Kittiwake

Storm Bert delivers! It was very cool and a little surreal to see this 1st-winter Kittiwake battling into the gale-force wind over farmland near Petworth a few weeks back. 

I was a bit too young to remember the avian aftermath of the 1987 Storm - when shedloads of Sabine's Gulls, Grey Phalaropes and the like were found at inland lakes and reservoirs across the south of England - but have always had a fascination and enthusiasm for inland seabirds, blown off course by autumn storms.

I've been lucky to find or see all sorts of examples of this over the years, including two Gannets over Knepp a couple of autumns back and another over Woking town centre many years ago. It's been a good decade or so since I saw a Kittiwake away from the coast though, so I was amazed/delighted when this one appeared overhead at one of my regular local haunts - just as I was walking back to my car too! Interestingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, it coincided with quite a pronounced movement of the species at sites such as Selsey Bill and Splash Point. 

My 171st bird species in my local area (10km radius from home) in 2024 and certainly one of the more memorable ones. This site really has delivered the goods this year, including Little Tern and Sanderling. What next, I wonder?

Late September

21st September

Another early start at Petworth for a check of the reservoir there as it's been on a bit of a roll recently. This morning proved to be a bit of a quiet one though, with just a single Wigeon of note among the assembled wildfowl on the water and a couple of flyover Yellow Wagtails. A scan of the South Brooks from the tea terrace at Pulborough proved even more quiet, not helped by the thick fog which was slow to clear.

Wigeon

Pulborough fog!

A look at Southlands Farm on my way to Knepp late afternoon produced a Green Sandpiper and eight Shoveler on the pool there. Continuing the Shoveler theme, eleven flew north over the Southern Block during my dusk safari at Knepp this evening. 

22nd September

Not much time for birding today as I had a packed day of morning and afternoon safaris and a staff party at Knepp. A brief look at Waltham Brooks on the way to Knepp produced a light easterly movement of Swallows but little else of note. 

23rd September

WeBs count a day late today, so I headed over to Petworth in the rain. A drake Pochard was on the reservoir among the usual Tufted Ducks, Mallards, Little Grebes and three Shoveler, while the lingering Common Sandpiper was still patrolling the shoreline. A first-winter Common Gull almost dropped in briefly before flying off east. 

A lunchtime walk round the local farmland produced a modest 27 species but did include my first local Willow Warbler for almost two weeks plus at least one Hobby (one flew high east, then a bit later a juvenile was hawking over Lodge Hill which may have been a second bird but hard to be sure). A light south/south-westerly passage of Herring Gulls included two adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls. 

24th September

After dropping B off at nursery I stopped off in Pulborough for a walk down to the North Brooks. Straight away it was clear there were a lot more ducks about than on my last visit, as a female Marsh Harrier flushed some 400 or more from the wet grassland on the north side of the North Brooks. These were mostly Mallard and Teal but with at least 10-15 Wigeon and a single Gadwall among them. Another 250 or more Teal were on the North Brooks proper along with two juvenile Ruff among ~120 Lapwing.

Ruff and Teal

Late afternoon I dropped in at Petworth again. The lingering Common Sandpiper was still about - will it stay into October? A female Pochard was sleeping among the Tufted Ducks and three Shoveler were still present. I haven't seen many hirundines locally for a couple of days, so it was a pleasant surprise to see some 150 or so drifting gently east during my hour here, mostly House Martins. 

25th September

I managed my first proper little vismig watch of the season this morning, albeit only 25 minutes (it was a year ago yesterday that I broke and dislocated my shoulder in a skateboarding accident and am feeling strangely nostalgic about the amount of time it afforded me to get out and enjoy the spectacle of visible migration at this time of year!) The main movers this morning were House Martins, with some 226 south/south-west over the garden in the aforementioned half hour. 

In a repeat performance of yesterday I again headed over to Petworth in the afternoon for a check of the reservoir. A Golden Plover called overhead as I arrived (though I never did manage to see it!). Other highlights were seven Pochard among the usual suspects on the water and a dark-masked first-winter Herring Gull which did have me trying to turn it into a Yellow-legged.

Herring Gull

26th September

An early walk from home out to Waltham Brooks proved relatively quiet aside from a Marsh Harrier flying upriver, two Stonechats and a rather late Whitethroat in the meadow, and a light trickle of House Martins flying east/south-east. 

