Sunday 29th November - Lockdown 2 - Day 25

A very dark and murky start to the day with a lingering mist and little wind to move it on. I drove to Burpham just the other side of Arundel to walk onto the downs up to the Burgh. I was looking for both species of Partridge for the lock-down list and maybe a Corn Bunting and any other raptor species I hadn't yet seen this month. Although it was less than ideal weather for raptors with no breeze and poor visibility. There were 8 Egyptian Geese by the side of Benbow Pond as I drove past.

There were 2 unseen calling Chiffchaff in Burpham as I walked out beside the church, and I could tell it was going to be a tricky morning with the visibility so poor. I had success with the partridge, particularly Grey Partridge where I found 3 coveys totalling 30 birds and 6 Red-legged Partridge. Plenty of Red Kites and Ravens were around, a single male Marsh Harrier, only 1 Buzzard and 3 Kestrel made up a poor showing on the raptor front. I walked up to the Dew pond and scanned the fields.  One of the fields held c20 Skylark, 10 Pied Wagtails and 10 Meadow Pipit. There were several groups of Linnet but in total probably no more than 70 birds, 3 Reed Bunting and a single Yellowhammer but no sign of any Corn Bunting. I saw a single Hare run across one of the fields in the distance, but it was a day where everything was keeping low. 

Lock-down list is on 124.

Skylarks

 Hare in the murk

Kestrel

Kestrel

Grey Partridge

Grey Partridge

Red Kite

Red Kite

Saturday 28th November - Lockdown 2 - Day 23-24

 Friday went without any activity worth reporting. Saturday was spent on the Selsey Peninsula with plan to pick up some species for the lock-down list, the main target being the Glossy Ibis that has been spending time with the Cattle Egrets just north of Pagham Harbour.

I started at Selsey, in an Easterly wind. The main birds seen were a few Razorbill and a single Guillemot, several Red-throated Diver, an easterly movement of gulls that held several Kittiwake and Med Gulls and perhaps the surprise being a Swallow over the oval field, which is probably the latest I have seen one in the UK. Also seen a single Shag, Red-Breasted Mergansers, 2 Wigeon and a Brent Goose.

Moving on to Marsh Farm, a Raven and Stonechat were seen on the walk out to the obvious field with the cattle and a Marsh Harrier was being hassled by a Kestrel. There were c40 Cattle Egrets in with the cows and Rooks and a couple of Little Egret. It was interesting that one of the Rooks had a form of albininism which gave it a black and white mottled appearance. The Cattle Egret count has been as high as 56, which is an astonishing total given that a few years ago a single Cattle Egret was rare enough. It wasn't long until the Glossy Ibis was visible in flight then distantly in the field before it spent a few minutes in the nearer field.

I then headed to Chichester Marina with Paul Bowley, the plan was actually to try and see a Water Rail. We spent a few minutes in the hide overlooking the reedbed, with only a Coot and Moorhen visible and a few distant Lapwings flying around then a Cetti's Warbler appeared on the edge of the channel in the low-cut reeds. I was scanning over the back of the reeds when suddenly a Bittern took flight, quickly getting Paul onto the bird before it dropped into cover again, this was a welcome surprise for the list. We heard  several Water Rail squealing but none appeared and a Kingfisher flew past.

I finished off along Fishbourne Creek, it had turned into a very mild day with bright sunshine and little breeze. The tide was still high along the creek and was just starting to drop but most of the birds were still roosting on the opposite bank of the channel. I saw 1 Spotted Redshank, 3 Greenshank and a few Rock Pipits, which were all additions to the lock-down List. Good haul of common waders, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Turnstone. Heard a Chiffchaff, saw at least 2 Kingfishers. Plenty of Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall. Sandwich Tern.

Overall a great morning.

Lock-down list up to 121.

Red-breasted Mergansers

Kittiwake

Red-throated Divers

Late Swallow

Turnstone on beach

Cattle Egret with Rooks and Cow

Cattle Egrets

Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis

Bittern

Wigeon

Little Egret

Thursday 26th November - Lockdown 2 - Day 22

 The delivery I was waiting for on Tuesday was my new passport - not that I'm going anywhere soon, but my old one expired early next year and thought it was better to replace now than when I really need it.  Despite all the warnings of the extra time it was taking due to Covid, the online passport renewal service actually was very prompt and within a week of submitting the application and sending the old passport, I had notification that the new one had been sent by courier. It's taken over a week to get here due to the courier not finding the house !.However, the courier duly arrived late this morning, so at least I was able to go on a walk after signing for it. 

