No proper time of day

There's a poem I've shared at least once on a previous blog that succinctly sums up the feeling of October giving way to November - written by Thomas Hood in 1844 - as follows:

No sun — no moon!
No morn — no noon —
No dawn — no dusk — no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member —
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! —
November!

Still. it's not all doom and gloom, especially when the autumn weather gods conspire to deliver something a bit tasty. It won't have escaped anyone's notice that we are experiencing a very wet autumn indeed, with the latest batch of spring tides and bouts of torrential rainfall seeing the River Arun overtopping its banks in many places from Pulborough down to the South Downs and beyond. Even so, the standout weather event of the season this year was undoubtedly the fierce Atlantic storm system, named Ciarán, which battered the south of the UK overnight on 1st/2nd November, resulting in a wreck of Leach's Storm-Petrels and a few European Storm-Petrels and Sabine's Gulls being seen along the coast all the way from Cornwall to Kent. Thanks to being recovered enough from my shoulder injury to drive (but still not back working full time) I was very lucky to be able to get to the coast to be part of this once in a lifetime birding experience. My write-up of that day and more included in this summary of the first ten days of November.

1st November

The arrival of the low pressure weather system associated with Storm Ciarán brought intermittent heavy rain and increasing winds this morning. I decided to stretch my driving muscles again with a trip over to the private reservoir near Petworth. A dozen Pochard were newly arrived here since my visit on 29th October, but I couldn't initially find the Long-tailed Duck. After a while it appeared (how do they do that?) and eventually showed quite well, preening for several minutes, though always distant. In fact, I worked out it was around 220 metres or more away from my viewpoint for the most part. Nonetheless, I am confident that it is an adult female bird moulting into winter plumage. I could also see as it preened that it appeared to be unringed. Interestingly, a different Long-tailed Duck was at a farm reservoir near Pagham yesterday. As another wave of heavy rain arrived from the south-west I decided to make a dash for the car, but was halted in my tracks as an adult Swallow flew over my head and leisurely hawked around over the fields and the little sewage works by the reservoir. It was presumably the same bird I saw here on Sunday and really didn't look in any hurry to get anywhere today. This represents my joint latest record of the species in the UK, following on from one over Leith Hill on the same date in 2015.

Long-tailed Duck - always distant!

Red Kite

In a break in the weather early afternoon I took the opportunity to head over to check Waltham Brooks which was seriously flooded even since my last proper visit a couple of days ago. Indeed, access around the lake was impossible coming from the railway line side, with paths totally flooded back up towards Greatham Bridge and the river bank back towards Thorndale Bridge. Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of ducks around including over a hundred Teal, plus at least seven Snipe and the ubiquitous squealing Water Rails (at least two). Three Marsh Harriers battled their way downriver, including a smart adult male again, and at least 25 Black-headed Gulls were doing the same, all looking distinctly Little Gull-esque at a glance as they skulled low over the floodwater, but sadly I wasn't able to find yesterday's Pulborough LG here today. 

A very flooded Waltham Brooks

2nd November

The calm after the storm, or in the middle of it, as we unexpectedly woke this morning to patchy cloud, no rain and almost no wind. It seems the eye of Storm Ciarán was right above us at this point as, by 09:30 or so, the rain was starting again and the wind beginning to pick up. After dropping B off at nursery I decided the best course of action was a quick tour of local water bodies which didn't produce a great deal aside from the continuing Long-tailed Duck. With reports of multiple Leach's Storm-Petrels starting to come in from the coast I felt like I was really only delaying the inevitable by waiting for something to happen inland, so headed down to Goring for an impromptu seawatch. I had barely parked my car on Marine Drive and wound down the window before I picked up the first Leach's Storm-Petrel powering east, fairly close in. This turned out to be the first of an extraordinary 20 that passed in the next 95 minutes or so, including a loose group of four just before 12:30. It was good to see Lyn and Mike Hunt here briefly and get them on a couple of Leach's, including one lingering fairly close to shore, plus a bonus European Storm-Petrel which I'm ashamed to say I only picked up when reviewing photos when I got home. It was hard to keep track of any one bird for very long in the swell.  

