TRIP TO SUSSEX

 It's been a while since I've visited Sussex, so when a  friend suggested meeting up I decided to book an airbnb for a couple of nights near her before going on to stay with one of my daughters in Kent over half term. I also thought I'd try and include a couple of bird watching trips. 

So Thursday morning found me driving to Pulborough Brooks rspb reserve in West Sussex. It was a glorious sunny day and I pulled up in the car park soon after 10 a.m. Going out through the visitor centre I followed the path to the hides. Firstly I stopped at a special area where smaller birds are regularly fed...sunflower hearts had been put in various piles on  picnic tables and were being regularly visited by members of rhe tit family - great, blue and coal tits.  A bug hotel made from pallets was doubling up as a bird table with bird food put inside and visitors  to it included dunnocks and robins.

The hides looking over some pools  were busy with birders . Geese and ducks were numerous on the water whilst a cream crowned marsh harrier hunted over the reed beds. 

After enjoying soup from the café I made my way to another part of the reserve where a fungi trail had been created. Arrows pointed the way while information signs had been placed next to various types of fungi - I was amazed at all the different types!

My middle day (Friday) was originally planned to be  birding morning in Ashdown Forest. However a dismal day meant that there were very few birds about and my trip to Old Lodge nature reserve failed to produce ang birds at all! 

Saturday's birding trip sounded more promising despite a forecast of 30% rain. I had arranged to join a local rspb  group from East Grinstead on a visit to Rye harbour Nature reserve,  a large reserve on the coast. with a range of habitats. Fourteen of us met in the car park and I was made to feel welcome by the other group members. Although mainly cloudy there were a few patches of blue sky and no breeze and it felt mild. Hopefully the rain would hold off as it was a very open area ,the only shelter being the hides.

We headed down the wide track onto the reserve and didn't need to go far before we found our first birding area, a small stream. A Cettis warbler was calling intermittently and a kingfisher perched on one of the overhanging branches for a while before flying off again. A bit further on we stopped to look over to some pools  where we watched redshanks, little egret, spoonbills and  curlew amongst the various ducks. 

We continued walking slowly until someone spotted a fast flying merlin which flew down and perched on a distant log amongst the rough grass in the fenced off area to the right of the path. It sat motionless for some time before flying up on to a wooden post about 20 - 30 metres from the path. People were walking past regularly but it seemed unbothered. One of our group with a big camera and lens decided to walk ahead of the group to get a closer look so I joined him and we were able to get some very good views and some photos.  I've only seen a merlin a few times and certainly never that close. The rest of the group caught us up and we were all treated to excellent views through telescopes owned by several of the group.  Suddenly the bird left its perch and flew at speed after a goldfinch though we couldn't  see whether it was successful as it disappeared over a building.

We made our way across some wooden planks up on to a shingle bank above the sea. The tide was coming in and we could see groups of small waders at the waters edge. These included ringed plovers and a single sanderling as well as a few gulls and oyster catchers though not near enough for photographing. We returned on a different route and entered a  hide where several people ate their lunch though I hadn't brought mine with me. We saw several little grebes feeding right in front of the hide as well as a little egret. Various ducks and geese were on the islands as well as a few more waders including black tailed godwits and dunlin. 

On the way back to the start we found a pair of stonechats perching on fence posts and had  a pleasant surprise when a dartford warbler appeared, flitting about in the scrub behind the fence.

All in all an enjoyable and productive day with a couple more species new for the year. 

WADER SATURDAY AT SLIMBRIDGE

Slimbridge had designated this weekend a 'Wild Wader Weekend; being peak migration time, high tides were anticipated to push many waders up on to the scrapes and pools in front of the hides. With  members being allowed to  access the reserve earlier than the general public, I arrived just after 9 a.m. I came through rain but once on the motorway the sky cleared resulting in a sunny and fairly mild day.

 After showing my membership card, I entered by the members gate, and made my way towards the hides. There were several people already in the Rushy Hide, attracted by a large number (25+) of snipe which were very close to the hide. A little egret also showed well.   With high tide at 10 o'clock, I ensured I was at the Estuary Tower in good time. Many birds could be seen, although you needed a telescope to make out the smaller birds, including ringed plovers and dunlin.  One of the guides kindly allowed me to look through theirs and  I was also shown a group of 5 white fronted geese, which were the first autumn arrivals at the Centre. Other geese present included greylags, Canada geese, barnacle geese, and a (hybrid?) bar-headed goose, presumed escapee.  As high tide came, the water spilled over its banks at one point and a flock of curlew flew up onto the edge of the estuary. A large flock of golden plovers flew overhead and a flock of starlings were constantly on the move.

