Wednesday 28th December - Home slouch

Three days of solid drinking and eating has made me a little slow ! - but a lovely time with friends and family. Sal was back to work this morning, so before the girls had surfaced and after I'd let the ducks and chickens out, I had a wander around the garden, wood and paddock. The wooded gully at this time of year is much more visible with all the trees naked so you can see down to the stream more clearly, it is normally a very small trickle that swells a little to stream size after a downpour, slightly surprising to find 12 Mallard dabbling away - a new bird for the house list. The feeders had been busy this morning with plenty of Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and the male Bullfinch, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit and Long-tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Robin, Dunnock, Blackbird, Starlings, Stock Dove and Woodpigeon. Further along the path (there's a fallen tree I will have to get rid of) the Alders were still alive with  Siskin and Goldfinches. Both Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers made an appearance then as I approached the bottom fence the biggest surprise as I flushed a Woodcock from an open patch of damp leaves. It shot off and away but a great bird to record at home. A small number of Redwing were in the woods (vastly reduced from the large flock in early November). The last surprise of the morning were later on when I was outside with Hannah and 8 Crossbills flew over calling, I actually saw them this time having previously only had a couple of heard only birds I couldn't locate.

The bird I flushed was too quick for a picture .

Siskin in Alders

18th December- Xmas Stress

Saturday 17th - So the morning was spent with Hannah and Adie shopping in Chichester for last minute presents (although there is no difference between my last minute presents and any others). My modus operandi for this is to strategically have a plan to quickly raid the pre-identified shops and evacuate the invaded area as soon as practicable. Adie is cool with all of this, but Hannah is now 11 going on 12  and appears to have taken on a considerable amount of her Mother's prowess when it comes to shops which include browsing shops with no intent to buy !!! - evidenced by comments such as 'Daddy am I holding you up'. Eventually, job done, and with shortening breath and quickening footsteps we squeezed out of the infected area. Luckily both girls had different social engagements in the afternoon and I dropped them off and headed out birding.

With being away for 3 weeks and seeing over 500 species of birds in fantastic light and surroundings it can be a struggle to adjust back to UK birding but with not much daylight I headed to the Arun valley and firstly to Rackham overlooking the lower brooks. A huge amount of wildfowl habited the floods. Thousands of Lapwing, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Shoveler and straggles of Canada and Greylag Geese, but no more interesting varieties. A Peregrine sortie briefly scattered the birds. About 40 Black-tailed Godwit were resting and 5 Ruff were with the Lapwing. The woods were quiet, but Goldcrest, Marsh Tit, Treecreepers, Fieldfare and Redwing were all seen.

About 3pm I headed to Waltham Brooks where at least 4 Short-eared Owls spent the next hour giving great hunting displays. A little distant and dark for good pics but fantastic to have so many of these birds in a local site, where traditionally one would be a good record.

 At home today (Sunday 18th), a male Bullfinch visited the feeders, again a rare sight. Other birds seen were Nuthatch, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Marsh Tit, Long-tailed tit, Coal Tit, Blue and Great Tits, Siskins in the trees, Pied Wagtail in front of the house and lots of Starlings. Tawny Owls have kept us awake in the last week when it's not been blowing a hooly.

Short-eared Owl - one of 4 at Waltham Brooks.

Sunset over the brooks (behind a funny cloud).



Male Bullfinch in garden- Must clean the windows- oh forgot it's always dark now.



10th December - Back Home !

Well I was actually back last weekend but straight back to work. I've now managed to sort out the holiday pictures and have started a seperate Ethiopia blog entry under the tab on the right of this page .... It might take a while to finish this !!!

Well I didn't take this in the garden !

11th November - Update

Several reasons I haven't updated the blog recently

1. It's been dark - a lot.
2. I haven't done much birding
3. I bought a new camera body which I'm still getting used to, including one disadvantage that photshop doesn't recognise the files ! so working out a solution as to how to load the pics.

But...

I am going to Ethiopia tomorrow  ... maybe I'll see some birds there !!

A summary of the last few weeks  - We went to Cornwall for a couple of days during the girls half-term, the theme was 'Jamaica Inn' - which is on Bodmin Moor - as Hannah is studying the book at school, we also visited some of the usual sites (e.g. St Ives and Eden). Not many birds were involved just a few Stonechats, Wheatears, Peregrine and many commoner species but an enjoyable 3 nights.

We had a 'Winter Pen' built for the Ducks and Chickens and if it had been finished a day earlier we would have had one more Hen rather than the presumed Fox dinner..... and yes it had to Blossom that succumbed after that  Vet bill !!!!