Soon after 13:00, with the rain getting heavier and the wind picking up (and my injured shoulder aching) I decided to head for home. I hadn't got further than the sharp bend on Amberley Drive though, before I stopped again, as I picked up an adult Little Gull on the flood right by the road, through the car windscreen! I didn't even have to get out of the car to enjoy great views of it just a short distance away through the window. What a remarkable couple of hours! It will be interesting to see what effects this storm has on inland birding in the coming days, with surely a few seabirds and other bits displaced and attempting to reorientate. 

Little Gull

European Storm-Petrel

Leach's Storm-Petrel

Leach's Storm-Petrel

3rd November

The calm after the storm the day before. This morning began clear with light winds, so I headed out early for a bit of a skywatch from the local farmland. It was fairly lively, with 54 species recorded in a little over an hour. It was tricky to establish the true movers from the local roosting species with light trickles of the likes of Goldfinch, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Stock Dove, Herring Gull and Greenfinch in various directions. Rather more noteworthy bits included two Ravens south (picked up by the sound of their wingbeats!), five Lesser Black-backed Gulls west/south-west and at least one Dunlin heard flying west - my 110th species for this eBird hotspot!

After a bit of work at home I headed back out to Pulborough which I discovered had become one giant lake since my last visit a few days ago. Indeed, water was still gushing in over the river banks on both the North and South Brooks. As such, avian interest was somewhat limited, aside from a lot of geese and dabbling ducks. At least two or three Marsh Harriers were hunting along the remaining vegetated ditches and bits of exposed land. A Redpoll flew over the Hanger while a Peregrine was back in the favourite big willow tree near the viewpoint there. It was good to catch up with Chris and Juliet Moore here and, as another band of unforecasted rain moved in, we decided to all make a swift exit and headed for Rackham Viewpoint. Amberley Wildbrooks was looking equally flooded but despite a good scan we couldn't pick out anything particularly unusual among the geese and Black-headed Gulls, aside from a single Cattle Egret, strangely associating with a Little Egret, flying in from the north-west before dropping in by the favourite eagle tree.

Red Kites

A flooded Amberley Wildbrooks

4th November

Not loads of birding today but I did a manage an hour locally in the afternoon, though the floodwater has risen to such an extent that Waltham Brooks is mostly inaccessible, with the main lake essentially now extending as far west as the railway line in some places. Highlights were the usual Water Rails (at least two), two Marsh Harriers, 20+ Shoveler, and two Stonechats gleaning insects from patches of detritus on the flood water near the railway. As I headed back through the farmland towards home a single flock of 60 Fieldfares flew over heading south. 

Flooding at Waltham Brooks

5th November

Remember, remember, your last hirundine of the year. Or was it? It's been a pretty extraordinary few days here in the Pulborough area, with my latest ever Hobby, my joint latest ever Swallow and, today, my joint latest ever House Martin. The way things are going though, I have a distinct feeling it won't be the last. How many hirundines must have been blown back in their tracks by Storm Ciaran?

It was a glorious bright autumn morning with clear blue sky, although a brisky west/north-westerly wind. As it was the first fine day after a spell of stormy weather I decided to check a few water bodies locally, in the hope of stumbling across any reorienting storm-blown birds. The reservoir near Petworth still held the female Long-tailed Duck, present for at least a week now, plus a 'new in' Green Sandpiper. It was also very apparent that today was a big Woodpigeon day, with a minimum of 1,080 flying south-west here in just over half an hour. Moving on to Burton Mill Pond, which was sadly lacking in any wildfowl at all (I didn't have enough time to walk round to check Chingford Pond) but again produced several big flocks of Woodpigeons, a couple of Redwings. plus showy Marsh Tit and Firecrest near the car park.

Firecrest

Woodpigeons

My final stop on the way home was Hadworth Farm in West Burton, where I also found the now very flooded scrape entirely devoid of waterbirds. There were again lots of Woodpigeons moving overhead (450 in about 15 minutes) plus a few other bits. Just as I was about to leave, I picked up a hirundine coming towards me from the west which turned to reveal its white rump. It then fed over the fields and scrape briefly before continuing on its way east/south-east. 

House Martin

6th November

Timing, patience and luck are three very important factors when it comes to enjoyment and success in birding. Some days it feels like everything has gone in your favour and you are rewarded for the choices you make. Other days, choices or circumstances can lead to a less than satisfactory time in the field. Today was an example of the latter, unfortunately. 

