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.