Abberton Reservoir, Essex for Smew

Friday 1st February 2025.

I visited Abberton Reservoir near Colchester in Essex to celebrate the start of a new month. It's a place that has always been on my wish list, and after some excellent bird sightings lately and a good weather forecast, it was a thumbs-up from me today. 

My target bird was Smew, a personal favourite no longer seen at Dungeness, where it used to appear regularly. 

My visit started at the Layer de la Haye Causeway before I relocated to Peldon Village Hall and finished at Copt Hall car park 

The bird was not visible from the viewpoint on the B1026 Layer de la Haye Causeway carpark. However, all was not lost, as some rare grebes were showing well.

• There were many close Black-neck Grebes - as many as 16 were counted today.

Courtesy of Essex Birding

• 2 Slavonian Grebes were also present, which proved a little more challenging to locate. 

Courtesy of Essex Birding

Several members of the Essex Birding group advised me to look for the Smew from the Lodge Lane viewpoint. Another birder, who also wanted to see the bird, followed me to Peldon Village, where we parked at the village hall and made our way out to the viewing area. 

• 3 Smew were showing in the distance - a drake and 2 redheads.  Target achieved!

Courtesy of Essex Birding

Courtesy of Essex Birding

My partner for the day wanted to look for the Great Grey Shrike next rather than return to the causeway to look for the Canvasback.  I agreed to this, and we made our way to the Copt Hall car park and the sea wall viewing point, where we met up with 2 local birders.

• After a wait of at least half an hour, the shrike appeared in the low trees ahead of us.  Thereafter, the bird showed regularly.

Courtesy of Essex Birding
 

• A Hen Harrier had also been seen this morning, so I decided to spend the remaining time looking for it.  One of the others got a brief glimpse of a Ringtail Hen Harrier, but my efforts failed.

A special day out!

There was not enough time to visit the Layer Breton Causeway, where the Canvasback and the Ring-necked Duck were present. I also missed the Scaup at Lodge Lane.  This is a good reason to go back with my birding group, who could not make this visit due to bird fatigue after their four-day visit to Norfolk.

2025 species count = 105

New Species

102  Black-necked Grebe

103  Slavonian Grebe

103  Smew

104  Great Grey Shrike

Week 4 22nd - 28th January 2025 Purple Sandpiper and it's 100 Species for 2025

Newhaven East Pier, Sussex 27th January 2025

I finally saw a Purple Sandpiper this morning at high tide.  The conditions were not too bad, with bright sunshine and a strong breeze.  

• As I walked along the pier, I spotted a solitary Purple Sandpiper on the concrete supports below me.  On the way back, I saw another, probably the same bird, and a little further on, I had another good sighting - again, it probably was the same bird.
• I then drove to Splash Point to look for the long-staying Black Redstart. It was not showing at the old ruin, and the spray from the high tide was so bad that I could not check the lower reaches.

98 Purple Sandpiper

Uckfield, 28th January 2025

I spent the afternoon walking in the Millenium Green near my home. 

• Greenfinches were calling all over the reserve.
• I saw at least 5 Redwings in Hornbeam Avenue.

My Merlin app picked up the sound of a Hawfinch in Hornbeam Avenue but I could not confirm its presence as I neither heard nor saw it.  I need to monitor this area.

99     Greenfinch

100   Redwing

100 Up!

First hurdle was successfully overcome.

Thursday 30th January 2025 in Boothland Wood, Uckfield, Sussex

During a routine survey of this wood, I heard my first Goldcrest of the year, and when it flew away, I got the sighting.

101 Goldcrest

Week 3 15th - 21st January 2025 Long-eared Owl, Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser

 This week, I visited various places in the county, including a group visit.  This greatly affected my year list, boosting the count to a respectable 97 species.

Newhaven Tide Mills  15th January 2025

This was my third attempt to see Purple Sandpipers at this site, and I failed again.  By way of a consolation, I saw a drake Eider at the mouth of Newhaven Harbour.  The Fulmars (2) turned up on cue.

