Pulborough, late March

As is so often the case, March this year delivered a rather hesitant trickle of migrants for most of the month before ending with a rush of arrivals in the last few days.

The first Little Ringed Plover of the year is always a very welcome sight and this year's came at Winpenny on the 17th (Steve Chastell/Paul Davy) with at least two or three present on a number of days later in the month and perhaps as many as five on the 31st with two on the South Brooks early afternoon and three from the Hanger in the evening.

Little Ringed Plover. Photo: Carey Lodge

Redshanks and Lapwings are both well and truly back on territory, with at least ten of the former around most days now, making their presence heard from all around the reserve!

The high pressure towards the end of the month slowed down any visible hirundine arrivals - many presumably cruising over at altitude - with just a handful of Sand Martins and a couple of Swallows and House Martins reported. That was until today when a shift to rather more unsettled weather and a brisk northeasterly brought down impressive numbers. Around two hundred mostly Sand Martins were feeding over the North Brooks this evening along with at least half a dozen Swallows. 

The widespread arrivals of Garganeys on the 23rd/24th initially fell rather short of Pulborough with a single drake found by Paul Davy at Waltham Brooks on the 24th. By the end of the week though a drake made a couple of appearances on the patch, first on the North Brooks on the 28th (Tracy Bain) then at Hail's View on the 29th (Alan Baker, C&J Moore, Paul Davy). By today there were two drakes and a female at Waltham, so presumably the Pulborough individual is among that trio. Hopefully I'll catch up with another on the patch at some point this year!

Black-tailed Godwits at West Mead

A female Merlin continues to be a fairly regular sight around the place, mostly recently flying low over the Hanger this evening, putting the wind up the hirundines out on the North Brooks (although it did make counting the latter a lot easier as they all flew up high in a tight flock!)

A first winter Little Gull was seen on the 15th and the 18th, while the long staying pair of White-fronted Geese at last departed this week, last reported on the 26th. 

The common warblers are certainly coming in thick and fast now with the first singing Willow Warbler in Black Wood from the 29th and at least a dozen Chiffchaffs and half a dozen Blackcaps noted on most visits.

Remarkably, aside from a distant glimpse of a probable from the Hanger this evening, I've managed to get through March without a single patch Wheatear, and I haven't heard of any reports from anyone else either. Hopefully there'll be one any day now - the forecast for the coming week doesn't look brilliant with just a whiff of southerlies on the cards on Thursday but the possible showers and northerly winds should bring down anything that does try to make it through. 

Onto nocmig and, when the wind at last abated, a series of night recordings in the third week of the month proved productive with Dunlin, Little Ringed Plover (video below) and a flurry of Common Scoter the highlights. As ever I've still got a backlog of recordings to go through so am looking forward to seeing what else was captured. For regular updates on my nocmigging check out Trektellen.

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.

Pulborough, 16th-17th February

Another good weekend on the patch which delivered two year ticks - one of them a new addition to my Pulborough list.

Saturday morning was a misty affair with not a great deal on offer on the Mid Brooks. The North Brooks appeared quiet too, at first glance, but before long I picked up a drake Goosander drifting about in front of Little Hanger hide. A hard species to catch up with at Pulborough, I've missed just one or two since we moved down here, so I was very pleased to finally get it on the patch list at last!

After a while of watching it from Little Hanger I moved on up to the Hanger from where the bird was still visible. At around 09:50 it took flight and did a lap of the North Brooks before heading northwest, and I assumed that was the last I'd see of it. However, it returned less than half an hour later and remained for most of the day - long enough for Paul to catch up with it (although he also said it flew off at one point before returning) and for me to get it on the attic list!

Other bits of note from Saturday were three Ruff, two Water Rail (heard only), 20 Shelduck, 150+ Black-tailed Godwits, at least six Gadwall and two pairs of Tufted Duck. Also great to see was a confiding Weasel at the Hanger. With all the early migrants arriving on the southerly winds in previous days I'd been half hoping to find a Little Ringed Plover, but sadly no joy - although it wasn't a totally fantastical wish as one turned up in London that day!

The Brooks were bathed in glorious sunshine on Sunday morning and there seemed to be singing Reed Buntings and drumming Great Spotted Woodpeckers all over the place. The regular two White-fronted Geese showed well on the Mid Brooks with a few Canada Geese. It was nice to clearly see the belly bars and white blazes rather than just squinting at goose-shaped specks in the distance.

On the North Brooks, highlights were the three Ruff again, a single Dunlin and at least a hundred Black-tailed Godwits. A Peregrine and a Marsh Harrier were keeping the Lapwings and ducks - and each other - on their toes; one making a few lunges for the other each time it went to ground.