Birds numbers at home have increased again. A flock of up to 30 Goldfinches haas been visting the feeders daily along with a Sparowhawk ! There is sstill a good number of Siskins (again 30+) feeding in the Alders and 4 Lesser Redpolls. A Grey Heron has been frequently the tiny round pond in the garden. On Saturday a very large flock of Redwings were in a Holly at the end of the last field, the one I've been eying for xmas decorations, but that number of birds may get there first,  difficult to count but well in excess of 50 birds and 20 Fieldfare flew over. A few Goldcrest have been with Long-tailed Tits and Treecreeper have been regular seen and the Tawny Owls have still be very vocal.

15th October - Last throws of Summer

I headed down to the coast this morning (well, to Selsey again,  which is due South and therefore 'down'). The winds were very light and southerly, and there was little prospect of movement on the sea, but my first hour had significant numbers of passerines moving along the coast. Groups of up to 20 birds at a time some flocks were mixed and the typical underside-of-rump views of birds passing overhead relied on the calls to be ID certain. Siskins(50+), Lesser Redpolls(30), Goldfinches(10), Pied Wagtails(38), Grey Wagtail(1), Meadow Pipit(7), Linnet (15), Skylark(2), Sparrowhawk(1), Swallow (18) all contributed to the activity and probably 100+ other birds were seen as passerine sp being  too distant to confirm. Plenty of Med Gulls were offshore with Sandwich Tern (1), Shag (1), Common Scoter (6), Red-breasted Merganser (3) and a small number of distant Gannets, maybe that rarity was lurking at Church Norton.....

.... or maybe not, the weather was certainly glorious which made up a little for the few birds. The back of the churchyard held  singles of  Blackcap and Chiffchaff and more Siskin with Lesser Redpolls, Skylark and Meadow Pipits continuing to fly over. A Dartford Warbler was in the Gorse scrub on the West side and 2 Stonechats were probably migrants.Swallows continued to appear with 2 House Martins. Very little was visible along the severals with only a calling Cettis Warbler and 3 Goldcrest in a small copse, The harbour held good numbers of Brent Geese, Pintail, Wigeon, Teal, Knot, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover and the Leucistic Curlew was still present causing confusion to a couple of birders who thought they were looking at a Sacred Ibis.. A Northern Wheatear was in a field driving out of the churchyard.

At home the coastal movement theme continued a little as 3 Skylark, 6 Meadow Pipits and 14 Redwings flew over the garden calling and the large flock of Siskins was still around the Alders . 3 Buzzards were circling a Sparrowhawk darted through and at least 3 Goldcrest were seen along with a brief view of a Firecrest.

My afternoon otherwise occupied meant that I had no chance of getting to the Downs near Beachy Head when news came through of an Isabelline Wheatear, which was a first for Sussex. With the clear skies at night migrants were not hanging around (ergo the Rufous-tailed Robin in Norfolk the previous day) so I waited for news on Sunday morning and  not surprisingly the bird was not seen - shame but another glorious day of weather was spent planting bulbs with Adie.

8/9 October - Unplanned painting

I am no DIY expert but at the moment am painting a wardrobe - only problem is that it feels like a Forth Bridge episode - and it's my own fault as after having some very good (and not cheap) wardrobes fitted, the quote to paint them was £800, so I stubbornly declined and said at that price I would do it myself. So 3 weeks later it's still only 75%complete and I'm perhaps regretting my hastiness. So far Sal has been reasonably forgiving in not being able to use the brand new wardrobes with all the clothes still in boxes - not sure the charity will last much longer !!

The other weekend activity was spending a good part of Saturday playing Netball !! - Parent's v's Teachers. Rather odd to have played a new sport after 45 years ! - Once I'd got the hang of the silly rules (after I'd been penalised half a dozen times for trying to stop the opposition from passing the ball - though that was the idea !!) it was better than expected although probably contributed to the sore back which came on after Sunday's bulb planting.

All of this meant that I didn't have any birding outing. Last weeks Crane had flown down the East coast and settled in Suffolk for the week !!! - and I'm not really thinking that I could have avoided about 800 miles of driving as we had a great trip and saw some other good birds, but there is a fair amount of irony there.

Around the garden, the birds seem to have vanished from the feeders, which I'm currently assuming is as a result of late Summer dispersal, otherwise a little curious given that there were a fair number of common species in the trees, with a flock of up to 20 Siskins, 3 Lesser Redpolls, and several Goldcrest, Great Sopotted Woodpecker and Treecreeper. A roaming Tit flock had Long-tailed, Marsh, Blue, Great and Coal. 4 Bullfinches are still in their favoured area and the Tawny Owls are still very vocal at night although I haven't seen in daylight again since August.

Saturday 24th September - A day trip to Scotland

The drama after I had seen the Pallid Harrier was that the Temincks Stint that had been at Weirwood Reservoir had morphed into a Long-Toed Stint (with only 2 previous British Records and none in Sussex). So there was no choice but to try for this at first light on Thursday morning. There was a health warning that views of this 5inch long wader had been at best distant (some 500 yds) - I arrived early (6am) and duly waited with the c100 other birders for light up .. but there was no sign ...  the only waders visible amongst the Lapwing being 8 distant Ringed Plovers, 3 Dunlin, 2 Green Sandpipers and a Greenshank. I bumped into Gary and I chatted for a while but by 10am I was feeling that the bird had probably departed overnight so I left... and it wasn't seen again.