Late afternoon, with some lively showers moving through, I again headed over to Petworth. A juvenile Great Crested Grebe was back on the reservoir along with 30 Little Grebes, five Pochards, four Shoveler and the usual scattering of Coots and Tufted Ducks. A first-winter Common Gull flew south/south-east, while a few Swallows and a single House Martin flew north-west.

Egyptian Geese

Grey Wagtail

27th September

A little tour of some wetland sites out to the western side of my patch area in the rain first thing today. At Petworth, some 360 Canada Geese and 150 Egyptian Geese left roost at the reservoir, leaving behind the four Shoveler again and a couple of Pochard. Next up, a brief scan of Burton Mill Pond from the roadside, which proved fairly lively, mostly in terms of vismig, with at least 52 Swallows through west/north-west in the 25 minutes or so I was there. Water Rail is pretty much guaranteed here most visits but usually heard only, so I got a bit of a shock when one suddenly appeared from underneath the boat jetty where I was stood and flew into the reeds nearby!

Mute Swans

The scrape at Bignor Park is again holding water for the first time since May. Just eight Mallards on it this morning but it's good to know it's worth checking again in passing. 

Early afternoon I headed out for a stroll round the local fields. By now the cloud cover and breeze had increased quite a bit and it was feeling considerably more autumnal, and this was reflected in the birds. Some 80 or more hirundines (roughly 3/1 House Martin/Swallow) were moving through or lingering to feed among the cattle, sometimes whizzing past just a few metres from me. Continuing the vismig theme, two Marsh Harriers flew south together over Waltham Brooks, a tight flock of large gulls high south seemed to be all Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and a heard-only Siskin heading south-west represented my first record locally for several weeks. A little flurry of passerines in the hedgerow nearest the Waltham Brooks boundary included at least ten Chiffchaffs and a single Goldcrest but sadly nothing rarer.

House Martin

Swallow

Lesser Black-backed Gulls

28th September

Very little birding today as I was leading back-to-back beaver pen safaris at Knepp. A quick glance at the pool at Southlands Farm on the way past produced eight Shoveler and three Teal but little else.

Southlands Farm

It was an absolute beauty of a morning but really quite cold, with proper ice on the windscreen. Clearly it was lively on the vismig front judging by messages in various WhatsApp groups and this was well illustrated by a Skylark over the beaver enclosure at Knepp - not a common bird here. A Redstart was also a nice bonus flying in front of the off road vehicle a couple of times as I was driving the group around. 

29th September

I was up Amberley Mount at first light this morning in the hope of some success from my first proper vismig session of the autumn. Two hours up here proved to be fairly lively, with waves of hirundines coming through, making up the bulk of the birds. There were little nuggets of interest from other species throughout to pique the interest though, including a Hawfinch flying east, two Golden Plover south-west, a juvenile Mute Swan high south-west over Bury Hill and, most frustratingly, what I'm pretty sure were two Commic Terns high north/north-east but which I got on too late to get any salient features. The absolute worst feeling in birding: when you know you've potentially got a good bird in view but it sails away from you before you can clinch the ID!

Dawn up Amberley Mount

30th September

A wet start to the day. After dropping B at nursery I headed over to Pulborough for a look at the North Brooks. The water levels were quite a bit higher than my last visit, with not much in the way of muddy margins for waders. Four Snipe and around ten Lapwing were the best of the bunch on the deck, although I did also flush a Green Sandpiper from a ditch halfway along the public right of way back to the village. I also heard a Golden Plover calling but couldn't see it, presumably just a flyover. Duck numbers continue to rise, with somewhere in the region of 450 Teal this morning, with nine Shoveler and two Wigeon among them.

Moving on

11th June

Something always feels like it has turned come the second and third weeks of June. Usually it means the final drying up of any hopes of spring goodies arriving, but evidently spring 2024 still has a few more tricks up its sleeve (more on that shortly).

Today I was out early to carry out my final farmland bird survey visit of the year. The forecast was clear and cold, with a particularly fresh northerly wind. In the end, it actually wasn't too bad, and felt relatively warm in the sunshine once it got going. The destination was the farmland between Byworth, Haslingbourne and Shopham Bridge. An area I have described on this blog before as feeling pretty promising for a host of interesting species (I've had Cuckoo, Nightingale, Lesser Whitethroat and flyover Whimbrel here on previous visits). It's certainly got a bit more of a 'certain something' about it than other areas I've visited for survey purposes over the years. I also recently discovered the area hosted a lingering male Red-backed Shrike for several weeks back in 2008. 

