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. 

When April steps aside for May

Late April into early May is always a hectic and exciting time for us birders. Rarely does it ever feel more possible that just about anything can turn up, anywhere. This can be especially exciting in the context of local birding, when passage waders and passerines, in particular, grace our familiar patches and birding haunts, sometimes for just a matter of hours or even minutes, before continuing on their epic journey north. 

While I have found this spring rather frustrating in terms of often being either unable to get out birding as much I would have liked, or being in the field but in the wrong place at the wrong time, these past ten days have delivered some of the most enjoyable moments of the season so far in a local context.

27th April

After the previous day's wader excitement at Pulborough Brooks, a message from Jon Winder in the evening alerting me to a Whooper Swan on the South Brooks was enough to prompt me to head back there again early this morning. Sadly, there was no sign of the swan, but the Wood Sandpiper and two Greenshanks were still present, along with a Curlew which flew off towards Hardham, giving away its presence by its unmistakable song. As I was heading back up to the car park, a White Stork drifted west over Uppertons Field towards the South Brooks and the river.

With the arrival of heavy rain in the evening I stopped off to check the scrape at Hadworth Farm in West Burton which produced a Green Sandpiper and my first local Yellow Wagtails of the year - three in total. It just goes to show that any decent patch of habitat is worth checking at this time of year, especially when the heavens open!

28th April

Cloudy with light rain and a west/south-westerly wind this morning. It felt like a water body kind of day so I headed over to the private site near Petworth (via the Hadworth Farm scrape which was sadly virtually birdless). An hour at the reservoir proved to be a decent session with first a heard-only Common Tern (not at all common round here!) as I arrived followed by a Dunlin, two Common Sandpipers and flyovers of Swift and Hobby. The Common Tern was heard again a little while later, but again not seen. I had just one local record of this species locally last year, strangely enough at the same site.

Hobby

Much of the rest of the day was spent around Arundel with friends visiting from Ireland (former Leith Hill ranger Sam Bayley and family) where visits to the WWT and Swanbourne Lake produced, among others, Oystercatcher (a noisy party of four flying around over the wetland centre), Kingfisher, Willow Warbler, 40+ Sand Martins and the ubiquitous Firecrest, singing along Mill Road. 

After a safari at Knepp in the evening I dropped in at Waltham Brooks for a bit of a listening session near the railway bridge, which produced at least three singing Nightingales plus distant Little Owl, Tawny Owl and Water Rail. 

29th April

Two bites of the cherry at Pulborough today. First up this morning, when I got in on the wader fest action unfolding at Winpenny, hide, now featuring three Wood Sandpipers, at least 7 Greenshanks and a Ringed Plover. Just as we were getting ready to leave, news broke of a Wood Warbler found on the edge of the heath by Anna Allum from the RSPB and volunteer Rob, so I dashed down the path to Black Pond and enjoyed listening to that iconic coin spinning song for a few minutes.

I was at Knepp in the afternoon leading a safari, highlights of which included my first Garden Warbler of the year and branching Tawny Owl chicks with an adult. 

In the evening I returned to Pulborough for a second look at the Wood Warbler which, by now, was showing relatively well in the oaks near the woodland play area. Remarkably, a Pied Flycatcher had also turned up in much the same area, which showed beautifully, flitting about in a large flowering Cherry tree in the evening sunshine. What a smashing species duo to encounter in Sussex at this time of year!

Pied Flycatcher

Wood Warbler

30th April

Not much time for birding today after a Knepp dawn safari which produced Cuckoo, lots of Lesser and Common Whitethroats and a couple of Garden Warblers. A walk round the local farmland mid-morning also produced a new in Garden Warbler - my first of the year in the 1km area. Following on from my previous blog post where I talked about aiming to get past 100 species for as many of my local sites as possible, Garden Warbler was number 97 for the 'Watersfield Farmland' eBird hotspot...

1st May

A clear and rather chilly morning saw me heading over to Parham Park for my first BBS visit there of the season. As per usual, it was Jackdaws, Greylag Geese and Fallow Deer galore, but a flyover Sand Martin as I was finishing was actually a Parham tick for me!

On the way home I dropped in at Waltham Brooks for a quick look. A Garden Warbler singing near the main lake was my first of the year there and there were good numbers of Sedge Warbler and Common Whitethroat around. A Cuckoo flew low over my head, heading north, while a second bird was singing distantly across the river in the direction of Amberley.

Osprey is becoming something of a nemesis species for me this year, having missed several locally (mostly at Pulborough) so it was particularly galling to get home to discover one had just flown over Waltham Brooks after I left!