Later that day I had seen reports of  a Sandhill Crane in Aberdeenshire and recalled that 2 years ago Gary had called me when one of these rare American Cranes had turned up on Orkney and after making plans to do a weekend trip the bird promptly departed before we left. It wasn't a great surprise when Gary called me again  early Friday and so plans were made to drive overnight Friday and arrive the 600 miles further north at around first light on Saturday.

So I picked Gary and Mike Buckland up around 9pm and we set off, arriving at Loch of Strathbeg RSPB reserve exactly at sunrise (6.55am). The RSPB reserve had set itself up expecting many visitors and we were quickly ushered by friendly staff to the back of the information centre overlooking the reserve which was crammed full of birders with scopes looking at the Sandhill Crane which had roosted overnight on the reserve along with some 20,000 Pink-footed Geese. The Crane was giving good if distant views and shortly took flight leaving the reserve to the North. It had in previous days been visiting freshly cut hay fields to feed during the day.

So we headed out to relocate the Crane already buoyed by the success of connecting with it immediately after the long drive. After half and hour or so of touring lanes the bird was refound and this time we obtained better views in good light before eventually it took flight again - fantastic !.  Lots of Curlew were in the fields and a Merlin flew over and Wheatears and Ruff were seen suring our touring of the lanes. The landscape was very much grazing land with many fields just cut for hay mostly with the bails yet to be removed, with a coastal strip of slightly wetter grazing . After another search around we decided that we would head back to the RSPB reserve for some food overlooking the reserve.

A small number of Barnacle Geese were with the Pink-feet, and Mike picked up 2 Pectoral Sandpipers along with a Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Dunlin and Redshank.

Around  midday we headed further down the coast to Blackdog, where a walk out to the dunes and along Murcars golf course had us scanning the sea amongst the thousands of sea duck present, and it wasn't too long before we picked up our quarry in a Black Scoter in amongst the Common Scoter, Eider, mostly Guillemot and Red-throated Divers with an Arctic Skua and a few Arctic Terns in the fly pasts.

We headed south around 3.30am all very pleased with our birding in fantastic scenery and mild, bright weather and perhaps wished we could have stayed longer in the area eventually arriving home at around 2.30am on Sunday !.

Some of the 20,000+ Pink-footed Geese

Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane - a nice garden tick for someone ! - note Gulls for size comparison.

The stubble fields favoured by the Crane (It's in front of the barn !)

.. and then it flew off,

Ruff in wet grazing field.

Plenty of Wheatears were seen.

Wednesday 21st September - Burpham !

Village name that sounds like wind-ing a baby, in fact you wonder what these medieval locals were up to as in Sussex you can find the strategically placed villages of  Beddingham, Effingham and Offham .. will leave the rest to imagination. So back to Burpham....

A juvenile Pallid Harrier turned up on the Downs just North of the village of Burpham - tentatively id'd as a Montagu's Harrier at the end of last week but diligently re-examined from further scrutiny of photo's was then confirmed as a Pallid Harrier and although UK records have increased recently, it is still a particularly rare bird and especially in Sussex. With the way work was unravelling this week, I was beginning to think any sort of outing might be limited to a weekend slot but usefully my car was due to be serviced today at Pulborough - so I negotiated with Sal the use of her car for 4 hours before picking her up again from her shop.

I arrived in Burpham (and for those Australasian relatives that read this blog - nowhere in sight was there a creche full of fattened milk-fed babies waiting to belch)  at 9am in pouring rain and cursing my luck that my free slot in the week was going to be the only one where raptor watching had to abandoned by low cloud and drizzle - so I walked up the lane to a gate and the best viewing spot down the valley where another birder was waiting and had seen the Harrier much earlier in the morning before the rain set in - so my hopes lifted and within a few minutes we saw a nice male Hen Harrier struggling a little against the weather in the field in front of us. After a good hour and half the rain finally relented (largely due to me getting my flask out for a coffee) and birds started to move with good numbers of Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, Linnets and Goldfinches, a flyover Yellow Wagtail and lots of  Buzzards, Kestrels and both Grey and Red-legged Partridge being seen.

A few more people turned up and and the Pallid Harrier came into view on the horizon and drifted down into the valley making a couple of passes of what turned out to be its favoured strip of game crop. A few birders had gathered a few hundred metres away down the lane and probably had a better view so we decided to relocate to that spot, the Harrier reappeared but flew high over our heads and back next to the gate we had just relocated from !! (the law of sod working perfectly). But over the next couple of hours decent views were had  of the main distinguishing features of the bird being the full light collar bordered by dark boa, a distinct face pattern, including the bird perched in a field and then in a bush and it was a stunning bird to watch so well worth the effort. The photo's due to the distance and me are a little ropey but are good for the record. Also seen were a Red Kite, Hobby, Sparrowhawk and another small falcon that shot into a bush and I thought would be a Merlin but I couldn't relocate it.

juvenile Pallid Harrier



The valley on the downs north of Burpham from the gate.



