Early February

1st February

A beautifully sunny day for the most part, it felt almost spring-like by lunchtime at Woods Mill with Buzzards getting high on the thermals and a Sparrowhawk displaying. Before work I briefly stopped off for a scan of Amberley Wildbrooks from the southern side which produced a nice little selection of waders: a single Ruff, at least six Dunlin, ~220 Black-tailed Godwits (at least - they were unusually very spread out rather than in a single tight flock) plus the usual hundreds of Lapwing (800 at the very least but probably more than a thousand). There were also three Shelduck on the north side and one of the White-tailed Eagles about too. 

True happiness at this time of year comes from those first bright days when it's still just about light as I finish work, and today was certainly the best one yet. A Firecrest was calling as I left Woods Mill and there was still enough light left when I neared home to stop for a dusk vigil by the lake at Waltham Brooks which produced four Tufted Ducks and at least three squealing Water Rails. 

Sunset at Waltham Brooks

2nd February

Continuing the theme of the slightly longer days, this morning I manage to squeeze in an hour or so of birding before work. Heading out on foot from home I pitched up on the river bank for a bit of a scan from Thorndale Bridge out towards Amberley. I quickly picked up the pair of White-tailed Eagles perched together at some serious distance on the north side of Amberley. My neighbour happened to walk past a few minutes later and he was delighted when I showed him the eagles through my scope, and we talked a little about hopeful conservation success stories. A nice way to start the day! There were plenty of swans flying about over Amberley, mostly Mute Swans from what I could see, including a group of seven which flew upriver. One group of three adult swans flew south off the wildbrooks which I only had in view for a matter of seconds but I suspect they may have been Bewick's. Other bits of note this morning included my first singing Reed Bunting of the year. 

Around lunchtime I headed out again for a bit, first to check the Hadworth Farm scrape which held absolutely no waterbirds at all for the first time in weeks, partly owing to reduced water levels but also as a tractor had evidently been through not long before and flailed all the hedges. I did wonder if a Green Sandpiper wasn't skulking about out there somewhere and, sure enough, Mark McManus reported one there an hour or so later. As I didn't stay here long I popped up towards Fittleworth to scan a likely area of woodland in the hope of some raptor action in the surprisingly pleasant sunshine. Just two Red Kites in half an hour today but I will be back again; it's wonderful to think we are into the season of displaying Goshawks. 

Skywatching, dreaming of Goshawks...

3rd February

A family walk at Burton Mill Pond this morning produced a few goodies including my first Woodlark of the year, singing over the vineyard. There were good numbers of thrushes and finches around, including at least 200 each of Fieldfare and Siskin, the latter making an incredible sound in the Alders near the road. Every tree seemed to be dripping with them! Duck numbers were way down since my last proper circuit here, with unusually no Pochard at all and only around 25 Tufted Duck in total. On the other hand, a lone drake Wigeon on Chingford Pond was my first record of the species here (on either pond) since December 2022! Egrets were represented by four Little Egret and two Great White Egret at Chingford Pond. Other bits of note were my first singing Firecrest of the year, and a group of seven Snipe which flew west over Newpiece Moor.

Great White Egret

Siskins

4th February

An early start this morning for a couple of hours' session at Pulborough Brooks. Lucky I arrived when I did and not a couple of minutes later as, if I had, I would have missed the eight Bewick's Swans which were on the Mid Brooks but flew south just after I scanned from behind the visitor centre. Luckily I managed to get just enough on them to confirm the ID as they flew (they were later seen back down at Burpham Water Meadows). There were eight at Henfield Levels a couple of days ago, so they have clearly decided to return to the Arun Valley for a bit. They're proving to be very mobile this winter! Other highlights from Pulborough this morning included 14 Shelduck, 12 Black-tailed Godwit, 16 Dunlin and five Ruff, plus the usual Peregrine in its favourite willow at the Hanger. 

Peregrine and Jackdaws

Shelducks

Bewick's Swans (a long way away by this point!)

A check of the private reservoir near Petworth yielded a pair of Pintail among 87 Shoveler, while the surrounding farmland was ringing with the sound of Skylarks singing (as was the case at Pulborough, actually - clearly today was the day for them!)

Finally, the scrape at Hadworth Farm/Bignor Park held a single Green Sandpiper. 