The South Lake hide was directly in front of the sun, causing a sort of monochrome effect with silhouettes of birds. On the way to the Kingfisher hide, I paused by the dragonfly pool,  and saw a ruddy darter and several migrant hawker dragonflies. A field with longhorn cattle  also hosted 16 cattle egret,  distantly visible from the Kingfisher hide. 

snipe

little egret

high tide on the Severn Estuary

green sandpiper

lapwing

migrant hawker

goosander from the aviary

UPTON WARREN RESERVE

 Without giving myself too much pressure to increase my year total, last Saturday (12th Oct)  I decided to re-visit a Worcestershire wildlife Trust Reserve just south of Bromsgrove. Upton Warren is divided into two halves, with different habitats, freshwater and saline, each part having a number of hides. 

On my last visit, it was a cold, frosty morning with fog which never lifted during my visit, so I was interested to see what the reserve really was like. After an uneventful hour or so drive from home, I arrived to find just one other car present in the smallish car park. It was sunny but slightly colder than of late which made for a pleasant visit. 

The first hide I visited overlooked a largish lake known as Moors Pool and was accessed via some wooden steps.  I could immediately see a little egret fishing below the hide, and much further away, a great white egret and grey heron were also present. Other birds included the usual species of ducks - shoveler, teal, and mallard -  and a family of mute swans. I watched the little egret as it made its away across in front of the hide.    Another hide overlooked a small reed bed and also had some bird feeders but all that I saw today was blue tits and great tits. The hoped- for water rail didn't appear although had been seen recently. 

I had to walk down a hedge lined path to the hides on the opposite side of the lake. This had some beautiful coloured bushes and berries and I spotted a wren flitting about about amongst some of them. A flock of linnets were twittering loudly at the top of another tree, but hard to see amongst the leaves. Cettis warblers could be heard from time to time all round the reserve and I did get a brief glimpse of one amongst some bushes. I missed a quick glimpse of a kingfisher but did see a female reed bunting. 

The area known as the 'Flashes'  is accessed from an Outdoor adventure Centre  carpark just down the road. I didn't actually get to visit this part on my last visit so was keen to see what sort of birds were attracted there.  The first two hides  were small and overlooking some reeds and a small stream with a few mallards present. The third was much larger and overlooked a bigger area of water dotted about with islands. It had potential for waders but the only one I saw was a single lapwing today.  Someone said that they had seen 5 curlew but they were no where to be seen. A few smaller birds such as pied wagtail, meadow pipits, linnets and goldfinches were feeding on the mud. Shovelers and teal were amongst the ducks and swans. 

The area known as the 'Flashes'  is accessed from an Outdoor adventure Centre  carpark just down the road. I didn't actually get to visit this part on my last visit so was keen to see what sort of birds were attracted there.  The first two hides  were small and overlooking some reeds and a small stream with a few mallards present. The third was much larger and overlooked a bigger area of water dotted about with islands. It had potential for waders but the only one I saw was a single lapwing today.  Someone said that they had seen 5 curlew but they were no where to be seen. A few smaller birds such as pied wagtail, meadow pipits, linnets and goldfinches were feeding on the mud. Shovelers and teal were amongst the ducks and swans. 

AUTUMN MORNING IN THE CWP AND A NEW PERSONAL RECORD

 There was a definite chill to the air this morning when I visited the Cotswold Water Park. In particular I was looking for whinchats at Blakehill nature reserve, as that would give me   a personal record of 175 bird species seen in a year. Whinchats are migratory and last year I didn't see any at all  but today I was hopeful as there had been some recorded there recently. Blakehill is an old airfield which can become very windy but today there was very little wind and with the sunshine it became quite pleasant as the air temperature warmed up. 