Monday 19th September - Overdue catch up

I need to get back to regular blogging as I've become a little tardy over the last couple of months, but work is taking most of my free thinking time at the moment !!! - Having said that I've managed a couple of outings in the last 2 weeks.

Saturday 10th September

The Sussex coast can have limited scope for good seawatching unless the winds are of a southerly nature, which is  a shame at this time of the year as many good seabirds are appearing in other parts of the country. On a good day seeing visible migration and not knowing what will appear next is a joy, on all other occasions it is immensely boring and feels like nothing short of a waste of valuable time.
The Atlantic gales (which are typically westerlies until the back edge of the cyclone blows down the English channel which are northerlies) can usher in some of the more unusual good birds nearer the coast (often up the Irish Channel - benefiting Cornwall and Ireland or then down the English Channel benefiting the Eastern coast counties) and that had been the feature of the last week and reading all the Sussex reports they had not unexpectedly all drawn complete blanks. In these conditions a southerly wind generally only appears briefly in between these cyclones - and my limited weather reading ability thought that Saturday morning would have a few hours of Southerly winds before veering back to the West again.

So as I seem to have done more frequently I headed down to Selsey Bill early arriving at 7.15am with some hope - overcast but at least the winds were as predicted - and there was a definite movement of birds. Within the first hour a Hobby flew in off the sea and at least 300 hirundines had flown south, mainly Swallows with around 50 Sand Martins and a few House Martins, 50 Yellow Wagtails and 5 Meadow Pipits with several other unidentified small passerines passing overhead without calling. Small numbers of Sandwich Terns and Gannets were constantly moving and only a handful of Common Terns with 1 juvenile Arctic Tern. 20 Common Scoter, a single Guillemot, 4 Med Gulls and a single Shag. 2 dark phase Arctic Skuas flew West and then a 10am the best bird was a Sooty Shearwater which flew West.

I briefly called in at Church Norton and had a scan in the harbour - the tide was high and a number of Wigeon Teal and Pintail were visible in the harbour so even though still in eclipse plumage would have been recent arrivals. A steady stream of hirundines kept up the early morning theme but other than a few of the commoner waders there was little to pick out. A Spotted Flycatcher was the best of the find in the scrub but a good birdy morning.

Med Gull (Juv going into 1st Winter plumage) at Selsey

Pagham harbour at high tide looking out to the harbour mouth

...looking inland towards Goodwood.

Friday 16th September

Knowing the weekend was busy, I finished work earlier on Friday and managed a couple of hours late afternoon at Pulborough Brooks. The North brooks were actually at an ideal level for wading birds and there was a good selection for an inland site with plenty of Lapwing, 7 Ruff, 2 Green Sandpipers, 3 Dunlin, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Snipe and most surprisingly 1 Knot. A Hobby flew over and plenty of Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins were moving through. Nearly every bush seemed to hold a Chiffchaff and one small corner had 2 Redstarts and a Lesser Whitethroat.

Female Redstart at Pulborough

A shimmering red tail when it alights onto the fence from insect catching.

One of two Redstarts occupying a scrubby corner in late afternoon sunlight

Lesser Whitethroat in Redstart corner

Chiffchaff followed the Redstart onto the post.

Back at the ranch the only additions to the home bird list have been flyovers - a Grey Heron (twice), 4 Canada Geese and 2 Pied Wagtails. I have seen the Firecrest for the 3rd weekend in a row still in the same Holly - and still not co-operating for a picture. Chiffchaff, Blackcap, and Siskins are still aplenty with Bullfinch still around but the feeders have been quiet in the last week.

Domestic Fowl ! - from left Blueberry, Peach and Penny - Blossom was at the vets !

Monday 29th August - The end of something that never started,

Talking of Summer. August Bank Holidays I recall being the hot-end of Summer and the thoughts of heading back to school were just in view , when the first couple of weeks of term were usually dry and sunny before the sudden breaking of autumn - well not this year as Summer never arrived. July is often wet .. and it was but so was August. The weather man has been giving long range forecasts that seem to stretch ooh at least  4 hours, as anything beyond this seems beyond them even though it normally involves some wind and rain.. I think their computer is broken.

I had an early morning walk around the garden and field on Saturday looking for any additional birds - 3 Roe Deer were present in the 2nd field, and to my surprise I found a pair of Firecrest in the Holly by the last field. Both male and female looked a little scraggy but I had only seen late autumn birds at Greyhound. I then heard the distinct call of a Crossbill  but had no luck in locating the bird in flight so remains off my list for the house , still Chiffchaffs , Blackcap and Bullfinches around and in the lane behind the house 4 Spotted Flycathcers and a Whitethroat.