Today, the star bird was somewhat less sensational but still very welcome, as I finally caught up with my first local Little Owls of the year - not just one but two! The first was silhouetted against the early morning sky, perched atop a narrow metal post and looking for all the world like a fixed ornament of some kind, until it turned its head! The second bird was a fair way west of this one, and perched on a telegraph pole, quite a distance from my viewpoint.

Little Owl

As I was finishing up the survey, I received an unexpected text from Joe Hobden at the RSPB informing me that volunteer Toby Stapleton had just reported a possible Savi's Warbler singing at Pulborough, so I of course raced straight down there. Arriving at Nettley's hide, I found Toby still there, but sadly he hadn't heard anything from the bird for around half an hour and there was no further sign in the time I had available to sit and listen. It would have to be an evening visit.

As luck would have it, I had already made plans to catch up with Ed and Abel later in the day and we had left the destination suitably undecided - depending on the weather - so of course we figured it made sense to head back to Pulborough. Half an hour or so at Nettley's hide produced no sight nor sound of the bird but a text from Matt Eade alerted us to the fact it was in fact audible from the Hanger viewpoint. Racing back up there, we found Matt with Gareth James both cupping their hands to their ears and listening intently. Within a couple of minutes we had all heard it - just about! Thankfully, Joe the warden was on hand again to help and guided us to a spot a little closer to where the sound was coming from, and we got definite ears on what was undoubtedly the mechanical whirring song of a Savi's Warbler - a Sussex tick for most of those present! Amazingly, it also represented my 160th species locally this year, what a way to reach that milestone!

12th June

A late start this morning and, with negative news of the Savi's Warbler at Pulborough, I decided instead to check in at Waltham Brooks for the first time in a few days. A Cuckoo was still singing over towards the river while the lake held eight Tufted Ducks. As I started wandering about to check the scrubby areas, a message alerted me to the fact the Savi's had been relocated at Pulborough, a fair bit closer than yesterday evening by the sounds of it. I had to go back! 

Racing down the path towards the river bank I spied Chris and Juliet Moore and others all gathered in a line looking over the mixed reeds and rushes to the south. Sure enough, after 15-20 minutes wait the bird sang again, really much clearer than yesterday. Unfortunately it didn't show for me there but, as I was leaving, I decided to quickly stick my head in at the dipping platform and not only heard the bird even more clearly but also glimpsed it very briefly perched up in full view near the top of the vegetation. Result!

13th June

An early morning walk out from home to Thorndale Bridge and Waltham Brooks today, in memory of the one year anniversary of finding a singing Marsh Warbler near Thorndale Bridge last year. What a difference though in terms of the weather from a year ago today, which as I remember was sunny and really quite warm. This morning was mostly cloudy, breezy and not at all warm! There was also, unsurprisingly, no Marsh Warbler to be found, but still a few bits about including a family group of Sedge Warblers, two singing male Cuckoos, a heard-only Kingfisher along the river and a Great White Egret in full breeding plumage at the main lake at Waltham Brooks. The Egret was also bearing a red colour ring on its left, identifying it as one from the Somerset Levels. 

14th June

Just a brief birding session this morning, and the destination was Amberley Wildbrooks, hoping to catch up with the Quail reported by Daniel Boon a couple of days ago. I walked up the Wey-South Path beyond the Swamp but couldn't hear any sound from it, if indeed it was still present. Mind you, the brisk wind wasn't helping. It was also amazing how much surface water and mud was present again on the path after the overnight rain. Is it really the middle of June? A Cuckoo was still singing near the castle, a Nightingale called briefly at the Swamp and a couple of Sand Martins flew south-west into the wind. 

15th June

Another day without much birding. A brief check of the private reservoir near Petworth in showery conditions mid-morning produced little of note, although an adult Mediterranean Gull flying north as I was leaving was only my third record of the species at this site. Otherwise there were plenty of Swifts feeding over the reservoir and surrounding fields. 

In the evening I was at Knepp to lead a dusk safari. The forecast didn't look great but in the end we dodged any further showers. The clear highlight of the evening was, hands down, my best ever UK encounter with Turtle Dove as purring alerted us to the presence of a nearby male which then flew and revealed two in flight together. No sooner had these two settled together in another nearby tree than they flew again, this time with a third bird in tow! Seemingly an interloping male being chased out of an active territory as soon what was the original pair returned to the tree and engaged in several minutes' of preening, courtship feeding and even mating. Just breathtaking. Only slight downside was that I only had my little bridge camera not my DSLR, otherwise I would have easily taken my best ever Turtle Dove photos instead of rather grainy record shots!