5th February

I dropped in at The Burgh this morning as I was passing. It was a windy start to the day with a blanket of murk and drizzle in the air, but I still enjoyed a peaceful hour walking the loop from Canada Barn. The highlight was a ringtail Hen Harrier quartering the fields north of the Dew Pond, with other raptors seen including 35 Red Kites, a couple of Buzzards and a pair of Sparrowhawks. There was lots of Skylark song around, despite the wind, and little groups of Grey Partridge around seemingly every corner.

Looking south from The Burgh

A lunchtime walk around the local farmland near home passed without much event, aside from a few Wigeon in flight over Waltham Brooks and two Coal Tits having a bit of a sing-off on our road. We've had a run of grey, windy days recently; it definitely feels like the next bright, sunny day we have will feel that bit more spring-like and we can start thinking about Goshawks and Lesser Spots again...

6th February

Another blustery and at times wet morning saw me heading out on foot towards the river and up to Waltham Brooks. A Kingfisher briefly perched by the outflow on the near bank at Thorndale Bridge was my first in the 1km from home recording area this year while a Great White Egret was glimpsed in flight distantly over Amberley Wildbrooks. Up at Waltham Brooks the highlights were five Tufted Duck and the usual selection of dabblers on the main lake, at least seven Snipe flushed from the marshy grassland bits and plenty of Chiffchaffs in full song at the sewage works. 

A brief lunchtime check of the scrape at Hadworth Farm produced a lonely Grey Heron but nothing else. Sadly this site doesn't seem to hold much water for very long and this combined with the thawing out of other more high quality wetland sites has led to this being largely shunned by local wildfowl and waders for the time being. Roll on spring wader passage!

The clear highlight of the day came later afternoon when, glancing up from my desk upstairs at home, I caught sight of a Merlin dashing quite low over the rooftops, jinking to and fro like a large hirundine before dropping down at speed towards Amberley. My second sighting of the species from home already this year and my best 'from the bedroom window' views yet. Just too quick for a photo unfortunately, especially as I was halfway through voice noting Ed at the time!

7th February

Birding time was rather limited today but I did at least manage to get out for a lunchtime walk at Woods Mill where highlights included a vocal Marsh Tit, and seven Canada Geese (5 and 2) which flew over, remarkably my first here! As I was leaving late afternoon a Firecrest was calling by the car park.

Marsh Tit

8th February

Next to no birding today aside from a quick look at Waltham Brooks in passing, in the pouring rain, where I found three Tufted Duck on the main lake and half a dozen Redwings in the scrub by the road.

9th February

 Another day with only limited birding time saw me do a quick check of a couple of local water bodies in my lunch break. The scrape at Hadworth Farm/Bignor Park held the lingering Green Sandpiper plus eight Gadwall, while Burton Mill Pond produced three drake Pochard, 14 Tufted Duck, a flyover Raven and at least two Red Kites and seven Buzzards circling about. I'm still waiting for the return of the regular breeding Great Crested Grebes here, with the species still implausibly absent from my 2024 local year list as we approach the seventh week of the year!

Green Sandpiper

10th February

I had a great time at the Sussex Recorders Seminar in Haywards Heath during the day, it was really nice to see so many familiar faces and some really excellent talks! There was enough daylight when I got home for a pootle over to Waltham Brooks, and the cloud even broke to give a beautiful sunset. Highlights of the 40 species in an hour here included some 150 Linnets in to roost, 15 Tufted Duck on the lake (including a female with a particular strong white blaze which made me double take), at least 15 Snipe, three Water Rail, a pair of Stonechat, and a pair of Pintail which flew high north - the latter two species perhaps indicators of some early movement. I've not seen Stonechat here for a while and the Pintail didn't look like they were just moving upriver, they seemed to be setting off on quite a journey... Perhaps just wishful thinking, but the seasons are turning!

Pintails high over Waltham Brooks

Tufted Ducks (rather Scaup-y female back left)

Linnets

Linnets

Mid-January

11th January

No sooner had I arrived at Pulborough Brooks early this morning and just started to scan the flooded and frozen South Brooks than I received a call from Mrs Matt saying she needed me to help her with a flat tyre, so that put paid to that particular effort! 