Bank holiday Monday I was out before 7am down to the coast and loyally stuck to the Pagham area as there had been a few reports of increasing variety of migrant birds in the last few days. Lots of Willow Warblers, Whitethroat, Blackaps and a Spotted Flycatcher were in the bushes around the information centre and a Peregrine was already hunting over the harbour despite the early hour . The Ferry Pool water level was ideal for wading birds and amongst the dabbling Teal, Black tailed Godwits, Redshank  and Lapwing were a samll number of Dunlin, Little Ringed Plover and a Little Stint. Lots of hirundines were moving through with a majority of Sand Martins, Swallows and a few House Martins and 3 Yellow Wagtails were heard calling from high in flight.
The tide was rising and a Sparrowhawk shot past raising a Whimbrel and 2 Greenshank  calling as they took flight . A Lesser Whitethroat and Whinchat were seen along the path to Church Norton with good numbers of Willow Warblers and  the odd Chiffchaff in most of the scrub. My first stop looking at the back of the churchyard had lots of Whitethroat, Blackcap and another Lesser Whitethroat plus a glimpse of a Redstart. I then walked out to the Severals where there were a number of birders looking for yesterdays Wryneck which had obviously disappeared with the clear skies last night. 4 Wheatear alighted on the beach and then the bird of the day a wonderful  Osprey,  slowly moving into the harbour with 2 Buzzards trying to distract it and working up and down the channels before moving on, I saw another Redstart flash into the bushes and a Kingfisher fly up one of the creeks. Back behind the churchyard and 2 Spotted Flycatchers and 2 Redstarts were now visible and then with a small group of willow warblers another good bird with a brief view of a Wood Warbler. A leisurely saunter back to the Ferry Pool (aided by a few blackberries) where the tide was now well in and the Little Stint had disappeared but a Ruff was followed by a Curlew Sandpiper which just flew in from the harbour.

I went round to the North Wall where 6 Whinchat could be seen distantly at the back of the breach pool and a close Wheatear and Yellow Wagtail were on the edge the high tide. A Spotted Redshank was with the roosting Godwits  but little else was with the hundreds of Canada Geese. A short stop at  one of the Chichester Pits added Green Sandpiper to a good list of birds for the day.

Wheatear - North Wall Pagham

Spotted Redshank - Breach Pool Pagham

Lesser Whitethroat - or most of one

Sedge Warbler - probably a young bird

Yellow Wagtail - Again most of one - haven't used the camera for a while !

Weekend 13th/14th August - House stuff

So we've been in the new place around a month and it's been pretty frantic organising , moving boxes around, unpacking, moving boxes back, trying bits in different places, then putting them back in boxes ! - but progress is being made not least in deciding what we might change. Sally has been much more successful at organising stuff and finding the right people than I have (I've generally failed at the first hurdle on most attempts).

We have - Got the communications up and running, fitted an alarm, bought a new mower, got the wasps nests removed (but left the bees) found someone to cut the field (at last !) although this still has to be done, got a builder to brick up an inside doorway, found man to build us a wardrobe, ordered a new chicken house to arrive on Adie's birthday, got samples for carpets and the list continues... We now found out that 4 of the ducks are males, 2 females - recipe for a few fights we think.

Birds in the garden feeders remain the previous list - although the Long-tailed tits are fairly regular and not once at Greyhound did they visit a feeder and Siskins are daily visitors and at a guess have bred locally. Blackcap and Chiffchaff are still around and I saw 3 young with the Bullfinch family. The Tawny Owl was given away by a frantic flock of smaller birds and was on a low perch, which I managed to show to Sally and Adie before it looked round at took flight as soon as it saw us. I added 5 new birds to the list at the weekend, which were Song Thrush a flyover Raven, a Hobby and a Great Black-backed Gull and a fleeting Spotted Flycatcher (now up to 43). Deer are still appearing daily in the garden and often there is own sitting in the middle of the lawn early morning and having rescued a Rose from Greyhound that had previously been rescued from my place in the Cotswolds and has been with us for c14 years, the Deer have munched it down to virtually nothing !.









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Friday 5th August - Pagham

Another few hours morning birding down at Pagham was today's agenda. It was warm and bright with a few clouds and a brisk westerly wind but the tide was at it's low point again, just like 2 weeks ago. Through choice I would normally aim to get there a couple of hours before the high tide at the point the tide starts to rise which generally would generate movement of birds with feeding and flight to their high tide roosts, but I've been snatching moments to get out when I can, rather than semi-planned in advance.

The bushes around the information centre again held reasonable numbers of Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Sedge Warbler and Reed Warbler and several Green Woodpeckers. Two Wheatears were recent migrant birds and the Ferry pool held 5 Common Sandpipers and lots of Lapwing and Redshank and 2 Dunlin but only 6 Black-tailed Godwit.

