Late August

And just like that, one of the longest and most bird-filled months of the year comes to a close.

I recorded 129 species in August this year, mostly in Sussex, including three UK year ticks and multiple local year ticks, including Tree Pipit, Whinchat and Honey Buzzard.

Weather-wise, August has ended much in the same vein as the rest of the month: intermittent warm sunny spells, punctuated by some torrential downpours or sometimes just grey and murky days. 

I'm still missing a lot of really gettable species for the year round here, and am excited for what local birding might bring in the coming weeks and months. Bring on the autumn proper!

22nd August

After dropping B at nursery this morning I stopped off at Pulborough for a scan of the South Brooks from behind the visitor centre, followed by a brief check of the wooded edge of the heath. The best on the South Brooks were two each of Greenshank and Green Sandpiper and singles of Hobby and White Stork, while a Spotted Flycatcher was on the edge of the heath. 

Later in the day, two Yellow Wagtails south/south-west over Codmore Hill north of Pulborough represented my first passage birds of the autumn.

Kestrel

23rd August

An eclectic day, starting with a short walk around the local farmland, which produced a lively passerine flock as the rising sun caught the willows and oaks. In among the more common species were at least 4-5 Willow Warblers and singles of Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher.

Spotted Flycatcher

En route to Knepp I very briefly stopped off at Amberley Mount for a scan from Downs Farm which produced a few Whitethroats but little else.

Knepp itself was good (I was co-leading a garden safari) with flyover Yellow Wagtail and Raven over the walled garden and a Spotted Flycatcher flying from the garden area to the trees to the west. 

On the way home I stopped in at Waltham Brooks which again yielded a Redstart in the scrub near the main lake and a White-tailed Eagle in flight over Widney Brooks. 

Another brief look at Amberley Mount late afternoon didn't reveal any new birds of note, but I did see my first Hornet Robberfly on one of the paths - what amazing insects they are!

Hornet Robberfly

24th August

An early loop of Pulborough Brooks proved fairly quiet for waders with just four Ruff and two Green Sandpipers on the North Brooks, while the South Brooks held a third Green Sandpiper and a heard-only Greenshank. Passerine activity was relatively limited due to the time of day and cloudy conditions but at least three Spotted Flycatchers and a couple of Garden Warblers were noted around the trail. From Winpenny, a White Stork (GB0S from Knepp) and the usual very pale Buzzard were the most obvious species.

Buzzard

White Stork

Mid-morning I headed down to Littlehampton with B for a stroll along the West Beach. This was somewhat curtailed by the rain, but nonetheless we managed at least 25 Ringed Plover, three Sanderling and 15 Sandwich Terns on the beach, with others of the latter feeding offshore. A Wheatear very briefly alighted on the fence near the cafe and a couple of Yellow Wagtails were heard flying over. 

25th August

A great little session up on Amberley Mount this morning produced a pleasing selection of species, with migrant passerines again the stars of the show in the form of two Spotted Flycatchers and singles of Whinchat and Redstart. At least one Yellow Wagtail was heard flying over. Four Grey Partridges flew up from near the farm buildings at Downs Farm as I passed. 

Spotted Flycatcher

Whinchat

Redstart

26th August

I started this morning at Waltham Brooks at first light, which proved a worthwhile choice, as one of the first birds I encountered was a Tree Pipit flushed up from the long grass between the railway line and the main lake; amazingly my first record of the species anywhere in 2023, and a particularly welcome 1k and Waltham Brooks tick (123 and 131, respectively). Other highlights here this morning were two Lesser Whitethroats and a Garden Warbler with a couple of tit flocks, a heard-only Kingfisher, and at least 45 Greenfinches leaving roost near the lake. 

A second 1km walk around lunchtime was cut short due to torrential rain, but a late afternoon excursion on foot west home from home proved very good. Having picked up a Spotted Flycatcher on call behind the sports pavilion at Watersfield playing fields, further exploration of Watersfield Common produced rather little until I got to Sandy Lane on the eastern side and found at least two more Spot Flys in an oak here. I figured I needed to get up to the fenceline right by the tree to get the best views - and to check what else might be lurking in the mixed flock (I had already picked up a couple of Willow Warblers kicking about). As I did so, it became clear there were many more Spotted Flycatchers all the way along the hedgerow between where I was stood and the playing fields. Indeed, a proper scan all the way along produced an absolute minimum of ten Spotted Flycatchers (including two fluffy young ones) plus a bonus Redstart. Amazing scenes!

