The end of January (at last!)

21st January

For the first time in weeks I actually managed to get through to the river and Waltham Brooks via Thorndale Bridge this morning, as the recent cold spell has allowed the flood waters to subside considerably. Clearly the impacts of the cold weather were still being felt by displaced waterbirds though, with around 20 Lapwing in a field south of River Lane of note here - i.e. in a location away from the usual wetland hotspots. 

Several Ravens (at least 2-3) were around and making their presence known, calling and tumbling over the trees between Waltham Brooks and Watersfield. 

The star species of the morning though - and one I've hoped to encounter locally for a while now - was a Jack Snipe which flew up from the marshy ground between the railway crossing and the river with at least eight Common Snipe. In typical Jack Snipe fashion, it stayed hidden until the last moment, just as I took my camera lenscap off and thought to myself 'that spot up ahead looks bang on for Jack Snipe'. Seconds later, it shot up about a metre ahead of me and stayed low as it flew silently off towards the riverbank. 136 for my Waltham Brooks list, 101 for the local (10km) effort and 75 for the 1km year list. Result!

Jack Snipe

22nd January

This morning I finally caved. After weeks of hopefully checking local berry bushes and trees in the hope of finding my own Waxwings, and even a check of a site they'd been seen at recently (also without joy), I decided I just had to see some of these gorgeous birds in what is clearly the best winter for them for at least a decade. Hassocks was the destination, specifically a little newbuild estate on the northern side, conveniently only 15 minutes or so from Woods Mill, where I was heading anyway. I didn't have long and after half an hour of walking around the estate and fields was about to give up when I heard that unmistakable silver bell trill and noticed half a dozen or so plump, Starling-sized birds in the scrubby trees up ahead. I crept a little closer and managed to get a few photos before the whole group (at least 18 in total) took flight and headed purposefully west over the tree line on the edge of the estate.

Waxwings

That put me in a fine mood for the rest of the day, which was made even better when during a little lunch break walk I at last got good views of the showy Water Rail at the Woods Mill feeders which has been performing beautifully for seemingly everyone except me recently (judging by social media posts anyway). 

Water Rail

23rd January

Not much time for birding today. A 15-minute scan from the tea terrace at Pulborough Brooks failed to produce anything out of the ordinary, although the resident strikingly pale Buzzard was perched on the fence towards the bottom of Uppertons Field. 

Awful phonescope photo of the Buzzard, but how many misidentifications has this bird been responsible for, I wonder!

A tour of the Chiddinglye estate for work late morning which was made even better by a Goshawk which shot through into some woodland on the western side. 

24th January

Next to no birding today, though a Merlin over B's nursery in Amberley first thing was pretty cool/unexpected!

25th January

I headed out reasonably early on foot from home, towards the Arun and Waltham Brooks. It's great to be able to get access Thorndale Bridge again in the past week or so, since the flood water receded, although I was surprised to see it had crept back up a bit this morning. Luckily, I still manged to get through to the river bank where I was greeted almost immediately by a female/juvenile type Merlin powering across from Amberley West towards the railway line further downstream from where I was stood, and continuing south-west. A real feature of this morning were Ravens, which were flying east in ones, twos and threes, amounting to a pretty remarkable total of 20 over in the space of about 15-20, all clearly flying purposefully towards Amberley/Parham, so definitely different birds. I'm not quite sure what was going on but presumably birds leaving a roost somewhere. 

Raven

Otherwise, it was pretty standard fare further upriver at Waltham Brooks, with the main lake holding minima of 70 Teal, 50 Wigeon and 25 Shoveler plus seven Tufted Duck and four Gadwall. At least five Common Snipe flew up from the marshy spots round the margins and the usual Water Rail and Cetti's Warblers were making themselves heard. 

Later in the day I popped over to Benbow Pond again, where I met up with Paul Davy for a short walk. We again dipped on the previously reported Waxwings but nonetheless had some impressive counts of other species, with at least 200 Redwings around the mistletoe-clad Lime trees on the golf course, 500+ Woodpigeons flying up from nearby farmland and 130 or more Siskin flying from the Alders by the main pond itself. Also of note at the pond were two Black Swans on nests. 