I walked through the village towards Lower House Farm. Initially it seemed very quiet in the woods and even when I passed the first crop field, only a handful of Redwings and around 8 Chafinches were present. I descended the lane and then started to rise again and I could hear a few Linnets in a large oak above the lane and c25 flew out across the field. I waited at the top of the lane where you can view 3 fields and there was more activity with a Woodlark that flew around calling then another 2, around 25 Fieldfares were feeding in a Holly and 4 Pied Wagtails alighted along with 5 Meadow Pipits and the first 2 Yellowhammer. The main Linnet flock was feeding in the Kale-strip at the back of the field and largely out of view until they took flight. From the pictures I think c350 birds are present. A single Brambling went up with them. Moving down the lane I had at least 12 Yellowhammer and a flock of 9 Woodlark flew over calling, which is the largest flock I've seen locally. a group of 18 Meadow Pipit landed in one of the horse fields and 4 Mistle Thrush were present with the Redwing and Fieldfare. Seemed an abundance of birds in a small area as everywhere else around here is very quiet.

The kale crop where the Yellowhammers were feeding.

Yellowhammer

Woodlark

Most trees have dropped, the Hazel has a few left as does the oaks.

Wednesday 26th November - Lockdown 2 - Day 20-21

Tuesday was a frustrating day with no action mostly waiting for delivery men who didn't turn up. Today was Sal's birthday, it was a bit damp and murky but we went for a walk on Black Down in the early afternoon. Very little was visible with 8 Crossbill, 2 Stonechat a single Redwing, Green Woodpecker and a Goldcrest being all that was there.

Stonechat

Belted Gallaways keep the heath in check

Monday 23rd November - Lockdown 2 - Day 19

This morning would be described as a birdy morning. I didn't think so first thing as I went out to feed as it was fairly silent, but around 8am. I started to see large Woodpigeon flocks moving SW and by 10am had counted 3,075 birds in groups of between 50 and 200. Redwings were in flight too and 80 were counted. A Firecrest was in the Holly by the back door briefly, my first in lock-down and the biggest surprise was a male Blackcap in the Himalayan Honeysuckle, I've never had one here in Winter before. 8 Canada Geese flying over low is an unusual record here. A male Sparrowhawk was hassling the birds around the feeders and the Grey Wagtail and a Pied Wagtail were seen.

This afternoon I went to West Dean Woods, with the hope of seeing numbers of Hawfinch as they congregate in the late afternoon. The skies darkened as I arrived and I did see 2 Hawfinch , but certainly not the numbers they should be in. i guess no 2 days are the same. There were very few birds here and another place with no Brambling, a couple of Raven and Fieldfare were the only other interest.

Lock-down list is up to 112.

A Hawfinch

Unfortunate the best view was a bit distant.

Sunday November 22nd - Lockdown 2 - Day 18

Sunday dawned, calm conditions but mild, I was aware of a few jobs I needed to do outside and decided it would be good to get stuck into those, so my walk today was just around the fields. There was nothing significant around, Redwing numbered 38 and a small flock of 8 Fieldfare. Most of the holly has now been stripped of berries, so the thrushes seem more content to drop into the leaf litter. Chaffinches numbered 6 which is hardly a build-up but more than last week. I normally need about 20 Chaffinches for one Brambling, which still remain elusive this winter. Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers showed and the Grey Wagtail appeared briefly.

As the tress become bare, there are a number of areas at the edge of the fields I want to 'improve' for wildlife and now is the time it is easier to plan these when the bare branches are visible.

Lock-down list remained on 109 !.

This area was 'tidied' last year, looks like it will need work this winter as well

The path to the back corner field

This tiny Woodland pond was renovated last winter 

Saturday 21st November - Lockdown 2 - Day 17

A yearning to get out and see more birds, had me up and out at 6.30am and heading to Selsey Bill for first light. Some seabirds and estuary birds were needed for the lock-down list. A moderate SW wind didn't have me expecting too much unusual but a 2 hour seawatch was actually quite rewarding.

