Bullfinch on my patch in Ashdown Forest

Saturday, 1st March 2025

Churlwood, Ashdown Forest, Sussex

• Whilst carrying out a Woodlark Survey for the BTO on my local patch at Churlwood in the Ashdown Forest, I heard the melancholic sound of a Bullfinch high up in the trees close by.
• Alas, things were not so fortunate with Woodlark - there were none around!

2025 species count = 119

New Species:

118  Bullfinch

Warnham LNR with the Ashdown Bird Group

 

Warnham LNR, Horsham, Sussex

Ashdown Bird Group

(5 members present)

 

Warnham LNR is a must-visit nature reserve, particularly in winter when conditions are harsh and food is scarce.  It is one of the best places in the county to see redpolls, siskins, brambling and reed buntings close up.  Our half-day session today targeted these four birds.

Our route took us from the Visitor Centre to the Woodpecker Hide, where we spent most of our time.   This hide is a photographer's delight, affording close-up views of the birds coming to and from the feeders.  

After that, we toured the reserve using the woodland paths and boardwalks.

Martin and I got caught up in a traffic jam on the way, and we arrived nearly half an hour after the others. By this time, they had seen all four target species. We soon made amends and only missed out on Redpoll.  

Our Target Species

• Alastair, Ian and John were the only ones to see the Redpolls at the feeders at the start of their visit.  In the picture below, the Redpoll shares the feeder with a female Siskin.

Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

After the early flurry, we did not see any more Redpolls while we were in the Woodpecker Hide.  

• The prize species only turned up sporadically.  This female Brambling was seen feeding at the cut-down tree trunk in front of us.

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

• There were no such problems with the Siskins; they were frequent visitors to the feeders.

Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

• The Reed Buntings were very active, too!  The images below show male and female birds.

Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

Other Birds at the Feeders by Woodpecker Hide.

A lot was going on at the feeders, and some of the highlights are posted below:-

• This lovely Nuthatch would grace any feeder.

 

Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

• As would this male Chaffinch.

Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

• It's hard to ignore a Greenfinch!

Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

• Another local favourite is Long-tailed Tit.

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

• Even the humble Moorhen caught the eye today!

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

• While all the interest was in the birds, the rats were busy feeding too.

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

It was time to go out and about on the reserve with the millpond the obvious next attraction.

• The Great Crested Grebes grabbed the headlines with their courting routine.

 Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

• On the outward journey through the trees, we saw our first Treecreeper of the day but were unable to get a photograph.  We were more fortunate on the return leg when two turned up.

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

•  John spotted this Sparrowhawk high above us.

Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

There were a couple of signs that Spring is just around the corner.

• Two species of butterfly were seen as we did the rounds.  Ian spotted a lovely Brimstone, but it was too quick for us to get a photograph.  We were more fortunate with the Red Admiral sightings a little later.

 Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

• One of the Black-headed Gulls was clearly going into summer plumage with a nearly fully formed black hood.

 Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

What a delightful couple of hours we had at this gem of a reserve.

Species list:
Name:	Count		Name:	Count
Black-headed Gull	1		Little Egret	25
Blackbird	2		Long-tailed Tit	26
Blue Tit	3		Magpie	27
Brambling	4		Mallard	28
Buzzard	5		Moorhen	29
Canada Goose	6		Mute Swan	30
Carrion Crow	7		Nuthatch	31
Chaffinch	8		Pheasant	32
Coal Tit	9		Pochard	33
Collared Dove	10		Red Kite	34
Coot	11		Reed Bunting	35
Cormorant	12		Robin	36
Dunnock	13		Rock Dove / Feral Pigeon	37
Egyptian Goose	14		Siskin	38
Goldfinch	15		Song Thrush	39
Great Crested Grebe	16		Sparrowhawk	40
Great Spotted Woodpecker	17		Starling	41
Great Tit	18		Stock Dove	42
Greenfinch	19		Teal	43
Grey Heron	20		Treecreeper	44
Herring Gull	21		Tufted Duck	45
Jay	22		Woodpigeon	46
Lesser Black-backed Gull	23		Wren	47
Lesser Redpoll	24
Today's species count = 47

2025 species count = 118

New Species:

118  Treecreeper

Splash Point for Black Redstart and Kittiwake.

Thursday, 27th February 2025, p.m.

Splash Point, Seaford, Sussex

It was time to return to Splash Point to look for the resident Black Redstart that had eluded me on previous visits this year.

• The bird was present and behaving impeccably this afternoon.  It kept scrambling up the chalk cliffs above the rocks below.

• By way of a bonus, scores of Kittiwakes were swimming offshore, no doubt ready to get started building their new nests on the cliffs.

2025 species count = 117

New Species:

116  Black Redstart

117  Kittiwake

Pagham Harbour with the East Grinstead RSPB Local Group

Saturday 22nd February 2025

Pagham Harbour, West Sussex

East Grinstead RSPB Local Group

(16 members present)

Recently, on 19th January, we visited the harbour's east side to see the three long-eared owls. Today, our attention turned to the west side, but this time, with no obvious star attraction on site.