With messages streaming in from friends in Surrey of massive Woodpigeon movements and other vismig delights, I was eager to get out birding ASAP. I wasn't able to get out until just after 8, which normally would still leave an hour or two of lively migration activity to enjoy, one would think. Today I headed up Amberley Mount for the first time in two months and have to say it was really rather underwhelming, relatively speaking. An early push of 1,200 Woodpigeons moving south down the river valley soon fizzled out and there was hardly any vismig of any description thereafter. A local congregation of Yellowhammers and constant soundtrack of Skylarks, plus a trio of Stonechats were nice, and a Great Black-backed Gull west was actually a new species for me at this site, but it still never felt like fireworks were imminent. A brief check of the floods at Greatham Bridge and Fittleworth also produced very little of note. Tomorrow is another day!

Stonechat

An afternoon check of Waltham Brooks in between errands proved productive, with highlights being a flyover Peregrine, three Marsh Harrier, five Tufted Duck, 20 Fieldfares, and a very showy Great White Egret dropping in just 30 metres or so from where I was stood on the edge of the flood. 

Great Egret

7th November

The weather forecast suggested another decent morning for vismig today, especially after yesterday's  big push of Woodpigeons. I again was a little later heading out than hoped and it was immediately clear that if there had been another such push today then I had again missed it. Indeed, it was one of the quietest vismig sessions I've done this season, at least for the first part - up on Alban Head just to the west of home. Highlights were single flocks of 80 Fieldfares and 130 Starlings west. Continuing the watch from a lower level - the farmland along River Lane - proved a clever move, as there was a clear upturn in movement, starting with a single Brambling low west with one Chaffinch, another 35 Fieldfares and 118 Woodpigeons west. 

Woodpigeons

Late morning I headed down to the coast. I was due to give a Knepp talk in Worthing early afternoon, so decided to take the opportunity for another seawatch at Goring Gap. As I parked up on Marine Drive, a scan of the flooded fields revealed a lot of gulls, especially Mediterranean Gull - a theme that continued throughout the session with perhaps 150 or more either moving purposefully west down the coasts or occasionally dropping in for a while. There was also a lone Brent Goose on the field which later flew west along the beach. Seawatching proved to be fairly quiet, with last week's Leach's fest already feeling somewhat like a dream. A Rock Pipit flew west down the beach, while much further out eight Gannets, six Great Crested Grebes and a single Red-throated Diver flew west. It was also good to bump into Nick Bond here and have a good chat. 

Mediterranean Gull

Sanderlings

8th November

Another foul morning of wind and rain saw me do a whistle stop tour of a few local water bodies. First up, Amberley Wildbrooks, viewing from the southern side (trying to shelter from the worst of the weather!) and my target species was White-fronted Goose, with up to three seen here regularly by Paul Davy and others recently. Viewing conditions were less than ideal, to say the least, but after a while I picked the Russian trio up, feeding in among over a hundred Greylag Geese. Otherwise there wasn't much going on here, aside from an impressive 130+ Pintail, by far my highest count of this species so far this autumn. Interestingly, they were more or less the only ducks present, aside from about 50-60 Wigeon. White-fronted Goose takes my local year list to 158. 

Truly woeful record shot of the three White-fronted Geese!

Next up I checked Widney Brooks from Greatham Bridge. The water levels here have dropped a little but surely not for long given the hours of rain forecast today and more spring tides coming later in the week. Usual fare was on offer here, with around 40 Shoveler the best, on the flood to the south (so actually Waltham Brooks). 

The private reservoir near Petworth was almost unbirdable with the wind driving waves of rain straight towards my viewing position on the north side. The Aythya flock has grown since my last visit, with 28 Tufted Duck and 22 Pochard both pretty good counts here, particularly the latter. The lingering female Long-tailed Duck was still present too, sheltering among the other diving ducks. 

A brief stop-off at Waltham Brooks late afternoon proved rather interesting. The floodwater had receded a little, though still not enough to enable proper access close to or around the main lake. From the grassy peninsula on the western side I watched and listened as various birds flew to roost - singles of Little Egret and Marsh Harrier downriver and a swirl of over a thousand Starlings heading to Amberley. A lively mixed passerine flock was moving through the sallows nearby, including Chiffchaff, Blue Tits and Long-tailed Tits, all identified by their familiar calls. After a few minutes a less familiar call caught my attention, sounding somewhat like a weaker and more squeaky Pied Wagtail. Surely it couldn't be? Luckily I had my recorder running and, despite the rain, managed to get a half decent recording which others have agreed sounds good for Hume's Warbler - my third in Britain and first in West Sussex if so! Unfortunately I never saw the bird as the rain and darkness closed in. 

