ADUR ESTUARY: A RUFF here plus 50 Ringed Plover, 60 Lapwing, 2 Dunlin, 3 Kingfishers plus 2 Sparrowhawks. Also 2 flocks of House Martins - 15 and around 80 birds each (SOS). Little Egret, four Grey Herons, two Mute Swans, a Little Grebe, 10 Turnstones, a Sparrowhawk, two Kestrels and 10 Redshanks (BirdTrack).
GORING: Two Stonechats at Sea Lane (BirdTrack).
PATCHING HILL: this morning a Woodlark flew northwest at about 9am, surprising given that little else was moving overhead. A Brambling flew over, as did a single Swallow. Other birds around included two Chiffchaffs, two Stonechats, 3 Grey Partridges, 7 Red-legged Partridges, c25 Yellowhammers (including a male singing for several minutes), 4 Corn Buntings, c50 Skylarks, c20 Song Thrushes, 1 Red Kite and a Firecrest (RS)
CISSBURY RING: Birds processed during ringing included 17 Chiffchaffs, 14 Goldcrests, 11 Long-tailed Tits, a Sparrowhawk, a Magpie and a Treecreeper. Also Tawny Owls, Ravens, Bullfinches, etc (VB). Also six RING OUZELS, a Chiffchaff and four Stonechats (BirdTrack).
A heavy
mist shrouded Cissbury Ring as 16 gathered to join me for Sunday's walk,
but fortunately a keen northerly had dispersed this by the time we set
off and eventually from the summit we had clear and extensive views over
the downland. Finding birds was perhaps slow to begin but before we
entered the fort we had seen a couple of tumbling Raven, singles of Carrion Crow and Magpie and more distant swirls of Jackdaw and Rook (and later at least 2 Jay for our corvid collection). We also had Stonechat (a male and a female), Chiffchaff and the first of several bright and cheerful Robin. The first raptor was a Kestrel (and later we added a Common Buzzard mobbed by a couple of Crow). Meadow Pipit and Goldfinch were to be seen and eventually a small group of House Martin and a single Greenfinch.
'The' Yew tree however looked largely stripped and devoid of activity. A
couple of black thrushes darting across the path and eventually a
just-present chack gave me some hope. We abandoned the Yew and entered
the Hawthorn scrub and after a short while a group of 5 Ring Ouzel
burst out and arrayed themselves on tops of trees showing off their
silver shimmer in the sunlight with a male with a perfect white gorget
perched closest before taking off and circling in front of us.
Eventually the south side of the scrub we were called back by two
further groups of 3 Ring Ouzel suggesting we had at
least 6 birds, perhaps more. Circling back on the south side of the
fortifications we found a small group of Long-tailed Tit and a Chaffinch whilst the diligent located a Wren. Sadly we found a very recently predated Ring Ouzel but further on we saw a single and then a further distant group of 3 Ring Ouzel all very much alive and purposeful. A Green Woodpecker
low on a trunk gave us one of our last sightings before we headed back
to the car park. Having told everyone that the last two walks I had led
at Cissbury Ring had given counts of 27 we were pleased to manage 30!
(although later I realised that my personal sightings had remained at 27
as there were 3 birds I hadn't seen personally!). (SOS).
LADYWELL: Birds processed during ringing included two Treecreepers, 19 Goldcrests, two Firecrests, two Song Thrushes, 34 Chiffchaffs, two Chaffinches, four Blackcaps and seven Long-tailed Tits. Other birds included two Skylarks, a Kestrel, a Little Egret, four House Martins, a Cetti's Warbler, two Buzzards, a Grey Heron, two Grey Wagtails and a Peregrine (CB et al).
SHOREHAM FORT: A SNOW BUNTING today (SOS).