Turtle Doves

16th June

An early start this morning saw me heading first to Amberley for another attempt at the Quail. Sadly there was again no sign of it but a very showy Cattle Egret flew up from the cattle near the Swamp, where a Nightingale was also whistling away and a Lesser Whitethroat was still singing. A light passage of some 25 or so Swifts moved through, heading west/south-west.

Cattle Egret

Next up, I headed over to Pulborough for another go at the linger Savi's Warbler, present for at least its sixth day. As I approached the dipping platform along Adder Alley I could hear the bird reeling but, despite spending an hour down on the viewing platform - where it was great to catch up with Tice's Meadow stalwart John Hunt - the bird never showed itself. The highlight here aside from occasional burst of song from the Savi's, was a Peregrine flying overhead clutching what looked like a juvenile Starling. Photos of the bird revealed it was bearing a green darvic leg ring. I'll investigate where that may have come from. With a dark cloud moving in from the west I decided to make a break for the relative cover of the Hanger, just as the heavens opened. On the North Brooks I found five Avocets and a single Green Sandpiper, the latter the first early indications of return wader passage starting to slip into gear. 

Peregrine

Leaving Pulborough, I headed for a favourite skywatch viewpoint for an attempt at Honey Buzzarding, but the weather had other ideas. Although the sun was warm when it broke through, it just never felt like the morning was going to properly settle down and warm up, and there was still that cool and brisk breeze. There were quite a few Common Buzzards and Red Kites getting up on the meagre thermals, but otherwise it felt very quiet. 

17th June

Just a quick birding session before work today, at Waltham Brooks, the highlight of which was a noisy group of fledgling Cetti's Warblers flicking about in brambles near the lake. On the lake itself were a single Tufted Duck and some 27 Mallards. Otherwise not much else to report here really, although it was lovely to feel warm in the sunshine for a change - it almost felt like summer!

Cetti's Warbler

A lunchbreak skywatch from the garden produced singles of Hobby and White-tailed Eagle drifting about. 

18th June

I was at Arlington Reservoir for much of today, at a South East Water landowner advisor event. Sadly there wasn't much time for birding but I did note Kingfisher, Reed Warbler and Great Black-backed Gull during my lunch break. 

On the way home I stopped off for another brief stroll at Amberley Wildbrooks, again entering from near the castle and walking up past the Swamp. The single Cattle Egret from the other day had increased to three and it was quite entertaining to watch them picking flies off the faces of the cows, like Oxpeckers. Other bits of note here were a singing Lesser Whitethroat, and a few Swifts and House Martins overhead. 

Cattle Egrets

19th June

Today I was at Rye Harbour all day for a work staff meeting. Highlights from a couple of walks round the reserve included terns a plenty - Little, Common and Sandwich, plus very cute Oystercatcher chicks, Avocets and a Hobby. A ringing demonstration in the afternoon produced a couple of Lesser Whitethroats and a juvenile male Kingfisher.

Common Terns

Sandwich Tern

An evening walk from Kithurst Hill towards The Burgh and back produced at least three calling juvenile Tawny Owls and multiple Red-legged Partridge and Grey Partridge.

Looking west from south of Kithurst Hill

 20th June

A check of the private reservoir over near Petworth didn't produce much this morning. Then it was onwards to East Sussex for a work meeting, which saw me stopping for a lunch break walk at Arlington Reservoir where I found the usual selection of geese on the water along with at least eight Great Crested Grebes and three Great Black-backed Gulls. A Nightingale was calling in the scrub near the hide. 

Yellowhammer

Three private woodland sites in the High Weald were the destination for my walking meeting in the afternoon, the highlights of which were a Hawfinch, a fledgling Nightingale and a few Marsh Tits. 

Floodgates?

11th April

Just brief bits of birding today as I was back at my desk after a week off. An early walk out from home proved very rewarding though, with two 'new in' singing male Nightingales setting the tone for what turned into a great hour or so session. There had clearly been an arrival of Sedge Warblers overnight, with at least six singing males around the reserve at Waltham Brooks. Other bits of note here included singing Cuckoo, Willow Warbler and two male Tufted Ducks on the main lake. Best of all though, as I left the reserve and headed back out across the fields towards home I heard the unmistakable sound of a reeling Grasshopper Warbler in a bramble clump a short distance west of Coldwaltham sewage works. A 10km and 1km area year tick and a first for the local hotspot, it was also the first singing male I have found for a few years. Clearly there has been a pretty huge arrival of this species in recent days, with birds turning up all over the place (five already in Surrey this month, which is remarkable really).

