Turn the old year go

So, here were are then. My final blog post of 2023 (although not actually published until late January 2024...). All in all, it was a somewhat subdued end to a year of mixed fortunes (both birding and otherwise). My local (~10km from home) total finished on 160, rather short of 2022's 166 - and I did miss some really daft species (Hawfinch, Jack Snipe and others) - but still not too bad, considering all that's been going on. 

If I have the time and inclination to do so I might put together a review of the year at some point, but won't make any promises!

21st December

A quick check of a few local sites today yielded the female Long-tailed Duck still near Petworth along with 21 Shoveler, 22 Tufted Duck and 11 Pochard. Meanwhile, the flooded River Arun near Stopham held 200 Canada Geese, two Grey Herons and a few Teal. 

In the middle of the day I headed up to my old work (Clandon Wood) for Steve Chastell's funeral. It was a good send-off and a nice turnout from the Surrey Birding community. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. An impressive flock of Fieldfares flew over as I and others were leaving. 

On the way home I stopped off briefly at Waltham Brooks which produced 11 Tufted Ducks on the main lake and at least 25 Linnets in to roost in the scrub. 

22nd December

Day two of my Christmas break and, as I had to go down to Chichester this morning for an appointment, I decided to have a walk at The Burgh for the first time in a while (well, it's sort of on the way!). The wind prohibited much in the way of raptor or small bird activity, although the ubiquitous Red Kites were conspicuous in their presence (at least ten). 17 Grey Partridges were noted, including a dozen which flew out from Canada Barn as I passed. Otherwise, highlights from an hour up here were 50+ Common Gulls, ten Yellowhammer, a dozen Skylarks and ~100 thrushes (roughly 60-70 Redwing and the rest Fieldfare).

Skylark

Kestrel

23rd December

A mixed bag of a day with no proper birding as such. A walk round the park/woodland in the centre of Storrington this morning proved surprisingly birdy with six species noted singing in the mild conditions - Coal Tit, Treecreeper, Collared Dove, Robin, Wren, Dunnock - and a flyover Raven. A walk round Watersfield and the farmland near home early afternoon produced good numbers of Redwings but not much else of note (especially not the hoped-for Waxwings!). Finally, a stroll round the hamlet early evening was briefly soundtracked by the screech of a Barn Owl flying overhead in the dark.  

24th December

An enjoyable Christmas Eve morning spent down at Selsey Bill and Pagham with Paul Davy and Steve Baines, for Paul's birthday.

The squally conditions proved for an unseasonably lively seawatch from the eastern viewpoint at Selsey, the clear highlight of which was a dark morph Pomarine Skua powering past, briefly lingering to chase a Herring Gull. Otherwise, notable bits included at least 7-8 Great Northern Divers, five Red-throated Divers, half a dozen Kittiwakes, well over a hundred Gannets and a few Guillemots and Razorbills nice and close in (most went on the list as auk sp., much further out). 

Kittiwakes

Great Northern Diver

Pomarine Skua and Gannet

Continuing an excellent morning for the species, another Great Northern Diver was in the harbour at Church Norton along with a couple of Red-breased Mergansers, two Sandwich Terns and the usual selection of waders including some 250 Knot. A Raven flew over the Severals which was a new species for me here.

Sandwich Tern

We finished up at the Ferry Pool where we added a few bits to the day list including Avocet (22), Lapwing (18) and a single Little Grebe.

25th December

No real birding.

26th December

Birding close to home this morning produced a pair of Tufted Ducks on the main lake at Waltham Brooks, two Little Egrets flying north, and at least 30 Chiffchaffs around the sewage works. 

27th December

Very little birding today owing to the foul weather and other commitments. A check of likely local sites for Waxwing again drew a blank. Hadworth Farm scrape proved quite lively from a quick roadside check, with the highlight being a female Pintail (a first for me here) among 20 Mallards and nine Gadwall.

28th December

A bit of a marathon local session this morning taking in various water bodies and again checking all the potential Waxwing spots (again nothing!). The female Long-tailed Duck was still at the private site near Petworth for at least her 61st day, while the five Russian White-fronted Geese (three adults/two juveniles) were among 100+ Greylag Geese at Amberley. Burton Mill Pond produced the now obligatory Great White Egret plus my first singing Woodlark and drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker of the season, the latter a touch later than in recent years but hardly surprising given the shocking weather we've had recently. At least 30 Siskin and five Lesser Redpoll were noted in the birches and alders around the ponds. 

29th December

Just a bit of casual birding close to home this morning which didn't produce too much of interest, though it was good to hear a Mistle Thrush in full song up at Alban Head playing fields.

In the afternoon we headed down to Arundel, where we found at least 20 Cattle Egrets gathered on Mill Road water meadows (seen from the car) and the usual selection of gulls and wildfowl at Swanbourne Lake, including at least 55 Tufted Duck and 53 Gadwall. 

30th December

Another tour of local berry tree sites sadly failed to produce any Waxwings. The female Long-tailed Duck was still at the private site near Petworth which was otherwise quiet aside from two female Pochard and 11 Shoveler.

Shoveler

 31st December

No real birding aside from a couple of stops at likely Waxwing sites (still nothing!).

A bit of unexpected excitement while visiting family in Merrow up in Surrey though came when a female Sparrowhawk caught and killed a Feral Pigeon in the street just as we got out of the car, and then proceeded to pluck and eat it under a parked car. 

Sparrowhawk (and friend)

Happy New Year!

Dark days

11th December

As is typical for the time of year, the darkness creeps ever more into my available birding time, but I managed to squeeze in a couple of short sessions before work and at lunchtime today. First, a 45-minute venture out to the local farmland near home which yielded 40 species including a few Teal and Wigeon on the flooded fields and singles of Chiffchaff and Cetti's Warbler in the bushes. Small groups of Fieldfare and Stock Dove were noted flying south/south-west overhead.