9th November

An early start at Waltham Brooks this morning where I met up with Paul D and Andrew R, all of us hoping to relocate yesterday's mystery caller. Sadly, it wasn't to be, despite good numbers of Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests and a Firecrest in the sallows and other scrub between the main lake and the railway line. A heavy burst of rain halfway through the 90 minutes I was on-site didn't help. A Great White Egret flew upriver, a Marsh Harrier was about towards the end and at least 20 Fieldfares left roost. I wouldn't be surprised if the probable Hume's Warbler is still about somewhere, hopefully it might reappear in the coming days. 

The rest of the day was spent at Woods Mill as I started my new job as Species Recovery Officer with Sussex Wildlife Trust. A short lunchtime walk here produced a Firecrest in trees near the car park, a Little Grebe on the main lake and a Common Gull flying north. As I was leaving late afternoon a male Tawny Owl was calling near the car park. 

10th November

I was back at Knepp today, leading my first safari there in six weeks, for a group of Oxford uni students. En route, I couldn't resist quickly stopping off at Pulborough Brooks to twitch the Slavonian Grebe found by Chris and Juliet Moore earlier in the morning; a long awaited Pulborough tick for me, my first in thirteen months. It was an elusive bird, not helped by the un-forecast torrential rain, but I eventually managed to pick it up from Hail's View, albeit rather distantly. The first record for the reserve since 2010! Also testament to the depth of the water here at the moment were eight Pochard on the South Brooks - not quite as rare as Slavonian Grebe but still fairly unusual here. 

Pulborough South Brooks floodwater

Slavonian Grebe - pic by the finders Chris and Juliet Moore

Back at Knepp in the evening for a staff party I heard a male Tawny Owl calling near New Barn Farm and also another one when I got back home. 

Seasons collide

As the schools go back and we enter meteorological autumn of course the weather has decided to go all 'high summer' with the first anticyclonic system to reach our shores since June, as I write this in early September. It's been a bit of a shock to the system to dig out the shorts and suncream again after what felt like a protracted bout of autumnal weather in recent weeks. It's also scuppered the first week and a half of September from a birding point of view, in some ways, with many migrants clearly making a quick getaway in the fine weather. Vismig in particular has been pretty poor so far, but I'm still hopeful for better to come in the next few weeks.

It's still been an enjoyable start to autumn proper though, with plenty of bits to talk about in this ten day period. 

1st September

It was our fifth wedding anniversary today, so we headed down to Ferring for breakfast and a walk along the beach followed by a stroll around Parham gardens.

At Ferring, avian highlights came in the form of three Ringed Plover and two Sanderlings among around 75 Turnstones roosting on the beach, and at least ten Sandwich Terns and three Common Terns past at sea. A lone Teal briefly landed offshore before flying off west. Eight Oystercatchers flew west while we were having breakfast.

Sandwich Terns

Sanderlings

The highlight of the morning though came when Kate asked 'what's that flapping about on the beach there?' Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a Convolvulus Hawkmoth, presumably newly arrived from across the Channel. It was struggling to stay clear of the incoming tide so I gently scooped it up and placed it in a patch of vegetation at the top of the beach, safely away from a nearby flock of House Sparrows. A remarkable encounter!

Convolvulus Hawkmoth

Parham was, comparatively, pretty quiet, though raptors were much in evidence in the by now warm afternoon sunshine, with at least half a dozen Buzzards thermalling overhead along with a couple of Red Kites and a Sparrowhawk. At least three Ravens were around too, and I commented to Kate that it's amazing how quickly the species has spread into this part of West Sussex, going from being a relatively infrequently occurrence when we moved down here in 2017 to now being a daily event. 

