Two Trips Today - Mixed Fortunes

Thursday 27th August 2026

 Today was officially House Martin Day - at least as far as I was concerned. I had decided that, one way or another, I was going to find one.  This was not, however, a new quest. I’d been trying for some time.

Weir Wood Reservoir? Nothing.

Stodmarsh? Nothing.

Minsmere? Nothing.

Oare Marshes? Nothing.

Dungeness? Nothing.

I was beginning to think House Martins had been removed from the British bird list without telling me.

So where, eventually, did I find one?

 

Uckfield. 

And not even at one of the traditional local spots. The Water Treatment Works had been a reliable haunt for me in the past, but recent housing developments have put a stop to that. Instead, I found them in the most ridiculous place imaginable - my own back yard!

I headed down to Fernley Park, where I used to walk our dogs, Odin and Bronwyn, and stopped at the pond viewing area in the middle of the estate.  And there they were!

 House Martins

Flying happily overhead, apparently completely unaware that I had spent the best part of the summer travelling around the south-east looking for them.  It took me barely 15 minutes to find them.

Fifteen minutes!

Clearly, my birding strategy needs some work.

 Having achieved the morning's objective far quicker than expected, I headed home and  joined Sue for lunch. With the House Martin safely in the bag, I decided to make the most of the day and headed off to Chichester for another three targets:  Osprey, Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper.

 

Mixed Fortunes in Chichester

Things didn't go quite so smoothly in the afternoon.  I made what, in hindsight, was a rather poor tactical decision. Instead of going straight to Thorney Island and looking for Ospreys at The Deeps, I decided to visit Church Norton first.  The Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper had both been reported there the previous day, while Church Norton had also produced some good Osprey sightings recently.

 Unfortunately, the tide hadn't read my itinerary.  It hadn't gone out as far as I had hoped, and the channels were still surprisingly full of water. After a fair amount of searching, I eventually located the Little Stint - although I have to admit that the credit belongs to a visiting birder from Croydon, who was the first to see it and pointed it out to me.

The Curlew Sandpiper, meanwhile, was playing hard to get, and there was no sign of it or the Osprey.

 

                                                                      Thorney Deeps

 Eventually I decided to try my luck at Thorney Deeps, checking both the west and east ends. The Osprey had been seen on the eastern side earlier in the day, so I arrived full of optimism.

                                                                   Naturally, it had gone!

 

A House Martin Victory

In the end, the day produced just two of my targets - the House Martin and Little Stint - but I'm not complaining.  After all, the House Martin had been the main objective, and it provided the best moment of the day. 

New species for the 2026 Year List:

188  House Martin

189  Little Stint

Twitching at My Age! Long-tailed Shrike.

A Long Way for a Long-tailed Shrike 

Monday 24th August 2026

Eastleach Martin, Gloucestershire

At the recent raptor watch at the Old Llama Park, Alastair mentioned how good it was when he saw the Long-tailed Shrike at Eastleach Martin in Gloucestershire. My first thought was that Gloucestershire was a bit too far for me these days, until he pointed out that it was close to Oxford.

My geography is normally pretty good, but I had clearly lost the plot with this one! Oxford is just about the limit of my driving these days, and I hadn't realised how close the bird was to the Oxfordshire–Gloucestershire border and the chance to see a Long-tailed Shrike was too good to miss. Martin, a former resident of the Oxford area, was also keen to go, so we set off.

The bird would be a lifer for me and, as this was its first appearance in England, it was a new bird for everyone. The only previous British record was at South Uist in 2000. This individual had been present since 8th July and had been showing well ever since.

A Star Performer

We arrived at around 1.00 pm after a tedious journey of more than three hours, with numerous hold-ups along the way. We joined around 15 other birders and, fortunately, didn't have to wait long for the first sighting.

Every now and then it would fly to another nearby perch, but it never went far and continued to give us excellent views.

The Supporting Cast

There was also a good selection of other birds around, including this smart Whinchat, sitting proudly at the top of the bush with the shrike below it to the left.

Martin's photographs capture the scenes perfectly.

• A very friendly Wheatear was also showing well nearby. 
• Earlier, other birders had seen Grey Partridge and Corn Buntings, adding a few more species to an already memorable afternoon.

Summary

After such a long journey, we couldn't have asked for a better result. A superb bird, fantastic views and a new lifer for me - definitely worth the drive!

New species for the 2026 Year List:

186  Long-tailed Shrike

187  Whinchat

My UK life list now stands at 371 after this my second "lifer" of the year.

