Blog

A few pictures from our recent walks around Sussex, and our moth trap, which is finally beginning to have some moths.

The Hairy Dragonfly was at Kithurst Hill, the Spoonbill at a well-known site so closed that it is apparently “irresponsible” to even look towards it from a public footpath, or admit its existence.  The Shelduck chicks are from my favourite dewpond over the down from us.  Prior to finding the pair with 9 chicks there on 20th May, the only time I had seen them there before was on April 4th, despite checking the pond for waders multiple times a week.  Tricky coves, Shelduck…

Hairy Dragonfly

Spoonbill at a top secret site somewhere in the northern hemisphere

Small Elephant Hawk Moth

Poplar (or perhaps Sallow) Kitten

Poplar Hawk Moth

Shelducks

Common Spotted Orchid

Crushing news this week, with the sudden death of my father on Thursday, a few days after his 89th birthday.  My usual eloquence has rather deserted me.  I owe him so much and we’ll miss him so much.

(He was also responsible for about half of the hits on this website.)

Here’s a picture from this time last year of Dad in his favourite place: surrounded by his family.

With migration beginning to tail off, and most of the available birds seen, the focus is a bit more on walking than birds, underlined by my early morning seawatch on Friday, that was practically dead.  On Saturday we had a walk with a bird targeted: the Turtle Doves at Woods Mill.  It was a lovely pre-dawn walk, but a bit cool and cloudy.  We got to Woods Mill at 0600, having walked through Beeding Brooks, continuously accompanied by Cuckoos.  Unfortunately the Turtle Doves didn’t get the memo, and never turned up.  Nevertheless, it was a very pleasant 25 mile walk.  A shorter walk today had more butterflies than birds.

Green Hairstreak

Early morning on Bramber Brooks

Reed Warbler

Cuckoo

Lapwing

Corn Bunting

At least the bullocks were pleased to se me

Karen had an outbreak of sanity, deciding a start at 2:00 am was too silly and decided to leave me to it.  Obviously she was right, so the plan changed and I left at quarter past midnight instead.  A brisk walk got me to my fist stop at half past three (with a Nightingale belting out its song at 2:30) and the Nightjars were already churring and the Woodcocks roding.  The views were shocking, but it was great to hear them back.  Next stop for another early morning specialist, Grasshopper Warbler and found three in one location and at least three in another.  Job done, and a good supporting cast to boot, it was back home, still quite early.  It was a long walk, but for the majority of it I didn’t see a soul.

Another day another sunrise

Reed Bunting

Sedge Warbler

Grasshopper Warbler (it was a long way away and it was the small camera)

Wall

Yellowhammer

Duke of Burgundy

On your wedding anniversary, why not give your wife a lovely bunch of flours?

Steyning is a bit farther away than we normally go at the moment, but it has the nearest Nightingales to home (the clear skies have meant we have had no migrating birds from the house this year).  To maximise distancing and to get there at prime singing time we decided on a dawn raid, leaving the house at 0430.  We certainly weren’t up before the larks, which were singing as we walked up the down, but we were up before the sun – that came up about four miles into the walk.

At Steyning, after a glorious but decidedly cold pre-dawn walk, we had arrived before the Nightingales had thawed out.  We had a bit of a wait, but when they did one gave us a fantastic serenade.  To relive the experience, stand in a blast chiller for about an hour before playing the recording on a loop for about 10 minutes, during which time you can look at the picture for no more than 5 s.

We then moved on to our next target: a bluebell wood.  There’s not many in lockdown distance and our first try had only a few bluebells.  On the way home, though we stumbled across a tiny, but beautiful one.

Up before the dawn

It’s coming

Nearly there

Shouldn’t it be round?

Fallow deer are becoming more common around Steyning, this stag had 9 does with it.

This Nightingale kept us entertained for about 10 minutes, only showing itself once

A bluebell wood at last

You’re desperate for a haircut, but you’ve gripped your wife off on consecutive days on real quality birds: do you dare ask her?  Given that there was no cut-throat razor available, I thought I’d take my chances.  It was a bit of a committee job, but I think I got away with it.  Given that the trimmer was a lockdown purchase, it’s the most expensive haircut I’ve ever had, but it’s certainly not the worst.

I wasn’t offered anything for the weekend, though.

Before: a degree of trepidation

Armed with scissors, a trimmer and a grudge – what could go wrong?

After: several pounds lighter

My best moment as a birder: finding a Hoopoe on my patch.

My worst moment as a birder: watching it fly out of view before Karen got a chance to see it.

There has been an unprecedented influx of Hoopoes into Sussex this month (about 15 birds so far) but the lockdown has meant that even those birds that have hung around have been out of reach, which has been frustrating.  Having been religiously checking paddocks, vicar’s lawns and all short grass around us it was a massive surprise to flush one out of long grass in the evening.  It landed on some cut wood and scrub about 100 m away and sat there for a while: long enough for some record shots.  Before Karen could get to it, it upped and left and we couldn’t refind it.  Having done the same to her the night before with a Turtle Dove, it’s not the best time to ask her to cut my hair.

Here are the dreadful Hoopoe shots and a few other things from the last week.

The Ring Ouzels keep coming: we’ve had at least 10 and probably 13 different birds this month

Stonechat

Early Purple Orchid, one of about 120 spikes in a patch

Spot the odd one out

One of 4 Green Sandpipers we have seen this week

Dingy Skipper

Grizzled Skipper

Common Whitethroat

Wheatear are coming in in large numbers

Hoopoe

Why did it have to fly?

It’s been quiet on the bird front since Saturday, with only a noisy Ring-necked Parakeet adding itself to the house list for the year on Saturday evening.  It’s nice to see, but I hope it doesn’t linger.  Moth trapping has been slow so far – we get very few moths at the start of the season – but Saturday’s haul included a second Brindled Beauty for the house and a first Dotted Chestnut.  In the garden a small Grass Snake has taken up residence.

Brindled Beauty

Dotted Chestnut

Grass Snake

Meanwhile on Cissbury Ring, the ponies were posing.

Our walks continue to be productive, with a good crop of raptors, including our local Peregrine.  A check under the pylon says that it’s partial to a Black-headed Gull.  The local Little Owl has started sunning itself, and on Thursday evening it even had a go at its neighbour, a Barn Owl.  This morning we had more success with a male Pied Flycatcher and a couple of Ring Ouzels, who refused to be photographed.

Peregrine

Red Kite over the garden

Grumpy

A closer view of last weekend’s Hares

Pied Flycatcher

Ring Ouzel

Cowslip