Things are moving nicely

 Week ending 03/04/2021

Old Lodge NR

No sign of my target species - Woodlark, but I did hear then see my first Raven of the year on Monday afternoon.

Weir Wood Reservoir

• I managed to see my first Blackcaps, Stock Doves and Egyptian Geese on Tuesday morning as we did the second snake survey of the new season.  
• Highlight of the day however was our first grass snake of the year on Pintail Bank.

Old Airstrip on the Ashdown Forest

Went birding with Shaun on Wednesday.

• I found a Dartford Warbler in the bushes close to the car park as I waited for Shaun to turn up.
• We had several sightings of Lesser Redpoll with Siskins.  
• Even managed to see a Woodlark - our target species - when one flew up from the ground a few metres ahead of us.  
• Highlight for me was a small flock of Common Crossbills seen near the end of our walk, in the canopy of the pines close to the car park.
• Linnets were around.

Dartford  Warbler Survey

• I found no further Dartford Warblers on my patch on Thursday morning.  
• There were plenty of Chiffchaffs, Coal Tits, Dunnocks and Song Thrushes.

Rye Harbour

I normally wouldn't  touch Rye Harbour on Good Friday but with cold, breezy conditions forecast for the day I decided to go down in the morning.  It was a good decision because it wasn't overrun with holidaymakers.  With all the hides closed it wasn't possible to get the full works; nevertheless I did add 9 birds to my year list. 

• It was such a delight to see the Avocets.
• I managed a brief view of a Wheatear before it was flushed by the cyclists.
• Other species seen for the first time in 2021 included Brent Geese, Cetti's Warbler, Dunlin, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover and Shelduck.

Dungeness 

I spent the afternoon at Dungeness.  Thankfully the Reserve Village road had reopened and I was able to access the lighthouse area and beach.

• Target bird was Garganey on Denge Marsh.  I managed to see 4 fabulous drakes and at least 1 female at the far side of the water opposite the cutting that had been made to the right of the closed hide.  Early birders had seen 18, the majority of which were drakes - a record for Dungeness in recent years!  
• On the path from the hide to the viewing ramp I came across a superb stoat running along ahead of me - a cracking bonus!
• I also saw my first Lapwing of the year on the way to see the Garganey.
• I looked for the Glossy Ibis on the reserve and on ARC but with no success.  It had been spotted earlier flying towards Boulderwell Farm but I couldn't find it.
• From the very limited viewing from the track just past the closed Screen Hide  I saw Gadwall, a super drake Goldeneye, Shovelers and 20+ Sand Martins.
• Bird of the day however was the Bittern.  I couldn't see it because the screen hide was closed but I heard it "booming" on 2 separate occasions.

At the "patch" to failed twitch the Iceland Gull. Try as I may I couldn't find it among the many gulls showing.  I must have been the only birder that day not to see it! 

• I had to settle for at one Mediterranean Gull for my 2021 list.

Warnham Nature Reserve, Horsham

I just had to go to Horsham to twitch the Little Bunting that has been around for over 3 weeks.  After a short wait the bird appeared in the trees in front of the hide and I enjoyed fabulous views from less than 10 metres away.  I even managed to hear it singing away right in front of me. Awesome!

courtesy of harvey@harvey_S_86 on twitter

courtesy of Jenni@JenniDx on Twitter

A welcome, busy week with lots of sightings to boost my year list to 103