Winter begone!

After a few false starts, I think it's fair to say that spring has well and truly arrived now; both in terms of the weather and migrant birds. Since my previous blog post I have seen several sub-Saharan travelers, my first flowering Blackthorn and my first Brimstone butterfly of the year and each birding session or even just a local walk from home is again garnished with anticipation at the thought of what might be seen. It doesn't matter how many springtimes one experiences, it never gets any less exciting or reassuring to see all the pieces of the jigsaw falling into place at this time of year.

9th March

This morning I headed over to Heyshott Down with Paul Stevens to follow up on a recent report of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker there. Sadly it really wasn't the weather to go looking for this species, with low cloud and intermittent rain and sleet and still a fair bit of snow on the ground as we climbed the hill. Highlights here included two Marsh Tits, at least four Yellowhammers, at least two singing Skylarks and a very territorial pair of Ravens perhaps trying to distract us from a nest nearby.

Mid-afternoon I was heading up to Aldershot so dropped in at one of my old birding haunts, Cutt Mill Ponds, for a quick look. The House Pond was relatively quiet apart from ten Gadwall and four Mandarin, but I was pleased to find three Goosander on the Tarn (two drakes and a redhead). 

10th March

Just a 1k walk this morning through the local farmland towards the river. Unfortunately, the flood water had risen again to such an extent I couldn't get through under the railway bridge and, indeed, struggled to get through at various other points on my walk back home. All in all, a fairly underwhelming session with only 36 Redwing in one of the horse paddocks and 38 Meadow Pipits in another nearby field of note. 32 Common Gulls flew south over River Lane and a Siskin was heard in flight but not seen. Six Gadwall and two Snipe flew up from the marshy ground west of the railway near Thorndale Bridge. 

11th March

Not much in the way of birding today but a short stroll round the local fields in the morning did produce a little flurry of Lesser Black-backed Gull movement, with a dozen north in around 20 minutes (flocks of five, four and three).

Later in the day, I saw my first Blackcap of the year (a male) in my mum's garden in Aldershot. Presumably a wintering bird rather than a freshly arrived migrant but still very nice to see.

Lesser Black-backed Gulls

12th March

It was WeBS day so I headed over to my private reservoir site near Petworth for the monthly count of the birds here. Not much of note on the reservoir itself (I was hoping for an LRP or Sand Martin) but still three each of Shoveler and Gadwall and a few gulls drifting over including a Lesser Black-backed Gull. The local Skylarks and Yellowhammers were in fine voice though and a flock of at least 130 Fieldfare were in the fields near the reservoir.

Yellowhammer

Later in the morning I headed out into the local farmland near home for a short walk, which ended up turning into an impromptu sky watch, as it was clear there were a fair amount of gulls on the move. In 15-20 minutes I noted 176 Black-headed Gulls, 16 Herring Gulls, 10 Common Gulls, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a single adult Mediterranean Gull, all moving north. Various other birders in West Sussex and Surrey were also reporting Meds on the move, so clearly a good day for the species inland.

Mediterranean Gull

13th March

A very blustery morning. I headed over to Waltham Brooks for a quick circuit after dropping B at nursery. The water levels were way up since my last visit. The main lake held at least 60 Wigeon, a few Shoveler, Teal and Gadwall plus a single Little Grebe, while two Snipe flew up from the water's edge. More Wigeon (40-50) were on the flood just across the river on the north-west side of Amberley. Best of all was a female/immature type Merlin which came in from the north and made a couple of fast low passes over the main lake before regaining height and heading off back to the north-east.

Merlin

14th March

En route to meet Ed at his near Godalming I dropped in at my WeBS site near Petworth for a quick check of the farm reservoir, in hope of an LRP or Sand Martin. Sadly neither revealed themselves and it was generally fairly quiet, save for a Great Crested Grebe among the Coots and usual ducks on the water.