Fast forward 45 minutes or so and the tyre was all sorted, so I decided to drop in for a quick look at Waltham Brooks on my way home. It proved to be a good decision as, while I was enjoying the sunshine and the loud cracking sounds of the ice giving way above receding water levels, two ducks appeared into view from the north which revealed themselves to be Goosanders as they powered on over the main lake towards the Arun, where they seemed to drop in a little way downstream. A Great White Egret was also heading the same way, albeit at a more leisurely pace. My first record of Goosander anywhere this year and only my third ever record at Waltham Brooks. Funnily enough, Ed and I had literally just been chatting about the species, as he'd just found two at Frensham Great Pond. Amazing how often that happens!

Goosanders powering off downriver... sadly too slow with the camera this time!

12th January

Back to grey today after a few days of crisp winter sunshine. An early loop of Pulborough Brooks proved to be fairly uneventful, not entirely surprising given the extent of flood water. There were still several hundred dabbling ducks around, mostly Wigeon and Teal, although a lone Tufted Duck drake was on the South Brooks. I missed the Redshank and two Ruff seen by Chris and Juliet Moore but did manage to find a couple of Dunlin among ~500 Black-tailed Godwits huddled on the South Brooks. 

A day with no year ticks was salvaged late afternoon by a Peregrine which flew north over Watersfield, just as I happened to take a screen break and look out of the window (amazing how often that happens!), taking my local list to 90, and 69 within the 1km area. 

13th January

Another gloomy, grey start to the day saw me heading over to the private reservoir near Petworth to carry out my WeBS count a day early. It turned into a surprisingly decent session here, with two site ticks. As I got out of my car, I was greeted by the sound of a Blackbird softly singing nearby, always a heart-lifting sound in the depth of winter. A little further down the track to the reservoir I was surprised by a small falcon which suddenly flew up from the field to my right and gained height before flying off east - a Merlin! The first of two site ticks and no sooner had I processed it than I made my way closer to the reservoir only to discover three Goosanders on the water! Unfortunately they were evidently just as surprised to see me so quickly took flight and, in the half light, I only managed some ropey record shots. The Long-tailed Duck was still present too, which got me to thinking whether I had ever seen those two duck species at the same location before, the answer to which, I'm pretty sure, is no!

Goosanders

On the way home I stopped briefly at Hadworth Farm in West Burton to check out the flooded field here. This also proved decent, as it produced three site ticks in the form of Wigeon, Little Egret and Raven. The former were on the water, the two Little Egrets dropped in to feed along the waters edge and the latter (Ravens) were noisily flying to and from Bignor Park, where I suspect they must nest. 

Later in the day I headed down to Arundel with Kate and B for a stroll round, and to feed the ducks at Swanbourne Lake (of course!). A brief stop at the church in Burpham yielded the nine adult Bewick's Swans in the water meadows there plus at least seven Cattle Egrets in the fields beyond. 

Bewick's Swans

Multiple Cattle Egrets were later seen coming into roost from the Black Rabbit pub by the Arun, along with at least eight Marsh Harriers. 

14th January

A Wildstarts tour saw me spending the morning at Pulborough Brooks, leading a mother and her son around the trail. Highlights included a brief Great White Egret on the North Brooks, which also held ~200 skittish Black-tailed Godwits. The South Brooks were livelier, with singles of Ruff (a local year tick) and Marsh Harrier, ten Shelduck at West Mead and one of the adult White-tailed Eagles in a tree near the Arun which briefly flew and showed off its gleaming white tail before returning to a similar perch. On the way back up to the visitors centre we bumped into the flighty Redpoll flock near Fattengates, all Lessers as far as I could see.

Lesser Redpoll

Lapwing

Teal

A brief check of Waltham Brooks on the way home yielded four Tufted Ducks on the main lake and around 55 Lapwings in flight over Amberley. 

15th January

A whistle-stop tour of likely Waxwing sites around Pulborough before work this morning drew a blank again. It was a beautiful, crisp sunny winter's day so I couldn't resist getting out for a walk at lunchtime, to Waltham Brooks via the local farmland. No new species for the local year list, although I did add three species to the 1km from home list. First up a Little Egret circling overhead near the sewage works before heading south, then later two Shelduck flying downriver and finally two Grey Wagtails at the sewage works. On the lake it was usual fare, with a dozen Tufted Ducks the most noteworthy among the standard set of dabbling species.

Shelducks

16th January

No time for birding for work today, perhaps not too bad given it was -7c when I left the house! A lunchtime walk at Woods Mill in glorious sunshine did wonders for the soul, with four species added to my site list here including two Little Egrets which flew west, presumably looking for unfrozen water. Despite the cold, many species were singing and visibly pairing up including Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Collared Dove and Dunnock, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard drumming. A lovely first winter Grey Wagtail was feeding around one of the frozen pools. 

