Magic again?

The photos in this blog post say a lot about the time of year. Yes, as Christmas approaches, it's all getting very grey and very gloomy, and on sometimes it feels as though it's barely got light at all before the evening returns. 

Still, it's not all doom and gloom. We are now fully into meterological winter, and all that that entails, ornithologically-speaking. Wildfowl and thrushes have dominated this ten-day period, with increasing numbers of the former at local wetland sites and a late push of the latter, presumably due to colder weather further north. Surely there will be Waxwings turning up locally any day...

1st December

The first day of meteorological winter and it certainly felt like it, as daylight fell on a frosty landscape and the heavy grey sky again threatened snow (which never came). The main lake at Waltham Brooks held a ~75% covering of thin ice, meaning the 200 or so ducks present were huddled on the unfrozen northern side. Even a Marsh Harrier wasn't enough to spook them from their freezing stasis. There wasn't much else of note going on here really, despite the promise of some cold weather movement. Maybe tomorrow...

Teal and Mallard on the frozen lake at Waltham Brooks

On my way home from Woods Mill I briefly stuck my head in at Pulborough, specifically Wiggonholt Common and the Triangle, in the hope of finding some finches, specifically Redpolls. It might have escaped your notice but there is currently a pretty impressive influx of Mealy Redpoll going on, a species I haven't seen for several years. Today I only managed to find a group of four Lesser Redpoll, although one rather streakier, colder-toned bird did have me going for a short while. 

2nd December

Not loads of birding today, partly owing to other commitments but also not helped by the thick fog which only got worse as the day went on, aside from a brief bit of brightness around lunchtime. A short local walk with B in the morning produced a Raven and a couple of small Redwing flocks.

En route to my mum's late morning we briefly stopped off at one of my old haunts, Cutt Mill Ponds near Farnham, where I found ten Goosanders (one drake) right in the middle of The Tarn. Sadly I only had my little bridge camera with me, so not brilliant photos!

Goosanders

3rd December

A good stomp around Pulborough this morning with Paul Davy and Steve Baines produced 64 species, with highlights including the lingering White-fronted Goose trio (more often found at Amberley recently) showing reasonably well from West Mead, one of the adult White-tailed Eagles in a tree by the river (briefly showing off its gleaming white tail in flight before returning to its perch), a female Merlin on the deck on the South Brooks, 10 Dunlin, ~50 Black-tailed Godwits, and singles of Great White Egret, Peregrine and Marsh Harrier. It was great to run into Pulborough veteran Jon Winder too, who I've not seen for several months. 

White-fronted Geese

A brief half hour stop off at the private reservoir near Petworth early afternoon revealed the female Long-tailed Duck still present for at least its 35th day, along with a female Pintail (only my fifth record of this species here), ten Shoveler, 27 Tufted Duck and just a single female Pochard. Quite a change from 57 of the latter species here just a few weeks back. 

4th December

Not much birding today owing to time constraints and poor weather. It was also another one of those winter days where it felt like it never got properly light before the evening started to rear its head again by around 3pm. 

An early afternoon stroll over to Waltham Brooks from home proved fairly quiet (and murky) with highlights of half a dozen Tufted Duck and 35 Gadwall on the main lake, and a flock of a dozen Siskin flying about. A single male Stonechat was in the scrub near the railway line. 

Tufted Duck

5th December

For fear of repeating myself... it was another gloomy, damp start to the day, so I headed out for a quick sweep of some local water bodies before work. The farm scrape at West Burton - now very flooded - held half a dozen Coots and a pair of Gadwall, while a quick look at Burton Mill Pond revealed the usual Great Crested Grebe pair, two Little Grebes, 40 Cormorants leaving roost, and a Cetti's Warbler calling in the reed. Finally, at the private reservoir near Petworth, the female Long-tailed Duck was still present for at least her 37th day.

Later in the day a Snipe flew south-west over the garden, while a lunchtime walk out to the nearby farmland produced a little flock of Wigeon (~20) and two Mute Swans in flight over Waltham Brooks and flock of around 30 Siskins which flew over towards Lodge Hill. 

6th December

Not loads of birding today but I did manage to squeeze in half an hour at Waltham Brooks before work, and I was glad I did as the forecast fog didn't materialise and it was actually a beautifully crisp and sunny winter's morning. Within minutes of entering the reserve I picked up a high flying falcon powering north-west overhead - a lovely adult male Merlin. Only my third record of the species here. This was followed a little while later by a heard-only Brambling flying over. On and around the lake it was business as usual with at least three Tufted Ducks still bobbing up and down among the dabblers, and at least two each of Water Rail and Cetti's Warbler calling in the marginal vegetation.