The main track is bordered by post and wire  fencing and I kept my eyes focussed on these, as birds are  more easily seen when they fly up to perch on the fence posts. After a while, I noticed several birds on some posts and wire a bit further on.  I couldn't make out if they were  stonechats or whinchats or something else but, before I got close enough to identify them,  frustratingly, a vehicle came down the track and disturbed them so they flew  off. However,  I continued to walk down the track to a wooden seat  which is often a good point to stop and look. I spoke to a couple of people sitting  there, but disappointingly, they said they had seen several stonechats but no whinchats. I kept walking and it was quite a while before I saw any further  sign of any birds  but eventually I could make out the shape of a bird on a post which was further away, but accessible down a path between some cattle fields. As I got nearer I realised that there were three or four birds perching on the fence and then dropping down into the grass before flying up to the posts again. 

I stopped at a convenient point, so as not to disturb them, and through my binoculars  realised that amongst a few stonechats, there were  whinchats too. You can tell the difference by the white 'eyebrow' that the whinchat has. I had reached my target 175th species, with a few more months in the year, still to go !  I watched them for a time, hoping they might come closer, but only a stonechat came and perched briefly in a  tall bush nearby.  

Next I headed over to Lower Moor Farm nature reserve, Oaksey, where  I was hoping for butterflies, in particular Painted Ladies  which might have been attracted to some buddleia bushes.  However, I only found a large white and a brimstone. By way of compensation I did get  a distant view of  two of the resident otters though and a nice view of a Southern Hawker dragonfly. I did the circuit of the lakes but it was pretty quiet on the bird front.  With limited time I had to resist the temptation to visit the rather attractive Dragonfly cafe,  and instead,  headed home for a late lunch.

stonechat

whinchat

stonechat

 

southern hawker

large white butterfly

Brimstone butterfly

otters

AFTER THE RAIN AT FARMOOR

 Farmoor Reservoir often hosts some 'good' birds at this time of year and earlier this week, there were sightings of greenshank and a little stint. Yesterday's heavy rain also brought in rarities such as Arctic skua and scoters. Sadly I couldn't arrange to get there until today. It had been raining and thundering earlier but looking at the forecast I quickly realised that it was due to dry up midmorning, with rising temperatures and little wind. 

I therefore quickly packed a lunch and headed over to the reservoir to see if anything had turned up. The water was very calm and the air had  a greyness to it, despite  feeling fairly warm.  I picked out a yellow legged gull on one of the buoys to add to my year list. On enquiring, I was told that there were a couple of little terns around, and I soon spotted these, twisting and turning over the water as they flew from  one side of the reservoir to the other, passing fairly close. However, as the weather brightened they disappeared.

I took my time to cross the causeway, looking out for anything unusual. There were many geese (greylags and Canada geese) all along the shoreline and coots, tufted ducks and mallards in the water. There were also good numbers of great crested grebes, now mostly turning to winter grey and white plumage. However, I didn't spot any waders. 

I decided to follow the path all around the larger part of the reservoir, known as F2, I saw a group of common sandpipers, but these were very flighty and I did not get close enough for any photos. There was a raft of cormorants, some little grebes and today the regular flock of  approx 50 feral snow geese was also present. 

Rather than go back to the car, I decided to  go up the causeway again, to see if anything else had turned up. Near to the far side, I caught up with a lady I recognised  who was photographing a turnstone off the side of the causeway. It was very confiding and eventually decided to sit down and rest in front of us! Whilst chatting to her, she expressed an interest in seeing some dragonflies, but was unsure where the ponds and hides were so I offered to show her. From the Pinkhill hide we spotted an emerald damselfly, before being confronted with a group of horned calves who appeared amongst the trees and reeds and waded into the water to munch away at the vegetation. 

Moving to the Shrike Meadow hide along the Thames Path, I showed her the areas of water separated by a little bridge which was a popular area for dragonflies.  We were pleased to see both migrant and southern hawker, together with brown hawkers and ruddy and common darters. Having spent a while there, we headed back to the reservoir and whilst my companion continued around F2, I went back via the causeway once more.  I   saw someone photographing some small waders, and realised that they were juvenile ringed plovers. Although they did not yet have the orange bill or  bright orange legs, they  also did not have the yellow eye ring which distinguishes the little ringed plover. They were feeding alongside the turnstone and seemed unworried by my presence as they ran along the water's edge below me. 

I'd spent longer than anticipated at the Reservoir, but had added 2 more species which brings my total to 174. I'm close to reaching my 175 target  and personal record. Maybe I'd better increase that to 180...