Water, water everywhere

 11th February

WeBS day today, so I headed over to Petworth at first light to do my monthly count on the private reservoir there. It was pretty disappointing to be honest, with just ten Coots, 24 Shoveler and a couple of Little Grebes. Two each of Canada Goose and Egyptian Goose which flew over the farmland as I walked to the reservoir didn't even meet the criteria to be added to the count. Otherwise, a few Fieldfares, Redwings and Yellowhammers made up the highlights from a rather paltry total of 30 species.  

A brief check of Burton Mill Pond and Hadworth Farm/Bignor Park scrape on the way home proved a little more rewarding, particularly the latter where a Great White Egret flew in to join two Grey Herons already feeding at the edge of the scrape (spooking the lingering Green Sandpiper in the process!). A new species for me here. A couple of Ravens flew over towards Bignor Park, tumbling and calling.

Great White Egret

Green Sandpiper and Great White Egret

12th February

The first clear and frosty morning for a while turned into the most beautiful, sunny, late winter/early spring day. I even managed to work on my laptop in the garden for an hour or so early afternoon!

Two bites of the cherry at Pulborough Brooks (20 minutes or so from by the visitor centre before work and half an hour by the village hall at lunchtime) failed to turn up any sign of the pair of Goldeneye found by a volunteer Rob King yesterday. A real local rarity these days, these represented the first record of the species at Pulborough since the dubious 'are they/aren't they' quartet in October 2021, and before that, well, it was somewhere in the region of 15 years. A nice consolation came in the form of two Great Crested Grebes on the North Brooks (my first anywhere locally this year, incredibly) and a Barn Owl sleepily perched at the entrance of a nest box along the river.

The flood between Pulborough village and the North Brooks

A brief look at a local raptor watchpoint produced a nice displaying pair of Sparrowhawks, a few Buzzards and a couple of Red Kites, but not the hoped-for Goshawk. 

The clear highlight of the day though, came rather out of the blue, when I was putting the bin out at home just after 8pm and heard what I initially took to be a distant dog barking, before realising it was the call of a Brent Goose! I stopped in my tracks and listened in wonder as what sounded like a small-ish flock clearly flew north-east quite high overhead, calling occasionally until the sounded faded away into the distance towards Pulborough. One of those spectacular 'migration in action' moments where one can only pause and ponder the extraordinary journey those birds have ahead of them, after spending the winter on the south coast. Also a rare 'three list' tick in the form of garden, 10km year and 1km year. What a result!      

13th February

A brief look at a very flooded Waltham Brooks before work proved quite productive, with 45 species noted in just over half an hour. The flood water had risen to such an extent as to make circumnavigation of much of the reserve pretty much impossible. As such, and as I was short on time, I checked by the lake first then drove up to Greatham Bridge for another scan before heading on to Woods Mill for work. A Green Sandpiper flying up from near Greatham Bridge was a 1km year tick, as was the heard-only Little Grebe giving its Whimbrel-like call somewhere out on the flood. Four Tufted Ducks and a single Snipe made up the other highlights, although a flock of waders flying north from Amberley towards Pulborough looked interesting, but were too distant to get much on them, especially as they kept disappearing behind trees.  

Long-tailed Tit

14th February

Not much to love about the weather today (see what I did there?), as yesterday afternoon and evening's rain continued into a murky, drizzly and quite windy morning. I had hoped to get up the Downs but, seeing as they were entirely enshrouded in fog, I decided instead to drop in at Pulborough, specifically the Black Wood/Hail's View end, in order to scan the flooded South Brooks. Visibility was poor - so much so that I struggled even to see the far banks of the Arun from the viewpoint. Among the usual dabbling ducks were three Tufted Duck and at least five Coots (my first here this year) while a drake Mandarin flew east across the reserve towards Hollybush Hill.         

15th February

I had the day off today and fortunately it was a beautiful day - in fact, the warmest of the year so far, with the mercury rising to the mid-teens Celsius by lunchtime, coaxing out the always welcome sight of the first male Brimstone of the year, fluttering around the garden. This was followed later on by a Peacock dashing overhead at speed, as is typical for the species. On the birding front, I decided to indulge in a rather lengthier session than has been possible of late, at Pulborough in the morning. 67 species was the final tally from a little over two hours on the reserve, with just the slightest hints of spring poking its head above the parapet. At least two Lesser Black-backed Gulls were about, a species that really is only a February to late summer feature of birding here. The pair of Stonechats between West Mead and Winpenny were looking particularly dapper in their breeding finery, while a Cetti's Warbler sang nearby. Skylarks were rather forlornly singing and displaying over the flood waters on the both the North and South Brooks, while two Chiffchaffs at the Hanger were 'new in' since my last visit here. Other bits of note included four Raven, at least nine Tufted Duck, half a dozen Shelduck, two Great Crested Grebes, and a heard-only Green Sandpiper below the Hanger. Driving home, I noted a Great White Egret on Widney Brooks through the car window. 