81 Stonechat

82 Eider

83 Fulmar

Fishbourne Creek, 19th January 2025  (a.m.)

I joined 12 friends for this East Grinstead RSPB visit to the Chichester area.  

• The highlight of the morning session was the 2 Red-breasted Mergansers that flew past us as we watched from the pier.

Courtesy of Phil Aylen

• These Brent Geese were a welcome sight.

Courtesy of Andrew Burns

84 Gadwall

85 Pintail

86 Red-breasted Merganser

87 Teal

88 Common Gull

89 Oystercatcher

90 Collared Dove

91 Ringed Plover

92 Greenshank

Pagham Harbour North Wall  19th January 2025 (p.m.)

For the afternoon session, we relocated to the North Wall area of Pagham Harbour to twitch the Long-eared Owls that had been reported there recently.  We were not disappointed with 3 present.  

• Phil used his new thermal imaging camera to pick out the owls in the bushes/reeds just below our raised position.  

Courtesy of Phil Aylen

• We then worked hard to find them using telescopes - it was not as easy as you might think.

Courtesy of Phil Aylen

As a bonus, these Lapwings and Golden Plover turned up in large numbers and gave good views as they flew around and when they landed in the mud.

Courtesy of Phil Aylen

93 Jay

94 Long-eared Owl

95 Golden Plover

Warnham NR, Horsham 22nd January 2025

I made a short visit to Warnham NR today to look for Siskins and Redpolls. I saw lots of the latter at the feeders, but I didn't see any Siskins.  

96  Sparrowhawk

97 Redpoll

2025 Bird Species Count = 97

Week 2 8th - 14th January 2025 Some great sightings this week including Owls at Elmley

Dungeness on Thursday 9th January 2025 

This was a reasonably successful afternoon twitch to see the Long-tailed Duck and the Great Northern Divers.  

• The Great Northern Diver was on Burrowes Pit and easily seen from Dennis's Hide.  There were also several gorgeous, drake Goldeneye on view.
• I had to walk round to New Diggings Pit to see the Long-tailed Duck  but it was worth the effort as the bird was showing well between dives.  There was also another Great Northern Diver present.
• I had no luck at all with the White-fronted Geese at Boulderwall Farm.  There were plenty of Canada Geese and Greylag Geese.  By way of consolation, I saw my first Great White Egret of 2025.

On the way home I went via Walland Marsh.

• I managed to see 30 + Bewick Swans but was unable to locate the few Whooper Swans that were around.

Isle of Sheppey with the Ashdown Bird Group on Sunday 12th January 2025.

My birding year took off today when I joined 10 friends in the Ashdown Bird Group for an outing to a packed Elmley NNR followed by a short visit to the raptor viewing point at Capel Fleet just before dusk.

We had great views of 3 of the UK's owl species at Elmley.  

• This Short-eared Owl posed on the post for the duration of our visit.

Courtesy of Alison Playle

• Shortly afterwards, we saw this delightful Little Owl, sunning itself in the apex of the roof at the rear of the old schoolhouse.  This was the highlight of the day for me.

Courtesy of Andrew Burns

• The Barn Owl proved more challenging as it teased us by flying around the back of the school.  Alison got a "record shot" of it flying and a cracking image when it landed briefly on a post.

Courtesy of Alison Playle

Courtesy of Alison Playle

• By way of a bonus, a close Fieldfare posed for us in the field adjacent to the school building. 

Courtesy of Andrew Burns

Just when you thought things couldn't get any better, they did!  

• The combination of bright sunshine, no wind and icy reedbeds produced a spectacular show of bearded tits.  There were lots of them spread all around the reedbed.

Courtesy of Andrew Burns

Courtesy of Alison Playle

Other highlights included the following-

• Black-tailed Godwits in flight

Courtesy of Alison Playle

• This lovely Water Rail showed briefly to a lucky few of our group but, alas, not to me.