2nd September

An early morning loop of Pulborough Brooks produced 58 species including a pleasing selection of waders on the North Brooks (seven Black-tailed Godwits, four Ruff, three Green Sandpiper, four Snipe and 120 Lapwing) but sadly not the Spotted Redshank seen by Chris and Juliet et al the previous day. At least a dozen Yellow Wagtails were with the cattle near Winpenny and a Spotted Flycatcher was among a mixed flock at the picnic area on the way down to Nettleys.

Ruff and Lapwings

Later in the morning, while at our allotment, I noted a Swallow flying over carrying food, so presumably still feeding young in a nest. Later still, a Cattle Egret flew low over the A29 as we were driving home. 

3rd September

A morning walk from home with Kate and B produced a couple of Willow Warblers and three Spotted Flycatchers up Sandy Lane. 

A check of the North Brooks at Pulborough en route to Knepp was again lively on the wader front, with Wood Sandpiper the highlight along with eight Black-tailed Godwits, two Ruff, heard-only Green Sandpiper and at least 140 Lapwings. At least five Yellow Wagtails were with the cattle up towards Brookgate Farm, one of the Knepp White Storks was also wading about on the North Brooks but too distant to read the ring number, and a Hobby was hawking overhead.

Yellow Wagtails

Knepp itself was rather quiet on the bird front, but a check of Southlands Farm in West Chiltington on the way home produced singles of Tufted Duck and Shoveler on the little pool there; both new species for me at this site. 

4th September

After dropping B at nursery this morning I headed up to Amberley Mount, hoping I would find it above the fog level. Frustratingly, the fog was sitting just at the height of the Downs here and took a little while to clear. As I reached the top of the western slope, it had thankfully mostly dissipated and the first birds to reveal themselves were three Wheatears on the fence line around the sheep fields. There were several Yellow Wagtails calling and occasionally flying up from among the sheep too - I reckoned at least six by the end of the session here. Other highlights from a lively couple of hours included a minimum of ten Redstarts (mostly on the southern slopes), a few Willow Warblers, singles of Whinchat, Stonechat, Corn Bunting and Spotted Flycatcher, and a Marsh Harrier powering north. Swallows and House Martins were trickling west/south-west throughout the session, and three small groups of Siskin were also heard flying over, seemingly heading in the same direction. 

Willow Warbler

Marsh Harrier

5th September

A rewarding early morning jaunt from home produced a 1km year tick in the form of a Whinchat in the scrub near the railway crossing at Waltham Brooks. Atypically, it didn't hang around for any photos as it flew strongly off towards the river almost as soon as I'd lifted my bins. This followed a flyover Yellow Wagtail - species 104 for the Watersfield Farmland hotspot. At least one Yellow Wag was heard around the cattle at Waltham Brooks too, with other highlights including at least three Lesser Whitethroat, half a dozen Common Whitethroat, three Snipe (my first of the autumn here), two Stonechat, Water Rail, three Tufted Duck and a Little Grebe.

Whitethroat

Lesser Whitethroat and Stonechat

A mid-afternoon skywatch from the fields near home proved rather quiet in the searing heat, though at least 100 Swallows were milling about, some purposefully heading WNW, with a few House Martins in tow. An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull also drifted the same way.

6th September

After a morning garden safari at Knepp (highlights of which were Hummingbird Hawkmoth and a lot of hornets!) I made an impromptu decision to pop down to Mill Hill near Shoreham, even though the Red-backed Shrike hadn't been reported for a couple of days. I hadn't been here for a few years and it was lovely to have a stroll round, even if it was blisteringly hot and the shrike didn't put in an appearance. 

Highlights included two Spotted Flycatchers in the scrub north of the car park, a heard-only Redstart and, best of all, a Honey Buzzard which suddenly appeared to the west of the hill, flying away from me before gaining height, banking and heading north. Annoyingly, a combination of the element of surprise, suncream on my glasses and terrible light meant I wasn't able to get any useable photos of it, so the record shot below is purely for posterity. Mill Hill is always a great site for butterflies and today didn't disappoint, with several Adonis Blues about and my first UK Clouded Yellow of the year. 

Adonis Blues

Spotted Flycatcher

Honey Buzzard (honest!)

On the way home I briefly stopped off at Pulborough for a scan of the South Brooks from Hail's View which produced just a couple of Green Sandpipers. 

7th September

A dawn walk from home was rather too hampered by fog and low light to be anything other than a nice breath of cool air after a sticky night.

