then up the river to Waltham Brooks. Highlights included the two White-tailed Eagles circling high over the Downs, an adult Great Black-backed Gull north and the usual ducks on the main lake, including a single Shelduck and 8 Pintail. A Barn Owl gave a brief fly-by here too. At the sewage works were a single Grey Wagtail, at least 5 Chiffchaffs and singing Treecreeper and Goldcrest.

8th March

I was surprised to wake up and see a centimetre or so of snow on the ground and rooftops this morning. After dropping B at nursery I dropped in at Pulborough for a quick whizz round, as I was passing on my way somewhere. I was hoping the snow and murk might have forced down a Kittiwake but no such luck. A nice selection of waders were on the North Brooks though, with two pairs of Avocets busily feeding along with 6 Dunlin and two roosting Black-tailed Godwits. Otherwise, a very wintry feel to proceedings, though duck numbers had noticeably dropped since my last visit. 

Walk out to Winter

We've really had all weathers so far this winter. The proper cold snap before Christmas gave way to a typically mild, wet and windy Christmas and New Year period which lasted until the middle of this month, but the cold has returned again and the last week or so has produced some of the hardest frosts yet. As I write this, many of the local water bodies have partly or totally frozen again, which seems particularly odd now as the water levels were so high when the ice formed and now the levels have dropped, leaving sheets of ice hanging in thin air. There has been no great evidence of hard weather movement as a response to this cold spell, although a couple of odd records have occurred in recent days which I will detail below. I was going to talk about the absence of owls on my year list in this introduction as, at the start of this period I still hadn't connected with a single species so far in January, but I'm pleased to say that Tawny, Barn and Short-eared have since all made themselves available.

11th January

A bright and sunny (but windy) morning saw me heading to Burton Mill Pond for the first proper walk around the site I've done since before Christmas. One of the hoped-for species was literally the first bird I saw as I crossed the road from the car park, as a Great Egret sprang up out of the reeds right by the boat jetty, flushing a Kingfisher in the process, with both birds flying at their respective speeds across to the east side of the pond. The Kingfisher was typically vocal, whistling away as it went, but unusually so was the egret, making some very strange gutteral croaks and grunts as it flew. I'm not actually sure if I can recall ever hearing Great Egret call before.

Great Egret

Aside from this initial excitement, Burton Mill Pond itself was rather quiet so I headed off down the footpath towards Chingford Pond. Bits of note along the way included a singing Marsh Tit and several vocal but unseen Teal in the wet woodland past the vineyard, and at least 25-30 Redwings foraging in between the rows of grapevines. Round at Chingford Pond I found another Great Egret roosting in a tree and a Little Egret which flew right down to the southern end. Duck numbers were relatively very poor, with just 16 Tufted Duck, 19 Pochard and a handful of Gadwall and Mallard to be found. There were a couple of Little Grebes on Burton Mill Pond but I haven't seen Great Crested Grebe here for several weeks now - presumably the last cold snap before Christmas sent them all packing off to the coast and they've opted not to return just yet.. 

On the walk back I heard a Lesser Redpoll and noted one alighting briefly in a birch tree near Lodge Green, then a few minutes later the same bird or a second one was in another birch towards Black Pond. At Black Pond itself were just a few Mallards and a Grey Heron while a scan of Burton Park Farm sadly didn't produce the hoped-for Little Owl. My first Woodlark of the year, singing beautifully over New Piece, on the walk back was a welcome bonus though.

Lesser Redpoll

12th January

Foul weather today. No birding of any note.

13th January

This morning I headed to Waltham Brooks for the first time in a few days. The water levels here were now so high that access through from the railway line to the main lake was not possible. Instead I checked the main lake via the road, which produced 3 Pintail among the usual ducks, plus a Kingfisher fishing in what is normally a footpath! A quick check of the sewage works produced at least 20 Chiffchaffs busy flitting around the trees and bushes, while a Marsh Harrier cruised over the lake, flushing everything in the process.

An afternoon walk down River Lane from home didn't produce much of note, although a Marsh Tit was feeding on crab apples in a nearby garden as I walked home.

Marsh Tit

Something a bit different in the evening as I headed out for a short loop around the Watersfield Common area after dinner. The target species was Tawny Owl which I connected with at Alban Head Playing Field, with both male and female calls heard. More unexpected though was a couple of calls from a Barn Owl, unseen but presumably hunting over the rough grassland to the north of here.