Later in the morning I checked the scrape over at Hadworth/Bignor Park which held another new Willow Warbler, four Tufted Duck, and a couple of House Martins feeding in among at least eight Sand Martins. 

12th April

Another early start this morning and it was already pleasantly mild as I headed out just before 06:00. There was sadly no sign of yesterday's Gropper, unsurprisingly, but there was still plenty of song again from Cuckoo, Nightingale, Whitethroat and multiple Sedge Warblers. New for the year in the reeds at Waltham Brooks was a rather hesitant Reed Warbler.

Sunrise at Waltham Brooks

As it turned into a beautiful spring day, I couldn't resist getting out again in my lunch break. First up I checked the scrape at Bignor/Hadworth which is rapidly drying up now it's finally stopped raining. The long-staying Green Sandpiper seems to have finally departed as do the deep water birds such as Tufted Duck. A pair of Teal were still present along with a single drake Gadwall. 

A stroll round the woodland at nearby Waltham Park was very pleasant but relatively unremarkable on the bird side of things, aside from eight Redpolls and a Raven flying over. In the now warm sunshine, however, invertebrates were much in evidence including Tawny Mining Bee, various bumblebee species and lots of butterflies including Peacock, Red Admiral, Brimstone and Orange-tip (including my first female of the year). A Holly Blue was also enjoying the Ceanothus in our garden when I got home.

Holly Blue

Late afternoon I received a message from Chris and Juliet Moore alerting me to a beautiful male Pied Flycatcher they had just found at Black Wood at Pulborough Brooks. Once I had finished work I dashed over and was very pleased to catch up with the bird still flitting about in the pines there, at times elusive but typically posing well from time to time. After spending an enjoyable half hour with the bird I made my way down to Hail's View to check out some of the waders on offer on the South Brooks including my first local Grey Plover of the year, two Ruff, at least 20 Black-tailed Godwits - many looking resplendent in their breeding plumage - and a heard-only Little Ringed Plover. 

Pied Flycatcher

13th April

A tour of a few water bodies this morning. First up, the reservoir near Petworth which was quiet aside from a couple of Swallows. Burton Mill Pond proved rather more lively with highlights of Kingfisher, Woodlark, 50 Tufted Duck, Gadwall, two Red-legged Partridge and a 'singing' Water Rail). Finally, the scrape at Bignor Park which continued hosting the Green Sandpiper but also two each of Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Teal and Little Egret, and five each of Swallow and Sand Martin. 

The best of the bunch from a late morning session at Pulborough (tea terrace/visitor centre area only), meanwhile, were six Avocet, a single Ruff and a singing Nightingale.

14th April

An early session at Pulborough Brooks this morning with Steve Baines produced 63 species including my first local Ringed Plover (4) and Common Sandpiper (2) of the year among the usual breeding waders - three pairs of Avocet again on the South Brooks, multiple Lapwings and Redshanks and a heard-only Oystercatcher. There were still three Snipe kicking about too, including one flying low over the Hanger viewpoint. A flock of 24 Mediterranean Gulls north over the South Brooks was quite an impressive sight, sadly a bit too far away for us to hear them! Nightingales were much in evidence and making themselves heard as were multiple Sedge Warblers and a couple each of Whitethroat and Willow Warbler.

Nightingales

Mid-afternoon I again met up with Steve B and Paul D for a walk up at The Burgh. All the usual species were much in evidence including at least half a dozen pairs of Lapwing, 15 Red Kite, 20+ Skylarks and a few Yellowhammers. Bird of the afternoon though was a ringtail Hen Harrier quartering the fields near the dew pond. 

15th April

A classic April day of spells of very pleasant sunshine interspersed with some very squally showers, sometimes with added hail! A check of Bignor Park scrape before work produced the lingering Green Sandpiper again, while at the River Rother in Fittleworth I found a Swallow, singing Whitethroat and a flyover Little Egret. There was also a pair of Mallard with ducklings, with a Grey Heron in tow...

A brief check of Amberley en route to Woods Mill yielded another single Swallow and a pair of Egyptian Geese with eight young. Duck numbers are still fairly high here with minima of 90 Shoveler and 80 Teal, plus smaller numbers of Wigeon and a pair of Pintail. 

A lunchtime walk in the sunshine at Woods Mill produced only my second Reed Warbler of the year and my first Lesser Whitethroat of the year plus a pair of Common Whitethroat. 