Walking down to Church Norton evident migrants comprised several yellowy Willow Warblers and a single Whinchat perched on some gorse which quickly vanished (the Whinchat not the Gorse). The harbour held very little, just a few Curlew, and small number of Little Egrets and a single Peregrine. Having returned to the Ferry pool seeing a Greenshank perhaps one the same Wheatear and likewise the Whinchat distantly at the back.

So again a few decent birds but numbers remain low. I had a brief stroll beyond the farm in the back lane at the weekend and saw Whitethroat and Spotted Flycatcher and a distant flock of 14 Canada Geese among commoner species.

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Saturday 23rd july - Normality

I managed to do what seems like a rare event at the moment and spent the morning birding. Just getting out for a few hours was the aim rather than anything specific as numbers or unusual birds at the moment are few and far between as its a couple of weeks away from the 'autumn' migration starting.

The weather predicted a dry day with plenty of sunshine. I headed down to the coast and started at Selsey around 8am, and within 30 minutes was cowering under my scope as the heavens opened. I'd only managed to see a handful of Sandwich and Common Terns, a couple of distant Gannets a few Sand Martins and Swifts and a Grey Wagtail when I swore again at the weathermen and headed back to the car not knowing how long the rain would last for. I drove to Pagham and 15 minutes later the rain abated and the predicted sun and blue skies then remained for the rest of the morning.

The bushes and ditches around the information centre held lots of  Whitethroat, Blackcap, Sedge and Reed Warblers and the Ferry pool had c50 Black-tailed Godwits, with a number still sporting their colourful Summer plumage, Redshank and a single Common Sandpiper. I walked from here to Church Norton although the tide was low in the harbour but the warming sun was seeming like a new experience.

The harbour held lots of Little Egrets and Curlew (including a Leucistic Curlew) a couple of Whimbrel, a single Grey Plover and single Yellow-legged gull and a juvenile Peregrine was practising hunting. I surprised a Cuckoo in the churchyard at Church Norton which was sitting on the grass as I entered and 6 distant Dunlin were the only waders seen at the Church Norton end of the harbour.

Walking back to the car I added a Greenshank and Green Sandpiper which were spending time amongst a large number of Redshank. Having sampled the local Ice Cream from the information centre (made at Calder Farm on the reserve) I diverted to Fishbourne Creek, again with a low tide but perhaps a better bet for some more waders 6 Greenshank, 4 Whimbrel, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit and again a single Grey plover. The highlight here was a group of 38 Med Gulls roosting on the exposed mud. So a pleasant few hours even though birds were a bit thin on the ground.

Another couple of birds for the home list over the weekend being Bullfinch and Coal Tit, with at least 2 young Bullfinches present with the parents. The Tawny Owl has been glimpsed a couple more times with it calling on Saturday night having me leap out of bed and stick my head out of the window.

Black-tailed Godwits - Ferry pool Pagham

 



Little Egret - Pagham

Green Sandpiper - Pagham



Stock Dove in Garden

Sunday 13th July - Deluge

Nothing much to report amidst the heavy rain, we've had enough rain now thank you.

A few birds added to the new garden list over the last week have been Buzzard, Kestrel, Stock Dove, Treecreeper, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest and House Sparrow - so now up to 35. I flushed the Tawny Owl during the day from a low perch just on the edge of the 'Woodland Trail'. Also I went for a short wander in the morning over the hedge to the North and across a field to a Lane which has a footpath down and beyond a Farm, I went as far as a small stream in a wood and then back. The fields of the lane do look like horse paddocks and then into general woodland, and although I didn't actually see much in the way of birds maybe more interesting as a wider area and I will need to do a few visits to get a feel of what birds might be around so will report back.

Friday 15th July - Genesis

.. and on the sixth day God made man and said be fruitful and mow ... and then mow some more.

I may have visually underestimated ! - At Greyhound a good two hours would see me finish mowing the garden and a couple of paths in the field . Well, at the weekend more than double the time saw me only finish around a quarter of what needs doing here. So I have ordered reinforcements in the form of a new ride-on. Should arrive in a couple of weeks !. Otherwise I seemed consigned to spending all weekend daylight hours behind my trusty little Masport.

A few photos of the place now broadband is up and running !

Looking back towards house from Southern boundary.

Looking South from Garden over 1st paddock.

Barn that has planning to convert to a single bedroom space.

I have placed bird feeders between the house and the hedge to the north.

Tawny Owl in big Oak near house.

One of a family party of Chiffchaffs living in the hedge.

Call Ducks - Kiwi, Papaya and Coconut. Runners - Pingu, Ibis ..... and Mike ! (The hens have returned to their owner we were looking after them for a week).

Monday 11th July - We're In !!!