After a few hours' work, Ed and I headed out for a wander around some of his 1k area, specifically Eashing Farm where we found at least 60 Chaffinch still on the stubble field just above the river, and 30 Linnet and at least 8 Skylarks in the fields up Halfway Lane, where there were also two Little Grebes on the private farm reservoir. 

Towards the end of the day we decided to head over to Lydling Farm at Shackleford to see if the long-staying Corn Bunting trio were still present. Thankfully we found them straight away associating with around 100 Linnets in the field nearest Chalk Lane. A Surrey lifer for me - and they showed beautifully in the late afternoon sunshine. Other bits from our session here included a couple of Stonechats, a Ring-necked Parakeet (my first of the year!) and a tight flock of around 40 Starlings powering north-east at height.

Corn Buntings

15th March

On my way from my mum's in Aldershot back to Ed's I dropped in at one of my old haunts, Crooksbury Common, for a quick wander around. Here I found at least two each of Woodlark and Dartford Warbler singing as well as a heard-only Siskin and two Grey Herons over, heading east. 

Woodlark

After a couple of hours work at Ed's, it was abundantly clear that there was quite an arrival of common migrants going on in Surrey and Sussex and the draw of the birding opportunities outside the window proved too much, so we headed up to Eashing Fields for a quick scan for a Wheatear. There was no sign of any, although a Stonechat was nice here (and Nuthatch was a hotspot tick for me) but really our attention was distracted by events at Beddington Farmlands where a Stone-curlew had just turned up. We quickly made the decision to head up the A3 to scratch this particular itch (a Surrey lifer for both of us) and, thanks to Zach Pannifer, we were allowed access to the southern section of the site where we clapped eyes on the bird - amazingly the first proper migrant either us had seen this spring! Thanks again must go to Zach for persuading the site manager to allow a few birders to gain access, and of course to the finder, Glenn Jones.

Stone-curlew

With that rather extended lunchbreak out of the way we got back to work on the book, although Ed was soon on the road again - off to twitch the first local Wheatear of the year, found by Abel at Shackleford. On my way home I swung by Burton Mill Pond, hoping for a Sand Martin, but sadly no joy. Tomorrow is another day!

16th March

This morning I was at Knepp, leading a safari for a group from Compassion in World Farming. With the shift to southerly airflow, it felt considerably more spring-like, especially when the sunshine really started to break through around noon. This coaxed up a few raptors, mostly Buzzards, although Peregrine and Sparrowhawk also made an appearance. The White Storks were busy pair bonding and spring cleaning their nests too.

On the way home I stopped off for a quick look at Waltham Brooks. Highlights here included at least half a dozen Chiffchaffs, several singing in spots away from the water treatment works which felt like they were probably 'new in' rather than lingering wintering birds. Hard to be sure though, of course. Also of note were 2 Little Grebe and 6 Tufted Duck on the lake, 2 Stonechats in the scrub and a flyover Peregrine.

Greenfinch

Late afternoon I went for a little wander round the local farmland which produced another singing Chiffchaff in an area I've not heard one before, so this must surely have been a newly arrived bird, and also a female Stonechat in the hedgerow down our lane - also a 'new in' migrant from somewhere. Things are picking up!

Stonechat

17th March

A drizzly morning with continuing southerly winds sounded like an ideal combination to produce some migrants, so I headed back over to the private reservoir near Petworth, hoping for some sub-Saharan goodies. It was clear from the get-go there had been a little arrival of Chiffchaffs, with at least four singing around the area. An initial scan of the reservoir didn't produce anything, although I did think I heard a Little Ringed Plover, but dismissed it as part of a nearby Song Thrush's repertoire. A few minutes later though I picked up what was definitely an LRP in flight, circling over the reservoir before heading off to the west. It returned a minute or two later and circled again before disappearing off to the west/north-west, perhaps dissuaded from landing by the high water levels. Nonetheless, a very welcome first for the year! A couple of minutes after this, two Sand Martins dropped out of the cloud before continuing off north-east - also my first of the year. A little while later three were feeding low over the reservoir, so a minimum of three today or possibly five in total.