Stonechat

In the afternoon I headed over to the private reservoir near Petworth which proved a little livelier than my last visit at the weekend. Highlights in the brisk and curiously warm southerly wind here were a single Great Crested Grebe, three Gadwall, 24 Shoveler and single drake Tufted Duck, with a couple of Yellowhammers singing in the hedgerows nearby. 

Yellowhammer

16th February

A brief check of the very flooded scrape at Bignor Park/Hadworth Farm first thing produced just a Little Grebe and a pair of Teal of note. As the morning was brightening and warming up, I headed to woodland near Fittleworth after this for a bit of a wander round. The air was ringing with birdsong, including at least two Marsh Tit and a couple of drumming Great Spotted Woodpeckers. A very welcome year tick came in the form of a noisy group of ten Crossbills which flew east high overhead. This wasn't the only sign of movement, as I also noted flocks of Woodpigeons flying purposefully north-east - some 250 or so at least, with the biggest group being ~100. Three Lesser Redpolls briefly dropped into a birch near me before flying off.

Lesser Redpolls

A brief lunchtime walk round the local farmland produced a welcome sign of early spring movement in the form of a smart male Stonechat on a fenceline where I've rarely seen one before. In fact, this represented just my third record of the species in the local farmland eBird hotspot since we moved here 18 months ago!

17th February

Not much birding today, although a walk with B in the morning did produce a singing Firecrest just up the road from home, while a check of the local farmland late morning revealed yesterday's Stonechat to be still present, plus a Lesser Black-backed Gull drifting north; another sure sign of the changing seasons! 

18th February

Rain all night and into this morning didn't inspire much confidence in a productive session, but I headed out at first light regardless to check a few lesser-watched local wetland sites. First up, the Bignor Park scrape which didn't hold any surprises, a croaking Raven being probably the best. Next, a check of the flooded Rother at Fittleworth where I found 14 Little Egrets in the fields near the sewage works, a singing Chiffchaff at the works, and a Coot on the nearby floods. Next up I headed over to Petworth for a look at the private reservoir there, where I was surprised to find the female Long-tailed Duck had returned after over a month's absence. She was very active following a group of Tufted Ducks around the place and even displaying a bit. Also present here were five Gadwall, four Mute Swans, 18 Shoveler and five Little Grebes.

Long-tailed Duck and friends

Burton Mill Pond next where I was pleased to see a Great Crested Grebe back on territory - my first record of the species here this year. Other bits of note were Kingfisher, Water Rail, Grey Wagtail and a single drake Pochard among 15 Tufted Ducks. That was about it for birding effort today although a couple of casual local walks later in the day produced another Lesser Black-backed Gull drifting north over Watersfield plus some good raptor action including a pair of Red Kites displaying over Alban Head. 

Great Crested Grebe

19th February

An early walk from home out to Waltham Brooks produced a few bits. At Waltham Brooks there were at least 27 Tufted Ducks on the main lake, while singles of Great White Egret and Marsh Harrier flew north/upriver. A few Snipe were flushed from marshy areas while a single female Stonechat was in the scrub near the railway crossing. Lots of birdsong around including Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler and Blackbird.

Mid-morning I headed down to Worthing to join a Sussex Wildlife Trust beach clean, where I finally encountered my first Great Black-backed Gulls of the year plus a few Turnstones on the beach near the pier. I took my lunch break at Goring Gap just up the road where I found at least half a dozen Mediterranean Gulls (also my first of the year) dotted about among the hundreds of roosting Common Gulls, while wader interest on the beach here came in the form of at least 55 Turnstones, eight Sanderling, at least 30 Oystercatchers and half a dozen or so Dunlin. 

Common and Mediterranean Gulls

20th February

After dropping B at nursery this morning I decided on a quick look at Amberley Wildbrooks from near Rackham Mill. The flood waters had receded a fair bit since my last visit and the landscape was clearly attracting some interest from waders and gulls, with at least 4 Dunlin and 2 Black-tailed Godwits among the displaying Lapwings, and some 200 gulls gathered at the water's edge right over near the castle - mostly Black-headed Gull and Common Gull. Two Red Kites were drifting about, periodically flushing the rather small numbers of ducks, and one of the White-tailed Eagles was in one of the trees right out in the middle.

Very distant White-tailed Eagle

At lunchtime I headed out for a quick look at the private reservoir near Petworth which produced surprisingly little - just nine Shoveler, five Little Grebes and a Grey Wagtail of note, although a Red-legged Partridge flushed from a track nearby was my first here since early December.

