11th/12th May - Is spring slipping away ?

I had organised the weekend around a couple of morning birding sessions so Saturday started early at Selsey. Although with strong SW wind it tends to divert birds around the Isle of Wight and out of sight. The weather was squally showers to start with, which probably helped,  as at least a few birds were moving, with 2 Great Skuas, 8 Arctic Skuas, 5 Manx Shearwater, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Dunlin , 50 Common Scoter, 50+ Commic Terns, 10 little Terns and 20 Sandwich Terns, Fulmars and Gannets were both in good numbers  and 3 Great northern Divers were on the sea. 18 Swift, 2 Swallow, and 4 House Martins made up the visible inbound migration, although I headed home around 10am.

On Sunday, the brightest weather was going to be early so I went for a walk from the house at 7am, covering what is my normal almost circular route. I hadn't done the walk since before Africa so I was hoping to see a change in the bird numbers with migrants making the difference. There's been a lot of speculation as to whether the number of migrant birds has dramatically reduced or whether the Spring is just late and therefore many birds are still to arrive. I must admit based on what I've seen in the last couple of weeks that it would be inconclusive, but I tend to think some birds are still late or just quiet !

For a change I've listed the species seen below, which in total was 43 Species, which I consider a good number for an inland site, with very little water or change in habitat. The big surprise for me here was a Nightingale which I'd not seen before in this area although they are more common further East in Sussex. A bird had flitted across the track into some scrub and I could just see it's tail which was rather rufous and I was thinking female Redstart, but it disappeared into the thicket and I was then distracted by the distinct purring of a Turtle Dove, which was another good find, I wandered back along the track to a series of large Oaks, but could not locate the Dove despite the call continuing as I walked back towards where the 'Redstart' had disappeared I had a very loud burst of Nightingale directed at me , which cleared up what the bird had been. Despite lingering in the area for a further 20 minutes I didn't hear another sound, when at this time of the year Nightingales should be in full voice until they they quieten down in a couple of weeks. This observation seemed to apply to a few of the Warblers where I  heard just one short song-burst or just saw the bird without any song, not sure why this should be especially at that time of a fairly bright Spring morning, but wonder whether is a similar theme and adding to the perception of birds not arriving.

Summer migrants

Chiffchaff 8
Blackcap 4
Whitethroat 6
Garden Warbler 1
Cuckoo 1
Willow Warbler 1
Nightingale 1
Swallow 4
Tree Pipit 1
Turtle Dove 1 (h)

Farmland

Pheasant 5
Stock Dove 11
Woodpigeon 4
Linnet 3
Skylark 1 (h)

Water

Mandarin 8
Mallard 3
Grey Wagtail 1(h)

Woodland / Hedges

Marsh Tit 2
Blue Tit 9
Great Tit 3
Nuthatch 2
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1
Green Woodpecker 1
Song Thrush 5
Mistle Thrush 2
Blackbird 8
Robin 7
Dunnock 2
Wren 7
Goldcrest 2
Bullfinch 4
Chaffinch 7
Goldfinch 3
Siskin 3

Other

Common Buzzard 1
Sparrowhawk 1
Carrion Crow 3
Jackdaw 6
Jay 2
Starling 4
Pied Wagtail 2
House sparrow 1

View towards walking area just after house, the walk is all really in the dip of the valley rather than up the other side 

Pied Wagtail in a Sheep field

Some orchids in the undergrowth

View across arable field towards Woolbeding Common

Blackcap - a non-singing male

This was the spot I saw the Nightingale

Bluebells are well out now in the understory

Another hedgerow flower - must look it up !

5/6th May - Bank Holiday

At last a Bank Holiday with sunshine - at least on Monday. Saturday was take up with an athletics event for Hannah in Kingston, so I went out early on Sunday to Selsey.

A fairly light SW wind and it was dry with cloud that intermittently became heavy, so anything could happen especially at the start of May, having arrived before 6am to a chorus of moans from some of the locals that spring hadn't really happened yet and no birds at all had been moving past this part of the South coast all Spring.

Up to 5 Great Northern Divers were visible on the sea and an early movement of 'Commic'Terms was more than had been seen in total for the past couple of weeks although the assumption was this was just the early morning shift of roosting birds from the coast. It ended up being the biggest movement of the year and while I was there nearly 2,000 'commic' terms were recorded moving east - many were distant and frequently we were caught out by high and close moving groups that almost eluded being seen. Sandwich Terns only numbered around 35 over the morning and 10 Little Terns . A Great Skua was one of the first birds picked up and several flocks of up to 25 Common Scoter were recorded frequently, totalling over 350 throughout the course of the morning. Waders were scarce with 5 Whimbrel, 2 Sanderling and 1 Bar-tailed Godwit and then just after 8am a single Pomarine Skua, a light phased bird with full 'spoons' flew gracefully by at around half-distance giving good scope views.

