A Good Day at Cuckmere Haven and More (1 Viewer)

[Upland Birder]

Hi Joanne,

Two great reports Joanne. I have decided that I must specifically plan for a trip to Cuckmere haven at some point in the future.

Its great to see that you are involved in BTO survey work. Well done with the Ring Ouzal. It just goes to show that you never know what you are going to see when your out there.

Sightings like the Ring Ouzal not expected to be seen by you that day must have made your day

I will be going in search of the Ring Ouzal up here in the Moorlands this year and hope to see one.

Keep up the good work with BTO and continue to entertain me and others with your writings and pictures.

Dean

Cheadle Birder

 

[joannec]

Hi Joanne,

Two great reports Joanne. I have decided that I must specifically plan for a trip to Cuckmere haven at some point in the future.

Its great to see that you are involved in BTO survey work. Well done with the Ring Ouzal. It just goes to show that you never know what you are going to see when your out there.

Sightings like the Ring Ouzal not expected to be seen by you that day must have made your day

I will be going in search of the Ring Ouzal up here in the Moorlands this year and hope to see one.

Keep up the good work with BTO and continue to entertain me and others with your writings and pictures.

Dean

Cheadle Birder

Hi Dean

You're absolutely right, seeing something so unexpected really did make my day, I was still excited by it the next day. My children were baffled by my excitement and are still teasing me about it. My son said, a ring ouzel sounds like a cartoon name for a bird. LOL. As you may or may not know, ring ouzels are only passage migrants in Sussex, scarce in spring so it was a case of good karma, being in the right place at the right time.

It's nice to know that people are reading my writings.

Joanne

 

[r2didi2]

Hi Dean
You're absolutely right, seeing something so unexpected really did make my day, I was still excited by it the next day. My children were baffled by my excitement and are still teasing me about it. My son said, a ring ouzel sounds like a cartoon name for a bird. LOL. As you may or may not know, ring ouzels are only passage migrants in Sussex, scarce in spring so it was a case of good karma, being in the right place at the right time.
It's nice to know that people are reading my writings.
Joanne

Hi Joanne - lucky you seeing a ring ouzel! )) It's one of my "annoying" birds that I dip out on - loads were reported at Cisbury ring last year, so I duly went along and never saw one! Great to hear you do BTO work - good for you.

We are looking forward to seeing you next Sunday - perhaps you'll bring us luck re ring ouzel!!

Kind regards
Didi

 

[joannec]

Hi Joanne -

We are looking forward to seeing you next Sunday - perhaps you'll bring us luck re ring ouzel!!

Kind regards
Didi

Hi Didi

As I said to Mark, I'll do my best but without divine intervention it may not come about. I'm pretty hopeful about seeing some nice little migrants though.:-O


Rookery Update


Well I've been out counting rook nests again and the colony is down to 18 nests now but I fear some of these have been abandoned but more on that in a minute. The nests in the ash trees have been reduced to only one and there is one less in the Scots pine trees as well. The nest I was worried about three weeks ago and one other in the ash trees have been dismantled. I watched them doing it.....more stick stealing but I also suspect that the "teenagers" who built them participated in the dismantling and gave their valuable and hard gotten possessions to their parents and friends to further secure their nests. Bonding with the tribe and practice and experience for next year when nest building for these youngsters will be an altogether more serious business, it seems.

The weather these past few weeks in Sussex has been warm and dry. No nests have been blown away which is good news o but the dryness and the hard dry soil has, it seems to me, made it hard for them to find enough leatherjackets and other soil invertebrates that are the predominant staple food of the rooks. They are farmland birds surrounded by a mix of arable and grassland and it gets a bit serious in years of springtime drought when they have their babies to feed.. :stuck: The hardness of the soil makes it hard for even rook size bills to penetrate for the deeper borrowing grubs. It is for this reason that I think some of the nests have been abandoned. Maybe I'm wrong though and the females are still silently incubating the eggs, let's hope so, should know in a few days.