The scrape at Bignor Park/Hadworth Farm proved to be similarly lacklustre in terms of water birds, with just a single Little Grebe worthy of mention here. 

Halfway through November

I saw a thing on Facebook recently about November days being weird as it increasingly feels as though there is no afternoon, just morning, lunchtime, and night-time. By the middle of the month that creeping darkness really eats away at both ends of the day and any residual early morning light we borrowed back after the clock change has already fizzled away. The days are short, and so is time for birding. What November does offer though is the first taste of winter, both in terms of crisp, frosty mornings, breathtaking sunsets and the arrival of winter visitors. It certainly looks like we are set to experience a long overdue influx of various species this winter, from Short-eared Owls to Waxwings to Mealy Redpolls. What's been apparent locally in this ten-day period has been a gradual increase in the background species, with the likes of thrushes and winter ducks noticeably climbing in number, plus some impressive movements of Woodpigeon on the days when the wind and rain have abated.

11th November

The first crisp, frosty and bright morning for a while so I decided to head out on foot from home, in the hope of relocating the probable Hume's Warbler at Waltham Brooks. It was clear fairly soon after arriving there was a fair bit of stuff moving overhead, with a couple of biggish (200+) flocks of Woodpigeons and decent numbers of Fieldfares (160+) moving south-west. It was still pretty cold around the sewage works and not super lively with passerines.

As I passed to the north of the works though and headed up towards the road, I again heard the call which caught my attention earlier in the week, coming from a block of sallow just to my right. I moved over to get closer and to get on the sunny side of the trees. Just as I did so and set about trying to pin down the bird, there was a great commotion, alarm calling and a burst of feathers as a Peregrine dived low through the sallows and narrowly missed catching a Fieldfare. A small passerine flew pretty much over my head, into the bushes on the other side of the railway line and, unhelpfully, straight into the sun from where I was looking. I realised from the continued calling that it was the same bird, but there was no way I was going to pick out any plumage detail from this side and in this light. After a couple of minutes I decided to walk around and try and get a better look and there began a merry two hour goose chase trying to pin down the bird again. Despite my best efforts, I only heard it again a couple of hours later, just before 10:00, in sallows right by the sewage works. Gareth James and Mark McManus showed up mid-morning and I decided to leave them to it at this point, as birding fatigue was setting in! I really don't know what to make of this bird, the recordings today don't sound as convincing for Hume's as the one in the week, and I am beginning to wonder if it isn't just a weird Chiffchaff. 

A late afternoon stroll round the local farm fields with B proved quite productive with a flock of 23 Redpoll flying high south, lots of ducks in flight over Waltham Brooks, including 24 Pintail north, and four Little Egrets and a single Great White Egret flying south-east towards Amberley, the latter an eBird tick for this hotspot. 

Pintail (and single Wigeon)

Distant Great Egret flying over Watersfield

12th November

In sharp contrast to yesterday, this morning it was back to grey, wind and rain. No birding in the morning aside from a short local walk with B which did include my first singing Song Thrush of the season (albeit a slightly hesitant one). 

Early afternoon we all headed over to Pulborough Brooks for lunch and I took the opportunity to scan from the South Brooks from the tea terrace, hoping to find the Spotted Redshank reported earlier in the day. There were a lot of birds to sort through, not least in excess of 300 Black-tailed Godwits, and it was proving difficult until all the godwits and wildfowl took to the air and I heard the unmistakable 'chu-it' call of the target species coming from somewhere in the melee. It took a while of sorting through once they'd all landed but I did eventually pick out the bird - my 160th local species of the year! While all this was going on an adult Little Gull also appeared among, hawking over the South Brooks briefly before continuing on south, while other waders of note were a Green Sandpiper flying over the tea terrace towards the heath and two Dunlin which dropped in among the Black-tailed Godwits. A male Marsh Harrier came powering in from the north-east and continued out over the South Brooks, while a juvenile type was over Widney Brooks, west of the Arun.

Little Gull

Marsh Harrier

Mixed flock airborne over the South Brooks - prize to anyone who can pick out the Spotted Redshank!

13th November

Another howling windy and wet start to the day today so no chance for pre-work birding, unfortunately. A lunchtime walk around Woods Mill in much more clement conditions produced a single Marsh Tit, half a dozen Fieldfares, three Redwings and a dozen Common Gulls flying over. A Red Admiral was also out and about enjoying the late autumn sunshine. 