26th January

It was a largely gloriously sunny day today and not that cold. At lunchtime I managed to get out for a brief check of the flooded field at Hadworth Farm which had quietened down a lot since my last visit (now that all the other local water bodies have thawed out), with just a dozen Gadwall, seven Wigeon, six Teal and a female Pintail of note on the wildfowl front, the latter not looking very well or possibly injured as it seemed rather unsteady on its feet and not able to fly terribly well.

With the evenings gradually getting lighter, I decided to head to Burton Mill Pond after work for my first dusk stakeout of the year. At least three Water Rails were calling around the margins as 68 Cormorants came in to roost in the usual trees at the far end. It was a three egret evening again with two Great White Egrets flying separately towards Chingford, and at least six Cattle Egrets flying south in ones and twos mixed in with flocks of Little Egrets (29 in total - 9 the largest single flock). This represents my highest count of either Little or Cattle Egret here.

Five Little Egrets and two Cattle Egrets (top and second from bottom)

Last light at Burton Mill Pond

Back at home in the evening, I noted my first Barn Owl of the year screeching low over the house/garden while I was tinkering in the shed. 

27th January

An unexpected hoar frost this morning and a rare lie-in, meant not much birding time. A walk along the Arun south of Pulborough mid-morning was relatively quiet aside from my first singing Chaffinch of the year, while a brief scan from Swan Bridge just produced a Little Egret among the expected wildfowl. 

I did the Big Garden Birdwatch at home around lunchtime. Not much going on in the garden itself but quite a few raptors were getting up in the sunshine, including a Marsh Harrier, two Sparrowhawks (incredibly a 1km year tick), at least five Red Kites and three Buzzards. 

28th January

An incredible sunrise this morning owing to the arrival of Saharan dust in the atmosphere. I was out early in time to see said sunrise over Pulborough Brooks. A couple of hours here produced 59 species including at least six Dunlin with ~700 Lapwings and 12 Shelduck plus the usual masses of wildfowl. Species singing included Skylark, Chaffinch and Greenfinch, while there were still at least three flighty Redpoll down the Zigzags and a pair of Stonechats at Redstart Corner. A brief check of my private WeBS site near Petworth didn't produce much on the water (the Long-tailed Duck seems to have well and truly departed now), but a flyover Raven was nice plus a couple of singing Skylarks. 

Stonechats

29th January

No real birding today although I did note a Marsh Tit singing at Goodwood during a work meeting and a Marsh Harrier flew south over Amberley Museum as I was driving past late afternoon. 

30th January

Again no proper birding today but several Ravens were noted flying over Watersfield during the morning and, in the evening, at least two vocal Tawny Owls were making themselves heard close to home - incredibly my first in the 1k area this year. My first go with the moth trap in 2024 proved to be something of an anti-climax, with just two moths making an appearance; a Chestnut and a Common Quaker, both new for the garden list. 

Chestnut

31st January

No birding today. 

The Summer Ends

September can be a changeable month, both in terms of the weather and the birding. Sometimes it feels like an extension of summer, at other times autumn can start to bare its teeth a little early. Technically we're still in summertime as I write this, astronomically speaking, though of course ornithologically it's been autumn for quite some time and meteorological autumn began when September started. 

Weather-wise this ten day period saw a dramatic shift from some of the hottest weather of the year so far, to proper westerly, squally Atlantic conditions towards the end. It's also mid-September where the birds on offer locally takes a distinct turn towards autumn proper, and this year has been no exception, as the likes of Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat and other passage passerines begin to ebb away, and one's thoughts turn towards the first thrushes, finches and Yellow-browed Warbler. Siskin has been perhaps the most frequently encountered species on many of my birding forays these past couple of weeks - an encouraging sign after a very poor winter for the species last year. 

Plus of course there was the star species, the Aquatic Warbler at Beeding Brooks, which delighted all who went to see it, me included.

11th September

I don't often twitch much these days but couldn't resist the urge when an Aquatic Warbler turned up just 20 or so minutes from home, found by Jamie Wilkinson on the 10th. 

After dropping B at nursery I headed down to Beeding Brooks where I found a group of around ten birders already gathered, most of whom had already seen the bird. It showed pretty quickly but only very briefly in flight a few times before giving fleeting perched views at 9.20 then going to ground for two hours. When it eventually reappeared at around 11.30 it proved a little more showy for a short time, deigning to stay in the open for as long as five seconds - enough to appreciate the warm ground colour, strong head stripes and tramlines on the back and relatively plain face. A world lifer for me - my first in the UK for quite a while. 