And there are babies in some of the nests now. :hi: I watch as constantly rook after rook flies in, in an endless procession, with crops full of juicy grubs and I hear the noisy high pitch cawing of the baby rooks. I can even see some of the bright red and yellow upturned bills in a few of the nests! The "helpful teenagers" seem to assist with the care of the babies as often there are several adults in and around a particular nest.

There is no squabbling now among the rooks as there was a few weeks ago, all much too serious now with all the babies. There is a buzzard that flies over the rookery pretty regularly, also a sparrowhawk, who are relentlessly chased away, maybe this is one more of the jobs of the youngsters in this socially complex society.

 

[matt green]

Another fascinating insight into your rooks Joanne, thanks for sharing.

I'm hopefull of seeing some youngsters myself as soon as I get the chance to get out there LOL, though I regret to say that rooks and other corvids take an awfull bashing around these parts (my local patch area is hounded by a guy who thinks he is doing the landowner a service by shooting them, along with squirrels) In truth I think a lot of these people just enjoy shooting for sport rather than any concerns (however misguided) for songbird numbers etc.They do however have a wonderfull air of defiance about them and continue to build nests and gather in reasonably large groups.

Matt

 

[joannec]

Another fascinating insight into your rooks Joanne, thanks for sharing.

,though I regret to say that rooks and other corvids take an awfull bashing around these parts (my local patch area is hounded by a guy who thinks he is doing the landowner a service by shooting them, along with squirrels) In truth I think a lot of these people just enjoy shooting for sport rather than any concerns (however misguided) for songbird numbers etc.They do however have a wonderfull air of defiance about them and continue to build nests and gather in reasonably large groups.

Matt

Hi Matt

There doesn't seem to be shooting of rooks around here, (although I believe rook pie was once a local dish), it is our belief that they are actually the farmers friends, eating the many many thousands of leatherjackets and other grubs that they do, this benefit hugely outweighs the loss of a few seeds. My neighbour would disagree about the desirability of having so many rooks around though, he has pet ducks and claims they prey on the ducklings. I find them hugely entertaining all the same, as you say, "they have a wonderful air of defiance about them".

Joanne

 

[joannec]

New Visitors to My Feeders

I recently had to buy a new bag of seed mix, got a different sort to the usual because I was not at the usual place. It's different, contains fewer sunflowers and more of little seeds, don't know what they are. I always try to choose seed mix that doesn't contain too much wheat because I don't particularly want to attract the numerous wood pigeons. Anyway, the great tits really don't approve of the new mix and keep flicking out beakfulls of seed onto the grass, presumably to get at their favourite, the sunflower seeds. At first I was annoyed by this, thinking it would result in more mess than the sparrows and chaffinches could clear up. But I now have a pair of yellowhammers coming in to feed on the ground alongside the chaffinches, robins etc. This is really great news for me. There are lots of yellowhammers in the surrounding farmland but never had them come to the feeders before, which they are doing several times a day now, only flying off when someone is in the garden. They're still rather shy but hopefully this will change and I will be able to get some better pictures than these.

Another recent garden visitor has been a grey heron. I had suspected he was coming early in the mornings because the pond didn't seem to have as many fish as it did previously. But he's been seen now raiding the pond.....could get a bit expensive keeping this feeder stocked though!!!

 

[matt green]

But I now have a pair of yellowhammers coming in to feed on the ground alongside the chaffinches, robins etc. This is really great news for me. There are lots of yellowhammers in the surrounding farmland but never had them come to the feeders before,

Fantastic little Buntings aren't they, although I live in the country I have to get right out of the village and across the fields and scrub before I see these.Definately no chance of getting one on our feeders!!

..and going back to rooks, saw my first Rook chick of the year this afternoon!

Matt

 

[joannec]

Fantastic little Buntings aren't they, although I live in the country I have to get right out of the village and across the fields and scrub before I see these.Definately no chance of getting one on our feeders!!

..and going back to rooks, saw my first Rook chick of the year this afternoon!

