Fall Breaks and Back to Winter

The dying days of November, in which autumn breathes its last and hands the baton over to winter. This ten-day period has had a little bit of everything, weather-wise, but there can be no doubting the onset of winter, not least due to the somewhat early arrival of the first Bewick's Swans, which unusually made a November appearance at Amberley on the 27th (recent years have seen arrival dates close to Christmas).

21st November

Very little time for birding today, but what I did manage to squeeze proved quite lively. First off, a ten-minute stop at Greatham Bridge on the way to work, which yielded a flock of 11 Crossbills flying west - my second Waltham Brooks tick in two days! 

Half an hour at Woods Mill at lunchtime produced a respectable 37 species, given the murky conditions. Highlights included two Firecrests, a flyover Raven and a Cetti's Warbler. 

Cetti's Warbler

22nd November

A brief check of Amberley before work, and there had clearly been a big increase in wildfowl and Lapwings since my last visit, as the flood waters have started to recede at last. The three White-fronted Geese were still present among dozens of Greylag Geese and hundreds of Canada Geese, while a single Dunlin and three Snipe were the best I could glean from some 500 or so Lapwing scattered around the site, the whole lot periodically flushed into the air by passing Marsh Harrier and Peregrine. 

A lunchtime walk out to Waltham Brooks proved relatively quiet, though the now almost daily Great White Egret was present, in flight over the river then later seen on the Amberley side. At least three Water Rails were calling around the place and a couple of Stonechats were near the railway line. 

23rd November

Just enough time today before work for a quick circuit up at Amberley Mount. It was a gorgeous, sunny morning and there again appeared to be a fair few Woodpigeons moving. I only managed 330 south in 20 minutes or so, but suspect a longer session would've produced quite a few more than that. An Amberley Mount tick was unexpected in the form of two Little Egrets which dropped in to the fields to the west, while a single Reed Bunting flew south over Downs Farm. 

Looking south from Amberley Mount

Upon arrival at Woods Mill I was greeted by Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre legend Bob Foreman who invited me to check out the contents of the moth trap he has just emptied in the garden. It was, unsurprisingly, a rather sparse catch, but did include my first ever December Moth! A species I have long wanted to see but which has always evaded me as my moth trap tends to gather dust between October and April. A lunchtime stroll round the reserve produced two new species for me here: a flyover Sparrowhawk and a heard-only Kingfisher. 

December Moth

Sparrowhawk

24th November

No real birding today owing to work commitments in Kent. 

26th November

The coldest morning of the winter so far and I was out at first light, heading to Pulborough in the hope that yesterday's Whooper Swan (found by Chris and Juliet Moore) had stuck around. Of course, after a clear night there was no sign of it or, indeed, the ringtail Hen Harrier and three White-fronted Geese also seen on Friday. The best from an hour scanning the South Brooks were a Dunlin in flight, some 80 or so Pintail, and a Peregrine in the oak at the bottom of Uppertons Field. I decided to head over to the private reservoir near Petworth for a quick look there, with scarce diving ducks and grebes on my mind. The female Long-tailed Duck was still there, for at least her 28th day, and showing well (though always too distant for decent photos). Otherwise it was relatively quiet here, with Pochard numbers in particular notably down since my last visit. Three Cattle Egrets flew west distantly towards Selham; my first record of the species here. 

Fieldfares

An early afternoon stroll at Swanbourne Lake produced the usual array of gulls and wildfowl, including at least 20 Common Gull and 30 Gadwall. 

Black-headed Gull

Late afternoon I walked out to Thorndale Bridge from home, in the hope of some owl action. It wasn't to be, but was still fairly lively, with highlights here including 3-4 squealing Water Rail, a calling Green Sandpiper (not seen), 250 Black-headed Gulls and a single Marsh Harrier south. At least three Snipe were flying about and another five flew east over River Lane on my walk home. 

26th November

No proper birding today owing to family stuff, but a quick look at one of my old haunts - Postford Pond in Chilworth - produced two Little Egrets and a roost gathering of 53 Mandarins, only just over half my record count of the species here (or anywhere!) but still quite impressive. 

27th November

A short stop at Amberley after dropping B at nursery proved rather more exciting than I'd anticipated. With the water levels even lower than my last visit, wildfowl numbers seemed to have increased again, with comfortably over a thousand ducks present, plus the lingering trio of White-fronted Geese with Greylags in the south-east corner. Another species which was present in conspicuously high numbers was Mute Swan, which got me thinking again about the Whooper I missed on Friday and the imminent arrival of the dwindling wintering Bewick's herd. 