The bird never quite showed well enough from my angle to get any photos today, but see further down this blog post for pics from my second attempt.

Other highlights from the morning here included a flock of five Crossbills north-east, a Hobby south-west, at least one Kingfisher flying past three times (or three different Kingfishers!), heard-only Siskins and a couple of Ravens.

Beeding Brooks

Raven

In the evening a Barn Owl was heard calling near home. 

12th September

For the first time in quite a while I had a proper two hour session at Burton Mill Pond, checking all three water bodies (Burton Mill, Chingford and Black Pond). It felt distinctly autumnal in the misty, murky conditions, although still warm and very humid. The selection of passerines encountered was rather less summery, with three each of Firecrest and Marsh Tit the highlights among the usual tits, Nuthatches and a few Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. Very vocal adult and juvenile Hobbies were flying around over the trees at Newpiece. In terms of water birds, Chingford Pond was where the action was happening - as is often the case here - with minima of 70 Gadwall, 40 Tufted Duck, 15 Teal, 10 Shoveler and half a dozen Pochard. The water level has been dropped to allow work to be carried out on the outflow channel, so the margins are looking perfect for waders. Unfortunately, none were to be found today, though there were workmen and a photographer present around said margins. 

Gadwall

Hobby

Early afternoon, a short walk round the local farmland and brief skywatch produced just the faintest whiff of autumn vismig starting to pick up, with around 150 hirundines (mostly House Martin) west/south-west, a single Meadow Pipit south and a heard-only Siskin - the latter recorded locally for the third consecutive day. 

13th September

A return visit to Beeding Brooks this afternoon after a morning co-leading a garden safari at Knepp. Thankfully, the juvenile Aquatic Warbler proved much more showy than on Monday, showing well within ten minutes of my arrival and several more times in the next hour before going to ground again for a while. I even managed to get a couple of record shots this time! A search further upriver for the reported Red-backed Shrike proved sadly fruitless but other bits of note from a couple of hours here included a Green Sandpiper which flew up from the pool by the river and off east (apparently quite a good record here according to local birders I spoke to), two Ravens west and at least five Yellow Wagtails over. 

Aquatic Warbler

14th September

A morning safari in the Walled Garden and orchard at Knepp produced Hobby and Spotted Flycatcher plus Blood-vein and Brindled Green among the usual suspects in the moth trap - although it has to be said the catch was fairly minimal owing to the overnight temperature dropping into single figures for the first time in quite a while. Brrr! 

Blood-vein

On the way home I stopped off at Chantry Hill for a walk round. It was rather quiet but very pleasant nonetheless with highlights including two Wheatears, two Common Whitethroats, singles of Stonechat and Lesser Whitethroat, a Hobby worrying a flock of around 40 House Martins and at least one flyover Yellow Wagtail. 

Red Kite

Wheatear

15th September

Not much birding today, though the moth trap produced Frosted Orange and Pale Mottled Willow, both new for the garden. A quick look at Waltham Brooks on the way home from Knepp early evening revealed two Stonechats in the scrub near the road and the usual selection of Gadwall, Shoveler and Teal on the main lake. A small group of Gadwall were also heard flying over the garden in the evening.

Frosted Orange

16th September

Another day without much birding, though a short skywatch in the garden early morning produced a little trickle of Siskins heading south/south-west, a theme that continued at our allotment later in the morning, with more heading over. Also of note here were a Common Gull flying west and a Willow Emerald Damsefly in nearby trees, a species that is rapidly spreading across West Sussex.

Willow Emerald

A walk at Knepp with friends early afternoon yielded 15 White Storks, a couple of Red Kites and Buzzards and other usual fare. In the evening, a short walk/skywatch on the local farm fields produced a little flurry of southbound Swallows. 

17th September

An early start this morning for WeBS day. Sadly the low cloud and north-easterly didn't produce a tasty wader at my private reservoir site over near Petworth, or any waders at all for that matter, with even the recent lingering Common Sandpipers having moved on at last. Highlights on the water were three Shoveler, 11 Pochard, 52 Egyptian Geese and a site high count of 126 Coot. It was fairly lively on the passerine front with Yellow Wagtail and at least two Siskins heard flying over, plus a few Meadow Pipits.

