July Skies

Another mixed bag from the past ten days or so, as we teeter on the brink of August and the start of the harvest or Lammas season (1st August - halfway between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox).

I think that means I'm officially allowed to start using the 'a' word now? It's certainly fair to say the weather has been decidedly autumnal for the most part in the past fortnight. The dominance of low pressure, Atlantic weather systems delivering day after day of squally, grey, drizzly conditions has been particularly strange and unsettling given the news and images coming from further south in Europe. I remember something someone said to me a few years ago which has really stuck with me - nobody alive today has known what it's like to live in stable climatic conditions, and that is becoming more and more evident as each year passes.

In the context of local birding and other wildlife watching, it's been a fairly quiet and unremarkable period again, although it's clear we are experiencing a particularly good year for butterflies after a slow start back in the spring. It's been the best Purple Emperor season at Knepp since the best ever year of 2018 and everywhere I look at the moment I seem to be seeing Red Admirals. I had a pretty extraordinary count of ten together on the garden Buddleia the other day!

20th July

I headed out late morning for a fairly lengthy walk from home up towards Fittleworth to scan the valley across the Rother to the north. Raptors were out in force, with multiple Red Kite and Buzzard, at least three Kestrels and a single Sparrowhawk noted during an hour's skywatch here. 

Otherwise it was a relatively quiet session, though at least 35-40 Swallows around the stables at Ashurst were nice to see, as were two juvenile Green Woodpeckers in the same area. 

21st July

A quick look at Pulborough Brooks this morning, scanning the South Brooks from behind the visitor centre. Among 14 Little Egrets (there have been up to 21 recorded here in recent days) were singles of Greenshank and Green Sandpiper on the pool at West Mead while three Red Kites were soaring together in the distance.

En route to Knepp I briefly stopped to check the pool at Southlands Farm in West Chilt which again produced a Green Sandpiper. 

Knepp itself was again on fire, with a female Purple Emperor greeting me as soon as I arrived at the Operation Wallacea campsite. Out in the wildland with my group, highlights included a Barn Owl flying from a known nest site, the very vocal Sparrowhawk family near their nest site and a group of 31 White Storks kettling together over the Exmoor herd towards the far southern end of the estate.

Purple Emperor

After Knepp I headed down to Goring to catch up with David C. While we were chatting by our cars, a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull flew past with a juvenile Herring Gull in tow. After poorly David headed home I indulged in a c.45-minute seawatch from the beach which proved to be quite lively, with three Whimbrel and two each of Dunlin and Mediterranean Gull heading west, and two each of Sandwich Tern and Gannet feeding offshore. 

Whimbrel

Mediterranean Gull

22nd July

This morning I headed down to Medmerry, primarily for work-related reasons but it was a nice opportunity to have a little walk about and check out the Stilt Pool, which yielded singles of Common Sandpiper and Black-tailed Godwit among the Oystercatchers, Cormorants and Black-headed Gulls.

On the way home, with rain due to start at any minute, I had a quick check of the private site near Petworth which produced a juvenile Little Ringed Plover and at least 80 Swifts but little else of note.

No more birding after that as the weather turned decidedly October-esque, with heavy rain and wind - lovely!

23rd July

A brief look at Waltham Brooks en route to a day working at Knepp proved fruitful, as the very last bird of the session was a 1km year tick and Waltham Brooks lifer in the form of a Whimbrel powering south/south-west overhead and disappearing down the valley towards the Downs.

Knepp delivered again on the Turtle Dove front (it's been an astonishing year for the species there) with one seen flying up from a main path not long after I arrived. Otherwise it was mostly about the butterflies today, including what surely must be one of the very last Purple Emperors of the season.

A quick scan of the pool at Southlands Farm in passing on my way home again produced a lone Green Sandpiper. 

24th July

After dropping B at nursery I popped to Pulborough for a quick look at the North Brooks where I found a decent selection of waders - 10 Avocet, 24 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Green Sandpiper, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Common Sandpiper and a single Greenshank - and, sadly, a rather sickly looking adult Mediterranean Gull. 

Avocets

Black-tailed Godwits

25th July

Not much birding today, but it was a pleasure to lead a safari for members of the RSPB Youth Council at Knepp. Highlights included two Turtle Doves (one singing and displaying and another in flight), two Sedge Warblers (Hammer Pond) and my last Purple Emperor of the year. 

26th July

A diverse day which started with a walk from home up to the river at Thorndale Bridge, and a brief skywatch from the fields near home. It certainly felt autumnal, with a lovely fresh feel to the air and a light mist over the river, but it doesn't feel as though the season has quite got into swing yet, ornithologically speaking. Highlights were a Little Egret high east, adult and juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gulls high south and a Water Rail squealing along the river.