An afternoon walk round the local fields produced a few Swallows, singles of Kestrel and Red Kite, but otherwise not much. Today definitely felt like a bit of a stopgap day...

2nd May

A little tour of local sites this morning before an appointment in Petworth. The scrape at Hadworth Farm is, regrettably, drying up fast now we've had a few days without rain. Just two Canada Geese, four Stock Doves and a Pheasant here this morning although the Lesser Whitethroat was still singing in the nearby hedgerow. A half hour stake-out at Burton Mill Pond didn't produce much aside from 'singing' Water Rail, Grey Wagtail and the usual Great Crested Grebes and ducks. Talking of ducks, the private reservoir near Petworth rather surprisingly held five Pochards this morning (three drakes), quite a late date for birds round here. Also of note here were a single Common Sandpiper, five Swifts and the lingering singing Willow Warbler which has been in the area for about three weeks now. 

Early afternoon I dropped in at our allotment near Stopham for the first time in a while and was pleased to hear a Nightingale back on territory in the nearby scrub, plus a Cuckoo singing slightly further away towards the Arun. Even better, while surveying our plot and panicking somewhat at the amount of work needed, I stumbled across a lovely female Adder basking on a crumpled heap of weed membrane, followed closely by a Slow-worm in one of the compost bins. Hooray for neglected allotments!

Adder

I also stopped off for a quick look at the wet meadow near Swan Bridge in Pulborough (where I have had Spotted Crake and LRP in the past, among others). Today the highlight was a heard-only Yellow Wagtail.

Later in the day a walk out through the local farmland to the Arun produced a hunting Hobby, several Swifts along with all three hirundines and one of the White-tailed Eagles in flight over Amberley Wildbrooks, flushing up all manner of birds including a Curlew which started to sing, albeit distantly from my vantage point on the river bank. That's now the third or fourth record of singing Curlew in the area recently, following on from recent reports of two birds together at Pulborough. Could it be too much to dream that a territorial pair may attempt to breed somewhere in the valley?

3rd May

A fine and rather chilly morning with an easterly breeze. Being as the next week or so is looking very hectic I decided it was my last chance to get over to Byworth for my second South Downs Farmland Bird Monitoring survey early visit of the season. The square, SU9820, proved to be quite productive last year with highlights including multiple singing Skylarks and even a flyover Whimbrel! This morning I managed 42 species in 90 minutes including Cuckoo, Nightingale, Red-legged Partridge and Stonechat (the latter just outside the map square but still nice to see).

After this I headed over to Knepp for my first Stork Safari of the year. By now it was a beautiful spring morning and a perfect one to be out and about in the Southern Block. The storks put on a great show, feeding chicks on several of the nests, all to a soundtrack of Nightingales and the abundant Lesser Whitethroats and quite a few Garden Warblers too.

An afternoon walk round the local farm fields produced a few Swallows, a couple of Swifts and Sand Martins and the continuing singing Nightingale, which today was clearly audible from the bedroom window as I was working upstairs. 

4th May

This morning I was at Knepp again, leading a dawn safari. There had a been a couple of reports of Turtle Dove back on the estate this week, so I was very pleased to see two flying over mine and my group's heads during the safari, which also featured many singing Nightingales and the usual assortment of Sylvia warblers in abundance.

Whitethroat

On the way home I stopped off for a quick look at Waltham and Widney Brooks, both of which were fairly quiet, though a singing Lesser Whitethroat and flyover Yellow Wagtail near Greatham Bridge were both 1km year ticks.

A look at the private reservoir near Petworth late afternoon in the hope of terns and waders proved relatively successful in terms of the latter, with 4 Common Sandpipers, a pair of Little Ringed Plovers and a Dunlin present. It's definitely not been quite so spectacular here for waders here as it was last spring, when eight species were recorded here in April and May. 

Far better for waders so far this spring has been Pulborough Brooks, where I again headed this evening on my way over to Knepp, primarily to see the spectacle of the 70+ Ruff that had been reported here earlier in the day. There had been some remarkable movements of this species across England today, with a flock of 14 over Beddington Farmlands in Surrey/London and three-figure counts in Lincolnshire. Sure enough, scanning from the tea terrace at Pulborough I didn't struggle to find the flock of at least 65 still actively feeding and scurrying about, occasionally all springing into the air as one group. From memory, my previous record count of this species here was 26, so it's fair to say today smashed that!

