Halfway through November

I saw a thing on Facebook recently about November days being weird as it increasingly feels as though there is no afternoon, just morning, lunchtime, and night-time. By the middle of the month that creeping darkness really eats away at both ends of the day and any residual early morning light we borrowed back after the clock change has already fizzled away. The days are short, and so is time for birding. What November does offer though is the first taste of winter, both in terms of crisp, frosty mornings, breathtaking sunsets and the arrival of winter visitors. It certainly looks like we are set to experience a long overdue influx of various species this winter, from Short-eared Owls to Waxwings to Mealy Redpolls. What's been apparent locally in this ten-day period has been a gradual increase in the background species, with the likes of thrushes and winter ducks noticeably climbing in number, plus some impressive movements of Woodpigeon on the days when the wind and rain have abated.

11th November

The first crisp, frosty and bright morning for a while so I decided to head out on foot from home, in the hope of relocating the probable Hume's Warbler at Waltham Brooks. It was clear fairly soon after arriving there was a fair bit of stuff moving overhead, with a couple of biggish (200+) flocks of Woodpigeons and decent numbers of Fieldfares (160+) moving south-west. It was still pretty cold around the sewage works and not super lively with passerines.

As I passed to the north of the works though and headed up towards the road, I again heard the call which caught my attention earlier in the week, coming from a block of sallow just to my right. I moved over to get closer and to get on the sunny side of the trees. Just as I did so and set about trying to pin down the bird, there was a great commotion, alarm calling and a burst of feathers as a Peregrine dived low through the sallows and narrowly missed catching a Fieldfare. A small passerine flew pretty much over my head, into the bushes on the other side of the railway line and, unhelpfully, straight into the sun from where I was looking. I realised from the continued calling that it was the same bird, but there was no way I was going to pick out any plumage detail from this side and in this light. After a couple of minutes I decided to walk around and try and get a better look and there began a merry two hour goose chase trying to pin down the bird again. Despite my best efforts, I only heard it again a couple of hours later, just before 10:00, in sallows right by the sewage works. Gareth James and Mark McManus showed up mid-morning and I decided to leave them to it at this point, as birding fatigue was setting in! I really don't know what to make of this bird, the recordings today don't sound as convincing for Hume's as the one in the week, and I am beginning to wonder if it isn't just a weird Chiffchaff. 

A late afternoon stroll round the local farm fields with B proved quite productive with a flock of 23 Redpoll flying high south, lots of ducks in flight over Waltham Brooks, including 24 Pintail north, and four Little Egrets and a single Great White Egret flying south-east towards Amberley, the latter an eBird tick for this hotspot. 

Pintail (and single Wigeon)

Distant Great Egret flying over Watersfield

12th November

In sharp contrast to yesterday, this morning it was back to grey, wind and rain. No birding in the morning aside from a short local walk with B which did include my first singing Song Thrush of the season (albeit a slightly hesitant one). 

Early afternoon we all headed over to Pulborough Brooks for lunch and I took the opportunity to scan from the South Brooks from the tea terrace, hoping to find the Spotted Redshank reported earlier in the day. There were a lot of birds to sort through, not least in excess of 300 Black-tailed Godwits, and it was proving difficult until all the godwits and wildfowl took to the air and I heard the unmistakable 'chu-it' call of the target species coming from somewhere in the melee. It took a while of sorting through once they'd all landed but I did eventually pick out the bird - my 160th local species of the year! While all this was going on an adult Little Gull also appeared among, hawking over the South Brooks briefly before continuing on south, while other waders of note were a Green Sandpiper flying over the tea terrace towards the heath and two Dunlin which dropped in among the Black-tailed Godwits. A male Marsh Harrier came powering in from the north-east and continued out over the South Brooks, while a juvenile type was over Widney Brooks, west of the Arun.

Little Gull

Marsh Harrier

Mixed flock airborne over the South Brooks - prize to anyone who can pick out the Spotted Redshank!

13th November

Another howling windy and wet start to the day today so no chance for pre-work birding, unfortunately. A lunchtime walk around Woods Mill in much more clement conditions produced a single Marsh Tit, half a dozen Fieldfares, three Redwings and a dozen Common Gulls flying over. A Red Admiral was also out and about enjoying the late autumn sunshine. 

Marsh Tit

Red Admiral

14th November

Another wet morning. I stopped off at Pulborough on the way to work, for a half hour scan of the South Brooks from the tea terrace. There was no sign of Sunday's Spotted Redshank but the Black-tailed Godwit flock had increased to at least 470, their loud chattering calls audible even from several hundred metres away. There were lots more Pintail too, at least 120 that I could see. 

A brief lunch break look at Waltham Brooks proved similarly routine, though it was nice to flush a mixed flock of Redwings and Fieldfares from the scrub nearest the lake - numbers of winter thrushes are definitely creeping up a bit locally now. Almost a daily occurrence here these days, but always nice to see, two Great White Egrets flew upriver.