Merlin

Song Thrush

7th December

En route to dropping B off at nursery this morning I noticed a lone Cattle Egret in a cow field that I check pretty much every day in passing from the car. Nice when that happens!

A lunchtime walk round Woods Mill before the worst of the rain set in produced singles of Firecrest and Chiffchaff, a good number of Redwings, a few Fieldfares, and a reserve tick Lesser Black-backed Gull flying west. 

8th December

Another beautiful crisp morning which, although a little frosty first thing, soon turned into a pleasantly mild and mostly sunny day. A quick wander over to Waltham Brooks from home before work proved relatively quiet, with half a dozen Tufted Ducks still on the main lake and a flock of 22 Fieldfares plus a few Redwings about. 

Sunrise over Watersfield/Waltham Brooks

Later in the day while tidying up by the shed at home, I inadvertently disturbed a Herald moth from its hibernation spot in a stack of cardboard. After taking a couple of photos I popped it back in a safe spot.

Herald

9th December

Not lots of birding today but I did manage a brief check of a couple of local water bodies late morning. The scrape at Hadworth Farm - now very full! - held a pair of Teal (new for me at this site) plus a Grey Heron and a few Mallards. Rather appallingly, on the distant shore was a group of 38 Pheasants.

Continuing the landfowl theme, the private reservoir and farmland near Petworth held a covey of nine Red-legged Partridges, but sadly the long-staying Long-tailed Duck appeared to have finally departed after around 40 days here. 

Red-legged Partridges

10th December

A break in the rain (forecast again for late morning) allowed for a good stomp around Pulborough Brooks for a couple of hours this morning, which produced 63 species. Wildfowl were well represented, especially Pintail, of which there were at least 190 around, mostly on the North Brooks. Also on the North Brooks were ~290 roosting Black-tailed Godwits, while highlights on the South Brooks were a Kingfisher and a male Marsh Harrier. The most notable bird of the morning though was Redwing, with a surprising late push of birds seemingly vismigging overhead, mostly going west/north-west. At least 520 flew over in the two hours I was on-site, including a single flock of ~150 high north-west.

Redwing

Pintail

A late afternoon visit to Burton Mill Pond with Mrs Matt and B again reminded me how great this site can be, with pretty much the first bird we saw being a/the red-ringed Great White Egret in flight towards the north-east corner - presumably 'ACA' from Somerset again, although I never got a chance to read the ring code. The usual Cormorants, Starlings and Pied Wagtails were gathering to roost, while a few Little Egrets drifted south to roost. At about 15:50 an explosion of Woodpigeons from the trees all around had me looking up, just in time to see a beast of a Goshawk powering west over the mill house before disappearing over the trees towards Burton Park Farm. My second record of the species here (previously on 31st January this year) and in exactly the same circumstances as the last one; a bird heading purposefully west at dusk. Unfortunately, I was a bit slow with the camera which, combined with the poor light, meant I only managed a very ropey record shot. 

Goshawk

New year, new list

 As I said in my recent end of year round-up, I'm absolutely determined that 2021 will be the year I reach 150 on my Pulborough year list.

It's been a good start so far with 91 already on the scoreboard from five patch visits which, based on previous years attempts, sets me roughly on course to hit 100 by March.

Highlights so far have included a flock of 39 White-fronted Geese on the 10th, 7 Goosanders and 2 Tufted Ducks (also on the 10th), the celebrity Marsh Tit at Fattengates, the long-staying Cetti's Warbler on the east side of the North Brooks, the wintering flock of Woodlarks in Uppertons Field, a couple of Chiffchaffs near the sewage works and a bonus early Blackcap in our neighbour's garden on the 3rd. A gripping miss was a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker seen by Mike Unwin on the 2nd, as this is a species I've still yet to catch up with on the patch, despite the RSPB having recording drumming birds in spring on audio recorders dotted about the place. I'm going to be helping the RSPB with this project this year though so hopefully will finally catch up with one.

Some photo highlights of 2021 so far...

Marsh Tit

Firecrest

Blackcap

Raven

White-fronted Geese leaving the North Brooks

Tufted Ducks on the Arun

Stonechat

White-fronted Geese heading off

Goosanders on the Arun, five of the seven.

Pulborough, 9th-10th March

A classic March weekend, weather-wise, and just a few more signs of birds on the move despite the blustery conditions.

Gulls were a strong feature of both days but particularly on Sunday, with at least eight adult Mediterranean Gulls (in various stages of summer plumage acquisition) around this afternoon plus seven Lesser Black-backeds and good numbers of Herring, Common and Black-headed.