5th May

I couldn't resist heading back over to PB for another look at the Ruff/general wader madness this morning. I was actually quite surprised to find at least 60 still present, especially given as it had been a relatively clear night. There were still two Wood Sandpipers in among them too, along with four Ringed Plover, two Dunlin and a single Greenshank, along with the resident Avocets, Redshanks and Lapwings, the latter of which now have a few chicks scurrying about. 

Some of the 60+ Ruff at Pulborough

6th May

Not much proper birding today. A check of the scrape at Hadworth Farm in passing late afternoon/early evening produced a pair of Gadwall, a few Swallows and a Grey Wagtail. 

It begins...

After a dribs and drabs sort of affair for much of March (quite apt after my last blog post), migration has at last stepped up a gear in the past week with some real goodies turning up at Pulborough in recent days.

The undoubted star of the show was the stunning male Pied Flycatcher which has been present since Saturday morning until the time of writing. It was performing particularly well this morning along the fence line in the northeast corner of Brook Field, and this evening was flicking around one of the large Oaks up Green Lane. Although we've had a couple of good autumns for this species on the reserve, this certainly wasn't one on my radar to add to the year list so soon. Indeed, it's the first one I've seen in the spring here, and the first adult male I've seen anywhere for years.

Pied Flycatcher

One of the true harbingers of spring at Pulborough, the first Nightingale of the year rather hesitantly announced its arrival along Adder Alley on Easter Day, followed by another singing very briefly at the Hanger this evening; three days earlier than my previous earliest record here. 

There's a nice selection of waders to be seen on the North Brooks now, with up to three pairs of Avocet looking very settled, plus up to three Little Ringed Plovers, several pairs of Redshank and Lapwing and five Ruff. 24 Black-tailed Godwit stayed for a few days last week, many resplendent in breeding plumage, but these have since moved on. A Grey Plover on the North Brooks this morning was the first I've seen on the reserve since 2019. Sadly, its stay was short-lived as it met its end at the talons of a Peregrine this afternoon. 

Wildfowl numbers have really dropped now. There were a couple of drake Pintails lingering into this weekend and a dozen or so Wigeon and Shoveler as of yesterday but otherwise it's only really the Teal hanging on in reasonable numbers. The first Garganey of the year, a splendid drake, showed well on the North Brooks on Wednesday and Thursday but hasn't been seen since.

Garganey. Photo: Dave Carlsson

Warbler numbers continue to increase, with dozens of Chiffchaffs around now, many paired up and already nest building, and Blackcap numbers are steadily building too. The first Willow Warbler turned up on 31st March, followed by at least two more this past weekend. Strangely no Sedge Warbler or Whitethroat yet, although it's still early days, but the Cetti's Warbler persists below the Hanger.

Chiffchaff

It took until the last weekend of March for me to see my first Sand Martins, and Swallows only began trickling through last week, but this past weekend has seen good numbers of both, plus the first House Martin of the year on Easter Day.

Other highlights from this weekend included a year first Great Crested Grebe on the Arun on Saturday and Sunday, a fly-through male Hen Harrier on Saturday and a sloughing male Adder enjoying the sun (out of the wind!) most days.

Great Crested Grebe

Adder

After such a great ten days or so, my patch year list now stands on 119, out of a total of 121 for the reserve so far. Hopefully once this icy spell has passed the flood gates will really open!

Turn up for the Brooks

Arriving at the reserve in a stiff north-westerly breeze this morning I looked rather despondently at the water levels on the North Brooks which had again risen after yesterday’s rain, obscuring most of the muddy margins. “Not much hope for any waders today”, I thought to myself.  

An initial scan with the scope seemed to prove my suspicions, with just a scattering of Black-tailed Godwits and Lapwings on show. Further scans revealed a single Dunlin, soon to be joined by the lingering Ruff, and singles of Snipe and Green Sandpiper were also to be found lurking in the reedy edges. 

Another medium-sized wader then caught my eye, stood on its own with its back to me, which I briefly took to be another Green Sand hunkered down in the wind, until it stood up properly and turned to reveal its orange legs, dark face and breast band - Turnstone! I blinked a couple of times to be sure I wasn’t seeing things before punching the air. A patch tick, and something of a Pulborough mega - certainly a rarer wader than Pec Sand or Temminck’s Stint here. Species number 172 on my Pulborough life list, and 147 on the 2020 year list. A fab start to the day, despite the weather.

