The end of January (at last!)

21st January

For the first time in weeks I actually managed to get through to the river and Waltham Brooks via Thorndale Bridge this morning, as the recent cold spell has allowed the flood waters to subside considerably. Clearly the impacts of the cold weather were still being felt by displaced waterbirds though, with around 20 Lapwing in a field south of River Lane of note here - i.e. in a location away from the usual wetland hotspots. 

Several Ravens (at least 2-3) were around and making their presence known, calling and tumbling over the trees between Waltham Brooks and Watersfield. 

The star species of the morning though - and one I've hoped to encounter locally for a while now - was a Jack Snipe which flew up from the marshy ground between the railway crossing and the river with at least eight Common Snipe. In typical Jack Snipe fashion, it stayed hidden until the last moment, just as I took my camera lenscap off and thought to myself 'that spot up ahead looks bang on for Jack Snipe'. Seconds later, it shot up about a metre ahead of me and stayed low as it flew silently off towards the riverbank. 136 for my Waltham Brooks list, 101 for the local (10km) effort and 75 for the 1km year list. Result!

Jack Snipe

22nd January

This morning I finally caved. After weeks of hopefully checking local berry bushes and trees in the hope of finding my own Waxwings, and even a check of a site they'd been seen at recently (also without joy), I decided I just had to see some of these gorgeous birds in what is clearly the best winter for them for at least a decade. Hassocks was the destination, specifically a little newbuild estate on the northern side, conveniently only 15 minutes or so from Woods Mill, where I was heading anyway. I didn't have long and after half an hour of walking around the estate and fields was about to give up when I heard that unmistakable silver bell trill and noticed half a dozen or so plump, Starling-sized birds in the scrubby trees up ahead. I crept a little closer and managed to get a few photos before the whole group (at least 18 in total) took flight and headed purposefully west over the tree line on the edge of the estate.

Waxwings

That put me in a fine mood for the rest of the day, which was made even better when during a little lunch break walk I at last got good views of the showy Water Rail at the Woods Mill feeders which has been performing beautifully for seemingly everyone except me recently (judging by social media posts anyway). 

Water Rail

23rd January

Not much time for birding today. A 15-minute scan from the tea terrace at Pulborough Brooks failed to produce anything out of the ordinary, although the resident strikingly pale Buzzard was perched on the fence towards the bottom of Uppertons Field. 

Awful phonescope photo of the Buzzard, but how many misidentifications has this bird been responsible for, I wonder!

A tour of the Chiddinglye estate for work late morning which was made even better by a Goshawk which shot through into some woodland on the western side. 

24th January

Next to no birding today, though a Merlin over B's nursery in Amberley first thing was pretty cool/unexpected!

25th January

I headed out reasonably early on foot from home, towards the Arun and Waltham Brooks. It's great to be able to get access Thorndale Bridge again in the past week or so, since the flood water receded, although I was surprised to see it had crept back up a bit this morning. Luckily, I still manged to get through to the river bank where I was greeted almost immediately by a female/juvenile type Merlin powering across from Amberley West towards the railway line further downstream from where I was stood, and continuing south-west. A real feature of this morning were Ravens, which were flying east in ones, twos and threes, amounting to a pretty remarkable total of 20 over in the space of about 15-20, all clearly flying purposefully towards Amberley/Parham, so definitely different birds. I'm not quite sure what was going on but presumably birds leaving a roost somewhere. 

Raven

Otherwise, it was pretty standard fare further upriver at Waltham Brooks, with the main lake holding minima of 70 Teal, 50 Wigeon and 25 Shoveler plus seven Tufted Duck and four Gadwall. At least five Common Snipe flew up from the marshy spots round the margins and the usual Water Rail and Cetti's Warblers were making themselves heard. 

Later in the day I popped over to Benbow Pond again, where I met up with Paul Davy for a short walk. We again dipped on the previously reported Waxwings but nonetheless had some impressive counts of other species, with at least 200 Redwings around the mistletoe-clad Lime trees on the golf course, 500+ Woodpigeons flying up from nearby farmland and 130 or more Siskin flying from the Alders by the main pond itself. Also of note at the pond were two Black Swans on nests. 

26th January

It was a largely gloriously sunny day today and not that cold. At lunchtime I managed to get out for a brief check of the flooded field at Hadworth Farm which had quietened down a lot since my last visit (now that all the other local water bodies have thawed out), with just a dozen Gadwall, seven Wigeon, six Teal and a female Pintail of note on the wildfowl front, the latter not looking very well or possibly injured as it seemed rather unsteady on its feet and not able to fly terribly well.

With the evenings gradually getting lighter, I decided to head to Burton Mill Pond after work for my first dusk stakeout of the year. At least three Water Rails were calling around the margins as 68 Cormorants came in to roost in the usual trees at the far end. It was a three egret evening again with two Great White Egrets flying separately towards Chingford, and at least six Cattle Egrets flying south in ones and twos mixed in with flocks of Little Egrets (29 in total - 9 the largest single flock). This represents my highest count of either Little or Cattle Egret here.

Five Little Egrets and two Cattle Egrets (top and second from bottom)

Last light at Burton Mill Pond

Back at home in the evening, I noted my first Barn Owl of the year screeching low over the house/garden while I was tinkering in the shed. 

27th January

An unexpected hoar frost this morning and a rare lie-in, meant not much birding time. A walk along the Arun south of Pulborough mid-morning was relatively quiet aside from my first singing Chaffinch of the year, while a brief scan from Swan Bridge just produced a Little Egret among the expected wildfowl. 

I did the Big Garden Birdwatch at home around lunchtime. Not much going on in the garden itself but quite a few raptors were getting up in the sunshine, including a Marsh Harrier, two Sparrowhawks (incredibly a 1km year tick), at least five Red Kites and three Buzzards. 

28th January

An incredible sunrise this morning owing to the arrival of Saharan dust in the atmosphere. I was out early in time to see said sunrise over Pulborough Brooks. A couple of hours here produced 59 species including at least six Dunlin with ~700 Lapwings and 12 Shelduck plus the usual masses of wildfowl. Species singing included Skylark, Chaffinch and Greenfinch, while there were still at least three flighty Redpoll down the Zigzags and a pair of Stonechats at Redstart Corner. A brief check of my private WeBS site near Petworth didn't produce much on the water (the Long-tailed Duck seems to have well and truly departed now), but a flyover Raven was nice plus a couple of singing Skylarks. 

Stonechats

29th January

No real birding today although I did note a Marsh Tit singing at Goodwood during a work meeting and a Marsh Harrier flew south over Amberley Museum as I was driving past late afternoon. 

30th January

Again no proper birding today but several Ravens were noted flying over Watersfield during the morning and, in the evening, at least two vocal Tawny Owls were making themselves heard close to home - incredibly my first in the 1k area this year. My first go with the moth trap in 2024 proved to be something of an anti-climax, with just two moths making an appearance; a Chestnut and a Common Quaker, both new for the garden list. 

Chestnut

31st January

No birding today.