28/12/2018 Pevensey Levels - Hen Harrier and Short-eared Owls

Friday 28 December 2018
Pevensey Levels, East Sussex

I dashed out mid afternoon to grab a couple of hours birding on the Pevensey Levels, in the Horse Eye area, hoping to see a Hen Harrier and a Short-eared Owl.  I was rewarded on both counts in what turned out to be a very productive and enjoyable visit.

• I got my  my first sighting of the ringtail Hen Harrier about 2.33pm as it foraged directly in front of us and perhaps 100m away. 
• A  Sparrowhawk was perched on a gate not far from where the Hen Harrier had been seen.
• Around 3.20pm the Short-eared Owls put in an appearance.  There were two flying together and while we were watching them a third flew by.  One perched on the fence not far from a Grey Heron which was perched on a gate.
• The Hen Harrier showed up again soon after this and landed near the reed bed to our right.

courtesy of Chris Ball and Twitter

courtesy of Chris Ball and Twitter

• At 3.40 we had another sighting of 2 Short-eared Owls flying over the same area.
• Finally, as the mist was starting to form, we witnessed an altercation between a Short-eared Owl and a ringtail Hen Harrier.

Terrific! Just what I needed after Xmas - great company with Chris Ball and Pete, cracking birds and ideal weather conditions. 



There can be no better place than this on a lovely December evening.



Final species count for 2018:   258 - my most enjoyable year yet!

16/12/2018 East Grinstead RSPB Outing to Dungeness

Sunday 16 December 2018
RSPB Dungeness

I chose to go to Dungeness with the East Grinstead RSPB Local Group rather than go to the Amex Stadium for the Brighton v Chelsea game - I still can't believe I did this! 

14 of us spent an interesting day on the reserve, thoroughly enjoying ourselves and seeing some super bird species.  The weather was good at the start, got better as the morning progressed but deteriorated in the afternoon by which time we were at Scotney Court Farm.

• 3 Cattle Egrets greeted us as we turned into the reserve and drove towards the Visitor's Centre. From Dennis Hide we saw a number of water birds with Goldeneye perhaps the pick of the bunch.
• We decided to go round the reserve in the reverse direction (anticlockwise) to take the greatest advantage of the lighting conditions.
• From the viewing ramp we saw 6 Bearded Tits in the reeds.  The birds took flight several times, affording everyone the chance to see them  before they returned to the reeds.  A Great White Egret flew in giving us an excellent close view.  We saw the first of several Marsh Harriers here too, with the lighting conditions now at their very best.
• On to Denge Marsh Hide where we saw another Great White Egret, at least one more Marsh Harrier and a Sparrowhawk.
• We called in at Scott Hide and Makepeace Hide on the way back to the car park but we were unable to see the Red-throated Diver.  We were reliably informed later that it had moved from Burrowes onto New Diggings.
• After lunch we stopped off at Boulderwall Farm to see the Tree Sparrows at the feeder.

Then it was off to the ARC Hide where water levels were really high, limiting the number of species to be seen. 

• Nevertheless we saw a decent variety with some more stunning drake Goldeneye perhaps the pick of the bunch.
• The Bewick Swans were showing well in the fields between Cockles Bridge and Lydd.

The original plan was to finish at Walland Marsh but with worsening weather conditions there was no real enthusiasm for this.  Incredibly, very few of the group had been to Scotney so I suggested visiting the area around the farm.  The visit was rather underwhelming with no Little Owl or Corn Buntings around.

• We did however see another Great White Egret, again at close quarters.
• We saw a Buzzard which was hovering a few feet above the ground and cheekily we thought of Rough-legged Buzzard.  Having dismissed this idea because we didn't really have the birding expertise in this particular group it was interesting to read later on that one was in the area!

Another very good outing with over 50 species seen!

08/12/2018 White-rumped Sandpiper at RSPB Pulborough Brooks A Lifer!

Saturday 8 December 2018
RSPB Pulborough Brooks
West Sussex


When local patch birder Matt@mostlyscarce posted a sighting of a White-rumped Sandpiper at RSPB Pulborough Brooks I jumped at the chance to see this "lifer". 

courtesy of Matt@mostlyscarce and twitter

 

This was  my first twitch since returning from Scotland.  The bird was first seen mid-morning but, as I had a few commitments to attend to,  I couldn't get there till mid afternoon by which time the weather had turned very wet indeed.

• The bird had disappeared about 10 minutes before I arrived so I spent almost an hour looking for it. 
• I heard some excited chatter a few yards away from me round the corner in Winpenny Hide and when I looked Alastair was there and had just seen the bird.   Soon we were all looking at it, albeit at a distance and in very poor light. 
• To confirm our ID we wanted to see the bird fly and before long it duly obliged, showing the tell tale white rump.  Job done! 

Well done Matt for a super find and thanks yet again Alastair for re-finding the bird. 

 

 Breeding in the Canadian Arctic, White-rumped winters in southern South America. Much more frequent here than Baird's (over twice the number of records), which can be explained by its migration strategy. The majority of southbound migrants head out over the Atlantic Ocean to staging areas in northeast South America, making them very susceptible to the same Atlantic depressions which bring other Nearctic vagrants to our shores - but there are more of them to become displaced!