Grey Wagtail

17th January

After dropping B at nursery first thing I headed up the Downs for a quick walk at The Burgh. Both Red-legged and Grey Partridge were added to the year list almost immediately, followed closely by a Hen Harrier ringtail which was quartering around the fields near Canada Barn. A little walk eastwards from the barn produced the usual array of small birds, including 100+ Linnet, 50+ Redwing and Fieldfare, ~200 Starling, and the odd Yellowhammer. Returning to my car I tried again to scope the Bewick's Swans down in the valley and sure enough found eight adults. There were also at least nine Cattle Egrets in the fields up towards Offham. All in all a very successful 45 minutes or so which produced five local year ticks and three eBird hotspot ticks.

Spot the Bewick's Swans!

Hen Harrier

A lunchtime check of the flooded field/scrape at Hadworth Farm/Bignor Park produced 26 species including at least six Snipe feeding in the grass by the water's edge - a new species for me here - plus 8 Wigeon, 4 Gadwall, 6 Coots and a Little Grebe on the flood. The local Ravens were again very active and vocal, flying in and out of Bignor Park. 

18th January

Another bitterly cold but beautiful morning with the deep frost lit up by golden sunshine. I decided on a bit of woodland birding after dropping B off at nursery this morning so headed over to Fittleworth for a brisk (very brisk!) walk there. It was largely uneventful but pleasant with highlights being a few Redpoll (uncooperatively not landing to allow me to check them for Mealy), Siskin, drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker and a tumbling pair of Ravens. Just as I was about to leave though, I caught sight of a male Goshawk drifting overhead, quite high, and only in view for a few seconds. This is a site I have seen the species at before, so it's reassuring to know they're still around. It really is amazing how fast the species seems to spreading in this area now, based on how often I bump into one without really looking for them.

A lunchtime check of Hadworth Farm/Bignor Park revealed the flooded field/scrape to be holding the largest number I've birds I've seen on it to date, including 37 Teal, eight Wigeon, four Gadwall and presumably the same Little Grebe as yesterday. 25 Canada Geese were gathered on the shore along with a single Greylag Goose.

The scrape at Hadworth Farm, West Burton

19th January

I was up near Haslemere for work this morning, so decided to drop in at Benbow Pond near Midhurst on the way home, to have a quick look for the Waxwings found by Penny Green at the weekend. I am starting to get just a little anxious I might miss out on seeing this species in what is proving to be a bumper winter for them - especially since my own attempts at finding some locally have so far proved unsuccessful. Today it wasn't to be either, although the area where they had been - a grove of massive old Lime trees absolutely draped in Mistletoe - was a pretty special spot and busy with Redwings, Mistle Thrushes and various small birds. The Black Swans down at the pond showed nicely anyway, as did a Buzzard low overhead.

Black Swan

Buzzard

A brief check of the private site near Petworth afterwards revealed the Long-tailed Duck to not be present, though there was an impressive 78 Shoveler and 32 Tufted Duck (plus a single Pochard), clearly evidence of birds displaced from frozen ponds and lakes elsewhere. Finally, a very quick look at the Hadworth Farm scrape revealed at least one Green Sandpiper and three Snipe still present, although duck numbers had reduced since yesterday, presumably owing to even greater ice cover. 

20th January

A whistle stop tour of local sites this morning, starting with a scan from the river bank near Greatham Bridge, which proved pretty quiet aside from seven Shoveler flying north. Next up, Hail's View to scan the South Brooks in the hope of locating the Water Pipit found by Alan Baker yesterday. Sadly no joy, but it was nice to catch up with Michael and Daniel Booker here. 20 Dunlin were out on the ice, a pretty remarkable count here for this time of year, and these and 30 or so Lapwing were flushed up by an adult White-tailed Eagle which flew through and landed in one of its favourite trees by the river. Very few ducks, which was unsurprising given the lack of unfrozen water. 

Talking of ducks, my last stop of the morning was the Hadworth Farm scrape, which I have been checking most days lately owing to it having a bit of a purple patch due to some remaining unfrozen water. Today produced undoubtedly the most birds I've seen there yet, including 72 Teal, 70 Canada Geese (and a single Greylag), nine Wigeon, a female Pintail and two Green Sandpipers again, one of which flew up and over my head a couple of times.