Sunrise over Watersfield

After dropping B off at nursery I decided to head over to the farmland and private reservoir near Petworth. The temperature was already climbing fast and it was uncomfortable to be in the sun for any length of time. It proved to be a fairly lively 90 minutes or so here though, with 42 species recorded. Highlights were a hotspot first Redstart briefly in flight along a hedgerow, Wheatear, two Common Sandpipers at the reservoir and at least two Ringed Plover flying over, calling, seemingly heading west but not seen.

Farmland near Petworth

8th September

Not much birding today aside from a trip to Warnham LNR with B. My first visit to this reserve for a while, today it produced 32 species including Kingfisher, Marsh Tit and the usual assortment of wildfowl and gulls. 

Best from the garden moth trap at home in the morning were two Light Emeralds and the first Centre-barred Sallow of the autumn.

Light Emerald

Centre-barred Sallow

While in the garden in the afternoon, singles of Yellow Wagtail and Siskin flew south and south-west, respectively. 

9th September

A morning safari at Knepp was scorching hot and rather quiet on the bird front, though the odonata put on a good show, especially Migrant Hawkers which seemed to be everywhere we looked. 

An evening walk out to the river at Thorndale Bridge was a relief after the heat of the day, and produced a juvenile Marsh Harrier quartering just across the river at Amberley and a Great White Egret which flew across to Amberley from Waltham Brooks, the latter my first record for this eBird hotspot. 

Great White Egret

Marsh Harrier

10th September

The moth trap was out again overnight which produced a new for the garden Marbled Green. Prior to emptying the trap, an early morning loop of Waltham Brooks and Thorndale Bridge produced a/the Great White Egret again, flying in from Amberley before turning and heading up the river towards Pulborough. Also noteworthy were two Whinchats along the river bank, a Green Sandpiper which flew in from the north and dropped in under Greatham Bridge and a heard-only Kingfisher.

Marbled Green

Waltham Brooks sunrise

Whinchat

Great White Egret

Later in the morning, half a dozen Siskins flew high south-west over the garden. There already seem to be more of these around lately, even if just moving through. Fingers crossed for a better winter ahead for them and other winter finches.

With rain forecast around lunchtime I headed over to the private reservoir near Petworth hoping for a wader to drop in. In the event, there was just a Common Sandpiper of note on the deck, although at least two Ringed Plover were again heard flying over, 16 Pochard was a fairly high count here and at least 70 Swallows drifted east ahead of the approaching weather. 

What doldrums?

June is typically the month when birding can get rather slow and repetitive, especially on a local patch. Quite apart from the extraordinary run of megas on a national scale in recent weeks, it’s also been pretty good at Pulborough, despite the fact I’ve not had a year tick since the end of May. 

Missing the Sanderling on the 11th was pretty gripping to say the least, especially as as far as I’m aware it’s the first record for the reserve since 2013. Still an excellent find by the Friday crew, just a shame I was halfway to Yorkshire at the time!

Sanderling, 11th June. Photo by Warren B

The Shelduck family are still present on the North Brooks, the six ducklings growing bigger by the day, while the lingering female Pintail is also still about - presumably here for the summer now. 

The lingering Pintail

The best news this past week has been the arrival of the first Avocet chicks of the year, after two failed attempts in the spring. Three chicks have been seen on the pool at West Mead since the weekend, and the adults have been doing a great job of chasing off any passing Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Carrion Crows. The hide at West Mead is still closed, so the best place to get a glimpse of them is with a scope from the tea terrace or by the dipping pond behind the visitor centre.

There have also been up to eight adult Avocets on the North Brooks of late, so perhaps we'll see some more chicks in the coming weeks. West Mead is also hosting a reasonable number of Lapwing chicks at the moment too, which is great to see. Redshank numbers seem to be increasing although I've still not seen any chicks as yet. 

Avocets at West Mead, photo by Andy Ashdown

The first returning Green Sandpipers are starting to trickle through with singles seen on the 17th and the 20th. A Wood Sandpiper on the North Brooks on the 14th was a little unexpected, although strangely the third year in a row we’ve had a mid June record of the species here. Presumably failed breeders returning from Scandinavia.

Highlights along the Arun recently have included regular Kingfisher sightings, good numbers of Reed Warblers (attracting the attentions of a Cuckoo or two) and presumably the same Great Crested Grebe I've seen from time to time here since April. I've only seen one on its own but have heard anecdotal records from a dog walker of two together recently.