Marsh Tit

Red Admiral

14th November

Another wet morning. I stopped off at Pulborough on the way to work, for a half hour scan of the South Brooks from the tea terrace. There was no sign of Sunday's Spotted Redshank but the Black-tailed Godwit flock had increased to at least 470, their loud chattering calls audible even from several hundred metres away. There were lots more Pintail too, at least 120 that I could see. 

A brief lunch break look at Waltham Brooks proved similarly routine, though it was nice to flush a mixed flock of Redwings and Fieldfares from the scrub nearest the lake - numbers of winter thrushes are definitely creeping up a bit locally now. Almost a daily occurrence here these days, but always nice to see, two Great White Egrets flew upriver.

Great White Egret

15th November

Two bites of the cherry at Amberley Wildbrooks today with short (15-20 minute) watches from Cross Gate on the way to and from work at Woods Mill. The morning session produced three Ruff, a single Dunlin, adult and juvenile White-tailed Eagles on some of the exposed patches of land in the flood, plus a flyover Brambling. I missed the three White-fronted Geese which have been around for a while and were seen by Paul this morning, but did manage to find them late afternoon. 

Very distant White-tailed Eagle on the island at Amberley

16th November

Another grey and wet day, no real birding of any note today. 

17th November

An absolutely dreamy late autumn/early winter morning at Burton Mill Pond where I notched up 54 species in just under 90 minutes. It was lively from the get-go with plenty of thrushes and finches about around New Piece, including a flyover Brambling and several Fieldfares (remarkably an eBird hotspot tick here!). As usual, Chingford Pond held the bulk of the waterbirds, with ten Little Egrets still at roost in the trees (following on from six which flew over early doors) and a Great White Egret stalking round the water's edge. Wildfowl-wise, highlights were 40 or so Tufted Duck and 25 Pochard plus a few Gadwall and heard only Mandarin. Woodpigeon movement suddenly picked up overhead at around 07:40, with 2,800 flying south-west between then and just after 08:00.

Great Crested Grebes

Woodpigeons

Little Egret

After work a brief stop at Waltham Brooks produced little of note aside from a Marsh Harrier and two Little Egrets, plus the usual selection of wildfowl on the main lake. 

18th November

Not much birding today, partly due to other commitments, but also hampered by the foul weather. Thankfully the rain eased off enough early afternoon for a little 1k area walk out round the local farmland. It was generally pretty quiet (not helped by the wind) until I stumbled across a lively passerine flock in the scrub south of Thorndale Bridge which held at least two Firecrests plus singles of Cetti's Warbler and Chiffchaff. There were also at least 14 Redwing and 18 Fieldfare around in the same area.

Firecrest

19th November

WeBS day today so I was out and about bright and early to check the private reservoir near Petworth, which still hosted the female Long-tailed Duck, sheltering among the usual Aythya flock. Tufted Ducks were represented by a modest 27 individuals but the Pochards had increased to a record breaking 57 - not just my highest count here but my largest total of the species anywhere locally. Otherwise it was usual fare, though the regular duo of leucistic Egpytian Geese were present among a group of 75 on the shoreline. 

Long-tailed Duck

I checked a few other water bodies on my way to and from the reservoir, including Burton Mill Pond (basically empty), Hadworth Farm (likewise) and the flooded Rother at Fittleworth which held just a couple of Mute Swans, a few Mallards and a flyover Little Egret, though it was nice to hear my first Song Thrush of the season properly belting out its song. 

20th November

More wind and rain this morning, but it eased sufficiently for me to grab an hour at Waltham Brooks before starting work, which proved to be a worthwhile decision. I'd only been there ten minutes or so when I heard the flight call of a Dunlin and looked up to see one powering north high overhead - a first for me on the reserve - not long after a flock of eight Pintail went the same way. The water levels have receded here quite a bit now so there's plenty of Snipe habitat about. I counted 21 this morning, helpfully being kept airborne for longer than usual by a Marsh Harrier hunting over the main lake. No Jack Snipe yet though. 

Otherwise it was business as usual with a selection of 35 Shoveler, 15 or so Wigeon, 50 Teal and a few Gadwall on the main lake. Thrush numbers seem to be gradually increasing, with at least 25-30 Fieldfare around on the reserve plus maybe half that number of Redwing, and a few Fieldfares on the walk home too. 

Fieldfare

Late morning, while working at home, I glanced out of an upstairs window to see a V formation of birds heading towards the house. Grabbing my bins just in time, I realised they were Golden Plover - around 90 of them - seconds before they disappeared over the house towards Fittleworth. Late afternoon/early evening, a Barn Owl flew low over the garden, calling, while the regular male Tawny Owl was also calling nearby. 

The end of March

Two things you can say about March are it's never predictable and it's never dull. After several springs in a row of largely fine, north-easterly airflow dominated weather conditions, we have been overdue a proper wet, squally, Atlantic-driven start to the season - and that is sure what we have been getting plenty of this second half of March!

