-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Sussex Birding (7 Viewers)
- Thread starter Ben Rackstraw
- Start date
deborah4
Well-known member
joannechattaway said:
Serves you right for even thinking about becoming a stinky dispicable low-down twitcher! :'D (just kidding
) Btw. Did you say you saw Willow Warbler at CH last week? - that would be a good early sighting - don't know whether the Warnham one has been confirmed yet. Anyone else seen WW already?
Mark43
Well-known member
deborah4 said:Serves you right for even thinking about becoming a stinky dispicable low-down twitcher! :'D (just kidding
Willow Warbler at Pulborough and Pagham this week.
Mark43
Well-known member
A good day for Common Buzzards today with 2 over the Severals,Church Norton,one over Bury Hill and another over my house in Gossops Green drifting south east pursued by 2 Crows.
Nice group of Red Legged Partridge's in a field by the entrance to Church Norton this morning.First time i have got a close up look at these birds.....very striking.
Group of 8 Ringed Plover on the shingle spit where the Shelduck roost at Church Norton.
Willow Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat at Sidlesham Visitor Centre.......not seen by me........missed them by a few minutes unfortunately.
Great Northern Diver off of Selsey Bill early this morning but not much else in the 30 minutes i was there.
Nice group of Red Legged Partridge's in a field by the entrance to Church Norton this morning.First time i have got a close up look at these birds.....very striking.
Group of 8 Ringed Plover on the shingle spit where the Shelduck roost at Church Norton.
Willow Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat at Sidlesham Visitor Centre.......not seen by me........missed them by a few minutes unfortunately.
Great Northern Diver off of Selsey Bill early this morning but not much else in the 30 minutes i was there.
Ben Rackstraw
Well-known member
Have been without computer for most of this weekend, as PC World have been playing with it. But back online now and everything seems to be working properly.
Birding highlights of the weekend include:
* Ringtail Hen Harrier hunting in front of West Mead Hide at Pulborough on Saturday afternoon. Also 2 LRPs from Nettley's and 1-2 Willow Warblers, one of which was combining normal Willow Warbler song with a passable impression of the surrounding Chiff Chaffs.
* Female Merlin on the Downs near Sompting on Saturday evening
* 7 Great Northern Divers on the sea off Selsey while we were there on Sunday (between 8 and 10am), a Bonxie past and my first Sandwich Terns, Fulmar and Gannets of the year (not done much seawatching yet!)
:storm: Still no LSW, attempts running into double figures now!
Birding highlights of the weekend include:
* Ringtail Hen Harrier hunting in front of West Mead Hide at Pulborough on Saturday afternoon. Also 2 LRPs from Nettley's and 1-2 Willow Warblers, one of which was combining normal Willow Warbler song with a passable impression of the surrounding Chiff Chaffs.
* Female Merlin on the Downs near Sompting on Saturday evening
* 7 Great Northern Divers on the sea off Selsey while we were there on Sunday (between 8 and 10am), a Bonxie past and my first Sandwich Terns, Fulmar and Gannets of the year (not done much seawatching yet!)
:storm: Still no LSW, attempts running into double figures now!
Mark43
Well-known member
Ben Rackstraw said:
Only saw one GND but i didn't stay long.........if you were wearing a camo coat then i might have said hello to you........perhaps we should all wear name tags.
Nice Green Sandpiper at Pulborough today from Westmead Hide........a first for me......... plus a few Redshank scattered about and a resplendent male Bullfinch at the bottom of the hill from the Visitors centre..........lovely to see as its not a bird i seem to see very often.
joannec
Well-known member
Hi Everyone
I made an unexpected trip to Newhaven this afternoon and took the opportunity to go to Tide Mills for a couple of hours. There were at least 10 wheatear,most just inland from the beach in the scrubby land near the harbour. Also, many skylark, lost track of how many but about 30, linnet 1 buzzard, 1 willow warbler(?), a pair of rock pipit, 4 curlew flying in and landed near the screen. I didn't have time to do a seawatch and there was no sign of the purple sandpiper, guess they've gone Nick. Could have stayed much longer but there were other (non birding) things I had to do. :-C
Also had a new garden tick today, grey heron raiding the pond!!
Joanne
I made an unexpected trip to Newhaven this afternoon and took the opportunity to go to Tide Mills for a couple of hours. There were at least 10 wheatear,most just inland from the beach in the scrubby land near the harbour. Also, many skylark, lost track of how many but about 30, linnet 1 buzzard, 1 willow warbler(?), a pair of rock pipit, 4 curlew flying in and landed near the screen. I didn't have time to do a seawatch and there was no sign of the purple sandpiper, guess they've gone Nick. Could have stayed much longer but there were other (non birding) things I had to do. :-C
Also had a new garden tick today, grey heron raiding the pond!!
Joanne
Last edited:
Mark43
Well-known member
joannechattaway said:
Was hoping to see Wheatear down at Pagham on Sunday but none about.
Hopefully we will catch up with them on the 22nd Joanne.
Shame about the Purple Sandpiper......it's certainly seems to be a good spot for them there although saying that i still haven't seen one. |:$| |:$|
wetlands_wedge
Well-known member
Mark43 said:
Ben Rackstraw
Well-known member
JohnnyH said:
Thanks for the 'heads-up' John, no chance for me to get there by the time I'd got back from work on Fri evening, but could pass on the info to my Dad just down the road from Pulborough, for him to get another 'Sussex bird' up on me. Didn't think it would stay into Saturday, and indeed a lie-in proved better use of time!