Matt

Hi Matt

Yellowhammers are great, fun little birds, just wish they wouldn't flush so easily. Having them in the garden is a special treat. They really are hedgerow birds, I find. Guess Norfolk is a bit short of hedgerows, unlike the small field topography of my part of Sussex. LOL

Rooks....loads of babies....look to be about blackbird size now with great big red mouths and yellow bills. I can just see them poking their heads over the tops of the nests as the parents, mostly the dads I think, come in with the food.

Joanne

 

[JohnZ]

No report from Cuckmere haven yet ?

 

[joannec]

Pulborough Brooks Today

The morning got off to a good start with 3 buzzards,one a very light first year, with only the wing tips dark, seen from my garden being mobbed by a hoard of the resident rooks and their jackdaw pals. Then my first swifts of the year with 2 seen, also from my garden. Then the the resident kestrel pair also being chased by rooks. It seemed like a good start to my planned day at Pulborough. It's not usual for both my husband and me to get a day off together and I had been looking forward to this for days but...unfortunately something came up workwise and he couldn't go. B*****, I'll go anyway. And so glad I did!

Firstly, I forgot my RSPB card and money (so no tea later) but the lady let me in anyway.:loveme: A walk to the West Meed Hide showed low numbers of swallows, pairs of goldcrest and long tailed tits, a female blackcap, greenfinch and a singing whitethroat.

From the hide were good numbers of nesting lapwing, chasing away the pestering crows. Then, in the distance I spotted my target species for the day, a hobby.:loveme: Great, I thought, watching it dive and sweep, again and again, over the distant reeds, then it flew high; higher and higher on it's scythe like, swift like wings. And then, also high up, another and another, 3 hobbies, can it be true, then a fourth!!! Wooo!! My lucky day:clap: . I watched them for ages, alone in the hide, before moving off to the next hide which gave closer views of them....still too distant for a decent picture though. More people in this hide and some were claiming to have seen 5 hobbies but I was content with four. Two greenshank were seen along with a whimbrel as well as little egret and grey heron.

Moving on up the hill, I heard the second nightingale of the day and got two fleeting glimpses before he disappeared among the brambles and thickets. Further on there was a third, this one giving a splendid and prolonged view. I and a few others were able to watch him for a good 10 minutes and even got a few pictures, see below. This is the best good close and prolonged view of a singing nightingale I've had and his throat really does puff out when he's singing as seen in the pictures. Really a super sight.:loveme: He really puts his heart and soul into it. The pictures aren't great but I was chuffed to get them all the same.:clap:

Moving on to the last hide saw a Mrs Mallardwith her 9 babies and a Mr and Mrs Canada with their 5. Also a single barnacle goose, a few tufties, some greylag Xs and a solitary drake wigeon, who seemed to have missed the boat. Then a male reed bunting was seen just as I was leaving.

A good day...can't compete with some recent Sussex sightings but I was more than happy with the hobbies and nightingales.

 

[matt green]

A good day...can't compete with some recent Sussex sightings but I was more than happy with the hobbies and nightingales.

LOL

I'm sure if you ask nicely Deborah will let you 'borrow' her Glossy Ibis when she's done with it ;o)

Another fine write up Joanne, and some great pics too!!

Thanks for sharing...

Matt

 

[deborah4]

LOL

I'm sure if you ask nicely Deborah will let you 'borrow' her Glossy Ibis when she's done with it ;o)

Matt

Only if Joanne buys me a DSLR and shows me how to use it!!!!

other comments echoed too - nice one Joanne

 

[joannec]

Only if Joanne buys me a DSLR and shows me how to use it!!!!

other comments echoed too - nice one Joanne

That assumes I know how to use it.LOL

Thanks for compliments Matt and Deborah.

An Afternoon on the Sussex Coast

Had a spontaneous trip to Whitbred Hollow, just to the west of Eastbourne today looking for incoming migrants and watched a succession of swallows fly in off the sea. There is something particularly magical about witnessing the exact moment when they arrive.:loveme: Also had a mosey around the little shrubby bushes and saw a few whitethroats, linnets and blackcaps and thought I heard a grasshopper warbler. On the whole it was pretty blustery and not the best day to be up there so we went off to Splash Point.

