A Weekend in Sussex

I took Friday off work to have a long weekend at my parents in Sussex. That gave me the chance to catch up on a number of local birding sights.

Friday 8th May - Pulborough Brooks RSPB (52 species - 136 for year)

Although the car park was full, I was the first birder onto the reserve and pretty much had it to myself for the first hour.

Heading down the zigzags, I very quickly picked up a number of summer migrants - willow, chiffchaff, blackcap & whitethroat and my first garden warbler of the year. Moving onto Fattengates courtyard, I caught a brief song of my main target species (more later). Two bullfinches landed in a nearby bush,

Jupp View was quiet, After much searching, I finally found a ringed plover. There were lots of shelduck and a couple of little egrets. From Nettleys Hide, a sedge warbler was singing and an Egyptian goose was a site tick. 

As I climbed the hill, I heard a lesser whitethroat sing from deep within the brambles. The Hanger produced a linnet with more warblers. Three distant buzzards were spotted.

At Little Hanger, a sudden burst of song meant, I'd found the nightingales. Two more birds were singing along Adder Alley, including one which sat nicely atop a bush.

The pool in front of Winpenny Hide had a late pair of pintail, whilst a kestrel hovered over the distant hills.

A great spotted woodpecker was on the feeders in the café area.

Saturday 9th May - Seaford Head (10 species - 138 for year)

I had intended to do a sea watch but when I got down to Seaford, it was blowing an absolute gale and before long pouring with rain. I grabbed a spot with a couple of the regulars on the benches half way up the cliff. They were soon calling out skuas, but I was struggling so much to hold my tripod still, I failed to spot any of them. I did manage to see a few gannets and a small group of common scoter flew past. The only other highlight was some sandwich terns.

Saturday 9th May - Bough Beech Reservoir (39 species - 138 for year)

With the weather on the coast so bad, I decided to head inland. As I hadn't been to Bough Beech this year, I decided to drop in here. Run by the Kent Wildlife Trust, I've seen some good birds here over the years - GWE, GND, bearded tit & rather bizarrely a pelican.

I picked up a few spring birds including a singing garden warbler with the willow warblers, blackcaps, chiffchaffs & whitethroats. I also had a nightingale singing from deep within the undergrowth.

A little egret fed next to two shelduck in the far bank and some common terns were fishing close in on both the reservoir and  the pool.

Other highlights were a close buzzard, a stock dove, a single lapwing and swifts, swallows & a house martin.

Well worth the detour

Sunday 10th May - Old Lodge Nature Reserve (29 species - 140 for year)

This is probably my Sussex local patch, as I pay it a visit on every trip I make down there. At this time of year, it has some very special birds.

As I got out the car, a number of willow warblers were calling along with chiffchaff. From the top path, I spotted a distant great spotted woodpecker and a cuckoo was heard calling (I would hear at least two birds, maybe three throughout the morning).

At the ponds, I found a tree pipit perched on the wires. In the valley, I had a whitethroat and a long tailed tit on the gorse. On Pippingford was another whitethroat.

A pair of woodlark were performing a courtship routine on the telegraph wires on the long straight, as nine fallow deer ran across in front of me.  A loudly singing bird soon caught my attention and as I headed downhill back towards the valley, I found my main target for the day perched atop a pine - a beautiful male redstart.

I then had my bizarre moment of the day, as literally hundreds of racing pigeons flew over my head. They must have been released from a nearby car park. It spooked the local raptors two - with a kestrel and at least two buzzards suddenly appearing.

As I moved through the gorse back up to the top path, I finally found a pair of stonechats, and whilst I was chatting to a birder on the top path, I caught a glimpse of a female redstart flying into a gorse bush.

Just before the car park, I saw another birder photographing two birds close by on the ground. I crept up alongside him to find two stunning woodlark  a great end to a good morning.

Always a pleasure to visit this lovely spot.