Saturday morning's undoubted star bird was a female Merlin which sat out in the short grass on the North Brooks for several minutes before flying off low over the water. Also of note was a bit of Fieldfare movement with at least 110 quite high east in little over half an hour or so. I noted very few Redwing all weekend.

The lingering pair of White-fronted Geese remained on the South Brooks, most reliably viewed from Hail's View, which has also been the best place to catch up with most of the waders lately with high counts of 5 Ruff, 6 Dunlin and 3 Redshank in the past few days, plus the first Green Sandpipers (2) of the year on Friday. Black-tailed Godwit numbers have been slowly creeping back up this week, with around 50 present on the North Brooks today.

Highlight of the weekend for me though was finding a patch tick Cattle Egret from the Hanger, strutting about among the cows (surprise, surprise!) in the field between the A283 and the North Brooks. I and most of the other regulars check this field regularly for this very reason but, prior to today, Paul Davy's record of two briefly on the North Brooks last September was the only Pulborough record of this species. Quite often a Little Egret briefly gets the pulse going before its true identity is confirmed, but just as I was about to write today's bird off as another false alarm I realised it did indeed have a yellow bill and yellow legs. Bingo! I put the news out and headed round to Mare Hill Road where I met up with Gary Trew and Paul and we enjoyed good views of the bird before it flew at 16:55 and battled slowly southwest against the wind, presumably to roost at Arundel WWT where one has been coming in most evenings through the winter.

A day to remember

When I moved down to Pulborough from near Guildford two years ago, fellow Surrey emigrant and one time Pulborough stalwart Jon Winder assured me 'you'll never have a bad day at Pulborough Brooks'. He was absolutely right; even the less action packed days here serve as a stark reminder of just how quiet a quiet day at my previous patch, Shalford Water Meadows, could be. Other days are just outstanding and today was one of those days that all patch birders look forward to. 

There's something about early spring that I just love - the bristling feeling of expectation in the air and almost palpable sense of birds rushing towards our shores from warmers climes - and after heavy rain last night I was particularly excited to hit the Brooks this morning.

West Mead was fairly quiet with just the usual selection of ducks on show and a Water Rail squealing somewhere towards Black Wood. At Winpenny the fun started though as I quickly picked up the two White-fronted Geese that have been lingering locally since the back end of 2018. Searching through the Lapwings in front of the hide I found the first Dunlin of the day. I could also hear a Redshank calling but wasn't able to locate it. The Lapwings were very vocal and displaying but I was sure I could hear a Curlew calling in among all the bustle and, sure enough, a minute or so later one flew in from the south and dropped down on the marsh; my first here this year. No sooner had it done so than all the waders whooshed up in the air as a male Merlin made a dash through the middle of them and lunged straight for the Meadow Pipits and Skylarks hiding out in the grass. It gave excellent views as it twisted and turned at breakneck speed inches above the ground before vanishing towards the farmland across the Arun as quickly as it had appeared. The Curlew attempted to land a couple more times but the Lapwings gave it a less than warm welcome so it eventually gave up and disappeared off to the west.

The North Brooks were rather quieter than of late with just a further four Dunlin, five Ruff and three Black-tailed Godwits of note. A few Gulls - Common and Black-headed - were dropping in but not like the numbers seen yesterday which produced a 2cy Med Gull and an adult, the latter of which I missed. After a while I moved on, with a vague plan to check down at Jupp's View. At the top of Green Lane, however, I paused to scan across the Mid and South Brooks, from where I could see there were hundreds of Gulls down towards Hail's View. That rather changed my plans and I hastily made my way in that direction, a flyover Crossbill or three en route (heard from under the trees) providing the second year tick of the morning and a nice bonus in the form of a singing Firecrest.

Down at Hail's View I made a quick estimate of the Gull numbers - at least 300, mostly Black-headed - and soon picked out an adult Mediterranean Gull in near summer plumage. Fairly quickly though the whole lot were flushed up by the first of two Marsh Harriers and it was clear the Med I'd seen was not the only one around, as I could clearly make out calls from what sounded like at least two or three more birds as more and more Gulls seemed to wheel in from all around. Time and again they settled and flushed again. Eventually they settled for longer, by which time Paul had arrived, and I was pleased to be able to pick out three smart adult Meds for him. Also of note down here were two Peregrines, noisily mobbing any Buzzard or Marsh Harrier foolish enough to get close, a pair of Stonechats, a Sparrowhawk and much better views of the White-fronted Geese. 

A day to remember and, with at least four singing Chiffchaffs around the reserve, further sign that birds are on the move and spring is getting into gear.