Egyptian Geese

On the way home I dropped in at Burton and Chingford Ponds for a brief look. At least 52 Gadwall were on Chingford Pond and there was a light easterly passage of hirundines, otherwise highlights included a vocal juvenile Hobby again, 5 Red Kites circling together and a minimum of 50 Siskins. 

Continuing the vismig theme, a short stint in the garden mid-morning produced a little flurry of hirundines and a couple more Siskins, followed by a kettle of 19 White Storks which took a while to decide on their direction of flight before drifting strongly south-west, apparently later seen over Southampton. 

White Storks

Late morning saw us heading up to Surrey to meet friends for a quick walk at Thursley Common before lunch. Perhaps unsurprisingly the first bird I heard as soon as I got out of the car was Siskin and their 'pew' calls soundtracked what turned into a pretty short walk, as our storm chaser friends alerted us to the rush of wind preceding a torrential downpour, meaning we thankfully got to shelter before the rain hit (Amazingly, an inch of rain fell in the following hour!). Just prior to the rain I noted around 20 House Martins drifting east.

Back at home in the evening I took a short stroll out to Thorndale Bridge which produced a vocal male Tawny Owl (new for me at this hotspot) and 2-3 Water Rails squealing on the Amberley side of the Arun. 
 

18th September

The morning after the storm before. A midnight thunderstorm of biblical proportions which brought down trees in the local area and blew out the bulb in my moth trap (that will teach me to bodge a rainguard with a garden umbrella...). Unsurprisingly, all the moths had vacated the Skinner by the morning, with just a few Willow Beauties scattered about and a new for the garden Garden Carpet doing a rubbish job of trying to camouflage against some nearby woodwork. 

Garden Carpet

After dropping B off at nursery I popped by Pulborough Brooks for a brief scan of the North Brooks which produced my first Pintail of the autumn (at least five among hundreds of Teal) plus 3 Ruff, 5 Snipe and a perched adult Hobby. 

With more rain on the way and a bit of a window of opportunity I decided to dash back over to the reservoir near Petworth, in the hope that the storm had dropped something in. It proved to be a very worthwhile decision as I approached the rim of the reservoir and peered over to be greeted by the sight of two juvenile Black Terns hawking up and down over the water - not just a first for this hotspot but a first for me anywhere in my local area and, indeed, anywhere in inland Sussex. For the next hour or so I delighted in watching them feeding over the water and occasionally resting on the buoys at the southern end. A truly wonderful bird to encounter in this unlikely location in the middle of rural West Sussex, following on from the lingering Long-tailed Duck here last winter. What next! 

Other highlights here this morning included a showy Wheatear on the fence by the reservoir and a Lesser Whitethroat in nearby scrub, the latter actually a hotspot tick but rather overshadowed by the terns!

Black Terns

Black Tern

Wheatear

19th September

Another distinctly autumnal morning with drizzle in the air and a brisk south-westerly wind. While driving through Houghton/Amberley this morning I noticed an adult Great Black-backed Gull on the river bank near Houghton Bridge. Not a regular sight round these parts, especially not on the deck. After dropping B at nursery I decided to head back over to Petworth to check if the Black Terns were still around. They weren't but, frustratingly, I did have another tern flying away from me heading purposefully south-west, but didn't get good enough views to clinch the ID. It seemed fairly uniform grey on the back and very buoyant, but unfortunately will have to go down as one that got away. 

There was a bit of House Martin passage going on with at least 110 birds powering straight into the wind during my 90 minutes here. Otherwise, highlights were restricted to ten Pochard and 14 Shoveler on the water and a flock of 20 Meadow Pipits overhead.

20th September

Very little birding today, as I was leading a garden safari at Knepp in the morning and heavy rain set in by mid-afternoon until nightfall. Passing glances at Waltham Brooks and Southlands Farm, West Chiltington on my way to and from Knepp, respectively, revealed much the same species on offer at both sites. 20 Shoveler were on the main lake at Waltham Brooks plus a few Gadwall and a lone Grey Heron perched on the post in the water, while Southlands hosted 10 Shoveler and five Teal. The almost total absence of waders at both these sites in recent weeks reflects what a generally poor wader autumn it's been everywhere, combined with higher water levels than we were experiencing this time in 2022. 

