11/01/2016 Not much birding today

Monday 11th January 2016
Weir Wood Reservoir and Ashdown Forest

I had only a short while for birding today.  

• No luck with a flying visit to the Ashdown Forest for the Great Grey Shrike early morning and no luck with another high speed walk, this time round Buxted Park, at dusk, looking for the Barn Owl.

• The only real success was at Weir Wood Reservoir this morning where I saw my first  Kingfisher of the year.  

Addition to BUBO 2016 UK Bird List:

107   Kingfisher

10/01/2016 Dungeness with the East Grinstead RSPB Group a.m. only

10th January 2016
RSPB Dungeness 

Spent the morning at Dungeness NR with my East Grinstead RSPB Local Group.  Unfortunately the weather was the worst so far with low temperatures to add to the heavy downpours.

• We used the hides to shelter from the rain.  Most of the birds were present and I managed to add Goldeneye,  Pintail, Chiffchaff and Cetti's Warbler to my year list.  Bird of the day, on the water, was a lovely Redhead Smew.

• As soon as the rain stopped we returned to the centre to see the Long-eared Owl which was showing really well.

I left the group around 11 a.m. to get back home.

• On my way home I found the Barnacle Geese in the usual place but it was waterlogged after the heavy rain so there were few other birds around. 

Additions to BUBO 2016 UK Bird List:

102   Goldeneye 

103   Chiffchaff   

104   Pintail

105   Cetti's Warbler (heard only)

106   Barnacle Goose

Another brief but worthwhile trip in the most dreadful weather conditions.

09/01 2016 Pagham Harbour, Amberley Castle and The Burgh Bewick Swans, a Red Kite and a lovely Yellowhammer

Saturday 9th January 2016
West Sussex 

Church Norton
Another early start saw me at Church Norton just before the high tide.  

I was expecting to find the Spoonbills that have been in the area but they did not show.  Nevertheless there were hundreds of birds to be seen - a wonderful wildlife experience.  Most were the usual suspects, Brent Geese, Shelduck, Wigeon, Teal etc.

• On the island just west of the hide on the opposite bank, the two Peregines (m+f) were in their usual position.

Ferry Pool and nearby area.

When I relocated to the visitors centre I found loads of Black-tailed Godwits on the Ferry Pool along with the usual suspects.

• I naively thought I could walk to the North wall but found the route too cumbersome and gave up but not before I spotted a superb male Yellowhammer in the bushes aligning the path.

Amberley Castle

One of my targets for the day was to locate the Bewick Swans (x6) and thankfully they were in the same place as last year.

The Burgh, Arundel

I saw my first Red Kite of the year just east of the triangle.  Also seen were several Grey Partridges  - of course!

Widewater, Shoreham

I called in at Shoreham on my way home to twitch the male Goosander that was in sedentary mode on the Widewater Lagoon.

Additions to BUBO UK 2016 Year List:

95    Peregrine
96    Black-tailed Godwit
97    Yellowhammer
98    Bewick Swan
99    Grey Partridge
100   Red Kite
101   Goosander

What could be more deserving for my 100th sighting of 2016 - a wonderful Red Kite!

08/01/2016 Feral Pigeon

Friday 8th January 2016

No chance to go birding today...... however, whilst I was in Uckfield town centre I saw many Feral Pigeons.



Addition to BUBO 2016 UK Year List:
94   Feral Pigeon/Rock Dove

07/01/2016 Purple Sandpipers at Newhaven a.m. plus Long-eared Owl at the Burgh

Thursday 7th January 2016



Newhaven Tide Mills, East Sussex        11.00 to 12.30

• I took advantage of the mid-morning high tide to pay a flying visit to the east pier at Newhaven Harbour to see 9 Purple Sandpipers sheltering from the elements among the supporting beams.  