Courtesy of Alison Playle

At Capel Fleet there were several highlights:-

• There were numerous Marsh Harriers on show.

Courtesy of Alison Playle

• These Red-legged Partridges were a welcome sight.

Courtesy of Alison Playle

• We usually get Corn Buntings at Capel Fleet - today we saw 2 only.

Weir Wood Reservoir on Tuesday 14th January 2025

• At the reservoir today, the star of the show was this pair of drake Goosanders.

Courtesy of Richard Allan

Courtesy of Richard Allan

The nett result of this week's activity was a huge boost to my 2025 species count from 30 to  80

31 Turnstone

32 Canada Goose

33 Coot

34 Curlew

35 Goldeneye

36 Great Northern Diver

37 Great White Egret

38 Grey Heron

39 Greylag Goose

40 Long-tailed Duck

41 Feral Pigeon

42 Tufted Duck

43 Mute Swan

44 Bewick's Swan

45 Avocet

46 Bearded Tit

47 Black-tailed Godwit

48 Cattle Egret

49 Chaffinch

50 Dunlin

51 Dunnock

52 Fieldfare

53 Grey Plover

54 House Sparrow

55 Lesser Black-backed Gull

56 Little Grebe

57 Little Owl

58 Marsh Harrier

59 Meadow Pipit

60 Moorhen

61 Peregrine

62 Raven

63 Redshank

64 Reed Bunting

65 Shelduck

66 Shoveler

67 Snipe

68 Water Rail

69 Wren

70 Wigeon

71 Brent Goose

72 Corn Bunting

73 Red-legged Partridge

74 Cetti's Warbler

75 Barn Owl

76Nuthatch

77 Long-tailed Tit

78 Little Egret

79 Goosander

80 Egyptian Goose

 

A slow start to 2025 Short-eared Owl and Marsh Tits Week 1 Ist - 7th January Summary

With family visiting from the USA and some very severe weather conditions in Sussex, I had one of the quietest starts to a birding year ever. In the first week, I saw a meagre 29 bird species.

Initial sightings were in the area around my home.  

Things got more interesting when I returned to Weir Wood Reservoir on Tuesday morning to continue my weekly conservation work.  

• Pick of the birds were the 2 Marsh Tits I saw in the feeding area by the hide.
• On the water, 10+ Pochard provided the glamour.

Alas there was no sign of the Goosanders and the Great White Egret.  Have they moved on?

On Tuesday afternoon I ventured down to Rodmell.

• Birds of the week were the 2 Short-eared Owls I saw in the reedbeds by the River Ouse.  One was much more active than the other, foraging over a wide area, often taking a break by perching on a nearby tree.
• A hovering Kestrel was a joy to watch.
• A Kingfisher flew in and landed on the banks of the Ouse, as I was watching the owls.

1. Robin
2. Woodpigeon
3. Starling
4. Carrion Crow
5. Magpie
6. Jackdaw
7. Herring Gull
8. Blackbird
9. Mallard
10. Blue Tit
11. Buzzard
12. Coal Tit
13. Cormorant
14. Goldfinch
15. Great Crested Grebe
16. Great Spotted Woodpecker
17. Great Tit
18. Marsh Tit
19. Pheasant
20. Pochard
21. Song Thrush
22. Stock Dove
23. Black-headed Gull
24. Great Black-backed Gull
25. Kestrel
26. Kingfisher
27. Lapwing
28. Pied Wagtail
29. Short-eared Owl
30. Rook

Let's hope things get busier soon!

2024 Summary

 A year that began with Waxwings in the trees behind my house and was followed later in the year by sightings of 2 Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and a Slavonian Grebe at Weir Wood Reservoir has to be one of the best ever!

All in all I managed to see a magnificent 206 species.

A good trip to Rodmell.