Little Egret

Swallows

Mid-morning I headed back down to Medmerry for work. While I was there I had a look at the Stilt Pool which yielded 3 Common Sandpipers, a Green Sandpiper, several Oystercatchers and a heard-only Ringed Plover. A quick look at the sea produced 3 Sandwich Terns, 8 Mediterranean Gulls and a single Gannet. While I was down at the coast I also dropped in to Church Norton briefly which produced a pleasing selection of waders including at least 3 Whimbrel, 2 Sanderling and a Bar-tailed Godwit.

Sandwich Tern

Early afternoon I met up with David C at Pulborough, and a stroll round the reserve produced a few bits, notably 10 Avocet, 2 Green Sandpipers and 3 Black-tailed Godwits on the North Brooks and a single White Stork (GB6S from Knepp) following the tractor around on the South Brooks, just like they're supposed to!

Brown Argus

27th July

A drizzy day, with more than a hint of autumn in the air, only exacerbated by the sound of a Curlew flying over Knepp Castle as I was in the orchard prepping for a garden safari. Other highlights here included a heard-only Raven and a Hummingbird Hawkmoth; the latter very obligingly dropping in to feed on a Buddleia as I had stopped with my group to chat about the importance of nectar sources in a garden!

On the way home I dropped in at Waltham Brooks for half an hour which produced another heard-only Raven, two Cetti's Warblers in the reeds and willows by the main lake and seven Gadwall on the lake itself.

28th July

A walk from home this morning, checking local fields and scrub and a skywatch proved fairly quiet aside from a Hobby terrorising the Swallows before flying off north.

A check of Amberley after dropping B off at nursery produced singles of Redshank, Raven and one of the White-tailed Eagles. 

29th July

Another local session on foot early morning proved quite productive with a Hobby again chasing Swallows about, a Peregrine high south-west and at least 50 Swifts drifting slowly south. That's more like it! I'm excited for my first full autumn vismigging from this area, I do think the funnel effect of the Arun Valley so close to the South Downs could be quite interesting.

Later in the morning, a Big Butterfly Count in the garden at home produced an impressive ten Red Admirals together on the Buddleia. I honestly can't remember such a good summer for the species, they just seem to be everywhere at the moment!

Red Admiral

30th July

A really enjoyable couple of hours out first thing this morning, although it again was feeling unseasonably fresh ahead of the rain that arrived later in the day. First up I checked the private reservoir over near Petworth which yielded very little aside from a noticeable increase in Little Grebes and a flock of at least 450 Jackdaws in flight off the nearby fields.

A visit to Lavington Common produced a Spotted Flycatcher in the pines round the car park and a family group of at least four Dartford Warblers a couple of hundred metres north of the car park. 

Dartford Warbler

Finally, a stake-out on the viewing platform at Burton Mill Pond produced a welcome return encounter with the red-ringed Great White Egret I last saw here back in late January. She's 'ACA', a female ringed in the nest at RSPB Ham Wall back in May 2022. Interestingly, another juvenile from the same ringing scheme, ACJ, has been hanging out at Warnham LNR quite a bit recently - so definitely worth taking a closer look at any individuals of this species you see out and about in Sussex.

Great White Egret

Late afternoon, a Hobby made two low passes over home, first heading south-east, before flying back west.

31st July

Another very autumnal day, weather-wise, with a blustery south-westerly and drizzle/light rain persisting until mid-afternoon. After dropping B at nursery I swung by Pulborough for a brief check of the North Brooks. As I walked down, a tight group of around 25 Swifts drifted west. On the North Brooks were 36 Black-tailed Godwit, 30 Lapwing, 16 Black-headed Gulls and singles of Greenshank and Snipe, the latter only making its presence known when a Buzzard flew through low and flushed everything. 

On the way home a quick scan from the river bank near Greatham Bridge produced an incredibly close encounter with a Kingfisher, dashing past upriver. A return visit to Waltham Brooks late afternoon produced another or the same Kingfisher in flight over the main lake, a Hobby flying east, Peregrine south and a juvenile Marsh Harrier hunting and drifting north. 

Marsh Harrier

Pulborough, mid-August: getting busy!

Return migration has really stepped up a gear in the past few days it seems - particularly on the passerine front - and this morning at Pulborough was without doubt the best visit of the autumn so far. After the disappointment of missing Clive Hope's Pied Flycatcher a couple of weeks ago and then yet another Osprey last weekend which, from Gary Trew's description probably flew right over my house (!), one of my patch bogey birds fell at last today with a male Redstart working its way along the hedge just north of Redstart Corner.

Redstart

While I was watching it I heard a Yellow Wagtail fly over, my first of the year and later followed by another heard only at the Hanger and a third being chased around the North Brooks by the Pied Wagtails. This species came tantalisingly close to being added to the patch year list a few days earlier with several calls recorded during my first nocmig session of the season on Monday night, but more on that later. The hedgerows were teeming with warblers today, largely Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat and a few Willow Warblers, but also a Garden Warbler near West Mead, a Reed Warbler near Winpenny and at least five Lesser Whitethroats dotted about. Best of all though was the Tree Pipit kicking about in the Blackthorns near West Mead. Only my second record of this species here.