An early afternoon skywatch from the local farmland produced a Peregrine and two Ravens over as well as an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull high west, but otherwise no real hint of movement, and no sign of yesterday's Stonechat. Always an annual highlight though, was the first Brimstone of the year dropping into our garden as the sun broke through mid-afternoon.

A short visit to Arundel with Kate and B in the afternoon produced 7 Cattle Egrets on Mill Road Watermeadows, a pair of Mandarin on the Mill Stream and at least one (possibly two) Marsh Harrier over Swanbourne Lake where there was also a Firecrest singing.

Marsh Harrier

Mandarins

18th March

One of those days where the amount of effort put in didn't quite produce the desired reward. A rainy start with a shift to south-easterly winds ought to have produced some goodies, and indeed it did, just not where I was unfortunately! I walked from home early morning out to the river and up to Waltham Brooks, then home via the sewage works and a check of some local paddocks and fields. Despite being out for two hours from first light, the sum total of highlights from this session were 16 Tufted Duck on the lake at Waltham (admittedly a high count here for me), 4 Shelduck over and a scattering of Chiffchaffs. Basically a soaking for nothing! Meanwhile, others were basking in the glory of finding White-fronted Goose and Little Gulls, there were Wheatears aplenty on the Downs and a Garganey turned up at Pulborough...

Later in the day I gave the reservoir near Petworth another go but this was equally without fanfare, with not even any sign of yesterday's LRP or Sand Martins.

Having decided to write the day off entirely as a bad job, I put my head down to work on the book for a couple of hours, after which time Kate suggested a little evening walk down the lane from home. I'm glad I said yes as, just minutes from the front door, I picked up three Sand Martins powering north high overhead - a 1k tick and my first proper migrants this close to home this year. Result!

19th March

Quite a contrast to the previous day, with bright sunshine and a light north-westerly wind to start. I got out early and headed to Waltham Brooks first, in the hope of a Garganey. Sadly no joy, though yesterday's Tufted Duck count was smashed by a total of 23 on the main lake.

Next stop was Pulborough Brooks where I was immediately greeted by the sound of distant Redshank calling on the South Brooks - my first locally this year. There were at least four out there, making themselves heard throughout my visit. I dashed straight over to the North Brooks first to try and find yesterday's Garganey. Sadly I wasn't able to but did find a few lingering Pintail among the usual dabblers, and a pair of Avocet. The walk round the main trail was soundtracked all the way by Chiffchaffs - at least ten singing males here now - and, as I approached Winpenny hide, I heard the distinctive call of a Water Pipit, just in time to see the bird flying off west towards the river. Once in the hide it didn't take me too long to find it again, showing rather distantly at the back of one of the pools. It really has been an extraordinary winter for this species here and elsewhere locally, given their traditionally scarce status in the Arun Valley.

Water Pipit

Later in the morning I headed out for a short walk with B and checked a few of the local fields in the hope of some migrants and was rewarded with a smart White Wagtail in a horse paddock just a few hundred metres from home. This is my absolute favourite thing about migration when birds which are only part-way through their epic journey drop in almost on your doorstep. It's amazing to think this bird will be continuing on its way to Iceland or the Faroe Islands in the coming days.

White Wagtail

As it was Mother's Day, Kate and I decided to head to Arundel for a stroll round Swanbourne Lake late morning. The best bits here were singing Firecrest and at least three Chiffchaffs plus an adult Great Black-backed Gull among the Herring Gulls on the water. Elsewhere in Arundel, highlights were two Cattle Egrets on Mill Road Watermeadows and two Oystercatchers low over the Mill Road car park.

Great Black-backed Gull

A sunny day at the end of every freezing night

The changeable winter continues, despite us being into the dwindling weeks of the meteorological season. Temperatures took a tumble again early in February with some very icy starts to the days in this two week period, and also some pesky foggy mornings which took until lunchtime to lift. Still, in the days of sunshine there has been a noticeable increase in birdsong and early breeding activity like raptors soaring and resident passerines carrying nest material and inspecting likely nesting spots. February can be a tough slog sometimes but on the best days it can also be full of hope.