A Very Long Way from Home

Long-tailed Shrikes are normally birds of Asia, with their range stretching across Central and eastern Asia, so this bird had certainly travelled a long way from home. It is thought to be a first-summer bird of the northern, migratory form Lanius schach erythronotus, which makes Central Asia a possible area of origin, although there is no way of knowing exactly where it came from.

Quite how it found its way to Gloucestershire is another matter. It was presumably the result of an exceptional navigational error, possibly helped along by favourable winds, and it is remarkable to think that a bird whose normal range is thousands of miles to the east should eventually turn up in a field on the Gloucestershire–Oxfordshire border.

Even more remarkable is that it wasn't just a one-off. Another Long-tailed Shrike appeared at Crail in Fife only weeks earlier, making 2026 an extraordinary year for this exceptionally rare visitor to Britain.

More Honey Buzzard Observations

Honey Buzzards at the Old Llama Park

Sunday 23rd August 2026

Martin rang to ask if I fancied another visit to the Old Llama Park viewing point to look for Honey Buzzards. It was a no-brainer. With summer beginning to draw to a close, it seemed the perfect time to catch up with these wonderful birds before they leave Ashdown Forest and begin their long migration back to Africa for the winter.

We arrived at the viewing point to find another birder already in position - Jeffrey - and we soon joined forces for the morning. Jeffrey turned out to be none other than Sir Jeffrey, a retired British diplomat and Knight of the Realm. You never quite know who you are going to meet at an Ashdown Forest viewpoint!  I hope you enjoyed the morning, Sir Jeffrey.

Alastair then arrived to provide the expertise we needed, while Brian, a local birder whom we were meeting for the first time, completed our little team for the morning.

Honey Buzzards on Show

And what a morning it turned out to be.

We were treated to multiple sightings of two, and possibly three, Honey Buzzards as they moved around the forest. After several previous visits, it was particularly satisfying to see the birds performing so well.

The undoubted highlight was a spectacular wing-clapping display by the pale male. Watching a Honey Buzzard displaying over the forest is always a special experience, and this was a particularly memorable performance.

A Great Morning's Birding

As the morning progressed, it became increasingly clear that we had struck lucky. Multiple sightings, a stunning display and good company made this another very worthwhile visit to the viewing point.

If you want a flavour of how good the morning was, take a look at the excellent images from Martin and Brian below. They have captured some of the action far better than words can describe.

The pale male - courtesy of Martin Jeffree

The pale male displaying- courtesy of Martin Jeffree

His mate - courtesy of Martin Jeffree

Here's Brian's take on the event.

The pale male - courtesy of Brian Mead

The female - courtesy of Brian Mead

With the Honey Buzzards now entering the final part of their stay on Ashdown Forest, opportunities to see them will soon be running out. They still have a long journey ahead of them, but for now it was great to see them looking so settled and full of energy.

Another memorable morning watching one of our most enigmatic summer visitors.

Twitching at Dungeness

Wednesday 19th August 2026

It’s almost a month since our last outing with the Ashdown Bird Group, and with nothing else in the programme until 30th August, I was keen to get out and do some birding of my own. The recent spell of hot weather finally seemed to have eased, and the latest local bird news was pointing firmly towards Dungeness as the place to be.

Black Terns and a selection of waders had been reported, and with rain forecast for much of the morning and into the early afternoon, it seemed like a good opportunity to concentrate on waterbirds. Armed with a wish list of five species — White-winged Black Tern, Black Tern, Wood Sandpiper, Little Stint and Wheatear — I set off for Dungeness, hoping for a productive day.

As it turned out, it was considerably better than I had dared to hope, with four of my five target species eventually making it onto the list.

Black Terns

I started at the RSPB reserve, where two juvenile Black Terns were showing exceptionally well on the muddy areas in front of the Firth Lookout. They were largely settled, only taking flight when disturbed by other birds arriving on the mud, before quickly returning to the same area.

It was a very satisfactory start to the day — and, perhaps even better, the rain had stopped!

White-winged Black Tern

The White-winged Black Tern was the next target. It hadn’t been showing when I arrived, but the assembled birders had seen it only a short time earlier, so there was every reason to remain optimistic.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long. The bird appeared in the same area as the two Black Terns and gave us some excellent, close views.

Both pictures were taken from Bluesky and attributed to Richard Watkin

Two targets down and both had performed beautifully. Another roaring success!

Little Stint — the One That Got Away

There was, however, one bird that refused to play ball. Despite searching, there was no sign of the Little Stint.

My first — and ultimately only — dip of the day.

Three more targets remained.

Wood Sandpiper

I crossed the road to the ARC pit and headed for the Hanson Hide, where two birders who had already been there for some time told me they had failed to find the Wood Sandpiper, despite having recorded more than 40 species.

As I had plenty of time on my hands, I decided to settle in and continue searching after they had left.

