26/02/2016 Great Grey Shrike at last in Ashdown Forest

Friday 26 February 2016
Ashdown Forest, East Sussex

After a succession of near misses I finally got to see the Great Grey Shrike on the Ashdown Forest in the area just to the west of the Airstrip close to the Long CP.  

It was sitting on top of a holly tree and remained there until after I left some 30 minutes later.  The views were excellent with bright light and distances less than 50 metres.



Addition to BUBO 2016 Year List:
Great Grey Shrike   (152)

23/02/2016 Water Rail at Weir Wood Reservoir

Tuesday 23 February 2016
Weir Wood Reservoir, East Sussex

On my way back to the car park, after my voluntary work with the group, I caught a first-ever glimpse of the resident Water Rail as it disappeared into the reeds at Whillets. 

Addition to BUBO UK 2016 Year List:
Water Rail   (151) 

19/02/2016 Water Pipit and Jack Snipe

Friday 19th February 2016


Charleston Reed Beds

An afternoon visit produced a positive result when I got good views of the Water Pipit that Paul had alerted me to last week and David W had since reported on the SOS website.


Newhaven Tide Mills

Last time I had no luck when I looked for the Jack Snipe.  This time I found a Snipe and then a Jack Snipe within 30 minutes of arriving.  The J.S. flew low for about 30 metres before landing.  Forewarned is forearmed so when I flushed it a second time I was able to get my bins on it to confirm my earlier ID

Additions to BUBO 2016 UK Year List .
Water Pipit   (0149)
Jack Snipe   (0150)

150 up!   

Not bad considering I missed the Scotland trip in the new year and the Ashdown Bird Group's Norfolk trip, which started yesterday.

16/02/2016 Poole Harbour Spoonbills and Bar-tailed Godwits

Tuesday  16th February 2016
Poole Harbour and Brownsea Island

The best weather for weeks saw us in the best place at the right time with bright sunshine, no wind and excellent visibility.

• A boat trip around the harbour, with the Dorset O.S. guy as our compere, resulted in sightings of 4 Great Northern Divers, several Shags and at least 40 Red-breasted Mergansers.

• On Brownsea Island, in the 2 hides, we were able to see lots of birds, the highlights of which had to be 2 Spoonbills, 90 or so Bar-tailed Godwits, at least 2 Mediterranean Gulls.  

• No trip to Brownsea is complete without seeing the Red Squirrels and we were rewarded from the start when one appeared on the footpath 10m or so in front of us.  Several other sightings were made at the feeding station.

Additions to BUBO 2016 UK Year List
Shag     (0145)
Spoonbill   (0146)
Bar-tailed Godwit   (0147)
Mediterranean Gull   (0148)

A terrific day out, made possible by the favourable weather conditions!

15/02/2016 Arun Valley Red Kites and Ravens

Monday 15th February 2016
Arun Valley


Another good day of birding with Paul and the group. Weather conditions were good with no rain and clear skies, if a tad cold.

Rackham Woods

• A Tree Creeper and a Nuthatch provided the special moments.  

• Looking over the brooks produced a variety of bird sightings but it was not until something spooked them that we realised just how many Pintails there were; the in joke/challenge set by Jan was how to ID a female Pintail and, surprisingly, nearly all of us failed miserably - needless to say Paul came up trumps.

Pulborough Brooks

•  A walk round Pulborough Brooks produced sightings of most of the usual suspects -  the main omissions being Bullfinch, Ruff and the usual Raptors.

The Burgh

• Red Kites provided the wallpaper for our visit with regular sightings throughout the afternoon.

• Ravens were in abundance.

• We were too early for the Short-eared Owls and, after we left, I believe 5 were seen from where we were..

Today's Species list 

Blackbird

Black-headed Gull

Black-Tailed Godwit

Blue Tit

Bullfinch

Buzzard

Canada Goose

Carrion Crow

Chaffinch

Coal Tit

Common Gull

Coot Cormorant

Dunnock

Feral Pigeon

Goldcrest

Goldfinch

Great Tit

Greenfinch Green Woodpecker

Grey Heron

Grey Partridge

Grey Plover

Herring Gull

House Sparrow

Jackdaw

Jay

Kestrel

Knot

Lapwing

Lesser Redpoll

Linnet

Long-tailed Tit

Magpie

Mallard

Meadow Pipit

Moorhen

Mute Swan

Nuthatch

Peregrine

Pheasant

Pied Wagtail

Pintail

Raven

Red Kite

Redwing

Reed Bunting

Robin Rook

Sanderling

Shelduck

Shoveler

Snipe

Song Thrush

Starling

Stock Dove

Stonechat

Teal

Tree Creeper

Tufted Duck

Widgeon

Woodpigeon

Wren

Yellowhammer

60    Courtesy of Alan ( and Paul)

A welome day out birding with good friends.

10/02/2016 Newhaven West with the Brighton RSPB Local Group

Wednesday 10th February 2016
Newhaven West Quay and Fort
Brighton RSPB Local Group


Enjoyed a pleasant day out with the Brighton RSPB Local Group at Newhaven on the best weather day of the week.

• In the morning we walked round the West Quay where we saw Turnstones and Oystercatchers.  

• The highlight had to be the Fulmars flying around the cliffs and settling there.  Also seen were numerous Pigeons and Jackdaws.