5th February

An early morning walk round the local farmland didn't produce too much of note but there was some notably spring-like behaviour from some of the local resident species, including a Starling singing its quirky song from our rooftop and various House Sparrows flying to and from the neighbours' eaves.

A dusk walk over to the riverbank near Thorndale Bridge produced a Barn Owl hunting over Waltham Brooks and four Egyptian Geese quarreling over Amberley Wildbrooks. Mainly though, it was just a welcome novelty to be heading out for a birding session at 5pm and still managing to get in 40 minutes or so.

Song Thrush

6th February

The first frosty morning in a couple of weeks and I decided to drop in for a look at Amberley Wildbrooks as I was passing. Scanning from Cross Gate on the southern side, I was amazed at how much the water levels had dropped since my first proper visit here for a fortnight or more. There were still 80 or so Lapwing dotted about the place but otherwise no water birds at all really aside from a Little Egret, a few Grey Herons and a couple of Mute Swans. Just as I was thinking about leaving after about 45 minutes or so, my attention was drawn by a group of corvids mobbing another bird quite high over towards the western side. Getting the scope on the melee, I realised the bird causing the consternation was a ringtail Hen Harrier, which gained height for a while before dropping down onto the western side where it started hunting up and down before powering over the eastern side. My second in the 10k this year, and in fact it could be The Burgh bird relocating, as I don't think there have been any records of that bird for a while now.

Very distant Hen Harrier, with escort

Herring Gulls

7th February

Thick fog this morning precluded my planned visit to Burton Mill Pond so I instead dropped in the check the lake at Waltham Brooks, with a view to the birds being closer. The fog still made it difficult to pick out much on the water, although a calling Little Grebe was my first in the 1k area this year. Also on the lake were a drake Pintail and two Shelduck, while a lone Snipe flushed up from the shore as I passed. At least two Cetti's Warblers were calling in the bushes, one of which obligingly popped up and showed quite well briefly (for a Cetti's Warbler anyway...).

Cetti's Warbler

An early afternoon skywatch from local farmland produced three Ravens heading east but not much in the way of raptor action despite the sun breaking through.

8th February

Another very foggy start wasn't conducive to birding first thing so I cracked on with work and headed out for a lunchtime stroll. I walked over to the bank of the Arun at Thorndale Bridge to scan the sky and Amberley Wildbrooks, but it had turned into such a beautiful day I decided to carry on up to Waltham Brooks and walk home from there. Not a huge amount to report here really, although at least three Red Kites and two Buzzards were up and enjoying the sunshine and two Ravens flew east. At least three Water Rails were squeaking away, including one in the reedbed on the Amberley side of the river. At the sewage works I found at least 25-30 Chiffchaffs flitting about and flycatching from the bushes around the fence line and up the concrete track. Not quite as impressive as Bernie Forbes' report of 56 yesterday but still lovely to see.

Buzzard

9th February

Mercifully no fog this morning but still very cold. I got out early (light enough for birding by 7am  now!) and headed over to Pulborough for a quick circuit of the reserve. Highlights here from an hour and a half included singing Woodlark over the heath, at least five Ravens raucously flying over, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, 1200 Lapwing and at least 90 Pintail among ~1000 Wigeon and Teal, mostly on the North Brooks. No eagles or other wader species for me (Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit and Dunlin were reported earlier in the week) but still an enjoyable session. Most noticeable, both at Pulborough and at home were the Dunnocks, which seemed to have universally decided that today was the day to ramp up their singing and courtship behaviour. They seemed to be everywhere around the trail at Pulborough!