After work I stopped off at Pulborough briefly which was unbirdable in high winds and heavy rain. Just a few minutes down the road though, I found Waltham Brooks bathed in pleasant sunshine, the rain and wind having already moved through here. A 25-minute whizz round near the lake and roadside scrub produced a Nightingale singing near the railway, two each of Swallow and Sand Martin, three Sedge Warbler, and three Tufted Duck on the lake. 

16th April

A leisurely check of Hadworth Farm and Burton Mill Pond before work took a wholly unexpected turn when news broke of a drake Green-winged Teal on the North Brooks at Pulborough, found by young RSPB volunteer Toby Stapleton. A bird I had always dreamed of finding there (or elsewhere locally), the first in the Arun Valley for 19 years, and in fact a UK tick for me. There was no way I was going to miss this! Luckily I had a bit of a window of opportunity so dashed straight over and soon joined Toby himself and Marc Read at Jupp's View where we enjoyed good views of the bird swimming about in the open with a few Eurasian Teal and Shoveler. 

Green-winged Teal

Other bits of note from my hour on the reserve this morning included four Avocet, two Black-tailed Godwit and singles of Ruff, Little Ringed Plover and Common Sandpiper. 

A brief lunchtime walk round the local farm fields proved fairly quiet aside from four Swallows whizzing around near the stables - the first proper little flock I've seen back in the 1k area this year. 

17th April

I was down in Brighton for a work event for most of today but did manage a quick hour out in the 1k before I left. Waltham Brooks was relatively quiet aside from a couple of Nightingales and at least six singing Sedge Warblers. A pair of Shoveler were still around on the lake along with four Gadwall and three Tufted Duck. I wonder if one or more of these species will attempt to breed here again this year after last year's successful Shoveler breeding. The bird of the session here though was a Barn Owl which cruised through the main grassland area of the site and off towards Greatham Bridge. Always nice to get a surprise dawn Barn Owl!

Barn Owl

Bird of the morning though, was reserved for the very smart male Redstart in one of the paddocks on River Lane - in fact the very same paddock I saw a male in on 12th April last year. Redstart can be a tricky bird to encounter round here in the spring so I made sure to relish the moment. Having grown up close to some major heathland sites, it's all too easy to take them for granted, but they really are one of the best looking spring migrants, for my money. 

Redstart

18th April

Another check of the fields near home this morning failed to turn up any more migrant surprises, though it was nice to see several Swallows about, including one back on its favourite perched on a telegraph wire a stone's throw from home.

Swallow

A brief look at Amberley Mount on the way to Woods Mill proved similarly quiet, two Common Gull flying north indicative of the fact that we are not quite free from more wintry species just yet, and the keen north wind a good reminder of the same! Other bits up here included an immature Peregrine which flew north-west and a Kestrel checking out a nest box at Downs Farm.

Despite the cold wind on the Downs, by lunchtime it had turned into a glorious spring day and a lunch break stroll at Woods Mill was almost more notable for the butterflies than birds. A Siskin flying north-east as a Lesser Whitethroat rattled in a nearby hedgerow was an interesting clash of seasonal sounds. Brimstone, Holly Blue, Orange-tip, Peacock, Comma and a White (probably Green-veined White) were all noted on the wing. 

Holly Blue

Chiffchaff

A check of the scrape at Bignor on the way home revealed the water level to have dropped considerably since I last checked in here earlier in the week. I couldn't find the Green Sandpiper (or any other waders for that matter) but it was great to see some 25 Swallows flying about and generally being very vocal, with a couple of Sand Martins and House Martins mixed in with them. 

19th April

An early check of a few local sites proved reasonably fruitful. At the private reservoir near Petworth I found two Common Sandpipers and a single Little Ringed Plover - my first proper little 'fall' of waders here this year. The intriguing mixed singing Willow Warbler was still present and singing away, still seemingly yet to attract a mate. A scan of Burton Mill Pond from the northern shore yielded usual bits, although new in was my first Reed Warbler of the year at this site and only my second anywhere in my local recording area. Finally, the scrape at Bignor which is now rapidly drying up to just a muddy puddle but which today produced the birds of the morning: a group of three Tree Pipits flying north-west overhead, qiuite high but calling. 

Willow Warbler

En route to a work event in East Sussex I stopped for a short while at Waltham Brooks which I found to be teeming with hirundines, the bulk of which were Sand Martins (some 150 or so) and a few House Martins and the odd Swallow. 

20th April

A very early start this morning for the first Knepp dawn safari of the year. Nightingales were in fine voice as were multiple Lesser Whitethroats and my first Garden Warbler of the year.