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

Hotting up!

The weather might be doing its utmost to convince us that we're still in summer, but it's clear that we're getting into ornithological autumn proper now, and there's been a fair bit of excitement at Pulborough Brooks recently.

Waders have really got moving in the past couple weeks, with highlights including two Wood Sandpipers on 8th August (plus a couple of other heard only records), up to three Greenshank (31st July), a splendid summer plumage adult Spotted Redshank (31st July) and an impressive count of 17 Green Sandpipers (31st July) along with the usual fare for the time of year. Sadly one of this year's juvenile Avocets didn't make it, as it was looking senescent on 31st July and was finally finished off by a Lesser Black-backed Gull on 1st August, despite the efforts of the RSPB staff to catch it and take it into care.

Short and shaky clip of the two Wood Sands at Pulborough earlier... pic.twitter.com/7mzi6SxgOW

— Matt (@mostlyscarce) August 9, 2020

Spotted Redshank and Greenshank

                                                        

Avocets

Other recent highlights have include five Cattle Egrets and three Med Gulls on the North Brooks on 30th July, the former of which I managed to get from the attic. The Egrets were preceded by their larger cousins on the 19th when three Great White Egrets dropped in on the North Brooks, followed by one on the 24th. A Curlew flew south down the Arun calling loudly early on 6th August followed by another west over the garden on the 10th (which Pete Hughes had earlier had on the North Brooks), while early on the 7th the first Tree Pipit of the autumn/year flew south over the horse paddocks just north of Wiggonholt Church. The same morning also produced a Pied Flycatcher in the Oaks near the church, found by Alan Baker - perhaps a species we'll record again this autumn, given the amount turning up in the southeast this week!

Cattle Egrets, photo: Phil Thornton

Great Egrets, photo: Mark Bloss

As many other birders have been noticing it's turned into an extraordinary summer for Crossbills. In the three years I've been patch watching Pulborough, I'd had maybe half a dozen records of the species before this summer. Since this irruption kicked off in June their unmistakable 'jupp'ing calls have become a regular feature of my visits to the reserve. Recent records include what sounded like a small flock over the visitor centre on 13th July, one south over the North Brooks on 14th July, five south on 17th July, four on 20th July, two north on 21st July, heard only records on 2nd and 3rd August, six west over the church on 4th August, two north on 8th August and one over on 10th August (David Campbell).

With my patch yearlist now on 145 and easterlies forecast for a couple more days followed by more early next week, I'm quietly confident that this could be the year I hit 150...

Garden Warbler

Stonechat

Spotted Flycatcher