Watersfield living up to its name

Mid-morning I caught sight of a Peregrine circling over Watersfield before drifting off towards Amberley. 

A lunchtime check of Waltham Brooks produced the usual species, with a distant Marsh Harrier over towards Amberley probably the highlight. A male Stonechat in the scrub between the lake and the road was notable only for the large white spot on its face. I'm not sure what it was exactly. At least five Tufted Ducks were still on the main lake. 

Stonechat

12th December

A look at Waltham Brooks this morning en route to work produced an impressive array of ducks on the main lake, including at least 90 Shoveler and 10 Tufted Duck. A Marsh Harrier briefly stopped for a look, flushing 5 Snipe in the process, while 27 Fieldfare flew out of roost. 

Marsh Harrier

13th December

I was down in Rye today for a SWT staff meeting. Conditions weren't great but we had an enjoyable hour's walk round the reserve early afternoon led by new reserve manager Paul Tinsley-Marshall. The lingering Spoonbill was still roosting on Flat Beach which also held good numbers of Shoveler, a few Pintail and half a dozen or so Tufted Ducks. Well over 400 Cormorants flew over into roost as we were walking around, and around 50 Curlew did the same, coming in from the north-east as we were heading back to the car park. 

Cormorants

The obligatory sleeping Spoonbill photo

                              

14th December

Shoreham-by-Sea was the destination for today's work meeting, so I decided to swing past the harbour and Southwick canal while I was down there, hoping to connect with the lingering Great Northern Diver that's been in the ship canal for a couple of weeks now. 45 minutes of trekking around the area between the canal gates and Barrett Steel proved fruitless, as did a walk out to the seafront but I eventually got the bird just as I was leaving, along with the juvenile Eider that has also been around a while. Sadly neither gave as good views as the Turnstones on the sea wall!

Turnstones

15th December

After enjoying a Firecrest in the garden first thing this morning, I just had time for a quick circuit of the local farmland before starting work. This proved unremarkable aside from at least one heard-only Golden Plover flying overhead, seemingly heading east/north-east.

Firecrest

Late afternoon I headed over to Burton Mill Pond for a last light vigil from the viewing platform which produced 27 Little Egrets heading to roost plus 43 Cormorants, ~500 Starlings (dropping in to the reeds on the eastern side where two Sparrowhawks were patrolling), 2-3 Water Rails and a Kingfisher. 

16th December

An unusually free morning saw me taking a tour of various local sites, starting with the private reservoir near Petworth for the WeBS count there, where I found the Long-tailed Duck present again, having apparently gone AWOL on my last visit here a few days ago. Otherwise, waterbird numbers were really poor, with just 11 Tufted Duck, a lone female Pochard, a few Coots and a single Little Grebe. 

A check of the water meadows and farm fields by the Rother in Fittleworth produced seven Little Egrets around the cattle at Street Farm, a Chiffchaff calling at the sewage works and a male Stonechat in the scrubby field nearby.

Fittleworth Water Meadows

Then it was on to check the farm scrape at Hadworth Farm which held a pair of Gadwall, a few Coots and Mallards and a lone Cormorant perched in the dead trees behind the flood (another flew over heading east). Perhaps most notable here was the flock of ~250 Stock Doves which flew up from the fields to the south-west. 

Later in the morning I took a stroll out down the road from home which produced a Peregrine and at least nine Snipe flying high overhead.

Snipe

17th December

A morning walk round the local farmland proved fairly quiet aside from the now almost daily Peregrine circling high over Watersfield, and around 55-60 Fieldfares flying towards Coldwaltham.

Peregrine

Late afternoon I headed over to Thorndale Bridge for a scan from the railway embankment here (flooding made the walk under the railway bridge to the river bank impassable), the highlight of which was a Barn Owl hunting over the southern end of Waltham Brooks. At least 60 Redwings and 30 Fieldfares flew to roost, and at least four Water Rails were calling around the area. A Merlin flew low and fast over River Lane as I was walking down. 

18th December

A brief stop off at Waltham Brooks on my way to work this morning where highlights included an impressive 28 Tufted Ducks on the main lake (certainly my highest count of the species here), four Red Kites together over Quell Farm and a single Marsh Harrier flying north. Redwings were noticeably moving overhead, with 150 west in the 25 minutes or so I was on-site. 

Quite a lot of Tufted Ducks!

A lunchtime stroll at Woods Mill also proved reasonably lively for the time of year, with 30 Common Gulls over, a Water Rail showing very well but very briefly swimming across a ditch, and a Kestrel which was surprisingly a reserve tick for me!

Moorhen

19th December

A pretty rancid day, weather-wise. I did manage a brief lunchtime walk from home over to Waltham Brooks and back, but there wasn't much on offer there to write home about. Yesterday's bumper count of Tufted Duck had reduced to just a single drake, six Pintail and a single Raven flew north/north-west and nine Siskins flew into the Poplars near the lake. 

20th December

A quick dash up Amberley Mount before work proved to be quite lively, with as many as ten Red Kites, three Buzzards and 50+ Common Gulls all distinctly displeased by the arrival on the scene of a juvenile White-tailed Eagle which powered north low over the tumulus, briefly disappearing over the northern slopes before returning and drifting around over the vineyard towards The Burgh. It still blows my mind to see the size of these things in direct comparison to a Buzzard!

White-tailed Eagle

Red Kite

A lunchtime stroll at Woods Mill produced a similar number of Common Gulls to Amberley Mount and a reasonably showy Cetti's Warbler in the scrub along the stream.

Cetti's Warbler

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