Sunday 30th August - Trip update

With the weekend weather turning to cold and soggy, a harsh reminder of the end of summer, at least I've managed to update the report for the trip to Botswana and Zambia on the separate page listed on the right.

Rarely seen in Sussex - One of 4 Leopards seen in Botswana

Friday 28th August - and again..

With only a couple of hours or so to spare Blackdown is the nearest option for me for a walk with bird potential as it's only 10 minutes away as there is nowhere around here with any water, this is the best place for potential migrants given it's the highest point in Sussex (and Surrey for that matter).

Many of the birds were the same as Tuesday and again moving in flocks. A slightly smaller number of Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler with a counted 20 of the former and 12 latter. 2 Tree Pipits again 9 Spotted Flycatchers although it could have been more. 1 Whitethroat, 1 Blackcap and 1 male Redstart. 4 Stonechat, 1 Dartford Warbler and a Firecrest were possibly locals and a Sparrowhawk was the only raptor.

Again leaving before the weather turned too much, no hirundines here for the last 2 visits although a 40 strong flock of Swallows and House Martins were overt he house later.

Spotted Flycatcher

A view north west into Surrey

Tuesday 25th August - Blackdown

Another early morning walk on Blackdown between 7am and 9.45am. Holiday season means the dogs are currently less prolific which is a bonus.

All the birds found were in 3 or 4 flocks scattered across the site. With predominantly Blue, Great, Coal, Long-tailed and Marsh Tit, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Bullfinch and Great Spotted Woodpecker. making up the commoner species. The autumn highlight ...I would say more than 40 Chiffchaff and 30 Willow Warbler were seen . With one flock of c30 birds in particular being made up of entirely these phyllosc' warblers. Although,  I only saw 2 Blackcaps, which was surprising. The best were 9 Spotted Flycatchers .. and I think that's at least 9 as they were very active and I was conscious of not double counting between the flocks. Also 4 Tree Pipits were flighty enough to be migrant birds. 2 Linnets, 3 Stonechats and one Kestrel made up the rest of the list.

The rain started just as I was leaving and lasted the rest of the day.

Spotted Flycatcher

Friday 21 August - Pagham

With a day spare and the weather looking dry after yesterdays deluge,  I decided to visit Pagham. Spurred on by several migrants reported at the start of the week although having noticed that these had largely dispersed over the last few days.

I arrived at Church Norton around 8.15am seeing a Wheatear in the fields on the way in. What on earth have they done to the car park !! - A resurfacing job to infill the potholes was probably a good idea but maybe with a limited budget ? ...they've resorted to using an unsuitable rough aggregate that turns into an orange clay goo when wet. so after yesterdays rain it was like walking on a sticky playdough, that cakes your tyres, car and shoes.. be warned.

The field behind the hide had a single Blackcap and a male Redstart but little else to suggest there had been an influx of migrants. I walked towards the beach passing Andrew House on the way, who had seen nothing and no sign of the recent Wryneck. A couple of Whitethroats were visible and I caught up with Bart Ives who had found the Wryneck sitting in a bramble. I set the scope up on the bird, took a single quick picture and it promptly disappeared over the hedge. Another hour and half of waiting in the area produced Reed and Sedge Warblers and a steady movement of c100 Sand Martins, but other than a very brief glimpse no further sighting of the Wryneck .

Walking back to the mudflats the tide was well out a few Grey Plover still in summer plumage were scattered with Oystercatcher, Curlew and a single Whimbrel a few Ringed Plover, Dunlin, a single Bar-tailed Godwit and surprisingly a single Little Stint.

I drove to the visitor centre and walked to scan the Ferry. 2 Avocet 2 Common Sandpipers, 4 Green Sandpipers and 2 Ruff flew in which was a reasonable haul at low tide. ~The bushes held more Blackcap, Whitethroat, a Lesser Whitethroat and Reed Warbler.