Teal

10th February

Another foggy morning so I decided to head up the Downs - Kithurst Hill, specifically, which I haven't visited for a while. Corn Buntings and Yellowhammers were in fine voice, particularly around the dew pond just west of the Chantry Hill car park. There were plenty of singing Chaffinches about too and a lone Marsh Tit. A single Grey Partridge was with a little covey of Red-legged Partridge south of the dew pond, while the usual Ravens and Red Kites were patrolling around the hillside. A nice bonus local year tick on the way back to the car park in the form of an adult winter Mediterranean Gull among 200+ Black-headed Gulls and Common Gulls swirling around over a ploughed field.

Kestrel

Corn Bunting

Back home it was nice to see a resplendent breeding plumage Starling singing on our chimney. The resident species are definitely full of the joys of spring now!

11th February

A bit of a tour of a few North East Sussex sites today, starting with Ashdown Forest, where I met a couple at Old Lodge for a South Downs Wildlife walk. It was a decent little walk here, given the time of year, with flyovers of Woodlark and two Ravens, a Dartford Warbler and a singing Mistle Thrush. Most numerous though were the Coal Tits which seemed to be in almost every tree!

Raven

After saying goodbye to the guys here I decided to stop at Weir Wood Reservoir in passing, which produced nine Pochard, 23 Tufted Duck, Marsh Tit and lots of activity from the nesting Grey Herons and Cormorants in the trees at the western end.

Final stop on the way home was Red House Common, part of the the Chailey Commons complex. This was a new site to me and one I've literally just written about for the 'Where to Watch Birds...' book. I was impressed with it, especially the great views of the sky and the wider Wealden landscape. Not a huge bird list here today but I hope to return when the heathland migrants are back in. 

12th February

Another gloomy morning. Kate, B and I headed over to Pulborough Brooks mid-morning, having just heard news from former RSPB warden Pete that the regular young pair of White-tailed Eagles had been chasing and trying to catch an unfortunate Grey Heron. The show was still going on as we arrived and we bumped into Pete, Alice Parfitt and Gary Trew by the visitor centre. One of the eagles was perched up in a tree by the river but the other took off again chasing a Grey Heron which was flying over towards Hardham. I've seen WTE do this kind of hot pursuit before and am still amazed at their capability for speed when required. The eagle was clearly gaining height to get up to where the heron was flying, when suddenly the heron whiffled and dived, so the eagle did the same, straight after it. We couldn't see the outcome as they disappeared behind trees, but it was amazing to watch! 

Later on, we saw one of the eagles in the 'owl tree' on the North Brooks, viewed from the Hanger viewpoint. From here we also found singles of Dunlin (102 for the Local Big Year list) and Ruff with the many hundreds of Lapwing and at least 8 Shelduck - my highest count of the species locally so far this year (plus at least 3 on the South Brooks).

White-tailed Eagle

13th February

The first day of the year when a coat almost felt like an optional extra with the temperature well into double figures by lunchtime. In the morning I was at Knepp for my first safari of the year. There was plenty of birdsong around the place including lots of Song Thrushes and Dunnocks, and several of the resident White Stork pairs were busy feathering their nests and generally looking very cosy and loved up.

The Hammer Pond held the usual Great Crested Grebe and a few each of Teal, Shoveler and Gadwall, while a check of the Mill Pond on the way home produced a couple of Great Crested Grebe, a single Little Grebe, three each of Shoveler and Teal, six Pochard, five Tufted Duck and 15 Wigeon.

14th February

Another foggy morning with the murk very slow to clear. Eventually, by early afternoon the sun had started to break through though so I took a lunchtime walk up to some local woodland which produced plenty of singing resident species including Coal Tit, airborne Buzzard and Red Kite and a vocal flyover Raven. I also inadvertently flushed a Woodcock from an area of low bramble and bracken which gave possibly the best ever flight views I've had of this species to date, lit up beautifully in the sunshine though, of course, too brief an encounter to get a photo.

15th February

A misty start to the day but not too cold and with the promise of warm sunshine burning through relatively early on. That sounded like ideal conditions to find Lesser Spotted Woodpecker so I headed out to a likely area of woodland (location withheld) and was delighted to hear one calling in an area of birch not long after I arrived. This one did a disappearing act pretty quickly but an hour or so later I found the same bird or another one (this one definitely a male - the previous one unsexed due to being backlit) drumming enthusiastically a couple of hundred metres away. Wonderful!