Splash Point is at the bottom of Seaford Head, home to a large colony of breeding kittiwakes. They have arrived back and are beginning to set up home, staking out their nest sights and pairing up.:clap: No sign of actual nests yet but it won't be long. The nests are inaccessable being high up steep chalk cliffs. Every year the RSPB sets up one of their "Aren't Birds Brilliant" sites here, from about the beginning of June until August.....worth a visit for anyone in the area. They had a bad year last year due to not enough fish and many chicks perished....:C hope they do better this year. Here are a few pictures from today.

 

[paulwfromtheden]

Well done with the Nightingales Joanne. We had one at Beddington a few weeks back, but it kept well hidden, unlike yours! The photos are very good as well.
Glad to hear the Kittiwakes are back, I will have to plan my annual pilgrimage to Seaford Head soon. The walk to Cuckmere on a clear, sunny day is shere paradise.
I have had the dubious pleasure of scaling the Beddington landfill in search of a Glaucous Gull this evening!!
The things we do for birding!!
Paul

 

[joannec]

Well done with the Nightingales Joanne. We had one at Beddington a few weeks back, but it kept well hidden, unlike yours! The photos are very good as well.
Glad to hear the Kittiwakes are back, I will have to plan my annual pilgrimage to Seaford Head soon. The walk to Cuckmere on a clear, sunny day is shere paradise.
I have had the dubious pleasure of scaling the Beddington landfill in search of a Glaucous Gull this evening!!
The things we do for birding!!
Paul

Thanks Paul. Beddington sounds good too. I hope you'll organise a meet there sometime!

Seem to have uploaded one kittiwake pic twice by accident. Here are two more.

 

[paulwfromtheden]

Thanks Paul. Beddington sounds good too. I hope you'll organise a meet there sometime!

I dont have a key to the reserve unfortunately, otherwise you wopuld be welcome anytime.
Something may come up soon, we live in hope...

 

[matt green]

Splash Point is at the bottom of Seaford Head, home to a large colony of breeding kittiwakes. They have arrived back and are beginning to set up home, staking out their nest sights and pairing up.:clap: No sign of actual nests yet but it won't be long.

One of many reasons why I wished I lived by the sea - all those sea birds!

...and those Kittiwakes do make the most incredible racket don't they.Only the odd group of passing through Herring Gulls in full cry give a taste of the sea in these parts - and envoke memories of childhood holidays in cornwall, I can almost smell the salt in the air!!

Matt

 

[deborah4]

Also had a mosey around the little shrubby bushes and ... thought I heard a grasshopper warbler.

My reply to your email last night seems to have got lost in cyberspace! So just to say, although Seaford is as you say '' a good place for migrants'' (although 'passage' might be stronger!), the call you described ie. 'a rapid clicking sound lasting a few seconds, silence, then repeated several times a minute coming from bushes' sounds rather more like a typical anxious/alarming Wren or Robin and not a Grasshopper Warbler IMO - hope that helps :t:

Another set of nice pics - they look like they're clinging on for dear life don't they!

Btw: Could you please forward the info re: Gos, so I can assure it gets into the 'right hands' - many thanks.

 

[joannec]

So just to say, although Seaford is as you say '' a good place for migrants'' (although 'passage' might be stronger!), the call you described ie. 'a rapid clicking sound lasting a few seconds, silence, then repeated several times a minute coming from bushes' sounds rather more like a typical anxious/alarming Wren or Robin and not a Grasshopper Warbler IMO - hope that helps :t:

Another set of nice pics - they look like they're clinging on for dear life don't they!

.

Even I know robin and wren alarm calls....wasn't that, more high pitched and almost mechanical sounding and faster. It was at Whitbred Hollow, only a mile or so from Beachy Head.

Pictures...well.....still want more reach......just not enough.