We were actually in last Monday as planned, but the week vanished amidst a pile of boxes and as BT forgot to connect us all comms have been down - and will be until tomorrow.

Given this blog is primarily a bird and wildlife blog it's therefore important that I give an early view as what the new home might provide, given I'd previously finished life at Greyhound with a summary of total species seen. Despite being on a larger plot, instinctively I would have thought that over a period of time I would not manage the number of birds I recorded at Greyhound not least as the site is slightly less rural being in a village and there are no bits of water like the trout farm lakes or Petworth Park which may provide for the odd flyover duck.

It would be easier to describe with the aid of photos but until we get broadband back that's not possible so I will have to describe what the place is like.

The house and a couple of old barns sit just inside a boundary hedge which lie to the North and East (the hedge is  20ft high, 500ft long Lleylandii monstrosity - What were we thinking !!!!). The back gardens of local houses sit just behind the hedge. The house is surrounded by mainly lawn with the odd ornamental tree (and some are very odd) and the drive/parking goes right up to the house and is a large expanse of tarmac..

To the south there are 3 grass fields (about 1 acre each) and to the north is a narrow strip of Woodland with several big Oaks and Beech trees, some of which are within the boundary, which fall away into a steep wooded gully, which is beyond the boundary, that has a stream/trickle. Beyond these trees are more fields which are not really visible from the property and look mainly like horse paddocks but we haven't done any exploring yet so don't know exactly what's in this direction.

I did put up some bird feeders on Friday and the birds were a bit slow in turning up but familiar species eventually arrived with Blue Tit and Great Tit first on the scene, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and finally a Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Marsh Tit,  Nuthatch and a couple of Pheasants. On Thursday evening a commotion by at least 5 Blackbirds at dusk had me staring into the largest Oak near the house to find a Tawny Owl perched fairly high - photo to follow.

Other birds noted have included Sparrowhawk, Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Goldfinch, Siskin, Green Woodpecker, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Starling, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Rook, Jackdaw, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Woodpigeon and Collared Dove. So 29 species so far. The boundary is not Deer or Rabbit proofed and a Roe Deer has been seen munching on flowers in the garden.

Sunday 3rd July - Moving tomorrow !!!!!

5 mins in between packing to write this. End of an Era !!!! - Loved the house for the last 13 years -  time to move on.

I  haven't mentioned we acquired 6 ducks a couple of weeks ago, they were from a friend who had incubated eggs and we got them as ducklings at around 4 weeks. In theory it was 3 Runner Ducks and 3 Call Ducks. The Call Ducks have been named Coconut, Kiwi and Papaya (by Hannah) and the Runner Ducks were called Pingu and Ibis by me, and lastly Mike was incarnated by Adie !  - photos will follow once my Camera is unpacked.

It turns out that one of the Call Ducks (Kiwi) looks like a proper Call Duck. Papaya is a little on the large size , and Coconut has more than a touch of Mallard. Ironically Mike is the closest to a Runner, whereas Pingu looks somewhere in-between Muscovy and Goose, and Ibis is an in-between Runner and something else (but still Duck).

A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker has been heard calling twice in the last 3 days very close to the garden although remaining invisible. Another Red Kite sailed over the garden yesterday and a Lesser Whitethroat has been heard around the garden the last few mornings and a visiting Green Woodpecker hs been busily extracting ants. More unusual, a singing Skylark over the field and a Yellowhammer singing from the trees next to the house has given a very rural feel to this ending of an era.

Tuesday 28th June - Greyhound Birds

So in the frame of mind to exit the property I've been at since 1998. I thought it would be worth a summary of the Birds and wildlife seen in or from the place over the last 13 years. Due to various things like excessive working, having kids, a few years where playing golf seemed to be the main activity, the viewing coverage has varied in consistency, but I believe I am leaving the place in a better position than when we first arrived in terms of the house and the garden / field from both an aesthetic and wildlife point of view and I think the list achieved for birds seen is higher than I probably first would have anticipated.

So 91 species of bird have been recorded - Listing all 91 is a little dull so the more unusual / interesting ones as follows.