14th January

Another awful wet and windy morning, but I dragged myself out for an hour or so mid-afternoon. Taking in one of my favorite areas of the 1km recording area so far, I managed a respectable 35 species, including year tick Mandarin Duck - my first record of the species so close to home - with both male and female calls heard emanating from the patch of flooded woodland near Thorndale Bridge. Also heard here were Gadwall and Moorhen while several Teal flew out from the tree cover as I passed and at least 3 Coots were on the flooded fields. This is a really interesting area which has also yielded Green Sandpiper and regular Woodcock records in recent weeks. It just screams Lesser Spotted Woodpecker to me, so I'll be sure to check it regularly in early spring. Local Big Year list now stands at 92 with the 1km from home total on 80.

15th January

A rather impromptu trip down to the Hampshire coast to see the Sabine's Gull that had been wowing the crowds for the past week or so. Here I met up with Ed S and Sam J, among various other familiar faces, and we walked along the seawall to find the bird sat on an island in the lagoon at Southmoor NR. After a little while it took flight and showed off its distinctive flight style and the black, grey and white upperwing. On the sea were a Black-necked Grebe and a few Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser, among other usual bits.

Sabine's Gull

In the afternoon I met up with Steve B and Josie N at The Burgh where we enjoyed great views of the 2-3 Short-eared Owls hunting near the new dew pond along with a Barn Owl. On the walk back to the car a ringtail Hen Harrier gave a flypast too, before disappearing over the hedgerows.

Short-eared Owl

16th January

Not much birding today aside from an hour's walk down the lane near home, scanning the fields and sky watching. The wet woodland west of the railway line and Amberley Wildbrooks (where I heard the Mandarin Ducks on the 14th) that I could hear plenty of Teal, a Moorhen and Coot calling from quite some distance away. At least two Red Kites were patrolling the area and a Raven called somewhere off to the south, unseen.

17th January

The first properly frosty morning since the cold spell before Christmas saw me crunching my way over the fields from home to Waltham Brooks. It was quite surreal seeing so much flood water combined with a hoar frost. The route from the railway crossing to the main lake was pretty much impassable so I walked round via the sewage works to the road and in the entrance on that side to check the main lake. Despite the expanse of mostly unfrozen water, there were remarkably few ducks. A Raven flew over, heading west, and the ever-present Cetti's Warbler and Water Rail were vocal, otherwise really not much to report here at all. Walking back by the sewage works, the morning sun had started to warm things up a little and there were plenty of passerines actively feeding in the bushes around the fenceline including 2-3 Bullfinch, a Goldcrest and at least 5 Chiffchaff.

Goldcrest

18th January

I was a bit short of birding time this morning so just pitched up at Greatham Bridge for a scan of Waltham Brooks and a sky watch for 25 minutes or so. Not a great deal to report, although the sight of so much water right up to the roadside, some of it starting to freeze over, was quite something. Best of the birds here were a Sparrowhawk which drifted overhead and two Pied Wagtail and a Meadow Pipit scurrying about on the ice.

A flooded and frozen entrance to Waltham Brooks and a Pied Wagtail on the ice

Despite the cold, it was feeling just the tiniest bit spring-like by mid-morning, with both Coal Tit and Mistle Thrush singing with gusto in earshot of the garden. 

Early afternoon, Kate and I went for a walk round the local farmland, which was largely uneventful bird-wise save for a Snipe which shot up from the footpath a little way in front of us and flew off towards Waltham Brooks. Clearly evidence of the cold weather affecting feeding opportunities.

19th January

Day three of this cold spell and I decided to take a walk north-west from home, up to Watersfield Common and back round via Lodge Hill, hoping to connect with some woodland species missing from the local year list - namely Brambling. Sadly no joy, with the best birds being a couple of flyover Ravens and at least 500 Lapwings whirling around over the fields between Stopham and Fittleworth. Despite the deep frost, the morning sunshine coaxed a few species to sing, including Song Thrush, Stock Dove (also seen displaying) and a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming. 

Another short walk round local farmland early afternoon also didn't produce much, although a small flock of at least ten Meadow Pipits were restlessly flitting from tree to tree in the hedgerows down River Lane - not something I've seen here before.

20th January

A mid-morning wander up to the higher ground to the north-western side of my 1km recording area, optimistic of some raptor action or possibly some hard weather movement. Sadly there wasn't much of either, although a Woodcock in flight over Coldwaltham Farm was perhaps in search of some unfrozen ground.

Coldwaltham Farm - living up to its name!