 

Friday 13th December 2024

Rodmell nr Lewes (p.m.)

Ashdown Bird Group

(5 members present)

 

 

Our target species today was short-eared owl.  The best time to see this bird is just before sunset, hence today’s p.m. schedule.  Rodmell had previously proved very rewarding so it was a “no-brainer” as our preferred choice of venue. 

The weather was dry but the thick cloud completely blocked out the sun and the temperature was only 5C-6C.  It was very wet underfoot and wellies were the order of the day.

 

 

Our route today started at the National Trust car park near Monk’s House and took us out on the Sussex Ouse Valley Way to the River Ouse where we turned south and followed the river bank towards Southease Station.

We had to wait almost 2 hours before we saw our target species.  In the meantime there were several sightings of interest:-

• 4 gull species were seen today – a couple of common gulls, several black-headed gulls and lots of herring gulls on the ground and a great black-backed gull in flight.
• There was a small gathering of winter thrushes on the ground by the hedge running north of the Sussex Ouse Valley Way including a few redwings, a song thrush and several blackbirds   to add to a single flying fieldfare seen earlier.
• We had a couple of good sightings of a marsh harrier, flying over the reeds, one early on and another near the end of our visit. 
• There were at least 3 kestrels around the site and we had flight views as well as views of them perched in trees.
• Equally prevalent were the buzzards that we saw.
• A sparrowhawk flew over us as we headed back to the car park.
• 2 stonechats were seen but there was no sign of the usual corn buntings. 
• Lots of greylag geese flew by us on at least 2 occasions.
• Starlings were the most numerous species seen today as they flew around in large flocks.

 

The long wait to see the short-eared owl was well worth it as what followed was a rich birding experience that lasted for well over 30 minutes.

• At 3.17 pm we were looking at a kestrel sitting at the top of a nearby tree when we noticed another larger raptor perched some 25 metres further away at the top of another tree.  Initially we thought it was a buzzard but when Ian got the scope view he realised it was a short-eared owl, much to the delight of all present.  Soon afterwards the owl took flight and went in search of food, swooping low over the reeds,  occasionally dropping down to grab some prey before resuming its flight.  After several minutes it returned to the same tree.   The owl then repeated the routine many times before we left.  What a treat! 
• On the way back to the car park, things got even better when a barn owl appeared and flew around us on the Ouse Valley Way for several minutes.  What a bonus!

 

Unfortunately no-one had brought a camera today because of the very poor light.

 

Wanting to share our experience with the birding community, we posted our sightings on the Sussex Bird Alerts site (SBA).  Unbeknown to us, the Sussex Ornithological Society (SOS) had previously advised its members against reporting owl sightings at Rodmell publically.  Some prior, poor behaviour by photographers had caused them to take this drastic step.  Our post thus caused a bit of a furore and was soon deleted by SBA along with the accompanying unsavoury comments that it generated.  The post subsequently reopened the whole debate around the SOS’s original decision.

 

 

Thanks for choosing another fantastic venue John.

Thanks Martin for organising the day – what a pity it generated such controversy!

 

 2024 species count=206

Slavonian Grebe

Monday 9th December 2024

Weir Wood Reservoir, Sussex

• It's always good to find a new bird on your local patch.  At Weir Wood Reservoir, this afternoon, I saw a lovely Slavonian Grebe in the water opposite the hide.

• Also seen were 2 Goosanders.

2024 species count=206

Purple Sandpipers at Tidemills near Newhaven in Sussex

 

Friday 6th December 2024

Tide Mills, Newhaven (a.m.)

Ashdown Bird Group

(4 members present)

 

 

Our target species today was purple sandpiper.  This bird is a regular winter visitor to our shores where it frequents seaweed-covered rocks, piers and jetties, often associating with turnstones.  Newhaven Harbour has long been the best local site to look for them, where they are normally found on the harbour arms of the east pier.