RSPB Otmoor

Sunday 3rd May (62 species - 134 for year)

A weekend to myself meant I got to go on two birding trips. As I needed to be back for lunchtime to catch Chelsea winning the title, I stayed closer to home & ventured to Otmoor.

The weather was OK when I left, but around High Wycombe the heavens opened and didn't improve for the rest of the journey.  My first couple of hours' birding was in steady sometimes heavy rain, but there was lots about, so it didn't matter too much.

Whilst  I was putting my boots on, I heard a cuckoo. A wander down the Roman Road didn't deliver the hoped for grasshopper warbler, but two nice close male bullfinches were  nice compensation. Lots of singing birds in the hedgerows.

Arriving at Greenaways, I did a quick scan in the hope that the cranes that recently arrived in the area might be showing, No such joy. However, there were two marsh harriers over the back and a hobby dashed through.

The rain was heavy now, so I dived into the hide, where things were very quiet. Venturing out again I had an abortive search of Big Otmoor for the garganey that  had been reported the previous day. Swallows & swifts were overhead and more cuckoos were calling.

On the walk down to the first screen, I soon came across a loudly singing lesser whitethroat. Not much else to report on the walk down to the second screen - two cettis warbler and a pair of red legged partridges. Lots of very showy sedge warblers too.

At the first screen on the return was an incredibly tame muntjac. It fed just twenty feet away from me (bad mobile phone shot below)

I stopped to listen again and try and see better the lesser whitethroat. However, almost immediately I was onto the star bird of the day - a whirring grasshopper warbler. Result!

On the walk back to the car, no less than five hobbies were hawking over the reedbeds.

RSPB Rainham Marshes

Saturday 2nd May (66 species - 132 for year)

Looking back through my notes, I see it's been four years since I was last at this cracking reserve. After a very fruitful day yesterday with no less than eleven year ticks, it hopefully won't be as long before I am back there again.

I arrived just after 8am, so had an hour and a half before the reserve opened, so I went for a walk along the river wall. Whitethroats were immediately obvious with nearly every bush seeming to have one perched on top. I soon added my first year tick with a singing sedge warbler. My second shortly followed with a very showy wheatear on some waste ground, that was soon joined by a second bird.

The reserve was now open, so after a quick cuppa & a caramel shortbread, I ventured forth. My next year tick wasn't far away, as I heard a calling cuckoo which soon became visible flying into a distant tree.

The woodland around the old cordite stores held a good selection of migrants - blackcap, a very confiding chiffchaff, more whitethroat and as I made my way back into the reedbeds an incredible number of cettis warblers, including several birds that showed themselves. There were a good number of reed warblers too.

At the first hide, I caught a glimpse of two marsh harriers, which I would get much closer views of later. Along the boardwalk, I soon heard a close pinging in the reeds and a striking male bearded tit showed itself at the top of a reed. Over the water were a number of swallows and my first swifts of the year.

There were plenty of birders scanning the Target Pools, as a pectoral sandpiper had been present since midweek. Sadly, it wasn't playing ball today, so another twitching dip for me. From the hide, I saw four summer plumage black tailed godwits. The marsh harriers were much closer here and a buzzard was a site tick.

I decided to move to a nearby viewpoint, and my luck picked up - 3 ringed plover, then a little ringed plover before a hobby passed close by.

The walk back to the visitor centre was largely uneventful. The sun then popped out and I sat on a bench near the visitor centre to see what would come to me, Five whimbrel flew up from the scrape, and a careful scan revealed four more. The high tide on the river was pushing in waders with another little ringed plover and several redshank also spotted.

I was then alerted by another visiting birder (Oliver Timms) to the presence of several greenshank on Aveley Flashes. A quick walk around soon had us watching three of these elegant waders with two oystercatchers bringing the wader total up to eight species. Two raptors then sped across the water towards us, one with prey in its talons. They were too large for hobbies and as they came overhead, we could see they were a pair of peregrine falcons.

A most enjoyable day!