Green Sandpiper

Assorted wildfowl on the ice at Hadworth Farm

Later in the day, just as I had finished chopping some firewood in the garden I glanced up to see a Woodcock flying east, low overhead. A garden first and first for the 1k area list this year. 

The home straight of winter...

A change in the weather in the two weeks since my last blog post, with the ice having all melted and relatively little rain having fallen the ground conditions in the Arun Valley are remarkably not too muddy now and have allowed for some exploration of areas that have been impassable for weeks thanks to the flooding and the big freeze. We've been treated to some glorious days of spring-like sunshine too which have really helped lift the spirits as we finally reach the end of the hard slog of January and head into February - the home straight of winter!

24th January

Feeling strangely mild (although still barely above freezing), on the first frost-free morning in over a week. In that time the water levels locally have mercifully receded enough to allow me to access the southern entrance to Waltham Brooks, via Thorndale Bridge and the bank of the River Arun. This is where I headed this morning for a little scan of the river and the north-western corner of Amberley Wildbrooks beyond. As I passed under the bridge I noticed an adult Great Black-backed Gull powering north up the river - my second locally in two days! Across the river, a Kingfisher flew away from me up the drainage ditch flowing out of Amberley Wildbrooks. For a second I thought I heard a Water Pipit call but just the one squeak and I didn't see it or hear it again, so wrote it off. Otherwise, it was usual fare here, with a Water Rail squealing somewhere unseen and a few Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler flying up from the river and the wildbrooks. 

Shoveler

25th January

The day began with a Peregrine low over Watersfield first thing, followed by a walk from home to Waltham Brooks. Grey and misty, still very cold but ice gradually thawing. There had been a noticeable increase in ducks on the main lake but still not exactly spectacular for the time of year. Two Red Kites and a Raven were airborne over Amberley Wildbrooks, while at least three Cetti's Warblers were making themselves heard and a Chiffchaff was singing half-heartedly along the river just south of the reserve. 

26th January

Another grey and frost-free morning, after some overnight rain. A check of farmland over near Petworth finally produced my first Yellowhammer of the year (in an area that's normally very good for them and I've already visited twice in January), along with a flock of ~80 Goldfinches and a Grey Wagtail.

27th January

No birding today.

28th January

A half-hour check of Waltham Brooks at lunchtime proved quite lively, with my first Shelduck here this year on the main lake, along with a female Pintail and 300+ dabbling ducks, mostly Teal but also at least 80 each of Shoveler and Wigeon. Overhead, a Raven cronked its way west while two Marsh Harriers flew north.

Early afternoon we found ourselves in the Arundel area so spent a little while up at the Offham viewpoint which produced distant views of the six adult Bewick's Swans feeding down in the water meadows below.

Gadwall

Shelduck and Wigeon

Raven

29th January

A couple of hours at Burton Mill Pond from first light produced quite a lively session. Following on from Mike Dale's report on Twitter of 13 Little Egrets there on the 25th today I found at least 22, all gathered around Chingford Pond along with the now regular Great White Egret (more on that later). The reason for this gathering of egrets (along with several Grey Herons) is evidently due to the water level at Chingford having dropped dramatically since my last visit, exposing lots of lovely mud around the edges, especially at the southern end. It's such a drastic drop in level that it must have been done deliberately and, indeed, there was a guy fiddling with one of the outflows today, and the main outflow out of the dam was dry.

Back to the Great Egret, which I noticed was bearing a red darvic ring on its left leg. I couldn't see any digits on the ring but a bit of online detective work led to the discovery that this bird had probably been ringed on the Avalon Marshes in Somerset. 

Also of note on Chingford Pond were at least 40 Pochard; by far my highest count of the species here, or anywhere locally, so far this winter.

Little Egrets, Great Egret and Grey Heron

Great Egret (with red leg ring)

Extra excitement in the afternoon as I was doing the obligatory Big Garden Birdwatch from our bedroom window and not recording a huge amount when a small flock of Starlings swirling around a little way down the road caught my attention. Just as I thought to myself 'it's a shame I can't count those' they suddenly all jinked sharply in one direction as a fast pointed shape appeared out of the sky from the west and lunged directly at them, missing completely, before continuing off to the east. The compact size, sharply pointed, rapidly flickering wings could only belong to one species: Merlin! An amazing garden and 1k tick that I certainly was not expecting when I sat down to count the Blue Tits. Amazingly, it returned about 15 minutes later, powering back west, quite high, but as I reached for my camera I lost it, unfortunately. 