In terms of birds, it's fair to say that, unless you spend the entirety of March indoors, you cannot fail to see at least one migrant species by the end of the month and this year has been no exception. That said, while hirundine numbers have been extraordinary (I reckon I've already seen well over 200 Sand Martins and at least 10 Swallows locally in the last two weeks - more hirundines than I can ever recall seeing so early) passerine migrants have been relatively thin on the ground, with just a good scattering of Chiffchaffs, a single (admittedly rather early) Sedge Warbler and one or two Blackcaps noted so far.

20th March

A drizzly, murky start to the day with a return to south-westerly airflow. I dropped in at Waltham Brooks as I was passing and was immediately greeted by the sight of two Sand Martins hawking over the main lake - my first of the year here. The Tufted Duck flock had now increased to 29, which seems a pretty amazing number for the relatively small amount of water here. Later on in the session a Great White Egret flew in from Amberley and dropped into the main lake and the visit was topped off nicely by a singing Blackcap along Brook Lane as I was about to leave. My first record locally this year.

Great Egret

21st March

A little tour of local sites this morning produced good numbers of Sand Martins, including at least 18 at Waltham Brooks, but not a huge amount else. ~40 Fieldfare near Swan Bridge in Pulborough will surely be one of the last large local counts of this first winter period.

While working from home during the day I noted two lots of two Sand Martins flying past the window, the first pair going north and the second two going west. Clearly a good day for movement of this species. I'm not sure I've ever had so many records of Sand Martin by such an early date in March. Sadly no local Alpine Swift yet though...

A little lunchtime walk round the local farmland didn't produce too much although there were quite a few raptors up and about, including at least four each of Red Kite and Buzzard and one of the White-tailed Eagles drifting lazily south over Amberley.

White-tailed Eagle - so massive you can't miss it, even from a kilometre away!

22nd March

Not a huge amount of birding today as I was mostly up in Godalming with Ed working on the book. Passing through Fittleworth first thing though I briefly stopped by the river to scan the water meadows here, as I noticed quite a few Little Egrets from the car. Sure enough, I counted an impressive 21 feeding here - my highest count here by some margin and, indeed, the largest congregation of the species I've ever seen anywhere locally, I think!

Fittleworth water meadows (and some of the 21 Little Egrets)

After a long session of book work, Ed and I headed out for a short session at Eashing Fields late afternoon. We joked that we were going to try and find me five ticks for my eBird hotspot list. In the end we managed eight in a little over half an hour! This included both mine and Ed's first Swallow of the year which I picked up first, dashing south over the fields to the east of the site; evidently only the second anywhere in Surrey this year after one at Holmethorpe a couple of hours before. Other highlights from what turned out to be a pretty lively session included a Peregrine heading west and two Greylag Geese flying north-west, which Ed tells me was only the seventh site record!

23rd March

This morning I headed over to Waltham Brooks at first light in the hope of relocating the Garganey reported yesterday by Graeme Charles. In the end it wasn't to be but it was still an enjoyable, if rather blustery, session here; 49 species in total including Water Pipit, 5 Sand Martins, Marsh Harrier at least 3 Shelduck and 8 singing Chiffchaffs. Oh and a drake Mandarin flying about at breakneck speed when I arrived - don't see too many of those here!

Later in the day I headed out for another short walk round the local farmland which was again pretty windy and quiet, bird-wise, save for half a dozen Sand Martins powering into the wind over towards Amberley.

24th March

Another blustery and showery day. I popped my head in at Waltham Brooks again briefly as I was passing in the morning. Not a huge amount doing here aside from the usual wildfowl on the lake and singing Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler, etc. One of the introduced White-tailed Eagles got up over the treeline east of the river and drifted south over Amberley.

White-tailed Eagle

In the afternoon I was on my way back home from my mum's house in Hampshire so had a quick look at some farmland near Petworth. It was very windy indeed by this point, so again not a huge amount to write home about, but a flock of ~100 Linnet whizzing around over the fields was nice to see.

Linnets

25th March

An early morning stroll out to the river didn't go quite as planned, mainly because in my bleary-eyed state I strayed too deep into a large puddle under Thorndale Bridge and my wellies filled with water! Lesson learned, I headed home without much reward, aside from a Blackcap singing briefly on River Lane in Watersfield.

Mid-morning I headed over to Pulborough Brooks which again felt largely quiet, although it was great to see my first local Swallow of the year flying over Fattengates. Duck numbers have really dropped away now, and there were three Avocets on the North Brooks. It was pleasant enough in the sunshine to persuade a Brimstone butterfly to emerge and give a flypast near the visitor centre, otherwise it still felt quite wintry in the blustery south-westerly wind.