• On the ground the main interest was a Rock Pipit, a Pied Wagtail and at least 2 Stonechats, one of which was a stunning male.

• After lunch we ascended the cliffs to Newhaven Fort NR where we enjoyed splendid views down the coast.  The main bird activity centred on 4-6 Greenfinches seen on the bushes as we made our way up the hill.

Nice to be out and about in good company!

09/02/2016 Weir Wood Voluntary Work

Tuesday 9th February 2016
Weir Wood

While doing our hedge laying we saw a pair of displaying Buzzards going through their spectacular dives from height. 

07/02/2016 Essex Today - Coalhouse Fort and Thurrock Thameside Nature Reserve. 800+ Avocets!

Sunday 7th February 2016
Coalhouse Fort and Thameside Nature Reserve in Essex 
Paul and the group (11)

At last!  Our long awaited return to Coalhouse Fort for one of the birding spectaculars of the year. We were there principally to see the huge gathering of Avocets on the north Thames shoreline. 

Weather conditions were quite good with no rain and the promise of bright sunshine later on.   We arrived at 09.00 in good time to prepare for the main event on the 11.45 high tide.

• At the car park, as well as the usual suspects at the bird feeders we saw a couple of Mistle Thrushes - a speciality here.  In the nearby pond there were at least 14 Little Grebes along with the Coots.

• We could see the Avocets in the distance to the east of us as we arrived on the Thames shoreline. They were enjoying life on the mud before the incoming tide forced them away.

• As we headed east to see the Avocets we saw good numbers of Goldfinch, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting and Skylark as well as a Sparrowhawk flying low across the marshes..  

• On the water were Teal, Black-headed Gulls,at least one Great Black-backed Gull, a Common Gull and several Cormorants.

• After observing the Avocets on the mud we returned to the start and at high tide we had the most spectacular views of the Avocet flocks flying - one of the "must not miss" events on the birding calendar.  Seeing the skies filled with these lovely birds is truly mind boggling.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRS3OuTb7c8&feature=youtu.be

• Mixing with the Avocets were many Black-tailed Godwits. 

The afternoon visit to the Thameside Nature Reserve was a first for me.  Opened only a few years ago this was a useful supplement to our morning outing.

• We were able to add Wigeon, Stonechat and Rock Pipit to our species list before watching the Avocets that had arrived here to enjoy the newly exposed mud caused by the receding tide.

Additions to BUBO 2016 UK Year List:
Avocet   (143)
Sparrowhawk   (144)

One of the birding highlights of the year!

06/01/2016 South Coast Outing - Red-necked Grebe

Saturday 6th February 2016
South Coast


DELL QUAY

• Started early at Dell Quay ahead of the incoming tide. Managed to spot the Whimbrel in it's usual place.  Unable to find a Greenshank.  

• Other highlights included a small flock (6+) of Yellowhammers, a Rock Pipit, loads of Brent Geese, Wigeon and Black-tailed Godwits.

NORTHNEY

• I relocated just over the border to Northney on Hayling Island in Hampshire where I soon spotted the Red-necked Grebe, my main target bird.  Thankfully it was close to me by the marina slipway and I was able to get excellent views.

• Also present were a couple of Greenshanks  -  my target bird for Dell Quay.

Church Norton

• My final port of call was Church Norton back in West Sussex where among the usual waders there were a good number of Knot, another target bird for today.

Additions to BUBO 2016 UK Year List:
Whimbrel   (139)
Red-necked Grebe   (140)
Greenshank   (141)
Knot   (142)

A great day out - even managed to listen to England beat South Africa in the second ODI!

05/02/2016 Grey Wagtail at Weir Wood Reservoir

Friday 5th February 2016
Weir Wood Reservoir, East Sussex



If only all birds could behave like this.  This was my only target  and there it was waiting for me as I arrived at 3 p.m.today.




Addition to BUBO 2016 UK Year List:
Grey Wagtail   (138)

03/02/2016 Whooper Swans at Welney WWT

Wednesday 3rd February 2016
Welney WWT, Norfolk

I normally see Whooper Swans in Cumbria with Brian or in Sussex/Kent with Paul.  This year there have been no regular sightings in Sussex/Kent and as I am not likely to be in Cumbria until April, I treated myself to the luxury of a dash up to Welney WWT in Norfolk. to see these majestic birds.

Whooper Swans
Courtesy of Welney WWT

Addition to BUBO UK 2016 Year List:
Whooper Swan   (137)

I need to make this an annual event  -  STUNNING!

02/02/2016 Bittern at Dungeness

Tuesday 2nd February 2016
Screen Hide, Dungeness, Kent

Only able to get out late afternoon so went down to Dungeness to get a couple of sightings of Bittern from the screen hide at dusk.




Addition to BUBO UK 2016 Year List
Bittern   (136)

01/02/2016 Twitching - Firecrest and Red-breasted Mergansers

Monday 1st February 2016

Widewater Lagoon, Shoreham, West Sussex


2 Red-breasted Mergansers seen to the east of the bridge with the drake Goosander.  Strong winds but thankfully dry.




Water Woods, Arundel, West Sussex
Two sightings of the Firecrest this afternoon but I  had to "lure" them down.







Additions to BUBO 2016 UK Year List

Red-breasted Merganser   (134)
Firecrest   (135)

In these weather conditions this was as good as I could do.