30th January

Not a huge amount of birding today although I did manage a couple of short walks at Ashdown Forest as I was over there for work purposes. Very quiet here though, despite the pleasantly warm spring-like sunshine, with just the odd Siskin of note among the many Coal Tits and Wrens.

On the way home I popped in at Weir Wood Reservoir where I bumped into local patch watcher Alastair Gray. I didn't have my scope unfortunately but Alastair let me use his to see the lingering two female Wood Ducks and the 51-strong flock of Barnacle Geese. It was also nice to see Grey Herons carrying nest material up to the heronry. Spring is getting closer by the day.

31st January

A pleasantly mild morning. I dropped in to Waltham Brooks again for half an hour as I was passing. The lake again yielded lots of wildfowl including three Shelducks (two of which flew off towards Pulborough) and a pair of Pintail.

Best of all though was a male Yellowhammer which flew in from the south and briefly dropped into the scrub and allows near the lake. My first record here and only the second within my 1k area since moving to Watersfield in September last year.

Yellowhammer

Late morning I headed up to Surrey to meet Ed, mostly to work on the book, but we managed to squeeze in a bit of birding in his 1k area. A Peregrine over Eashing Fields was the highlight, although I actually had seven hotspot ticks here including singing Coal Tit. A walk along the river a bit later in distinctly spring-like conditions produced Grey Wagtail, Sparrowhawk, Red Kite and a flycatching Goldcrest.

On the way home I decided to stop at Burton Mill Pond for a little dusk session which actually turned out to be a very sensible decision. As has become a bit of a thing here lately, the first bird I saw was a Great White Egret flushed from the reeds near the road, although I think a different bird to the one on Sunday, as I couldn't see a red ring on this bird. Little Egrets were trickling over in ones and small groups, heading south to roost, with a single Cattle Egret among them. A Kingfisher darted low over the water towards the outflow channel. Just as the light was fading to its last I had two unexpected Burton Mill Pond ticks in close succession. First, a Goshawk which I picked up late flying lower over the pond before disappearing into the trees on the west side - the whole experience lasting a matter of seconds, but no doubt about the ID. The second was another 'flying away from me by the time I got on it' moment, as I noticed a lone duck flying southwest, the long neck and whirring wingbeats so diagnostic of a Goosander.

Cattle Egret

1st February

I didn't have time for lots of birding today but managed a late morning walk around local farmland and woodland. Lots of singing Song Thrushes, Mistle Thrushes and others, but the highlight was a Peregrine over Lodge Hill and Coldwaltham Farm, presumably the same bird that I've seen a few times since Christmas, so is presumably wintering in the area.

Peregrine

2nd February

I headed over to Pulbrough Brooks this morning for the first time in a couple of weeks (I'm ashamed to say!). There was no sign of the Avocet found by Chris and Juliet Moore yesterday but two Ruff among the many hundreds of Lapwing were a year tick. Also among the Lapwing was a striking leucistic Lapwing which really caught the eye. Otherwise highlights from an hour here were two Snipe, Peregrine, Marsh Harrier and the highest count of ducks I've seen here this winter, including at the very least 80 Pintail.

Leucistic Lapwing

Ruff with Lapwings

3rd February

Not a lot of birding today but anecdotal highlights included five Little Egrets in the wet meadow next to the River Rother in Fittleworth, seen from the car, and the two local White-tailed Eagles (still sounds weird to think of them like that) soaring over the Downs, viewed from my office/bedroom window in the afternoon. Also seen from home was the now daily Raven flying low over the hamlet. I'm sure there must be a pair nesting somewhere in my 1k area but haven't worked out where yet.

4th February

This morning I joined members of Shoreham and District Ornithological Society for a walk round Henfield Levels, led by local birder Val Bentley. This was primarily for the purposes of researching the book, as it's not an area I know well and, last time I visited, most of it was underwater and many of the paths impassable!

Henfield Levels

We had a productive morning with highlights including a Water Rail and several Chiffchaffs at the little pond north of Rye Farm and good numbers of Lapwing (~500) and Teal (400+) along with smaller numbers of Wigeon, Pintail and Shoveler.