Surprisingly with all the Terns only a single Arctic Skua was logged late in the morning. Inbound Swallows numbered over 100 and 12 Swifts, my first of the year. A Wheatear spent 15 minutes perched on one of the offshore triangles before eventually deciding to complete the final 20 metres to shore and 5 Yellow Wagtails flew north - only one of which being seen. A flock of 8 Shags were offshore and both Red-throated and a Black-throated Diver were recorded.

So overall a pretty good day by Selsey standards.

Bank Holiday Monday 6th

With intermittent Fog forecast for the coast I decided to stay local and first called in at Stanley Common. An area of mixed woodland with patches of what used to be heathland, only just surviving as heath, but being on sandy soil has quite a few pines. Historically this was one of the reliable areas in Sussex for Wood Warblers, but I must admit to never having found one in the area.

I spent a good 2.5 hours tramping around Stanley Common and making it as far as Lynchmere Common. It was a glorious sunny morning and early enough not to encounter the dog-walkers.
A couple of Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs  and Blackcaps were first heard along with a Cuckoo, also commoner species such as Goldcrest and Coal Tits were plentiful in the pines. Song Thrush  and Mistle Thrushes were belting out their own melodies .

3 Lesser Redpolls flew over calling and eventually I found a singing male Redstart high up in the canopy, I heard 4 singing males in different territories during the morning and also saw one female. I eventually saw a Cuckoo and nearby a displaying Whitethroat . I was surprised at not encountering a Garden Warbler and less surprised at not getting a sniff at a Wood Warbler, although many of the Oaks had yet to unfurl their leaves, whereas at home just a couple of miles away the large Oak in the garden was further advanced.

I moved onto Woolbeeding Common, which is on slightly higher ground and has a slightly more traditional heathland area of gorse and heather. A pair of Tree Pipit were present just by the car park, and the heath was rich with bird song. 6 Yellowhammers, several Linnet , more Whitethroat, a good density of Willow Warblers and 2 singing Garden Warbler along with Green Woodpecker and Jay. A distant Common Buzzard , a single Swift and 8 Swallows were seen which wrapped up a great Spring morning walk.

Back at home, nothing particularly interesting on the bird front although with half the house demolished it was great spending time in the garden. The 2 Blackcaps and 2 Chiffchaff are still in full song and the Cuckoo was again heard on Monday afternoon with a glimpse in flight of the drooping narrow wing beats. 3 Buzzard and a couple of Sparrowhawks were all to report on the raptor front and the most engaging avian sight at the moment are the Starlings which constantly stream between the houses and the fields obviously rearing broods but are intensely busy. Swallows have been seen flying over but none feigning a passing interest in the stables as a home.

I'm nearly there with the Zimbabwe trip report , just need a final effort to finish.

Willow Warbler

Tree pipit

Male Redstart - rather distant in a  tree top

Female Redstart

Whitethroat

Yellowhammer

Saturday 20th April - Springlike

.. Arrived back from our Africa trip mid-week and straight back to work, at least the weather here is in an improved state since the 2c and light snow we had the day we left before Easter.

Zimbabwe was great and I need to sort out pictures and write it up when I find time.

I headed down to the coast on Saturday morning for a few hours - It was bright sunshine with a light NE wind, which ultimately meant it was very pleasant but relatively low on bird numbers.

3 Little Terns were almost the first birds seen, with a very light trickle of Common Terns throughout the morning and the usual but low numbers of Sandwich Terns, Distant Gannets and several small Common Scoter Groups flew through with one Tufted Duck being the only other species. At 7am things looked as if they might liven up as a Hobby flew in off the sea, followed minutes later by another low and straight overhead, but other than a single figure count of Swallows and 2 Sand Martins, that was it on the land bird visible migration front. 5 Great Northern Divers on sea and then 5 Whimbrel flew East and a flock of c 60 distant waders were probably Grey Plover.

Back at home the house is in disarray as we have building works to extend the kitchen, which will last until the Summer, but 2 male and a female Blackcap were noisily outside the kitchen and there are 2 singing Chiffchaff around the place and 2 Swallows flew over on Sunday along with a Cuckoo  heard calling early in the morning.