26th March

A switch to north-easterly winds and rain before dawn sounded like a good recipe for producing some migrants, so I headed out to check a couple of water bodies at first light. First up I checked the private reservoir over near Petworth which was productive - in 90 minutes here I had a dozen Sand Martins through, with one Swallow among them, while on the shoreline of the res were four Little Ringed Plovers and a single Dunlin. In the fields nearby the Linnet flock was somewhere in the region of 120 birds, all whirling about over the fields and hedges.

Dunlin and Little Ringed Plovers

After this I went over to Waltham Brooks for a bit of a stakeout. Sadly no sign of the Garganey in an hour here but I did have at least 80 Sand Martins through in waves, each group dropping in to feed over the lake for a short while before continuing north.

A late afternoon walk round the local farmland didn't produce much aside from the resident Rooks noisily flying to and from their nests. It's pretty mad that we've almost reached the end of March and I still haven't found a local Wheatear...

27th March

A change of scene this morning as I decided to head up Amberley Mount for the first time in quite a while, partly driven by the desire to find a Wheatear, but also just as a break from hammering the local wetland sites. As I ascended the slope on the western side one of the very first birds I saw was a Barn Owl, still out hunting at around 08:30. It perched up on a fencepost for a while but was getting a lot of grief from a Kestrel so didn't rest for long.

Barn Owl

Two Peregrines flew over and there were several Meadow Pipits singing and engaging in territorial squabbles. Yellowhammers and Skylarks were in fine voice too and both Grey and Red-legged Partridges were heard, but sadly no migrants were to be found. 

At the furthest point around the loop from where I'd parked the car, a text from Juliet Moore alerted me to the presence of two Great Crested Grebes at Waltham Brooks, which is a bit of a local mega, so I dropped in there on the way home and connected with the birds on the main lake. Sadly the Garganey was again nowhere to be seen, but I'm pleased for Juliet and Chris that it showed again a few hours later.

Great Crested Grebe

28th March

Back to Waltham Brooks this morning for another attempt at the Garganey... An hour and a half here sadly wasn't long enough to coax it out of hiding, despite a Marsh Harrier scaring seemingly all the ducks out into open water - including 50+ Teal, 40 Wigeon, 20 Shoveler and half a dozen Gadwall. Nonetheless, it was a rewarding session that yielded three 1km area ticks. First, two Swallows in among the 50 or so Sand Martins feeding over the lake, then two fly-through waders - a Little Ringed Plover (which wasn't seen but was clearly flying north, given by the doplar effect of its calls) and a Redshank (heard to call only once, but again not seen).

29th March

It was another drizzly, murky start to the day today (I seem to have been saying that quite a bit lately!) with a brisk southerly breeze. It was so misty and murky that when I eventually got out of bed and lifted the blinds I saw that visibility was down to about 50m. This felt like it might be conducive to dropping in some waterbirds so, after dropping B off at nursery, I headed over to the private site near Petworth for a check of the reservoir there, in the hope that the drizzle had pushed something down. In the event, it wasn't to be, with an hour here producing just a single Swallow and Little Ringed Plover of note. On the way home, a scan of Fittleworth water meadows produced 13 Little Egrets.

Working from home during the day was tricky with the distraction of Sand Martins and the odd Swallow streaming past the window every few minutes, not helped when Juliet Moore text news of an Osprey heading south from the North Brooks at Pulborough. A bit of a stakeout at the window sadly didn't yield any unusual raptors, just the local Red Kite, Buzzards and Kestrel.

30th March

A bit of a change of scene today, as I was on the road early with the rest of the Knepp safari team, heading to Salisbury Plain to visit the Great Bustard Group and see some of the birds. I absolutely love Salisbury Plain and it's become a bit of an annual pilgrimage most summers now with Ed and others to go and soak in the ambience of Yellow Wagtails, Whinchats, Stone-curlews, etc, usually in June. While I had seen a few distant Great Bustards during my visits over the years I had never actually been to see the work that the project group have been doing. Today we were treated to a talk by one of the group at Enford Village Hall before being taken out in Land Rovers to try and see some of the birds in the field. In classic Salisbury Plain fashion, pretty much the first two birds we saw out of the gate were a Corn Bunting and a ringtail Hen Harrier, the latter quartering over the fields south of Enford Hill.

Hen Harrier

A short distance further we saw our first Great Bustards of the trip: a group of six just on the crest of a rise ahead of us. We moved round to get a better angle and saw that there were in fact quite a good number together in this field: we reckoned at least 27, although it can be surprisingly tricky to count them accurately when they keep popping their heads up and down! Nonetheless, another excellent visit to one of my favourite birding locations in England.