A late afternoon jaunt out to Ashdown (Old Lodge) yesterday yielded a couple of very pink Lesser Redpolls, single Tree Pipit and Wood Lark, and I managed to call in a couple of Cuckoos. Willow Warblers and Chiffs in full song.
The sea very quiet at Selsey Bill today... the regulation GND (4), a trickle of Sandwich/Common Tern passage, a couple of Bonxies and a few Little Gulls and Common Scoter past. Highlight was a cracking male Redstart in one of the gardens.
Then moved on to Church Norton, where eventually got good views of the Grasshopper Warbler in the Churchyard plus a couple of Swallows in and Sedge Warblers in full voice. Had to head home at lunchtime, so didn't have time to pop in to the Visitor Centre at Sidlesham where a male Pied Fly was showing off this afternoon.
joannec
Well-known member
Ben Rackstraw said:
Thanks for that Ben, may go up to AF during the week. I don't know about the rest of you Sussex people but I am hearing chiffchaffs all the time, never really known a spring this chiffchaffy.
I heard my first nightingale :hi: :hi: of the year today from my garden comming from the woods next to my house :loveme:
Joanne
Last Year's Man
Active member
Ravens at Lewes
A cracking pair of Raven over the Cliffe at Lewes yesterday. Being continuously and incessantly mobbed by the resident Jackdaws. You forget quite how massive they are until seen in context with everyday birds. They looked three or even four times the size. Lovely barreling and soaring views - the Ravens were absolutely unfazed by the mobbing, and even seemed to be enjoying the aerial sparring. Watched them both for 10 minutes until they landed in a tree at the top, and started preening eachother.
I've always loved these birds - something regal and primeval about them. Not seen one in the UK for ages, too.
And best of all, I was on a routine trip into the town with a 2 year old in the car seat and only chucked the binos on the front seat as a last-minute 'just in case'...
A cracking pair of Raven over the Cliffe at Lewes yesterday. Being continuously and incessantly mobbed by the resident Jackdaws. You forget quite how massive they are until seen in context with everyday birds. They looked three or even four times the size. Lovely barreling and soaring views - the Ravens were absolutely unfazed by the mobbing, and even seemed to be enjoying the aerial sparring. Watched them both for 10 minutes until they landed in a tree at the top, and started preening eachother.
I've always loved these birds - something regal and primeval about them. Not seen one in the UK for ages, too.
And best of all, I was on a routine trip into the town with a 2 year old in the car seat and only chucked the binos on the front seat as a last-minute 'just in case'...
Ben Rackstraw
Well-known member
After giving Selsey Bill a couple of shots in recent weeks, thought I better get an 'insurance visit' in to Splash Point, Seaford - especially as it's closer to me and given some of the recent reports. Weather forecast of a NE wind did not look too promising, but I'd booked the day off so it was too late to change plans now. So alarm set for 4.30 am, saw me getting the deck chair out of the car boot at 6am, the first birder there. I'd forgotten to look out my gloves at home - how glad was I that they were in my fleece pocket from last week - it was cold this morning!
Not a classic seawatch day, with prolonged periods with nothing at all to look at bar the resident Kittiwake and Fulmar. Barely any tern passage - just 5 'Commics' and some commuting Sandwich. Plenty of Bar-t Godwits passing though - may have got into 3 figures by the time we packed up at 10.15am. And overall, quality made up for quantity...
Highlights were:-
Manx Shearwater 1E @ 6.40 am
Great Skua 2E
POMARINE SKUA 4E @ 8 am - 3 light and a single dark phase, fairly close in, all with full 'spoons' - smashing!
At least 6 Yellow Wagtails in
Black-throated Diver 1E
A handful of Razorbills and Guillemots
And, bizarrely 2 Barnacle Geese flying high E (Cat A, C or E - what do you reckon?!)
As we'd made a start in an easterly direction, we carried on to Pett/Pannel Valley area and connected with the breeding plumage Spotted Redshank and a fine drake Garganey. Stunned by the sheer nos. of Avocets and Med Gulls here this spring. Finished off with a Stoat bounding towards us along the footpath to a distance of c5 m when he suddenly realised something was up and disappeared into the reeds.
Not a bad day overall!
Not a classic seawatch day, with prolonged periods with nothing at all to look at bar the resident Kittiwake and Fulmar. Barely any tern passage - just 5 'Commics' and some commuting Sandwich. Plenty of Bar-t Godwits passing though - may have got into 3 figures by the time we packed up at 10.15am. And overall, quality made up for quantity...
Highlights were:-
Manx Shearwater 1E @ 6.40 am
Great Skua 2E
POMARINE SKUA 4E @ 8 am - 3 light and a single dark phase, fairly close in, all with full 'spoons' - smashing!
At least 6 Yellow Wagtails in
Black-throated Diver 1E
A handful of Razorbills and Guillemots
And, bizarrely 2 Barnacle Geese flying high E (Cat A, C or E - what do you reckon?!)
As we'd made a start in an easterly direction, we carried on to Pett/Pannel Valley area and connected with the breeding plumage Spotted Redshank and a fine drake Garganey. Stunned by the sheer nos. of Avocets and Med Gulls here this spring. Finished off with a Stoat bounding towards us along the footpath to a distance of c5 m when he suddenly realised something was up and disappeared into the reeds.
Not a bad day overall!