 

Today’s weather was dry and mild – the lull before Storm Darragh which we knew was heading our way.    

 

We first saw the purple sandpipers as we approached the East Pier from the beach.  They were feeding on the barnacles on the concrete supports just above the waterline.  As expected, they were associating with the turnstones.  The best views were obtained when we walked along the top of the pier and looked down on the birds.

·   Here is a selection of Ian’s photographs

 

 

                                     This lovely turnstone was photographed from the beach

 

·         Martin also took some photographs and his selection is shown blow.

 

 

This lovely turnstone was photographed from the top of the pier when the bird decided to join us.

There were other highlights.

• There was a rock pipit in the area by the pier.
• Newhaven Harbour is a “hot spot” for fulmar.  They breed on the cliffs on the west side of the harbour and some were still hanging around this morning.  Although they were out of range of our cameras they still produced good images in the telescope, making the ID a formality.
• We also saw at least 2 ravens on the cliffs on the west side of the harbour.
• As well as fulmar we saw great black-backed gulls, black-headed gulls, herring gulls and common gulls.
• On Mill Creek we saw several redshanks, a little egret and a dunlin.
• In the scrubs between the coastal path and the creek there were a number of passerines such as stonechats, meadow pipits, greenfinch, goldfinch, dunnock, linnet, Cetti’s warbler, chaffinch and wren.
• The only raptors seen were a buzzard and a kestrel.

 

This was another successful Friday morning outing, allowing us to have a detailed look at the behaviour and habit of the purple sandpiper.  Martin counted as many as 9 today – still a healthy sign for this endangered species.

Thanks John for facilitating this visit. Thanks also to Ian and Martin for some great photographs.

 

  2024 species count=205

 

 

Fishbourne Creek and West Dean Woods with the Ashdown Bird Group on Sunday

 

Sunday 1^st December 2024

Fishbourne Creek (a.m.) and West Dean Woods (p.m.)

Ashdown Bird Group

(8 members present)

What a contrast to last year's corresponding outing when we enjoyed glorious weather!  Today it was awful with rain from the start, which persisted until midday.  It was also surprisingly colder than we expected.  Some of us, myself included, had really misjudged the forecast and were not best prepared.  

Nevertheless, we made the most of it and enjoyed some excellent birding. We spent the morning at Fishbourne Creek.  After lunch, we drove 10 miles inland to West Dean Woods just north of Chichester, for a totally different habitat and a different set of birds.  Thankfully, by then it had stopped raining.

At least 64 species were identified - 42 in the morning and a further 22 (of 29) in the afternoon.

 

The highlight of the morning occurred in the area of the creek adjacent to the sewage works:-

·         In among the large flock of coots was a lone drake red–breasted merganser moving majestically through the water.

 The flight view was equally impressive.

Both images courtesy of Phil Aylen

West Dean Woods

The weather was much better now.  Thankfully the rain had stopped but we were still wet and cold from this morning’s efforts.

We managed to find at least 29 species, including 22 new ones to add to our day list.

 

Raptors were everywhere

·         As usual we were greeted by a red kite soon after we arrived.  Several more were seen later on.

 

·         We also saw a kestrel, a peregrine, a sparrowhawk and lots of buzzards.

·          John and Martin were lucky enough to see a goshawk.

There were an amazing number of finches on show this afternoon.  They were obviously enjoying the improving weather conditions.  Unfortunately they were, in the main, rather distant.–

Mixed finches

·         We had greenfinches, chaffinches and goldfinches ….

 

Greenfinches

·         ….but best of all, bramblings ….

Brambling

·         …. and hawfinches.

Hawfinches

Such was the richness of birding that we were literally stopped in our tracks to take it all in.

·         Martin and Bob R had gone ahead and continued up to Monkton Farm to complete the walk, adding bullfinch and fieldfare to our species list before returning to join us.

 

What an incredible session - dominated by the sightings of hawfinch and brambling!

  2024 species count=205