Great Crested Grebe

The heath is always good value at this time of year with several recent evening visits producing at least three Nightjars, a roding Woodcock plus the delightful background soundtrack from the Field Crickets, more of which have been recently translocated here from Farnham. 

After a bumper spring for singing male Nightingales around the reserve (at least ten), the scrubby areas around the main trail are now busy with whistling and croaking adults tending to fledglings. The best areas to see or hear one are Adder Alley, the Hanger, or anywhere between the top of the Zig Zag path and Fattengates.

Whilst it isn't exactly a popular topic of conversation among non-birding friends and family, now we've passed the Summer Solstice, we can really start thinking about autumn and the first dispersing migrants. Waders should really get going in July, followed by the first proper waves of returning passerines in August. I'm still missing the likes of Whinchat, Redstart and Tree Pipit for my Pulborough year list, so these will be among the species on my radar in the next few weeks.

Wet weekend - but a welcome patch tick!

What a thoroughly unpleasant weekend it's been, weather-wise, with November continuing right where the wettest October on record left off. It's fair to say I can't recall ever getting as drenched on a birding session as I did on Saturday morning, but not without valid reason.

I'd had a decent morning on the patch -  66 species recorded including 14 Crossbills, a Brent Goose, 108 Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Marsh Harriers, 2 Peregrines, Marsh Tit, Cetti's Warbler and a late Swallow, among others - and was just giving the North Brooks a final scan as the forecast rain band was arriving on the strengthening southerly wind and I knew I had a half hour walk home ahead of me.

A group of gulls loafing on a pool on the far north side of the North Brooks caught my attention. We don't see good-sized gatherings of gulls on the deck here all that often, so I scanned through them hoping for something unusual. As I did so, a small flying wader caught my eye. It seemed very skittish, and never settled for long but the fact that when it did land it did so on water combined with its obvious dark eye mask and cap told me straight away I was looking at a Phalarope. When on the water it looked buoyant and rather plump and long-bodied, oddly reminiscent of a Little Gull as it bobbed about among the nearby Black-headeds. It was being rather harried by crows at one point and disappeared behind vegetation for a while before reappearing in the centre of the pool and starting to feed in its distinctive way, pecking at the water. Now that I was happy I was looking at a Grey Phalarope I reached for my phone to put news out and try to phonescope it but unfortunately in the short time I spent fumbling in my pocket the bird had apparently flown again and I wasn’t able to relocate it, despite another hour of searching - though the rain and wind by then seriously hampered my efforts. I had another scan of the pools in that area of the North Brooks later in the day but without any joy. 

Still, it's hard to let the brevity of the sighting put a dampener on what was a long-awaited Pulborough tick for me, especially after October proved to be a bit of a disappointment in terms of the birds to effort ratio. The 2020 year list now stands on 148, with two months still to go...

Black-tailed Godwits over the North Brooks

Sunday morning started out even more unpleasant than Saturday, with heavy rain hammering on the window as I awoke. A delayed start to the day's birding produced rather fewer species and the raptors were slow to rise, though the wing-tagged, Norfolk-born juvenile Marsh Harrier put on a good show on the South Brooks along with the two Peregrines again, and a male Hen Harrier was enjoyed by others later in the day. Lapwing numbers have grown to at least five hundred now, with three Ruff to be found among them today. A frustrating 'one that got away' occurred in the form of a possible 2nd winter Caspian Gull which flew west past Jupp's View. Sadly I couldn't get my camera on it quick enough, but it would have been only my second Pulborough Casp, if so.

The wing-tagged juvenile male Marsh Harrier, born in Thorpe Marshes in Norfolk this summer

In the afternoon, Kate and I headed down to Littlehampton to get a bit of sea air ahead of the impending second lockdown. We decided to check out the West Beach which we've not visited before. A blustery walk was enlivened by a Dartford Warbler in the bushes near the visitor centre, associating with at least five Stonechats, although always rather elusive. On the beach itself were c.75 Sanderling and at least 30 each of Turnstone and Ringed Plover, while singles of Gannet and Brent Goose flew east and west, respectively.

Brent Goose

Dartford Warbler - elusive, as I said!

Sanderlings

Turnstone