Redstart

Spotted Flycatcher

27th August

No birding today.

28th August

A couple of local outings on foot today, either side of social stuff in Midhurst. The first walk around the local fields this morning proved fairly quiet, though early afternoon two of the White-tailed Eagles drifted high over Watersfield, heading roughly west, chasing each other and tumbling like Ravens as they went. 

Another walk out to the local fields late afternoon was made worthwhile by first a Hobby drifting high south-west overhead, followed by at least two heard-only Crossbills seemingly heading roughly the same way; my first in the 1km this year (124 for that particular list) and my 102nd species in the Watersfield Farmland hotspot. 

Migrant Hawker

29th August

As I had a free morning I decided to put in a couple of hours up at Amberley Mount in the hope of some good passerine action. Redstarts were the stars of the show, with an absolute minimum of nine around, probably more. Other highlights included eight Grey Partridges, three Wheatear and a lone Spotted Flycatcher. 

Grey Partridges

Wheatear

Redstart

The spectacular finale to my walk came in the form of a White-tailed Eagle powering up the valley from the direction of Arundel and straight over the Downs a relatively short distance to the west of me. It was clearly carrying some kind of prey, though it was hard to make out exactly what. 

White-tailed Eagle

With still another hour or so to spare before I needed to head up to Knepp, I decided to pop down to Goring for a quick seawatch in the hope of connecting with a Balearic Shearwater or two (over 200 had been seen off Selsey earlier in the morning). In the end there was to be no such excitement, just a few Sandwich Terns and Gannets offshore and a Turnstone on the beach. 

Turnstone

30th August

A funny, mixed day. A look at the reservoir near Petworth again held three Common Sandpipers and a high count of 43 Tufted Ducks. A walk up to the north-west of Petworth produced a single Swift flying among dozens of Swallows and House Martins.

A late afternoon stroll around the local fields near home was enlivened by an immature Goshawk powering through low and fast into the trees on Lodge Hill, scattering dozens of Rooks and Jackdaws in the process. Not a 10km or 1km tick for this year but my first for the Watersfield Farmland hotspot (species number 103) and still an exciting bird to encounter, despite their rapid increase in this part of the world. 

31st August

An early walk from home out to Thorndale Bridge wasn't particularly productive, though there was a nice scattering of common warblers in the willow scrub just west of the railway bridge, including Reed Warbler, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat.

That was about it for birding today, although a rather late Swift flying over Farnham early afternoon was noteworthy. I don't tend to see many after the end of August. 

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

Turn up for the Brooks

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

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

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

Turnstone

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

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

Pied Flycatcher

Pulborough and Climping

A fairly quiet morning at Pulborough once the fog eventually began to clear. Highlights were three each of Ruff and Dunlin among the Lapwings on the North Brooks plus the usual throng of Black-tailed Godwits which today numbered somewhere in the region of four hundred. Also of note were three Shelduck, three Stonechat, the now regular Little Grebe at West Mead and heard only Kingfisher and Water Rail from the Hanger/Little Hanger. I left early afternoon and so missed the two Black Swans which turned up at Winpenny later on. Obviously not tickable as my patch year 150 but still would be nice to see, hopefully they'll stick around...

In the afternoon I headed down to Arundel with Kate for a bit of lunch and I couldn't resist a quick look in Kim's Bookshop which has a mouth-watering selection of bird books in the back room upstairs. I treated myself to a copy of Birds of the Atlantic Islands which will come in handy for our belated honeymoon trip to Madeira in May

We then headed on to Climping for a walk along the (surprisingly busy!) beach. Despite the amount of people and dogs there was still a decent selection of birds on offer - probably the 'birdiest' I've seen the place since we moved down this way last year. A flock of c.340 Brent Geese flew east over the sea, at least thirty Turnstones were feeding in the shingle or roosting out on the breakwaters while at least the same number of Mediterranean Gulls were around, either on the sea or feeding with Black-headed Gulls, Carrion Crows and a few Buzzards in the arable field.

Turnstones

Turnstone

Med Gulls

Brent Geese