The year that keeps on giving

It’s been another busy and fun autumn week or so, in the year that keeps on giving. With two days of leave last Thursday and Friday, I spent a bit of time in Kent and Sussex trying to capitalise on the superb run of easterlies that delivered a plethora of Sibes to the East Coast. Otherwise it’s largely been local stuff, mainly playing the weather, which has been a nice mixed bag of late.

A typical Sussex country scene ... with a Bearded Vulture in the background!

Thursday 15th

I’d pondered making the pilgrimage to see the famous Bearded Vulture when it first set up shop in the Peak District in the summer, and also when it was in Lincolnshire a few weeks back. The spectacle of a wild vulture in Britain, regardless of any origin question marks, can’t be authentically questioned be even the staunchest ‘anti-twitchers’ (see here for an excellent comment on this topic by Josh). I never did make it, though, but like many anticipated it would work its way south at some point …

So, with news that it had roosted not far from Beachy Head, East Sussex, on the night of 14th meant I was primed and in position at dawn. From the moment I clapped eyes on ‘Vigo’, I regretted taking so long to make the effort – what a bird! In rather miserable conditions she sat tight in a large oak on a farm near Litlington before, after a fair wait, she took off, to the delight of the onlookers.

It was a truly awe-inspiring British birding experience, as this colossal vulture lumbered over the Sussex countryside. I couldn’t care less if Bearded Vulture makes it onto my British list – this was a moment I’ll never forget. Later that day, she departed high over the English Channel from Beachy Head. Hopefully, she’s on the European mainland now.

Vigo in action at Litlington.

This mad encounter glossed over some excellent vis-mig that was going on over the South Downs as we watched. The highlight, as I sprinted up the track at Church Farm to get to the vulture lookout, was two Lapland Buntings that bundled fairly low north over the footpath. I picked them up on call and managed to enjoy binocular views as they sauntered on, calling as they went. Annoyingly, though, the rush meant my camera and sound recorder were packed away, meaning I failed to document the birds – I later found out Lapland Bunting is description in Sussex.

I suspect they may have come off a series of ploughed fields, where plenty of Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were feeding, though there was a lot of easterly movement that morning including Bramblings, Crossbills, Lesser Redpolls and thrushes.

With the rest of the day spare, I headed to Hastings Country Park. This is a monster site – sitting out facing the Channel, with heaps of superb habitat. It gets very poor coverage (despite having Wallcreeper and Red-flanked Bluetail on its site list) though, to be fair, there is a truly daunting amount of cover.

Merlin at Hastings Country Park.

I didn’t really know where to begin, but only a few minutes out of the car and a Yellow-browed Warbler was picked up, calling towards the coastguard cottages. A nice start. The following four hours were not quite as exciting, unfortunately, but there was still a really nice passage of finches (with a Merlin in hot pursuit), two Ring Ouzels, two Firecrests and two Dartford Warblers. This site must get so much stuff, but finding it is presumably far from straightforward.

Friday 16th

I teamed up with Josh at Langdon Cliffs, by the Port of Dover, which he, Rich, Jamie and Dante have been pioneering for a couple of years now, with some great results. During a 10-mile and seven hour walk, from the National Trust car park to Fan Bay and back, we failed to get into the scarce zone (and were completely gripped by Pete finding a Dusky Warbler less than a mile from us) but it was a really fun session.

The highlight was probably a count of 17 Ring Ouzels, mainly in Langdon Hole, where at least 12 were present. What superb birds these are, whether you’re up a mountain, inland or on the coast. Also at Langdon Hole, a Short-eared Owl was flushed from some scrub and departed north. A Firecrest was found near the car park, but the only warblers were Chiffchaff and Blackcap.

Short-eared Owl and Ring Ouzel action from Langdon Cliffs.

Vis-mig was excellent, especially early on, with three Woodlarks very good value in this part of the world and probably fresh in from France (which you could see clearly across the Channel). Some 420 Goldfinches, 20 Crossbills, two Bramblings and 170 Lesser Redpolls were also moving. Two vis-migging Tree Sparrows were novel for me, as were local Corn Buntings. Check out the below Rock Pipit flight call recording for a nice comparison with Meadow Pipit (which calls about eight seconds in).

Corn Bunting at Fan Bay.

Saturday 17th

A pre-dawn stomp around the Lammas Lands didn’t produce any snipe of any species, though a Stonechat, two Reed Buntings and a Siskin were logged. It was much livelier at Shackleford, where the highlight was a Golden Plover. Initially heard, it was flying ahead of a few Lapwings and erratically headed very high north. 

Given it was first seen fairly low, and the Lapwings later landed in the big north field, I suspect all four birds were on the deck at the south end before being flushed by a dog. It was only my second local record of the year. Indeed, since the end of the Tuesley Farm maega-flock, this species is hard to pin down locally.

Other Shackleford bits included my first Brambling for the site, which also flew north, and a few Lesser Redpolls, all of which mean I’ve seen 100 species on this little farm this year. 60 odd Skylarks was a good count and two Swallows east will probably be my last of the year. Hopefully the alalfa grows back soon as the cover is needed for the bigger flocks of finches and buntings.

The final site of the morning was Unstead Sewage Farm, where a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was a delightful surprise, feeding silently along the main path. My first at the site since 1999, when I was little more than a toddler! Other highlights included three Lapwings on the Lagoon, along with 28 Teal and two Little Egrets.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Teal and Lapwing at Unstead SF.

Sunday 18th

News had emerged the previous night of that rarest of things – a south-west Surrey year tick that I might be able to twitch! There’s been a real lack of things for me to go for locally this year, so Keith Harris’s report of a Black Redstart, between Rushmoor and Frensham Little Pond, was welcome. Thankfully it was still present, though proved rather elusive as it flicked around some horse paddocks in the early morning gloom. My 153rd bird in south-west Surrey this year.

Easterly winds in October are a good recipe for local Black Redstarts.

A few Crossbills flew over before I headed off. A check of the Great Pond produced little, save 42 Tufted Duck, while the house pond at Cutt Mill held a drake Gadwall and 34 Mandarins. Later on, a walk through Chiddingfold Forest was quiet, bar two Marsh Tits and five Crossbills.

Monday 19th

Another crazy local day, with a Little Bunting being found at Thursley Common. I wrote a post specifically for this here.

Tuesday 20th

Grey and windy, with Tuesley Farm very quiet first thing. Snowdenham Mill Pond was a lot more vibrant, with four Shoveler, nine Gadwall and eight Teal highlighting. Perhaps it’ll be a good winter for wildfowl here, after two poor ones in a row

Wednesday 21st

No birding.

Thursday 22nd

A walk around Shackleford first thing was fairly quiet, although a couple of Crossbills and four Lesser Redpolls flew over and a late House Martin bombed south. At least 16 Red Kites were in the area.

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A quick check of the Cutt Mill house pond produced a Gadwall pair and a Kingfisher.