The North Wall was next and a few waders were scattered on the mud , although viewing was hazy directly into the glaring light. I counted 8 Greenshank, 2 Spotted Redshank and 140 Black-tailed Godwit. Sandwich Terns were still in with the Gull roost and distantly on the fence line behind the breach pool at least 2 Whinchat and a single Wheatear.  A reasonable list for Autumn birding.

Wryneck .. moments before it disappeared 

Sand Martin

from left.. Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank

Black-tailed Godwit

Kestrel

Up to 17th August - Another Infill ...

... Hopefully bringing myself more up to date.... A 2 week trip at the end of July to Botswana and Zambia (mainly for a wedding) will be covered on a separate page and trip report.

Since returning up to the 17th August it was mainly garden watching in between work, with the weather being mixed but often with dry sunny spells. The noticeable change at home is the small bird flocks that have started to appear. With the common Tit species including Marsh Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper and Great Spotted Woodpecker, with them one or two Willow Warblers ( generally they only come through the garden at this time of year) 3 or 4 Chiffchaff frequent these flocks as do 3 Blackcaps - all of which are probably local breeders. Green Woodpeckers are noisy with young. Swallows and House Martin numbers are starting to build when the weather is right.

A morning trip to Blackdown on the 17th was surprisingly productive. With a couple of large bird flocks found several Spotted Flycatchers were seen and best of all a single Pied Flycatcher, a rarity around here and not seen by me before in this area.

Up to the end of June - Wow its been a long time.

I can't believe that time has flowed so quickly and I haven't updated this since March . This is now my fourth attempt to write an update

I have been birding, although it has been a weird Spring and my camera has largely remained untouched.

Brief Update to the end of June .....

An annual trip to the Portugal coast at Easter was very relaxing and the usual Iberian Magpies, Red-rumped Swallows, Sardinian Warblers and Serins etc were in abundance but returning to the UK the Spring was slow to get going with any Goshawk sightings at home having come to an end by mid-April and my several attempts to migrant watch at Selsey and on the Peninsula were hard work and unproductive, even into early May with no Pom Skuas being seen at all and only a few Arctic Skuas and one single Great Skua. Yes there was the normal hirundine spectacle of arriving birds and the occasional arriving Hobby but anything else was the exception with the highlight probably being a beautiful Roseate Tern that lingered for around an hour at low  tide on the 5th May with numerous Sandwich, Common and Little Terns and a single Arctic Tern .

Then the oddity of a spattering of rarities which were worth an attempt. Both Hudsonian Godwit and Hudsonian Whimbrel. The Hudsonian Godwit when it reappeared after an initial stay in Somerset then the more recent Hudsonian Whimbrel seen at Pagham, which was shortly followed by the Terek Sandpiper earlier this week which I saw on June 22nd , the Whimbrel was still there and the birds were within a couple of hundred yards of each other.

Spring at the house has been interesting, with Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs in full voice until late May, then silence for breeding. A Cuckoo was heard on a couple of occasions and seen once in May. The Firecrest was heard almost daily and has been since March and it occasionally is out in view. A pair of Turtle Doves were seen in late May and then intermittent until a week of continuous purring outside the back door which stopped on Saturday 20th June which coincided with the local plague of Jackdaws who must have fledged young at the same time and decided to use our tall trees as a crèche - there must have been 150 birds making an obscene racket for all daylight hours - They're still around but have hopefully dispersed slightly. I had my first (and currently only) sighting of a Honey Buzzard in display mode on the 8th June so they are definitely around although long spells of particularly windy weather has made viewing less . A Skylark is visible daily over the back of the fields and can by heard songflighting if the wind is in the right direction. Linnets are on their regular fly past and 2 Crossbills were seen on the 12th June, which are the first for nearly 2 years.

Distant Goshawk in April from the house

Spotted Redshank at Pagham

Again slightly distant - but this was the only shot I achieved of the Hudsonian Whimbrel

Pair of Turtle Doves in the garden in June