Honey, Sandwiches and other local delights

As a birder and all-round naturalist, I always find it tricky to decide on my favourite time of year. At a push though, when August comes around, I am reminded just how great late summer and early autumn can be. The golden and misty mornings and atmospheric evenings, and the feeling that you could bump into absolutely anything every time you leave the house, make birding extra exciting at this transitional point in the year. 

Indeed, this past ten days or so has delivered some of my most enjoyable birding moments of the year to date, including two 10km year ticks and three 1km year ticks. My Watersfield Farmland hotspot close to home has tipped past the 100 species mark with the addition of three new species, two of which were entirely unexpected (more on that later).

Since surpassing my 150 species target at Pulborough Brooks two years ago, I have been enjoying spreading my net further afield, while still staying local to home, and it's times like the past couple of weeks when I'm reminded just how rewarding that can be.

12th August

An early morning walk from home around the local farmland revealed a noticeable increase in Willow Warblers and Whitethroats, with a minimum of 8 of the former and 5 of the latter just in the hedges and scrub on the edge of Watersfield. There was no sign of any other notable migrant passerines though.

Whitethroat

A walk up towards Watersfield Common with B later in the morning produced two Hobbies hunting Swallows together. I'm sure this species must have bred somewhere locally this summer but haven't yet worked out exactly where. 

Talking of Hobbies I also had one low and fast over Shalford Common in Surrey in the afternoon, while up there catching up with friends. 

13th August

No early birding today as I was busy checking the contents of the moth trap, which included Jersey Tiger, Webb's Wainscot, Canary-shouldered Thorn and White-point.

Canary-shouldered Thorn

White-point

A check of Waltham Brooks on my way to Knepp produced a juvenile Marsh Harrier and a couple of Swifts powering south/south-west, but little in the way of passerine activity in the now quite brisk wind. 4 Gadwall were among the Mallards on the main lake. 

14th August

A quick look at the South Brooks from near the visitor centre at Pulborough proved fairly quiet, with just a few Lapwing and a single Little Egret of note. The strikingly pale Buzzard was perched on a fence post on the bank of the Arun, a bird surely responsible for more misidentifications than any other in the area!

Late morning, a walk near The Mens produced a nice immature Goshawk briefly circling above the wooded hillside to the west. 

15th August

No time for any of my own birding today as I was in East Sussex for a meeting in the morning then hotfooted it down to Dungeness to lead a Wildstarts tour at the RSPB reserve. It was a productive afternoon, with 50 species recorded. All three UK egret species were present and correct, although we unfortunately didn't complete the set with the reported Glossy Ibises at the ARC pit as we didn't make it out that far. Other highlights included Common Sandpiper, a flyover Hobby carrying prey, a heard-only Greenshank and my first Whinchat anywhere this year.

Cattle Egrets

16th August

A bright and golden early autumn start to the day felt like the perfect inspiration needed for a walk up on the Downs. The only issue with Amberley Mount is that a morning walk means ascending towards the sun, so the first hour or so felt a little quiet and frustrating aside from a female type Redstart at the top of the slope. Things livened up once I got up onto the plateau though, where I found two Wheatears and a Corn Bunting along the fenceline, the latter surprisingly my first record of this species at this location. I tend to find I have to go to other downland sites further east or south to find them around here. 

Returning down the slope towards Downs Farm things got even better with a spanking male Redstart revealing itself in the scrub. Two fluffy Little Owl juveniles were playing hide and seek on one of the buildings at the farm and two Whinchats were flycatching from the telegraph wires here - my first locally this year. 

Ravens

Whinchat

Little Owls

17th August

A grey and rather foggy start to the day. My occasional early morning circuit from home to Thorndale Bridge and up the river to Waltham Brooks and back took a particularly exciting and unexpected turn when I heard the distinctive grating call of a Sandwich Tern as I approached the riverbank from the railway bridge. Looking up in the direction of the call I picked up a single bird, quite high, powering in through the murk from the south-west. As it called again I quickly realised there were two birds, rather separated from each other but clearly travelling together. I fired off a few record shots and grabbed a short recording before just standing and enjoying the spectacle as they disappeared off upriver towards Pulborough. 