Turnstone

I'm pleased to say the Turnstone lingered long enough for fellow Pulborough regulars Chris and Juliet Moore to see it later in the day. They also stumbled across a Pied Flycatcher near the tractor sheds, along with at least eight Spotted Flycatchers. This followed on from another or the same Pied Fly at Fattengates earlier in the day (John Russell). Perhaps not surprisingly given the hundreds or even thousands turning up around the country in recent weeks, it's been an amazing few days for the species at Pulborough. Today's birds represented perhaps the fourth and fifth individuals this week, following on from one near the church on Saturday morning and two on the southern edge of the heath the same day (Andrew Rodgers/Martin Parker).

Spotted and Pied Flycatchers (Photo: Chris & Juliet Moore)

Pied Flycatcher

Hotting up!

The weather might be doing its utmost to convince us that we're still in summer, but it's clear that we're getting into ornithological autumn proper now, and there's been a fair bit of excitement at Pulborough Brooks recently.

Waders have really got moving in the past couple weeks, with highlights including two Wood Sandpipers on 8th August (plus a couple of other heard only records), up to three Greenshank (31st July), a splendid summer plumage adult Spotted Redshank (31st July) and an impressive count of 17 Green Sandpipers (31st July) along with the usual fare for the time of year. Sadly one of this year's juvenile Avocets didn't make it, as it was looking senescent on 31st July and was finally finished off by a Lesser Black-backed Gull on 1st August, despite the efforts of the RSPB staff to catch it and take it into care.

Short and shaky clip of the two Wood Sands at Pulborough earlier... pic.twitter.com/7mzi6SxgOW

— Matt (@mostlyscarce) August 9, 2020

Spotted Redshank and Greenshank

                                                        

Avocets

Other recent highlights have include five Cattle Egrets and three Med Gulls on the North Brooks on 30th July, the former of which I managed to get from the attic. The Egrets were preceded by their larger cousins on the 19th when three Great White Egrets dropped in on the North Brooks, followed by one on the 24th. A Curlew flew south down the Arun calling loudly early on 6th August followed by another west over the garden on the 10th (which Pete Hughes had earlier had on the North Brooks), while early on the 7th the first Tree Pipit of the autumn/year flew south over the horse paddocks just north of Wiggonholt Church. The same morning also produced a Pied Flycatcher in the Oaks near the church, found by Alan Baker - perhaps a species we'll record again this autumn, given the amount turning up in the southeast this week!

Cattle Egrets, photo: Phil Thornton

Great Egrets, photo: Mark Bloss

As many other birders have been noticing it's turned into an extraordinary summer for Crossbills. In the three years I've been patch watching Pulborough, I'd had maybe half a dozen records of the species before this summer. Since this irruption kicked off in June their unmistakable 'jupp'ing calls have become a regular feature of my visits to the reserve. Recent records include what sounded like a small flock over the visitor centre on 13th July, one south over the North Brooks on 14th July, five south on 17th July, four on 20th July, two north on 21st July, heard only records on 2nd and 3rd August, six west over the church on 4th August, two north on 8th August and one over on 10th August (David Campbell).

With my patch yearlist now on 145 and easterlies forecast for a couple more days followed by more early next week, I'm quietly confident that this could be the year I hit 150...

Garden Warbler

Stonechat

Spotted Flycatcher

Lightning strikes twice

With the autumnal equinox now just around the corner and the days growing considerably shorter, my pre-work patch visits are sadly almost over for this year.

After yesterday morning's total fog-off, my initial thoughts at 5.45 this morning were that it would be too dark to get in any useful birding time at the Brooks, so I almost didn't bother. I'm glad I did...

Arriving at the North Brooks at around 6.20 I set up my scope and almost immediately found myself looking at a Phalarope! The light and distance initially hampered definite ID but, moving round to Jupp's View, I was able to confirm it as a juvenile Red-necked Phalarope - only the second Pulborough record of this species and, remarkably, just three months after the first back in June!

Red-necked Phalarope - photo by George Kinnard

I hastily put the news out and was pleased to see regulars Alan Baker and Chris & Juliet Moore arrive swiftly, who I gladly put on to the bird. Thankfully it hung around all day for plenty of other birders to connect with too.

Otherwise it's been a relatively quiet few weeks since my previous post on here, although a patch tick Pied Flycatcher on 29th August and a Marsh Tit on the 2nd of this month helped nudge the year list up to 140. Not sure this year will be the one where I reach 150 (149 last year...) but if birding teaches us anything it's to expect the unexpected. One thing's for certain, I won't let a bit of a gloomy morning put me off getting down the patch again!

Pied Flycatcher