21st January

A morning walk round the local farmland produced a Marsh Harrier flying west, perhaps another species displacing in search of feeding opportunities, with most of Pulborough and Amberley both still flooded/frozen over.

In the afternoon I headed back out to do my WeBS count at a private site near Petworth. The water here was thankfully still unfrozen which, perhaps surprisingly, didn't yield great numbers of wildfowl - with just 23 Shoveler, a few Tufted Ducks, 15 Coots and 4 Little Grebes present. This site sometimes produces well over a hundred ducks and almost as many Coots!

On the way home I briefly stopped at Burton Mill Pond which produced Kingfisher and around 35 Gadwall but not a huge amount else.

22nd January

An early morning stroll over to Waltham Brooks was rather more akin to exploring an Arctic wasteland. I didn't see a soul in the 90 minutes I was out and the walk was soundtracked by the eerie bangs and cracks of the ice sheets giving way around the lake and tree line. When I first heard it, as I entered the reserve, I actually thought for a minute that it was the sound of people working on the railway line, or even distant gunfire.

Ravens

Marsh Harrier

The lake itself is totally iced over again so there was nothing here aside from a rather forlorn looking immature Mute Swan. Most of the action initially, was from flyovers, with a Marsh Harrier north and five Ravens west. The river was where the ducks were all hanging out, with at least 300 Wigeon and Teal combined, plus a few Mallards and Shoveler. Looking across at Amberley, the other side of the river, at least 250 Lapwing were huddled on the ice. At least three Water Rails were calling and 3-4 Cetti's Warblers gave their explosive songs from the reedy areas.

Late morning Kate and I headed down to Arundel to meet family, so I suggested dropping by Burpham (sort of) on the way... From the church here we barely needed to get out of the car to see the six adult Bewick's Swans and two Cattle Egrets. Later on we also saw another Cattle Egret at Mill Road Watermeadows. This species is honestly more common round these parts than Little Egret now, I swear.

Tufted Duck

23rd January

I didn't get too much birding in today but a 40-minute or so skywatch from local farmland proved fairly productive and hinted somewhat at a bit of the hard weather movement that's been largely missing from this latest cold spell. Two parties of three Lapwing flew south and I thought I heard a Golden Plover at one stage, though later put this down to an odd Starling call nearby. Gulls seemed to be moving a bit, with a light westerly trickle of Black-headed Gulls and a few Herrings mixed in, and an odd couple of a Great Black-backed Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull high southeast together. Amazingly, my first Lesser Black-backed anywhere this year, and my first GBBG in the 1km recording area.

Later in the day a garden-first Firecrest very briefly flicked its way through our front hedge before flying off to a neighbour's garden and I also heard Marsh Tit calling nearby again - it seems we have at least one individual of this species wintering in the neighbourhood.

Great Black-backed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Lapwing

Mind the Gap

So yes, as I was saying, June has been quiet...

That wonderfully simple yet accurate term in the butterflying community - 'the June gap' - used to describe the midsummer lull between the dwindling of the spring species and the full emergence of the high summer ones could, I always think, be just as readily applied to birding at this time of year.

Of course there are plenty of resident and migrant birds busy breeding everywhere but still there is that unavoidable sense of things getting distinctly quiet come mid-June and with the spring being so late in getting going this year the onset of the doldrums felt particularly sudden and pronounced, and even I must admit to having found the urge to get up at 5 to hit the patch most mornings waning somewhat recently.

Adult and juvenile Rooks

There have nonetheless been a few birds of note at Pulborough this month with more records of Osprey and Garganey in the past couple of weeks (I still haven't caught up with the former on patch!) and the odd couple of Mediterranean Gulls here and there. What was presumably the same Avocet pair from earlier in the year made a brief reappearance on the North Brooks on the 8th, while the Winpenny area has been playing host to at least one Snipe throughout the breeding season. The seemingly solitary male Nightjar continues to call near Black Pond every evening I've checked, and it's been good to see at least one Barn Owl around on most visits lately - thankfully some of them made it through that awful end to the winter.

After the excitement of the Royal Tern at Pagham, the following evening (20th) delivered my first and so far only patch year tick of June in the form of two Common Terns flying south over the North Brooks. This was particularly noteworthy for me as it's the first Tern of any species on my Pulborough list.