This was a particularly remarkable record given that just the previous day Ed and I had been discussing historical records of this species in my local area, after he had two over Enton Lakes near Godalming. As I had stated, any tern species is a pretty rare thing in this part of inland West Sussex, so to have these two fly right over my head within about 15 minutes of walking out of my door this morning was particularly extraordinary! As far as I can work out, it's the first record anywhere in the inland Arun Valley area since 2002.

Sandwich Tern

The rest of the walk paled into insignificance to be honest, after such a breathtaking moment as that. Highlights at Waltham Brooks included a few Reed Warblers, Willow Warblers, juvenile Stonechat and at least 18 Greenfinches.

Later in the day I took B down to Arundel for a stroll around Swanbourne Lake, which provided a few bits of interest including at least 3 Willow Warblers, Marsh Tit, two each of Mandarin and Pochard and a flyover Peregrine. 

Pochard

18th August

Rain arrived from the east early this morning and by around 8.30 had turned decidedly biblical. I decided to head over to Petworth for a bit of a stakeout at the private reservoir there. In the end I rather wished I hadn't bothered as I barely scraped to 20 species in 90 minutes, with a Common Sandpiper really the only bird of note. 

Later in the day, after drying off at a home, a walk round the local farmland produced Hobby, Peregrine, a Common Gull drifting south, and a Lesser Whitethroat in the bushes just west of the boundary with Waltham Brooks; the latter species number 100 for my Watersfield Farmland hotspot!

Common Gull

An evening check of local water bodies including a distant scan from Greatham Lane towards Hardham Reservoir, in the hope of Black Terns (lots around elsewhere this evening), didn't produce loads, although heard only Raven and Greenshank here were noteworthy. This section of farmland and wetland is effectively the connecting corridor between Pulborough Brooks and Waltham Brooks but is very underwatched. It's the same area I had two Little Ringed Plovers earlier in the year. 

19th August

An early morning stroll round the local farmland produced very little so later in the morning I headed over to Burton Mill Pond with B, which proved rather more lively. The highlight was a mixed passerine flock in the trees at New Piece (western side of the pond), which included several Marsh Tits, a Willow Warbler and a family part of Spotted Flycatchers.

Spotted Flycatchers

20th August

WeBS day today, so I headed over to the private reservoir near Petworth where I do my monthly count. It was rather uneventful today, as it has been for the most part of late, to be honest. Still, three Common Sandpipers represented my second highest count of the species here (4 on 4th May this year) and I again saw one of the leucistic Egyptian Geese in flight with one of the small flocks flying about to and from the reservoir - 59 in total today.

Common Sandpipers

Egyptian Geese

Later in the morning, a walk out to check the local fields and scrub on the western side of Waltham Brooks proved relatively quiet aside from a flyover Hobby worrying the Swallows and a somewhat out of context Reed Bunting in a hedgerow down River Lane. 

Hobby

In the afternoon I was back at Knepp leading a safari, the highlight of which was a lovely female type Redstart in one of the hedges north of New Barn Farm; my first here this year. 

21st August

My car was booked in for its MOT this morning, so I decided to try the walk home from the garage in Pulborough for the first time (around 4km). I was interested to see how long it took (admittedly at a birding pace) but also explore any bits of less familiar habitat I encountered along the way.

It was actually fairly quiet for the most part, until I reached Waltham Brooks, with the exception of a Tawny Owl in flight along the Wey South Path on the west side of Widney Brooks. Waltham Brooks itself held a few Willow Warblers and a female type Redstart in the scrub, the latter my 130th species for the site.

The best was yet to come though as I exited the reserve and headed into the farmland that separates it from home. I was in a 'home straight' sort of mindset by this point, having been walking for around two hours, so wasn't perhaps quite as alert as I had been at the start. Nonetheless, I immediately recognised the raptor heading straight towards me from the north-west as something 'interesting' and lifted my bins to confirm it was a Honey Buzzard, powering east/south-east on flat wings. A lovely adult male, it briefly circled over my head, gaining height as it did so, before continuing onwards towards Parham/Amberley. Needless to say, my first for the 1km recording area and my 101st species for the eBird hotspot here. 

Honey Buzzard