The Burgh, West Sussex         13.45 to 14.15

• Another flying visit, this time to the Burgh near Arundel to look for Short-eared Owls.  By this time the weather was bright and sunny.  It didn't take long to find one flying low over the vegetation in the bottom of the valley.  Not long after I saw and heard a Raven, having an altercation with a Buzzard.

• Other species seen included Mistle Thrush, Fieldfare, Buzzard, Kestrel and Corn Bunting.

Additions to BUBO 2016 UK Year List

91   Purple Sandpiper

92   Short-eared Owl

93   Raven        

Not many birds seen but the quality was superb!

06/01/2016 Shellness on Isle of Sheppey White-fronted Geese and Hooded Crow

Wednesday 6th January 2016
Shellness
Isle of Sheppey


I wanted to treat myself today so off I went bright and early up to Shellness on the Isle of Sheppey.  The weather was great with little or no wind and, believe it or not, no rain.

• As it was high tide, I started by the sea and found the usual selection of sea birds, predominantly Oystercatchers, Grey Plovers, Dunlin and Shelduck.  

• With hindsight this was a mistake because by the time I walked along the sea wall to the hide quite a few others had walked the same route and scared off the Richard's Pipit that the other early birders had seen.  

• By way of compensation, I had smashing views of the Hooded Crow as it perched on a post in the marshes just a few metres south of the hide.  At least 25 White-fronted Geese were interspersed with the Greylags in the field to the north east of the hide, making for a nice view.  Brent Geese in their hundreds dominated the scene.

I was disappointed not to find any Owls or Hen Harriers, although I saw several Marsh Harriers.  Even when I relocated to the raptor viewing area at Capel Fleet the same result occurred.  I would dearly have loved to stay for the afternoon session and roost but alas I had to get home.

Not bad - 16 additions to my rear list and a couple of "stand out" species - but not quite up to the experiences of previous visits.

Additions to BUBO 2016 UK Bird List:
75   Corn Bunting
76   Curlew
77   Dunlin
78   Grey Plover
79   Little Egret
80   Meadow Pipit
81   Oystercatcher
82   Redshank
83   Reed Bunting
84   Rock Pipit
85   Ringed Plover
86   Sanderling
87   Turnstone
88   White-fronted Goose
89   Hooded Crow
90   Marsh Harrier

Other birds seen included Black-headed Gull, Brent Goose, Chaffinch, Common Buzzard, Coot, Lapwing, Magpie, Marsh Harrier, Mute Swan, Robin, Starling,  Woodpigeon and Wren

05/01/2016 Arlington Reservoir in the rain a.m. Weir Wood Reservoir in the rain p.m. 9 Mandarin Ducks

Tuesday 5th January 2016 
Arlington Reservoir

Today's weather was even worse than yesterday's so I made another early start, this time to Arlington Reservoir just down the A22 from my home.

As you would expect, there were fewer birds than usual around. Pick of the small bunch was a Common Sandpiper seen on the wall by the water just south of Pollit's Farm and a single Brent Goose seen in the water at the SE corner of the reservoir.




Additions to BUBO 2016 UK Bird List:
69   Rook
70   Jackdaw
71   Wigeon
72   Brent Goose
73   Common Sandpiper
74   Brent Goose

Other birds seen included Canada Goose, Great Crested Grebe, Robin, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Pied Wagtail, Carrion Cow, Magpie, House Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull, Mallard, Wren, Blackbird, Tufted Duck, Cormorant and Grey Heron











Evening visit to Weir Wood Reservoir
Joined Bob Johnson and Alastair Gray for the roost at Weir Wood Reservoir.  The weather was still awful but we managed to see a good selection of birds.  

• Pick of the bunch and one of my favourites - the Mandarin Ducks (9 of them in total)

Mandarin Ducks
Courtesy of Friends of Weir Wood 

• Other highlights included a group of 100+ Starlings and another group of 100+ Fieldfare.

Addition to BUBO 2016 UK Bird List:
75   Mandarin Duck


Other birds seen included Pochard, Coot, Cormorant, Tufted Duck, Mallard and Gadwall.