I kept one eye on the sky from the Hanger in the hope that one of these ridiculously early Swallows might whizz past. No such luck but I did notice two gleaming white dots high overhead which proved to be my first two Mediterranean Gulls of the year. They circled briefly over the North Brooks before drifting south.

Pulborough, 8th-10th February

After the excitement of realising I'd reached my UK 300 with last weekend's Bonaparte's Gull and another after work dash on Thursday to see my first inland/Surrey Black-throated Diver at Mercer's Lake near Redhill, a relatively quiet three day weekend meant only one thing: hitting the patch hard.

It's been a slower start to the Pulborough list this year with the likes of Bewick's Swan, Hawfinch and even Tawny Owl still missing, even though they were all on the list by this time in 2018. That's one of the joys of patch birding though; every year is different. Indeed, I'm only aware of one Hawfinch record at the Brooks so far in 2019 - will we ever see numbers like last winter's again, I wonder?

Nonetheless, the prospect of some windblown surprises courtesy of 'Storm Erik' had my hopes heightened for at least a couple of year ticks and perhaps something even better.

Friday was very wet and windy and although I'd planned to do an all-dayer I had to admit defeat early afternoon, with singles of Ruff and Dunlin, 110+ Black-tailed Godwits, a cream cap Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, Golden Plover (heard only), 2 Little Egrets, 3 Snipe, 2 adult Great Black-backed Gulls, at least 40 Common Gull and 9 Shelduck the best I could find in the challenging conditions.

The GBBGs were nice to see as they're the least common of the commoner Gulls to get on the deck here, in fact former warden Pete Hughes today said he reckons he's seen more Common Cranes grounded at Pulborough than GBBGs! Presumably the two seen earlier in the week by Gary Trew and Alan Kitson, they became a regular fixture of the weekend, present again for much of the day on Saturday and just one making a brief appearance on Sunday morning. The increase in Black-tailed Godwits was interesting as numbers have been pretty low since Christmas and, as predicted by Pete H, numbers increased further with at least 480 present on Saturday and Sunday, a good number of them bearing leg rings.

Great Black-backed Gulls

An all day session in much better weather on Saturday got off to an auspicious start when I picked up what I believed to be a first winter Caspian Gull among the Common Gulls and a few Herrings Gulls on the North Brooks. It only stayed for a few minutes, sadly, but I managed a few grainy phonescoped shots which were enough to get confirmation of the ID from Ed Stubbs and Josh Jones at BirdGuides. A first record for Pulborough and perhaps one of the Goring birds that had been blown up the valley by Storm Erik, or simply just fancied a change of scene!

Caspian Gull

Saturday proved to be an excellent day with 66 species recorded in 9 hours. Juliet Moore picked up a Merlin blasting northwest over the Hanger towards the farmland just across the Arun. What was presumably the same bird was seen again from my attic on Sunday afternoon putting the wind up the Meadow Pipits in the same area. Other bits of note were a leucistic Black-headed Gull, 5 Ruff, 4 Dunlin, a Little Egret, 20 Shelduck and at least two Marsh Harriers. A late afternoon search for the lingering Woodlarks in Uppertons Field proved fruitless but a brief glimpse of a ringtail Hen Harrier being chased along the bank of the Arun by a Carrion Crow was more than ample consolation.

Leucistic Black-headed Gull

The Hen Harrier made an appearance again on Sunday afternoon, as it was flushed up from the long grass near Hail's View by Crows and flew towards the Mid Brooks. Other highlights from today's visit were my first patch Tufted Ducks of the year - a pair on the North Brooks late morning - along with the first singing Reed Bunting, 3 Ruff and an immature Marsh Harrier. At Hail's View, in addition to the Hen Harrier, were a single Dunlin, a pair of Stonechat and two Red Kites. A tight flock of at least 30 Golden Plover flew south early afternoon.

Tufted Ducks

The water levels have really gone up thanks to recent rainfall and the snow melt from off the Downs last week and the Arun is the closest I've seen it to overtopping its banks since we moved down to Pulborough in 2017. The next few days could be interesting!

2nd-3rd February: Pulborough and Erith

Another quiet weekend on the patch, with the cold weather sadly failing to deliver any surprises. Indeed, it seems as if the only notable cold weather movement was restricted to the southwest of the country.

Five Golden Plover over Winpenny with a flock of Lapwing on Saturday morning got my hopes up but, if anything, numbers of the latter were rather down on recent weeks, as were wildfowl. A cream cap Marsh Harrier was patrolling over the Mid Brooks on Saturday while a single Peregrine was perched out on one of the fences, followed by two together in the same area on Sunday morning. As I've mentioned in a previous post, Black-tailed Godwit numbers have tailed off now with many of the Icelandic breeders having already headed to the east coast to prepare for their journey back to their breeding grounds in the coming weeks. Nonetheless, a group of forty or so were still on the North Brooks on both days this weekend, even though the majority of the water was frozen solid on Sunday morning. The cold weather is clearly making it harder for Barn Owls as two were out hunting well before sunset on Saturday. Remarkably, still the only Owl on my patch year list!