Great White Egret

15th November

Two bites of the cherry at Amberley Wildbrooks today with short (15-20 minute) watches from Cross Gate on the way to and from work at Woods Mill. The morning session produced three Ruff, a single Dunlin, adult and juvenile White-tailed Eagles on some of the exposed patches of land in the flood, plus a flyover Brambling. I missed the three White-fronted Geese which have been around for a while and were seen by Paul this morning, but did manage to find them late afternoon. 

Very distant White-tailed Eagle on the island at Amberley

16th November

Another grey and wet day, no real birding of any note today. 

17th November

An absolutely dreamy late autumn/early winter morning at Burton Mill Pond where I notched up 54 species in just under 90 minutes. It was lively from the get-go with plenty of thrushes and finches about around New Piece, including a flyover Brambling and several Fieldfares (remarkably an eBird hotspot tick here!). As usual, Chingford Pond held the bulk of the waterbirds, with ten Little Egrets still at roost in the trees (following on from six which flew over early doors) and a Great White Egret stalking round the water's edge. Wildfowl-wise, highlights were 40 or so Tufted Duck and 25 Pochard plus a few Gadwall and heard only Mandarin. Woodpigeon movement suddenly picked up overhead at around 07:40, with 2,800 flying south-west between then and just after 08:00.

Great Crested Grebes

Woodpigeons

Little Egret

After work a brief stop at Waltham Brooks produced little of note aside from a Marsh Harrier and two Little Egrets, plus the usual selection of wildfowl on the main lake. 

18th November

Not much birding today, partly due to other commitments, but also hampered by the foul weather. Thankfully the rain eased off enough early afternoon for a little 1k area walk out round the local farmland. It was generally pretty quiet (not helped by the wind) until I stumbled across a lively passerine flock in the scrub south of Thorndale Bridge which held at least two Firecrests plus singles of Cetti's Warbler and Chiffchaff. There were also at least 14 Redwing and 18 Fieldfare around in the same area.

Firecrest

19th November

WeBS day today so I was out and about bright and early to check the private reservoir near Petworth, which still hosted the female Long-tailed Duck, sheltering among the usual Aythya flock. Tufted Ducks were represented by a modest 27 individuals but the Pochards had increased to a record breaking 57 - not just my highest count here but my largest total of the species anywhere locally. Otherwise it was usual fare, though the regular duo of leucistic Egpytian Geese were present among a group of 75 on the shoreline. 

Long-tailed Duck

I checked a few other water bodies on my way to and from the reservoir, including Burton Mill Pond (basically empty), Hadworth Farm (likewise) and the flooded Rother at Fittleworth which held just a couple of Mute Swans, a few Mallards and a flyover Little Egret, though it was nice to hear my first Song Thrush of the season properly belting out its song. 

20th November

More wind and rain this morning, but it eased sufficiently for me to grab an hour at Waltham Brooks before starting work, which proved to be a worthwhile decision. I'd only been there ten minutes or so when I heard the flight call of a Dunlin and looked up to see one powering north high overhead - a first for me on the reserve - not long after a flock of eight Pintail went the same way. The water levels have receded here quite a bit now so there's plenty of Snipe habitat about. I counted 21 this morning, helpfully being kept airborne for longer than usual by a Marsh Harrier hunting over the main lake. No Jack Snipe yet though. 

Otherwise it was business as usual with a selection of 35 Shoveler, 15 or so Wigeon, 50 Teal and a few Gadwall on the main lake. Thrush numbers seem to be gradually increasing, with at least 25-30 Fieldfare around on the reserve plus maybe half that number of Redwing, and a few Fieldfares on the walk home too. 

Fieldfare

Late morning, while working at home, I glanced out of an upstairs window to see a V formation of birds heading towards the house. Grabbing my bins just in time, I realised they were Golden Plover - around 90 of them - seconds before they disappeared over the house towards Fittleworth. Late afternoon/early evening, a Barn Owl flew low over the garden, calling, while the regular male Tawny Owl was also calling nearby. 

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.

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

New year, new list

 As I said in my recent end of year round-up, I'm absolutely determined that 2021 will be the year I reach 150 on my Pulborough year list.

It's been a good start so far with 91 already on the scoreboard from five patch visits which, based on previous years attempts, sets me roughly on course to hit 100 by March.

Highlights so far have included a flock of 39 White-fronted Geese on the 10th, 7 Goosanders and 2 Tufted Ducks (also on the 10th), the celebrity Marsh Tit at Fattengates, the long-staying Cetti's Warbler on the east side of the North Brooks, the wintering flock of Woodlarks in Uppertons Field, a couple of Chiffchaffs near the sewage works and a bonus early Blackcap in our neighbour's garden on the 3rd. A gripping miss was a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker seen by Mike Unwin on the 2nd, as this is a species I've still yet to catch up with on the patch, despite the RSPB having recording drumming birds in spring on audio recorders dotted about the place. I'm going to be helping the RSPB with this project this year though so hopefully will finally catch up with one.

Some photo highlights of 2021 so far...

Marsh Tit

Firecrest

Blackcap

Raven

White-fronted Geese leaving the North Brooks

Tufted Ducks on the Arun

Stonechat

White-fronted Geese heading off

Goosanders on the Arun, five of the seven.