Med Gull over Winpenny, 18th June

Thankfully, the four week quiet spell seems to be coming to an end with the first hints of birds beginning to move again in the past few days. On Sunday morning the Brooks held six Little Ringed Plovers and three Green Sandpipers - one of which dropped down in front of Winpenny for barely three minutes before flying off south at height - and a Sand Martin was noted powering south overhead; the first one I've seen here for a while so presumably not a local bird. Then last night I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of a Water Rail calling as it flew over the house. With the evenings gradually beginning to draw in from now on (I get told off if I mention that to my other half...) and July just around the corner, hopefully wader passage will really get going in the coming few weeks.

Signs that the butterfly June Gap is coming to an end were evident on Sunday also, with singles of White-letter Hairstreak and White Admiral seen along with good numbers of Purple Hairstreak. Also of note were my first two Brown Hawkers of the year and two Water Voles plopping into the ditches on the recently opened Wetland Discovery Trail.

White-letter Hairstreak

Two other bits of good news worth a mention: I was delighted to read that the breeding waders at Pulborough have had such a good year with 41 Lapwing chicks and 10 Redshank chicks successfully reared, thanks in no small part to the hard work put in by all the RSPB staff and volunteers. Secondly, I was also pleased to hear that my record of a juvenile Iceland Gull flying over the visitor centre on 2nd April was accepted by the Sussex rarities committee, making it the first record for Pulborough Brooks!

Juvenile Lapwing

Pulborough, 17th-18th March

After the excitement of Gary's Wheatears and Carey Lodge's first LRP last week what was perhaps/hopefully winter's last hurrah put a serious dampener on the anticipated arrival of more early spring migrants this past weekend, but not to be deterred I still made a couple of trips to the Brooks and was rewarded with three year ticks and two patch lifers!

Lapwing

Saturday morning was grey and chilly with the first wave of snow arriving by mid-morning. My first Little Ringed Plovers (two) of the year flew past Winpenny Hide, while a Curlew from here which I first picked up from West Mead was a Pulborough first for me. 

Distant phone-scoped Curlew from West Mead

A little closer at Winpenny...

Also here were two Dunlin with another or possibly one of the same two seen later from Hails View. Three Red-legged Partridge in Small Rushy Brook near West Mead were the first I'd actually seen onsite after a heard-only record last weekend. On the North Brooks there was little of note aside from circa sixty Black-tailed Godwits - another thirty flew south past Hails View later on. At least thirty Shelduck were onsite in total on Saturday - a new patch record for me - while one or more Golden Plover called unseen above Black Wood. After a count of four singing males in the week there was just a single non-singing Chiffchaff near the Hanger.

Black-tailed Godwits

Sunday started with some birding from home first thing which produced a female Blackbird nest-building in next door's garden in the snow, a flyover Red Kite and two Egyptian Geese west - the latter new for the garden list which now stands at 105.

I headed over to the Brooks in the afternoon having read of some impressive cold weather movements going on elsewhere in the south. I have to say I didn't see a huge amount of it during my four hour visit but a congregation of thirty Golden Plover low east over the visitor centre was an auspicious start. The flock of a hundred-odd Linnets was still in Upperton's Field along with two Red-legged Partridge, seven Stock Doves, a few Rooks and a female Kestrel keeping watch from the fence. Still no Wheatear here for me - mind you, who'd want to be a Wheatear trying to move in this weather??

Red-legged Partridge

Kestrel

I couldn't stand for too long in the biting north-easterly at Jupp's View and The Hanger but of note here were some fourteen Black-tailed Godwits (distant and huddled in so tight together as to make an accurate count tricky), a dozen Shelduck, two Little Egrets and only my second patch Little Grebe of the year. A few Fieldfares and Redwings moved west through the trees above the Hanger while the occasional adult Lesser Black-backed Gull drifted north - six in total during today's visit.

There wasn't much of note at Winpenny aside from a non-singing Chiffchaff, a single Coot and a flyover first winter Common Gull so I finished up the weekend with an hour or so in West Mead which produced close views of a single Little Ringed Plover, ten Meadow Pipits plus the usual scattering of wildfowl.

Little Ringed Plover

A little after 16:00hrs I was thinking of calling it a day when an unmistakeable call drew my attention to a gull flock circling over towards the Arun. Getting the scope on them I was able to confirm the presence of a single silvery-winged adult Mediterranean Gull with a dozen Black-headed Gulls, before they all bunched together and drifted south. Another new species for my Pulborough list and the year list, taking the 2018 total to 103.

With rather more clement weather on the horizon in the coming days, hopefully by the time I do my next one of these weekend round-ups it'll be about ten degrees warmer and there'll be Sand Martins and Wheatears dropping in left, right and centre!