We parked at the Information Centre and walked to the Ferry Hide where we looked over Siddlesham Ferry Pool.  Then we moved as far as the viewpoint on the Ferry Channel.  After lunch back at the Centre, we relocated to Church Norton, spending most of the time in the seated area overlooking the harbour before moving on to do some sea watching from the shingle beach.  

We saw an astonishing 70 bird species - nothing quite as rare as the long-eared owls, but including a few that were special in their own way and well worth the effort of coming this far to see.

Ferry Pool and Ferry Channel

The water levels in the pool were very high due to the heavy overnight rain, and the lack of mud meant there weren't many waders on show. To make matters worse, it was low tide when waders chose the vast muddy areas around the reserve rather than the pool.  

• On the pool, there were reduced numbers of the usual suspects - Shelduck, Mallard, Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon, etc.  A distant Marsh Harrier moved gracefully over the fields adjacent to the pool.
• There was a lot of activity at the feeders, behind the hide with Greenfinch and Chaffinch the pick of these birds.

Courtesy of Patrick Sullivan

Courtesy of Chris Harries

• The main attraction in the Ferry Channel was the lovely Kingfisher sitting on a block of concrete by the water's edge.

Courtesy of Patrick Sullivan

• Ian's picture below shows the situation as we moved towards the Ferry Channel

Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

• It was really good to see linnets as we walked along the narrow path.  
• Alastair drew our attention to a lovely yellowhammer and a lucky few got good views of it before it flew off.  
• Every now and then, our attention was drawn to the huge numbers of birds in the sky way down near the harbour entrance.  They created a fabulous display.  Chris caught the scene brilliantly.

Courtesy of Chris Harries

It was time to jump in the cars and head off to Church Norton to investigate these birds further and, more importantly, to try and find out what had put them up.

Church Norton

On our way out to the seated area on the spit we spotted two very interesting waders:-

• Sue drew our attention to a close Greenshank foraging in the mud and looking absolutely fabulous.

Courtesy of Patrick Sullivan

• Not far from the Greenshank was the local long-staying Whimbrel which was associating with some Curlew.

• It even put on a dance for us!

Courtesy of Patrick Sullivan

The remaining birds were spread far and wide across the muddy harbour.

• There were ringed plovers, black-tailed godwits, little egrets, turnstone and a pintail showing well.
• We were particularly keen to see knot, and we found them in the distance, on the edge of the channel, associating with the dunlin and grey plover. 

These birds almost certainly gave us that magnificent aerial display earlier, and they were probably reacting to a marauding predator.

The next stop was the shingle beach of Church Norton spit and a brief seawatch.

Courtesy of Chris Harries

• The main interest was a pair of red-breasted mergansers, seen swimming parallel to the shoreline, alas just out of range of our photographers.
• Apart from the odd great crested grebe and some turnstones there was very little else going on.

This signalled the end of activities for most members.

• A few of us returned to the Ferry Hide to look for a Green Sandpiper that was reportedly in the sole muddy area by the hide.  Sad to say we did not find it.
• Sue took the opportunity to relocate to the North Wall where she was lucky to find the long-eared owls still generating lots of interest after all these weeks.  

This was another excellent trip, Kevin, and the members' support today is a tribute to your leadership.

The bird of the day for me was the knot, but I am sure others would favour the whimbrel, the greenshank, or the kingfisher.

Name:	Count		Name:	Count
Black-headed Gull	1		Little Egret	36
Black-tailed Godwit	2		Little Grebe	37
Blackbird	3		Long-tailed Tit	38
Blue Tit	4		Magpie	39
Brent Goose	5		Mallard	40
Bullfinch	6		Marsh Harrier	41
Carrion Crow	7		Mistle Thrush	42
Chaffinch	8		Moorhen	43
Common Gull	9		Mute Swan	44
Coot	10		Nuthatch	45
Cormorant	11		Oystercatcher	46
Curlew	12		Pheasant	47
Dunlin	13		Pied Wagtail	48
Dunnock	14		Pintail	49
Gadwall	15		Red-breasted Merganser	50
Gannet	16		Redshank	51
Golden Plover	17		Ringed Plover	52
Goldfinch	18		Robin	53
Great Black-backed Gull	19		Rook	54
Great Crested Grebe	20		Shelduck	55
Great Spotted Woodpecker	21		Shoveler	56
Great Tit	22		Skylark	57
Green Woodpecker	23		Snipe	58
Greenfinch	24		Song Thrush	59
Greenshank	25		Starling	60
Grey Heron	26		Stock Dove	61
Grey Plover	27		Stonechat	62
Herring Gull	28		Teal	63
House Sparrow	29		Tufted Duck	64
Jackdaw	30		Turnstone	65
Kestrel	31		Whimbrel	66
Kingfisher	32		Wigeon	67
Knot	33		Woodpigeon	68
Lapwing	34		Wren	69
Linnet	35		Yellowhammer	70

Today's species count = 70

2025 species count = 115

New Species:

112  Knot

113  Gannet

114  Whimbrel

115 Mistle Thrush