Sussex Wildlife Trust visit to The Burgh
On another shocking day weather wise it was remarkable we managed to observe the range of birds that we did. We barely got started before it started to rain and things got progressively worse causing us to call it a day after barely 2 hours.
Before the rains came we saw at least 4 Red Kites in the valley to the south of us. They were so clear that we spent the first 20 minutes or so watching them. By any standards this was a super start. While we were watching the Kites we were fortunate to see 9 lovely Grey Partridges in the field in front of the Kites patch.
Unfortunately 9 soon became 8 as a pair of Peregrines swooped in and predated one of them. The larger, female, could barely fly with the prey in it's mouth and it soon landed on the ground and started to eat it. It was joined by the male who also fed on the catch. Being squeamish by nature I thought that observing this event might have distressed me but this was not the case; I found the experience strangely quite natural.
As the rain started we came across a flock of Yellowhammers in the hedges ahead of us and, despite the rain, we stopped to savour the occasion. They were in a company which also included Chaffinches and Redwings as well as a hint of a couple of Corn Buntings.
A couple of Brown Hare's were visible in the fields to the north of us. Just before that we got distant views of the 16 Bewick Swans that had been seen in this area for the last few weeks.
Overall we thought it was well worth turning out today but we were also very pleased to finish early and reach the welcome shelter of our cars.
Today's Species List:
Mute Swan
Bewick's Swan
Grey Partridge
Pheasant
Red Kite
Buzzard
Kestrel
Peregrine
Black-headed Gull
Common Gull
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Skylark
Carrion Crow
Blue Tit
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Redwing
Starling
Dunnock
Robin
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Yellowhammer
Corn Bunting (heard)
Brown Hare's
Today's species count = 26
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.