Great Bustards

31st March

In a fortnight packed with damp and windy days, it's hard to pick out the worst of the bunch, but today was certainly a contender! Showery or sometimes more persistent periods of rain, heavy at times, blowing through on a howling force 7 west/south-westerly wind. In other words, pretty horrific for birding, so unsurprisingly I didn't get out much. A short session at Waltham Brooks first thing was quite lively though, with around 120 Sand Martins feeding low over the main lake, with a couple of Swallows in among them. A singing Sedge Warbler in the reeds was my first of the year (and I think my first ever March record!) and was presumably the same bird reported by Tim Morgan yesterday (you can just about hear it over the wind noise and the Greenfinch towards the end of the video below).

 

What doldrums?

June is typically the month when birding can get rather slow and repetitive, especially on a local patch. Quite apart from the extraordinary run of megas on a national scale in recent weeks, it’s also been pretty good at Pulborough, despite the fact I’ve not had a year tick since the end of May. 

Missing the Sanderling on the 11th was pretty gripping to say the least, especially as as far as I’m aware it’s the first record for the reserve since 2013. Still an excellent find by the Friday crew, just a shame I was halfway to Yorkshire at the time!

Sanderling, 11th June. Photo by Warren B

The Shelduck family are still present on the North Brooks, the six ducklings growing bigger by the day, while the lingering female Pintail is also still about - presumably here for the summer now. 

The lingering Pintail

The best news this past week has been the arrival of the first Avocet chicks of the year, after two failed attempts in the spring. Three chicks have been seen on the pool at West Mead since the weekend, and the adults have been doing a great job of chasing off any passing Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Carrion Crows. The hide at West Mead is still closed, so the best place to get a glimpse of them is with a scope from the tea terrace or by the dipping pond behind the visitor centre.

There have also been up to eight adult Avocets on the North Brooks of late, so perhaps we'll see some more chicks in the coming weeks. West Mead is also hosting a reasonable number of Lapwing chicks at the moment too, which is great to see. Redshank numbers seem to be increasing although I've still not seen any chicks as yet. 

Avocets at West Mead, photo by Andy Ashdown

The first returning Green Sandpipers are starting to trickle through with singles seen on the 17th and the 20th. A Wood Sandpiper on the North Brooks on the 14th was a little unexpected, although strangely the third year in a row we’ve had a mid June record of the species here. Presumably failed breeders returning from Scandinavia.

Highlights along the Arun recently have included regular Kingfisher sightings, good numbers of Reed Warblers (attracting the attentions of a Cuckoo or two) and presumably the same Great Crested Grebe I've seen from time to time here since April. I've only seen one on its own but have heard anecdotal records from a dog walker of two together recently.

Great Crested Grebe

The heath is always good value at this time of year with several recent evening visits producing at least three Nightjars, a roding Woodcock plus the delightful background soundtrack from the Field Crickets, more of which have been recently translocated here from Farnham. 

After a bumper spring for singing male Nightingales around the reserve (at least ten), the scrubby areas around the main trail are now busy with whistling and croaking adults tending to fledglings. The best areas to see or hear one are Adder Alley, the Hanger, or anywhere between the top of the Zig Zag path and Fattengates.

Whilst it isn't exactly a popular topic of conversation among non-birding friends and family, now we've passed the Summer Solstice, we can really start thinking about autumn and the first dispersing migrants. Waders should really get going in July, followed by the first proper waves of returning passerines in August. I'm still missing the likes of Whinchat, Redstart and Tree Pipit for my Pulborough year list, so these will be among the species on my radar in the next few weeks.

Accidental Big Day

I hadn't planned to do it. In fact, I headed out birding in a very leisurely fashion this morning. I'd glanced out of the window at around 05:45 and seen the fog so opted instead for a coffee and a browse through the latest British Birds in bed, before setting out at around 07:15. Quite unlike my normal dawn raid on the patch!

I've only ever managed to record over 80 species in a day at Pulborough Brooks once before, while taking part in the very socially distanced Mole Valley Bird Race in May 2020, when the various teams competed remotely from their respective patches. That day I achieved what I considered to be a very respectable total of 83 species from 04:00 to noon. I'd often wondered if I could beat it and had talked about giving it a go with Ed Stubbs at some stage. 

In the end, today turned out to be that day. The morning started well with a flyover Little Ringed Plover near home, a Great Crested Grebe asleep on the Arun (only my second record here this year) and the usual singing Cuckoo, Yellowhammer and a noticeable increase in Sedge Warblers and Reed Warblers.