Marsh Tits were in fine voice too as were several Song Thrushes, Great Spotted Woodpeckers and all the common tits. As I was about to head home I flushed my second Woodcock in two days. All in all a pretty great morning!

Marsh Tit

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

By lunchtime it had really turned into an absolutely stunning day so Kate and I headed out for lunch and a brief walk at Fittleworth Common. This was a really unexpected gem, with Marsh Tit again, several Red Admirals on the wing and also a completely unexpected arboretum hidden away among the Sweet Chestnut coppice.

All change

 As I said in my 2021 Pulborough review, last year was a record breaking and memorable year in so many ways. I'd decided by the autumn though, once I reached my 150 target, that 2022 would be a year for change. Not least, in part, due to becoming a father in October, my priorities changed somewhat. It seemed rather a fruitless exercise to go through the same routine as last year and try to beat my own record Pulborough year list.

Instead, I decided this year would be about exploring, adventures and enjoying birding for its own sake. Indeed, I have made it my goal, within reason to visit as many new places as possible, and try to go somewhere different every day. Discovering new places and species right on my doorstep. Coincidentally, Birdwatch/BirdGuides then announced their #LocalBigYear challenge, which fitted perfectly with what I'd already been planning for the new year.

So, I set about studying maps and decided a rough 10km radius around Pulborough would offer plenty of interesting and diverse habitat to get stuck into. Some of it, like Pulborough Brooks, Waltham Brooks and Amberley Wildbrooks, I know very well or reasonably well, other areas I have been to far less, if at all. I also tweaked the radius slightly to include the Knepp Estate where I'll be spending a lot of time this year, as I start leading safaris there in the spring.

The new 'uber patch'

There are some good stretches of woodland, particularly to the northwest and southwest of Pulborough, and also various intriguing flooded patches along the various rivers that crisscross the recording area. The South Downs offer plenty of opportunities for sky-watching as well as some enticing patches of farmland. 

As of the time of writing I've already notched up 100 species within the recording area. Highlights have included a Little Gull on the flood behind the house on the 4th, a Hen Harrier at Waltham Brooks on the 1st, Cattle Egret and 3 Great White Egrets at Burton Mill & Chingford Ponds on the 10th, the eleven Bewick's Swans at Amberley also on the 10th, Merlin and Corn Buntings galore up Chantry Hill on the 15th and my first ever local Dartford Warblers at Lavington Common on the 17th.

After just under three weeks I already feel as though I have a greater understanding of the mosaic of habitats within this corner of West Sussex, and I'm excited to see what else I discover in the months to come.

Grey Wagtail

Goosanders

Bramblings

Corn Buntings

Little Gull

Up on the Downs

After another relatively quiet and migrant-free morning on the patch yesterday, Kate and I headed up to Kithurst and Chantry Hills on the South Downs above Storrington for an afternoon walk; one of my favourite downland spots in this area after The Burgh. Sadly, despite checking every fenceline and field, if there was a Wheatear or a Ring Ouzel up there then it did its level best to avoid us - there wasn't even a Chiffchaff to be found in the bushes.

On the plus side, it's good to be reminded that some of the classic farmland bird species are still hanging on here. Through the song of several Skylarks and flight calls of Yellowhammers I picked up the jangling keys tones of a Corn Bunting singing near the dew pond.

In autumn and winter there was a decent-sized flock in this area (up to fifty in late October), and now listening to one singing away with the Surrey Hills in plain sight to the north - a county in which the species hasn't been recorded as breeding since at least the mid-90s - I couldn't help but feel a sense of poignancy. For the time being, the Corn Bunting remains a feature of the Sussex countryside but with the fields on the Downs here already ploughed, sown and green with early wheat and winter oilseed rape, one can't but help ponder for how much longer.