A decent session today, the third consecutive day I've visited the patch after a brief hiatus for our wedding and 'mini-moon' - the latter a very pleasant couple of days in Lyme Regis which produced only my third UK Dipper on the river near the town mill.
Dipper, Lyme Regis
Back to Pulborough and today saw me spend a very rewarding eight hours at the Brooks. Aside from the usual 110+ Lapwings, wader interest was provided by just 3-4 Green Sandpipers and a Common Sandpiper on the North Brooks. The ongoing ditch clearance work here is starting to attract the attention of certain other species, with at least five Whinchats hopping about on the freshly dredged mud and a single Wheatear perched on a nearby fence. Yellow Wagtail and Raven were heard but not seen.
A female Redstart was on the fence near West Mead while three males of various ages were working their way along the fence near Winpenny, along with a Reed Warbler. At Redstart Corner three Lesser Whitethroats were feeding on blackberries in the same scope view; my first record of this species here this month.
Reed Warbler
A good day for raptors with four or five Hobbies about, at least five each of Buzzard and Kestrel and singles of Sparrowhawk, Red Kite and Marsh Harrier. A juvenile Peregrine caused chaos on the North Brooks but spectacularly failed to catch anything.
An almost constant movement of House Martins was going on throughout the day, but as our location changed it was almost impossible to keep track of numbers. Certainly many hundreds of birds involved with probably fewer than one in fifty of them a Swallow.
Away from the patch, a trip down to the coast yesterday produced at least seven Yellow Wagtails and five Wheatears along the beach at Climping, while at least ten Sandwich Terns fed just offshore and six Oystercatchers flew east. At Littlehampton there were a few more Oystercatchers along the beach along with a rather incongruous Little Egret wading about in the surf with the Herring Gulls.
Yellow Wagtail on the beach at Climping
Nocmigging has taken a bit of a back seat in the past couple of weeks but my most recent attempt on the night of 25th/26th August was the best of the autumn so far. From now on I'm going to be recording all my nocmig data on Trektellen; results from the aforementioned night below along with one of the Oystercatcher call sequences.
Very much a weekend of two halves, weather-wise, with a glorious four hour visit yesterday in warm late summer sunshine - albeit with a slightly chilly breeze - followed by just a couple of dull and damp hours this morning before the worst of the wind and rain arrived.
After Friday's single Redstart and Tree Pipit in the vicinity of Redstart Corner, I wasted no time in heading to the same area on Saturday morning where I found at least five or six Redstarts dotted about along the fenceline. The hedges here were teeming with birds, even more than on Friday. The Tree Pipit was still around (presumably the same bird as Friday anyway) betraying its presence with its distinctive 'spizz' call as it flew from one of the trees. The lion's share of the passerines were Sylvia warblers with lots of Blackcaps and Common Whitethroats, two Garden Warblers and as many as ten Lesser Whitethroats. There were more of the latter along Adder Alley along with a Reed Warbler.
Redstart
Redstart
Redstart
It was good to run into Dave Buckingham on the way round, and while we were chatting a Peregrine flew over. The trees and bushes around the picnic area and Hanger Wood were also very busy with small birds including two Spotted Flycatchers, while at least another two were around the horse fields to the east of the reserve boundary. Two Yellow Wagtails flew from the North Brooks as I approached, while on the deck here were the lingering two Dunlin, a single Green Sandpiper, around eighty Teal, five Whinchats and a single Wheatear. Reasonable numbers of hirundines around again with House Martin the most numerous (50+) followed by Swallow (20+) and Sand Martin (10).
A shorter visit this morning saw me head straight to the North Brooks, hopeful that the imminent rain would force down a few bits. Again two Yellow Wagtails flew up as I approached, these followed by three in the horse fields later on. Three or four Spotted Flycatchers were working the hedges and fences along the eastern boundary of the reserve. On the North Brooks itself were the two Dunlin again, joined by two Green Sandpipers and a single juvenile Little Ringed Plover. On one of the old fences out beyond the pools were singles of Wheatear and Whinchat. Rather fewer hirundines today despite the cloud and rain, but still at least twenty Sand Martins feeding over the water.
Return migration has really stepped up a gear in the past few days it seems - particularly on the passerine front - and this morning at Pulborough was without doubt the best visit of the autumn so far. After the disappointment of missing Clive Hope's Pied Flycatcher a couple of weeks ago and then yet another Osprey last weekend which, from Gary Trew's description probably flew right over my house (!), one of my patch bogey birds fell at last today with a male Redstart working its way along the hedge just north of Redstart Corner.
Redstart
While I was watching it I heard a Yellow Wagtail fly over, my first of the year and later followed by another heard only at the Hanger and a third being chased around the North Brooks by the Pied Wagtails. This species came tantalisingly close to being added to the patch year list a few days earlier with several calls recorded during my first nocmig session of the season on Monday night, but more on that later. The hedgerows were teeming with warblers today, largely Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat and a few Willow Warblers, but also a Garden Warbler near West Mead, a Reed Warbler near Winpenny and at least five Lesser Whitethroats dotted about. Best of all though was the Tree Pipit kicking about in the Blackthorns near West Mead. Only my second record of this species here.
Tree Pipit (and Song Thrush)
There were potentially as many as ten Whinchats about with 4-5 seen on the North Brooks and the same amount on the South Brooks. Reported by others but not seen by me were two Spotted Flycatchers on the far eastern side of the reserve and three near Winpenny later in the day, and a Wheatear on the North Brooks. Good numbers of House Martins and Sand Martins, with the latter mostly streaming straight through while the former were lingering and feeding over the site. These inevitably attracted the attentions of a Hobby which plunged straight through the middle of a flock above the path down to Nettleys. A juvenile Marsh Harrier was again doing the rounds - I saw it from Redstart Corner and later from the visitor centre but others also saw it quartering over the North Brooks. Other than sixty-odd Lapwing there wasn't too much of note on the wader front today, with just two Dunlin and three Green Sandpipers on the North Brooks. Indeed it's been a little quiet on that side of things lately with nothing majorly noteworthy since my Wood Sand a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully September will bring a few more goodies.
View from 'the Obs' (attic) during one of the recent storms
Interestingly my first nocmigging attempts of the autumn this week have provided a bit more wader variety, in particular my first recorded Whimbrel(s) over the house, with six calls from an indeterminable number of birds recorded very early Tuesday morning. Other bits of note include the aforementioned Yellow Wags, a Common Sandpiper, a Little Ringed Plover and a Snipe. Quite a few strange tics and whistles too, particularly on Monday night - most of them as yet unidentified. Ortolan Bunting next?...