Great Crested Grebe

A scan of the North Brooks revealed a Wood Sandpiper with the assembled Greenshanks and Redshanks; my first of the year here and always a nice bird to find locally. Soon after finding the bird I pointed it out to Jackie Day and other visiting birders, including Steve Baines, with whom I birded the reserve for most of the rest of the morning, notching up another year tick in the form of a Hobby over Winpenny. That took the patch year list to 135, which felt like a very satisfying morning's effort. 

Distant Wood Sandpiper and Greenshank

After saying goodbye to Steve at the car park and hello to various other regulars and RSPB staff, I decided the North Brooks was worth another scan with rain imminently forecast. In the end it didn't produce a great deal, but as I thought about heading for home early afternoon, it struck me I had topped 80 species for the day list for only the second time. A few more additions including Stonechat and Meadow Pipit took the list to 84, my best ever day tally! Now I could really head home feeling smug, I thought. Halfway down the footpath towards the village, the call of a Greenshank had me looking up to see one being chased by a Peregrine - the latter taking the list to 85!

Peregrine vs Greenshank!

After a brief pit stop at home, a bit of a gardening and a trip to the allotment, I decided a return visit to the Brooks had to be done. Could I reach 90 in a day? There were still so many common bits I was missing. I started with a loop of Black Wood where I soon added Willow Warbler, Jay and Coal Tit, before returning to the North Brooks. An earlier reported Yellow Wagtail was nowhere to be seen but suddenly a Curlew appeared; only my second record here this year, and 89 for the day! By this time, I had been joined at the Hanger by legendary former Pulborough Brooks regular, Jon Winder, who said he'd seen a Great Black-backed Gull earlier, and also heard a Tawny Owl which I'd missed. Gripping! With the light fading we both agreed to head for home, but not before a check of the field by the church produced the hoped-for Barn Owl. 90!

It turns out I also missed the first Spotted Flycatcher of the year earlier in the day, so with that, Tawny Owl and the various other omissions, I'm now wondering whether it would be possible to reach 100 in a day. Maybe one day...

It begins...

After a dribs and drabs sort of affair for much of March (quite apt after my last blog post), migration has at last stepped up a gear in the past week with some real goodies turning up at Pulborough in recent days.

The undoubted star of the show was the stunning male Pied Flycatcher which has been present since Saturday morning until the time of writing. It was performing particularly well this morning along the fence line in the northeast corner of Brook Field, and this evening was flicking around one of the large Oaks up Green Lane. Although we've had a couple of good autumns for this species on the reserve, this certainly wasn't one on my radar to add to the year list so soon. Indeed, it's the first one I've seen in the spring here, and the first adult male I've seen anywhere for years.

Pied Flycatcher

One of the true harbingers of spring at Pulborough, the first Nightingale of the year rather hesitantly announced its arrival along Adder Alley on Easter Day, followed by another singing very briefly at the Hanger this evening; three days earlier than my previous earliest record here. 

There's a nice selection of waders to be seen on the North Brooks now, with up to three pairs of Avocet looking very settled, plus up to three Little Ringed Plovers, several pairs of Redshank and Lapwing and five Ruff. 24 Black-tailed Godwit stayed for a few days last week, many resplendent in breeding plumage, but these have since moved on. A Grey Plover on the North Brooks this morning was the first I've seen on the reserve since 2019. Sadly, its stay was short-lived as it met its end at the talons of a Peregrine this afternoon. 

Wildfowl numbers have really dropped now. There were a couple of drake Pintails lingering into this weekend and a dozen or so Wigeon and Shoveler as of yesterday but otherwise it's only really the Teal hanging on in reasonable numbers. The first Garganey of the year, a splendid drake, showed well on the North Brooks on Wednesday and Thursday but hasn't been seen since.

Garganey. Photo: Dave Carlsson

Warbler numbers continue to increase, with dozens of Chiffchaffs around now, many paired up and already nest building, and Blackcap numbers are steadily building too. The first Willow Warbler turned up on 31st March, followed by at least two more this past weekend. Strangely no Sedge Warbler or Whitethroat yet, although it's still early days, but the Cetti's Warbler persists below the Hanger.

Chiffchaff

It took until the last weekend of March for me to see my first Sand Martins, and Swallows only began trickling through last week, but this past weekend has seen good numbers of both, plus the first House Martin of the year on Easter Day.

Other highlights from this weekend included a year first Great Crested Grebe on the Arun on Saturday and Sunday, a fly-through male Hen Harrier on Saturday and a sloughing male Adder enjoying the sun (out of the wind!) most days.

Great Crested Grebe

Adder

After such a great ten days or so, my patch year list now stands on 119, out of a total of 121 for the reserve so far. Hopefully once this icy spell has passed the flood gates will really open!