14/10/2020 The Lammergeier has reached Sussex!

Wednesday 14 October 2020

South Downs near Beachy Head

No sooner had I finished lunch today, after a lovely trip to Shoreham to see the grey phalarope, when news broke about the lammergeier here in Sussex, close to Beachy Head.  Thus I embarked on my second outing of the day.

• The last report showed the bird to be at East Dean but when I arrived there was no sign of any activity at all so I checked again and found out the lammergeier had moved to the outskirts of nearby village of Litlington.  Litlington is overlooked by High and Over one of the best vantage points on the South Downs.  Messages reaching us from the birders on the high slopes indicated that the bird was close by us but try as we may we could not find it.  Just as we were about to pack up in despair our luck changed and we were back in the hunt for this magnificent creature!
• Some other birders came by and said they had been watching the bird by a nearby pond but it had just flown onto the South Downs just to the east of us.  We headed up the hills and my 2 new colleagues spotted the lammergeier flying. I joined them as quick as I could but alas the bird had dropped down into the valley below and out of sight before I could get a sighting.
• We searched the wooded area and the fields where the guys thought it had landed but to no avail.  Just then Simon, another new colleague and a Brighton birder, arrived with a map of where the birders at High and Over could see the lammergeier.  It was in some trees along the edge of the fields below us and showing well. By sheer good luck and lots of effort we had succeeded.  For the next hour or so, till sunset, we enjoyed lovely views of this giant bird at roost.  

courtesy of Simon

I dearly wanted to see this bird flying so resolved to return tomorrow, before sunrise, to monitor this bird and see it leave the roosting area.

Thursday 15 October 2020

On South Downs just east of Litlington

Back again at the roost site and it's not yet sunrise!  Not many birders around but many are gathering on  the slopes of High and Over hoping for a repeat of yesterday afternoons flying spectacular (which I missed of course).

• The lammergeier is showing well in the tree and as the light improves the number of birders increases.  

courtesy of Jamie Court and Twitter

• We wait until 09.20 to see the lammergeier fly but boy was it worth it as it.  
• It leaves the roost site, flying low over the adjacent fields and picking up an entourage of corvids as it moves.  The views are brilliant - we are about 100 metres away!
• It starts to gain height and heads off east - much to the disappointment of the birders to the west on High and Over.
• Within 5 minutes its all over as the lammergeier heads west towards Jevington and Beachy Head still pursued by an ever increasing band of corvids before disappearing from sight.

courtesy of Malcolm Freeman and Twitter

courtesy of Malcolm Freeman and Twitter

Mission accomplished!  Brilliant flight views to supplement the earlier, lovely, tree shots at the roost site.

It looks like the bird finally left the country mid-afternoon, hopefully on its way to France.  

                                                courtesy of Anne Hart and Sussex Wildlife Trust (note buzzard for size comparison)

          

     Very grateful for its 24+ hour visit to Sussex!

The origin of a giant vulture seen flying over the UK has been discovered after scientists analysed its feathers.

• The bearded vulture, named Vigo, was spotted recently in the skies above Lincolnshire and Norfolk.
• With a wing span of 2.5m (8.2ft), the bird is rarely seen in the UK and is normally found in Alpine regions.
• Genetic tests on feathers discovered by a Yorkshire birder show that Vigo is a female which hatched last year in the French Alps.
• Vigo's appearance in Lincolnshire earlier this month attracted hundreds of bird watchers who gathered at Moulton West Fen near Spalding.
• The bird was first captured on film earlier this year in the Peak District and was believed to have spent the summer in the area.
• Previously, the only other reported sighting of a bearded vulture in the UK was in 2016, around Dartmoor and Monmouthshire.
• Two small feathers were found at a site in the Peak District which allowed the Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF) to determine the bird was born in a wild nest in the Haute-Savoie region in south-east France.

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14/10/2020 Grey Phalarope at Shoreham

Wednesday 14 October 2020

Widewater Lagoon, Shoreham, West Sussex

Needing to go out birding after being locked down for a while, the obvious place to go was down to Widewater Lagoon near Shoreham to see the grey phalarope that everyone was singing the praises of.  The weather was cloudy but mild and dry and the wind was just a gentle breeze.

There were plenty of birders who had the same idea so it didn't take long to locate the bird.  It was on the south side of the lagoon, 30 metres from the path,  so the views were awesome.

courtesy of SW London Birder and Twitter

courtesy of Nick Bond and Twitter

courtesy of Nick Bond and Twitter

 A delightful visit and home in time for lunch!

07/10/2020 Ring Ouzel in Sussex

 Wednesday 7 October 2020

Shooters Bottom near Beachy Head, Sussex

For the past 3 years, I have seen ring ouzels on Spring migration in Norfolk.  For Covid 19 reasons I could not do so this year so I was very keen to catch up with them on Autumn migration in Sussex.  Norfolk tends to have more of this species earlier in the year but Sussex has more on the return leg.

• I arrived just on 09.00 and about 20 minutes later I, and about 8 other birders, saw a female ring ouzel,  on the lower western slopes, in the large bush just below our viewing point from the eastern slopes.  The views were quite good as the bird flitted around.  

courtesy of Phillip Wells and Sussex Ornithological Society

• The next 30 minutes or so saw me moving around the site to see if there was a male ring ouzel too.  Alas I could not find one.
• When I returned to the starting point the female was showing again, this time on the eastern slopes about 30 metres due south of me.  It was sitting proud at the top of a low lying bush and gave us brilliant views for several minutes.  It then flew back to it's original position before becoming quite elusive.

Another smart twitch and hopefully the first of many over the next few days of this rather special migrant!

05/10/2020 Three of the best in Norfolk!

Monday 5 October 2020

Norfolk

A dear birding friend died recently and I agreed to help the family to organise the sale of his birding equipment.  My dealer of choice was Cley Spy in Holt, Norfolk as they have provided me with excellent service over the years.  I decided to deliver the items personally so I could get a few hours birding in afterwards - my first visit since February!

.An early start found me at Cley Spy by 09.15 and birding from 10.15 through to 13.30.  The weather was overcast but mild.

• My first port of call was to nearby Salthouse where I was lucky to see a red-necked phalarope on the ponds just a few metres north of the A149.

courtesy of Paul Baker and Twitter

• Next stop was just south of Wells Woods to see the long-staying red-backed shrike which was showing nicely on the fence on the west side of the track.

courtesy of Marcus Nash

• I just had time to call in at Wighton, south of Wells, on the way home to catch up with the Hoopoe that has been around for some time.

courtesy of Sean Gray and Twitter

I even managed to bump into Marcus whilst looking at the Hoopoe.  What a pity I had to cancel the latest trip due to start on Thursday.

Back home and back into lockdown by 16.45 after securing a good deal for the equipment and a delightful Norfolk twitch!