Lapwing

With the patch proving a little slow going I've been taking advantage of the increasing daylight hours by getting out and about for the odd twitch. An after work midweek dash for the 2nd winter Glaucous Gull at Holmethorpe SP near Redhill proved successful and suitably whet my appetite for another gull-based adventure, slightly further afield, to see the adult winter Bonaparte's Gull on the Thames at Erith on Sunday. The commonest gull missing from my UK list, I'd been more than a little tempted having seen photos on Twitter from the likes of Jamie Partridge and Rich Bonser, one of the finders of the bird and, when I realised I had a fairly free weekend ahead and Erith is a little over 75 minutes drive from Pulborough, it was a no brainer really.

Glaucous Gull, Holmethorpe SP, 30th January (it was quite dark!)

With bread in hand I arrived at the pier at around 11:00 only to be told by birders present - including the other finder Dante Shepherd - that the bird had been showing really well until about ten minutes before I arrived. Typical! Thankfully more birders turned up, including Rich B, who luckily picked the Bonaparte's up just as he'd thrown the last of his bread in the water and was preparing to leave. For the next quarter of an hour or so the bird put on a great show, either bobbing about on the river or frantically flying closer to us to try and nab some Morrison's sliced white from off of the Black-headeds. The light was perfect allowing for really clear views of the dainty black bill, flesh-coloured legs and neat black trailing edge to the wing - often even without the need for bins as it was just a few metres away. A nice bonus was a 1st winter Caspian x Herring bearing a German ring (X90A) which was known to Dante and some of the other regulars. Dante also picked up at least one Yellow-legged which I didn't properly get on.

Adult winter Bonaparte's Gull, Erith

Presumed 1st winter Herring x Caspian Gull

Having been birding for just under ten years but never being much of a twitcher I have at last limped my way to one away from 300 species in the UK; what will number 300 be, I wonder?*

* Edit: after a recount it seems that the Bonaparte’s was in fact my 300th UK species! 

26th and 27th January: Pulborough and Coldwaltham

I didn't get in a huge amount of time on the patch this weekend owing to being in Hampshire from Saturday lunchtime to Sunday lunchtime for the wedding of two very good friends. Despite that, I still managed to sneak a couple of patch year ticks.

Two hours at Pulborough first thing on Saturday before the wedding and the rain was a fairly lively session with my first Barn Owl of 2019 quartering over the South Brooks followed by an immature male Marsh Harrier causing havoc over the North Brooks. A decent selection of waders too with the highlights being at least five Ruff (Ads Bowley had ten later in the day), 36 Black-tailed Godwits and a single Golden Plover in with the Lapwings. Shelduck numbers are starting to increase now with at least 17 yesterday and 16 today.

Sadly I couldn't find the two White-fronted Geese that have been around on and off a few times this month, most recently on Friday, so it was a bit galling to see Sean Moore and Ads Bowley reporting them as present again on the North Brooks from late morning yesterday. Clearly these birds don't get up as early as I do!

With that in mind, when we got home just after noon today I quickly set up my scope in the attic and set about scanning what was clearly a good size flock of geese just south of the Stor. It took a while thanks to unfavourable sunlight and the distance but I eventually picked up the White-fronts among the Canadas and Greylags. Later on I dropped in to the reserve and had much better views of them from the Hanger - they were still in much the same spot when I headed home a little after 16:00.

With no news on the Glaucous Gull at Holmethorpe SP in Surrey since yesterday morning - which I was tempted to go and see - I decided instead to stay much closer to home and dropped in to Coldwaltham Sewage Works early afternoon in the hope of finding the two Siberian Chiffchaffs which have been around for a week or so at least.

Having not visited since the autumn I was pleased to find the place absolutely heaving with Chiffchaffs - certainly at least fifteen but likely many more. Some clumps of Willow had four or five in at a time and there were often as many as that flycatching out over the filter beds. I quickly found a Firecrest flicking around the brambles near the main gate but after an hour of sifting through the Chiffs still hadn't seen one I felt happy calling a tristis. Another look through the gate just as I was about to call it a day revealed a very cold two-tone looking Chiff on the edge of one of the filter beds - this looked the part. It flew off into the brambles and a short while later I heard a couple of clear tristis-type calls close by and the two Siberian Chiffchaffs revealed themselves together. As reported by Alan Kitson last week, these two do seem to associate with one another rather more exclusively instead of just tagging along with the other Common Chiffs. Nice birds to see so close to home.

Siberian Chiffchaff, Coldwaltham Sewage Works