With Sam, Paul and Bart already there and Ian joining , it wasn't long before the first Gannet was seen, followed by a Kittiwake, which are often just seen in minimal numbers but the Kittiwake sightings increased steadily and as a feeding flock of Gannets and Gulls appeared later there were probably 100+ Kittiwakes moving steadily west. Red-breasted Mergansers showed in small numbers as did Common Scoter although no more than a dozen of each and auks were also sparse in number with a couple of Razorbill close enough to ID a single Brent Goose flew past and there were frequent sightings of Mediterranean Gulls. 3 Great Northern Diver were on the sea and 5 Red-throated Diver flew East with one landing next to a Great Northern. An early highlight was a single Velvet Scoter flying East along the mile basket line, but just as I was thinking of packing up 2 Velvet Scoter flew West and were much closer shortly followed by a single Great Skua. 

I moved to Church Norton under fairly leaden skies and the tide was out in the harbour, but task was to add to my lock-down list with waders and any wildfowl being the main targets. It was just past low-tide so there was a gradual rise which helped as the morning went along. Initially, Grey Plover, Curlew, Redshank, Oystercatcher and a few Dunlin were visible, The Channel held 2 Great Crested Grebes 2 Little Grebe, 2 Pintail, Wigeon and Teal and rather surprisingly a female Common Scoter, which had me looking hard for a while as the amount of white on the face was much brighter than I'm used to seeing. Then a couple of Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Knot and eventually a single Bar-tailed Godwit. A bit distantly there were several Shelduck and when the wader flocks took to the skies Golden Plover were visible. A walk towards the spit showed a Peregrine on it's preferred island and a Goosander in the channel near the spit, about 10 Avocet rather distantly before dropping into a channel and 2 Stonechat on the concrete blocks.

It had been a successful morning with adding species to the list, which is now up to 109, and was good to catch up with a few people.

Grey Plover, next to grey water on grey mud.

Curlew

Brent Geese

Knot

Pagham Harbour looking over Tern Island

The harbour looking north to Chichester Cathedral

Friday 20th November - Lockdown 2 - Day 16

A Tawny Owl calling outside last night was the first I've heard for a few weeks and there was a frost on the ground first thing but it evaporated as the day set in quickly for drizzly rain, I went for a brief walk around the fields. A large flock c50 Fieldfare flew over calling, and a few Redwings continued to call and land in the tree tops before diving into cover. There were 2 Treecreepers, and less Blackbirds than yesterday. Woodpigeons in large numbers continue to feature, but by 10.30 the rain was thick enough to no longer be able to see much and continued right through to dusk.

Treecreeper

Grey Wagtail on roof of Greenhouse.

Thursday 19th November - Lockdown 2 - Day 15

Today felt more birdy than yesterday. The early part of the morning was dominated by several hundred Woodpigeon, lots of Redwing probably 40-50, 8 Fieldfare and a flock of 30 Goldfinch. There were 10 Blackbirds feeding around the bird table, which is the highest count so far at home. Unlike other thrushes, Blackbirds don't form flocks but seem to have an informal early morning gathering on the ground before melting back into the woods.

The large Holly outside the back door had quite a good berry crop and the higher berries had already been consumed by some Redwing. This morning c30 Redwing descended on the bush and proceeded to strip as much a they could. The holly berries seem to ripen later than the Rowans, but in a couple of days I doubt whether there will be much left, certainly nothing vaguely red by Christmas.

This afternoon I revisited Rackham to overlook the Wildbrooks again, meeting Paul Bowley there for a socially distanced chat. The weather was stunning in the afternoon as it had cleared to bright sunshine and was fairly calm. I saw much the same as Monday, although the water level had risen considerably.

A single female Marsh Harrier, a Merlin, Red Kite, Buzzard, Kestrel and a couple of Sparrowhawk, but as we reached dusk no hen harriers or owls. The wildfowl were still plentiful Wigeon, Teal, Pintail and Shoveler and late on managed to find the 2 White-fronted Geese. The brooks created a great atmosphere with the calling Wigeon and Teal the dominant sound coming form the water.

Rdwing

They can look ungainly as they attack the berries on weaker stems

The russet-red underwing gives the bird their name

There are subtle differences in colour between individuals

The 25-30 birds will probably strip the whole tree within a couple of days.

Grey Wagtail on patio

Amberley Wildbrooks in strong afternoon sun.

..and just after sunset