With my thoughts along these lines, I decided to have one final scan of the swans present before I left. Two adults very distant on the northern side (about 1500m away from my viewpoint!) caught my eye, despite their heads being in the water. Something about the size, shape and jizz seemed off for Mute. Sure enough, as they lifted their heads alternately for a second or two, I caught sight of the bill of a wild swan species, not Mute. I was already late leaving for work at this point and the visibility was dreadful - not to mention the distance involved. My overall impression was of a near Mute-sized bird, with longish neck and wedge-shaped head with a generous amount of yellow in the bill. I left satisfied I had seen Whooper Swans. How wrong I was! And the niggling doubts I had as I drove to Woods Mill were validated when Paul Davy text a while later to say he'd got better views (and photos) from the Wey-South Path which clearly showed they were Bewick's Swans. An early arrival date in the Arun Valley, in a modern context. Just shows the importance of never jumping to conclusions!

Bewick's Swans - record shot from 1500m!

Aside from that excitement, not much else to report from today, though a lunchtime walk around Woods Mill did produce rather more winter thrushes than last week. 

28th November

Another beautiful sunny but cold morning with a brisk wind. I headed out quite early to Burton Mill Pond for a full walk there (including checking Chingford and Black Ponds). Compared to my last visit ten days ago or so it was relatively quiet. Although I do have to remind myself that 49 species is still a very respectable total in just under 90 minutes. Chingford Pond as usual held the bulk of the wildfowl interest, with 27 Pochard and 65 Tufted Duck the standout counts, plus a few Gadwall, Mallard and a couple of Shoveler. Black-headed Gull, Common Gull and Herring Gull were dropping in in modest numbers while others continued flying over, heading west. Heading back to my car, a Woodlark and two Ravens flew over New Piece. Incidentally, Woodlark was my 118th species recorded on eBird in November - by far and away my most species-rich November to date!

Grey Heron

A short lunchtime stroll round the local farmland produced a reasonable selection of species, with the clear highlight being a Peregrine which came in high over Lodge Hill to the north before drifting right over my head and plunging into a stoop down behind the trees near Besley Farm. I never saw the outcome of the dive, sadly!

Peregrine

Buzzard

29th November

A brief circuit up at Amberley Mount this morning in beautiful but chilly conditions produced a respectable 37 species in just over half an hour, including at least 160 Common Gulls, two Raven, heard-only Grey Partridge and Red-legged Partridge, and a Peregrine which flew through south at high speed towards The Burgh. I haven't done much birding up here away from the passage months, so am quite enjoying these quick in and out sessions before work at this time of year.

Common Gulls

Arriving at Woods Mill I was greeted again by the Song Thrush which has been belting out its song here for a week now. A lunchtime walk produced two new species for my site list here - Grey Heron and Pheasant, plus a Raven flying south, a modest flock of Fieldfare (25+) two Firecrests, and a Cetti's Warbler alarm calling near the main pond. 

30th November

An icy cold morning with leaden skies which produced the first flakes of snow of the winter. When it eventually decided to start getting light(ish) at around 8, I dashed over to Petworth for a check of the private reservoir and surrounding farmland. Wildfowl numbers had reduced on the reservoir with just ten Pochard and 35 Tufted Duck, plus five Shoveler, but the female Long-tailed Duck was still present and showed unusually well, swimming right around to the near side of the basin at one point (she's tended to always be at the furthest possible point up until today). A loop of the some of the farmland produced a few bits too including only my second ever Firecrest at this site, among a scattering of Goldcrests, quite a few Fieldfares, and a lone Lapwing in the middle of one of the fields, bizarrely picked up on call - perhaps the first hint of birds forced south by colder weather up north?

Long-tailed Duck

A quick check of Burton Mill Pond and Hadworth Farm on the way home yielded little, though two Little Grebes and five Coots at the latter show just how much water the scrape is now holding in the roadside field there, when just a few weeks ago it was bone dry. 

A brisk lunchtime walk over to Waltham Brooks from home was fairly uneventful and it somehow seemed to have got even colder, with a biting wind and still some wet snow in the air. The now usual Great White Egret was seen in flight over the river before heading over to Amberley, followed a little while later by a Little Egret. A Marsh Harrier angrily chased another one off in the same direction. The main lake held around 150 ducks, over half of which were Teal, with smaller numbers of Wigeon, Gadwall and Shoveler.