Eventually, I spotted what looked like a promising candidate walking along the edge of the water on the far side of the pit. Unfortunately, before I could get a really good look, it disappeared behind the vegetation.

Other birders came and went, all searching for the same elusive wader, but without success.

Then local birder Richard arrived. It wasn’t long before he picked out the same bird I had seen earlier. This time, however, we had both the time and the technology to clinch the identification.

Wood Sandpiper — nailed it!

My patience had finally paid off.

Wheatears

The final target was Wheatear, and once again local knowledge came to the rescue.

Richard suggested trying the inland shingle areas beside the concrete path leading towards the fishing boats. It proved to be excellent advice, as I soon found at least two Wheatears.

They were particularly entertaining, repeatedly flying from the ground to perch on the top of a tall structure made up of five sections, each consisting of five or six panels.

A very satisfying way to finish the day.

Thanks, Richard — your local knowledge certainly came in handy!

Four Out of Five

So, four out of five targets achieved — White-winged Black Tern, Black Tern, Wood Sandpiper and Wheatear — with only the Little Stint missing from the wish list.

Not bad at all for a day’s solo twitching at Dungeness. The weather may have been distinctly damp at times, but the birds certainly made up for it. Sometimes you just need to pick the right place, keep looking and, in the case of the Wood Sandpiper, have a little patience.

And perhaps a helpful local birder or two doesn’t hurt either!

New species for the 2026 Year List:
182  Black Tern

183  White-winged Black Tern

184  Wood Sandpiper

185  Wheatear

Oare Marshes with the Ashdown Bird Group Sunday 26th July 2026

Birding Triumphs Despite the Drought

Despite Oare Marshes being parched and cracked after weeks of intense summer heat, the Ashdown Bird Group still enjoyed a remarkably productive day's birding. Nine members took part in the outing, including Steve—Martin's friend and former work colleague  and Dave, who was making his first visit to Oare Marshes. Together we recorded an impressive 59 bird species, proving that even in the harshest conditions the reserve can still produce first-class birding.

The long‑staying Bonaparte’s Gull stole the show once again, offering close views on the East Flood. In Phils photograph it is flanked by 2 black-headed gulls.

Courtesy of Phil Aylen

Other highlights included 2 Green Sandpipers, a wonderfully obliging Water Rail, a tricky Ruff, and distant but confirmed views of a Turtle Dove - a welcome addition to the group’s 2026 list. Cattle Egrets were abundant, reflecting their continuing expansion across southern England.

2 Green Sandpipers along the reedbed edges - courtesy of Phil Aylen

Ruff near the gull - courtesy of Martin Jeffree

The walk along Faversham Creek added Whimbrel, Yellow Wagtails, and Linnets, while the afternoon at Dan’s Dock brought a fleeting Stonechat but no sign of early Whinchats. With birding quieter later on, the group also enjoyed excellent views of Ruddy Darters, Marsh Frogs and other non‑avian wildlife.

Whimbrel - courtesy of Phil Aylen

Yellow Wagtail - courtesy of Phil Aylen

A day that began with unpromising conditions turned into a memorable and thoroughly enjoyable visit - proof that even in a drought, Oare Marshes can still deliver surprises.

New species for the 2026 Year List:
178  Bonaparte's Gull

179  Green Sandpiper

180  Ruff

181   Whimbrel

Barn Owl in Uckfield

17th July 2026

Uckfield

Phil tipped me off about a Barn Owl location yesterday, so I took the first opportunity to visit this evening. The owls were visible in the nest box, regularly appearing at the entrance.  Around 9:30 pm, one took flight - presumably heading out to hunt for food for its chicks.

New species for the 2026 Year List:
177  Barn Owl

Red-crested Pochards Breeding at Chichester Gravel Pits

 

Red-crested Pochard Family at Chichester Gravel Pits – 4th July 2026

The Red-crested Pochard isn't a particularly rare bird in Britain, but it's one I haven't come across very often. So, when I heard about a family of six at Chichester Gravel Pits, it seemed too good an opportunity to miss.

On a very warm Saturday afternoon, the area was busy with people enjoying the sunshine, most of them staying in the nearby holiday chalets rather than looking for birds.

After a long walk from the car park along the west side of Ivy Lake, I explored the western edges of New Lake, Runcton Lake, Vinnetrow Lake and Leythorn Lake before finally spotting the family on New Lake during the return leg of the walk. While there was plenty of activity on the water, this little family drifted serenely around on the far side of the lake, seemingly unbothered by everything going on around them.

It was well worth the walk and a real pleasure to catch up with this handsome duck family.

 
New species for the 2026 Year List:
176 Red-crested Pochard