Tree Pipit (and Song Thrush)

There were potentially as many as ten Whinchats about with 4-5 seen on the North Brooks and the same amount on the South Brooks. Reported by others but not seen by me were two Spotted Flycatchers on the far eastern side of the reserve and three near Winpenny later in the day, and a Wheatear on the North Brooks. Good numbers of House Martins and Sand Martins, with the latter mostly streaming straight through while the former were lingering and feeding over the site. These inevitably attracted the attentions of a Hobby which plunged straight through the middle of a flock above the path down to Nettleys. A juvenile Marsh Harrier was again doing the rounds - I saw it from Redstart Corner and later from the visitor centre but others also saw it quartering over the North Brooks. Other than sixty-odd Lapwing there wasn't too much of note on the wader front today, with just two Dunlin and three Green Sandpipers on the North Brooks. Indeed it's been a little quiet on that side of things lately with nothing majorly noteworthy since my Wood Sand a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully September will bring a few more goodies.

View from 'the Obs' (attic) during one of the recent storms

Interestingly my first nocmigging attempts of the autumn this week have provided a bit more wader variety, in particular my first recorded Whimbrel(s) over the house, with six calls from an indeterminable number of birds recorded very early Tuesday morning. Other bits of note include the aforementioned Yellow Wags, a Common Sandpiper, a Little Ringed Plover and a Snipe. Quite a few strange tics and whistles too, particularly on Monday night - most of them as yet unidentified. Ortolan Bunting next?...

Pulborough round-up, 11th-20th April

Somehow it's been over a week already since my last post on here. Probably an indication that things are beginning to liven up a bit at last!

Dawn at The Hanger

I've added eight year ticks in ten days since the Bramblings last week, taking my Pulborough year total to a respectable 123. First up on in thick fog on Saturday morning I decided to shun the hides and viewpoints in favour of a quick jaunt up to the heath in the hope the vis would improve (it eventually did at around 11:00 - just as I was about to head home!). After a circuit around The Clump there appeared to be little of note until a familiar song alerted me to a Tree Pipit perched in one of the Oaks up there - a Pulborough tick for me and apparently not as common here as I had perhaps assumed given the available habitat.

When the fog did eventually clear on Saturday it enabled the first proper look across the North Brooks of the weekend which, evidently, was Spoonbill-less for the first time in several days. 
No such problems finding the now regular Great White Egret even in the fog though as it showed down to just a few metres in front of Winpenny Hide, again favouring the local newts its seems. Reports from various other birders and RSPB volunteers suggest there are still two different birds frequenting the site, with one on the Mid Brooks late this afternoon.

The Spoonbill on the North Brooks on its last day

Sunday saw the arrival of a pair of Avocets and the first Whimbrel of the year. The Avocet pair stayed until Thursday, and were often seen copulating, but were gone by today. The Whimbrel stayed until at least Tuesday but on Thursday morning I instead found a Curlew from Winpenny Hide which flew off calling loudly. It was good to hear the first Cuckoo of the year the same morning, which was still around again today, seemingly somewhere between Hail's View and West Mead but proving characteristically ventriloquial!

Whimbrel - photo by Gary Trew

Avocets

Warbler numbers have gradually been creeping up, with noticeably more Blackcaps around, at least three Lesser Whitethroats, a few Sedge Warblers and my first Common Whitethroats at last today, with three favouring the bushes along the footpath between Wiggonholt and Pulborough village. There are perhaps three singing male Nightingales on site now that I've heard myself, with the one near Fattengates proving to be the most reliable performer. Hirundines still seem rather thin on the ground, though a little flurry of at least three House Martins, three Swallows and two Sand Martins through in the rain on Sunday was good to see. Just three Swallows through from Hail's View today though during my almost six hour visit, plus singles of House and Sand Martin over the garden. It was great to finally catch up with a Pulborough Wheatear today though - my first of the spring here - with one very distant from Hail's View and another on a fence post out on the North Brooks.

Most unexpected during the week was the very vocal flock of 30 Mediterranean Gulls which flew north over the Brooks/village at dawn on the 18th - I was just getting in my car at the time but managed to glimpse them for a few seconds between buildings and trees. Colin Nicholson also saw them pass over the Brooks, and interestingly Mark McManus had 35 take off from Amberley Wildbrooks and head the same way an hour later - same birds doing a loop or another flock perhaps? There's certainly been good numbers moving along the coast this week.

Sadly I missed the Wood Sandpiper found by George Kinnard yesterday. Indeed, wader numbers were particularly low today aside from a single Dunlin and the resident Redshanks and Lapwings.

The mini heatwave and run of southerlies seems to be coming to an end for now, so it'll be interesting to see what the next few days bring - no doubt something mega will turn up as I'm off to Spain tomorrow until Wednesday!

Incidentally, things have been getting rather more interesting on the nocmig side of things too, with garden firsts of Curlew and Water Rail over recently along with the second record of Common Scoter, but more on that in another blog post.