Egyptian Goose - A pair in the area in 2011 seen in flight a couple of times in March.
Mandarin Duck - Local breeder pairs annually seen in flight Mar- May
Greenshank       - A single bird flew low over the house calling 19/08/10
Curlew              - A single bird high over the house 2/05/09
Whimbrel          - A flock of 11 flew low calling 10/07/08
Woodcock        - First seen flying through garden 23/1/11 then again twice in March 2011
Red-Legged Partridge - A pair set up territory in the garden in 2005 often seen calling on the roof  and garden wall.
Osprey               - One seen 15/04/00 and one 24/04/11
Peregrine           - Seen twice in one day 3/12/10
Honey Buzzard   - An amazing 11 recorded 0n 28 September 2000 and a single 28/04/06
Hobby               - Annual sightings throughout Summer
Red Kite           - Since 2002 a couple of sightings annually - seen 3 in 2011
Barn Owl  - One was in the garden from Oct-Dec 1998 after we moved in, singles seen Sep 1999 and 2007
Tawny Owl       - A least three pairs within hooting distance - one often in garden
Turtle Dove       - Has become less common as a Summer flyover May-Jul - seen once in 2011
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - A male frequently visited nut feeder 28/06/06-2/08/06 and again dec 09 and daily 06/02/10-28/02/10.
Skylark            - Lots seen on Autumn passage, one occasionally with a territory in arable fields across road.
Meadow Pipit   - Lots seen on autumn passage - Max 12 on wires in garden in 2001
Yellow Wagtail - 3 seen with Pied Wagtail flock in field 28/0810 and 2 birds 29and 30/08/10
Grey Wagtail    - a pair recorded July 2007
Cuckoo        - Annual although not recorded 2004-2008
Firecrest     -   Singles seen 20/10/08 and 10/10/09
Nightingale - Have bred next to house - in Jul 2008 pair feeding young on patio. No longer annual although heard briefly in 2011
Reed Warbler - 2 sightings in garden one singing in May 2004,  one sat on barbecue in 2010 ! .
Lesser Whitethroat - 3 sightings one of which this week.
Spotted Flycatcher - Annual sightings, bred in garden in 2004.
Whitethroat - annual sightings breeds close to house.
Marsh Tit - Regular visitor to feeders with up to 3 individuals, breeds in vicinity.
Raven - First seen in 2009 a pair has been recorded 4 times since.
Siskin - annual which finches in late Winter since 2005
Brambling - Not recorded for last 3 years but before that regular Winter visitor max 4 at once.
Hawfinch - 3 sightings in garden all in May, Pair 5/05/00, singles1/05/03 and 9/05/09
Bullfinch - Regular visitor, pair this year suggest breeding very close.
Linnet - Occasional sightings mainly flyovers, were common in 1999 and 2000 and possibly bred locally.
Yellowhammer - Breeds locally, but max 8 in Winter 
Reed Bunting - one record in Feb 2007  in garden with finches.

Mammals recorded are

Roe Deer
Fallow Deer
Fox ! (The bugger that got the hens and ducks !)
Badger - One sighting in 2003
Hedgehog - Not seen by us but found by my gardeners dog hiding in the duck house.
Stoat - Several summer sightings of one right up to the house.
Grey Squirrel (of course)
Pipistrelle Bat - We have a nursery of them in the roof ! - up to 15 bats currently
Barbestelle Bat - One record of a largish bat in daylight / early evening got recorded as this species
 Other mammals - Moles/Bunnies/Brown Rats / Field Vole/Wood Mouse /Yellow Necked Mouse/House Mouse/ Common Shrew/Pygmy Shrew.

On the reptilian front Common Lizard / Slow Worm / Grass Snake / Adders / Palmate Newt and Great Crested Newt /Common Frog and Common Toad.
Have not really recorded Butterflies or other insects

Monday 27th June - Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh

Not much blog updating in the last couple of weeks mainly due to rain,packing,rain,working, rain, ascot, more packing, rain, wimbledon, rain, more packing, and then a Sunday of incredibly hot weather ... with more packing and a leaving party ... so no pictures to update the blog with either and despite mentioning packing there is still a lot do.

Emotions are running a little high driven by not knowing where I'll be living although it's reasonably certain I won't be at Greyhound this time next week. The buying is becoming a little stressful, and the last few days it's been swinging between thinking its all coming together to looking like it will fall apart this last weekend and then a little more progress this morning, which then seemed to have stalled by this evening. The movers are booked to start getting things sorted on Thursday, but we haven't yet told them where to move anything to !.

Maybe tomorrow will become clearer !

Friday 10th June - Irania

No - I haven't managed to get up to Hartlepool to climb up a ladder to see Britain's 3rd (but first accessible) White-throated Robin. In fact I don't think I've ever seen a bird whilst standing on a ladder, which is not surprising, as me and ladders are not great buddies - the world becomes very unstable if I'm up one.  I was in Jersey and Guernsey on Monday and Tuesday with work when Gary alerted me to the Robin and would I be tempted to try for it overnight ? Just impossible with work at the moment to spin any extra time for such things hey-ho (and it's only a a female !) - see the thought process you go through when you know you're not going to be able to try and see a rare one.

Back to birding reality and a couple of young Pied Wagtails were being entertained by their parents on the lawn this week, and daily viewings of young families of birds continue to entertain.

Young Pied Wagtail in garden

Male Blackcap - looking bedraggled as feeding young is hard work

Fox in field behind house - actually had a crocked leg.

Male White-throated Robin (Irania guttaralis) - Ok maybe not in Hartlepool - Not great pics as still digiscoping  but these 2 males seen last year in Armenia - very smart bird though  !