American dream

I didn’t get too much birding in this weekend. On Saturday morning I gave the patch a going over and it started well with a Peregrine fairly high southeast over Mill Pond not long after dawn. I find that this species is often up and at it early doors, but they remain rare visitors to the patch, this being the fourth record of the year. Low numbers from a Surrey/South-East point of view, but Thorncombe Street sits within a wider area that has a very low Peregrine population.

Lesser Black-backed Gull, The Ridge, 8/12/2018.

A blustery westerly meant a few gulls were passing over The Ridge. Four species (Black-headed, Common, Herring and – best of all – an adult Lesser Black-backed) were chalked up with the former trio all on the deck at Bonhurst Farm later. The crops on The Ridge remain desperately devoid of finches and buntings. I’m not sure if it’s a poor crop (it looks it) or the weather is still too mild, but I only managed a single Reed Bunting and 15+ Linnets. Hopefully numbers will pick up.

Elsewhere it was very quiet and my thoughts were drifting toward other things (not least the appealing line-up of football games on later) when pictures of a White-rumped Sandpiper appeared on Whatsapp, courtesy of Matt. It turned out he’d excavated an absolutely dream find on his Pulborough Brooks patch: an inland Yank that was just the 13^th for Sussex, and the first twitchable bird in the county since the 1990s. His account of the day is well worth a read. I headed home for a coffee top-up before eventually deciding to head down to congratulate him and try and get some shots of the bird.

White-rumped Sandpiper (right-hand bird), Pulborough Brooks, 8/12/2018.

My one and only previous White-rumped Sandpiper was at Oare Marshes in Kent, during an almighty thunderstorm several Augusts ago. I got to Pulborough and the Winpenny Hide was already packed. I had a quick chat with Gareth before heading over to the main man who was kicking back in the corner – cup of tea in hand – looking particularly happy! Unfortunately, the White-rumped Sandpiper stayed very distant with a Dunlin (you won’t believe the extent of the crop in the above image), but it was good to be among the excitement. The find is just reward for a really dedicated hustle of Pulborough since he moved down last year and is proof, if ever it was needed, that you’ve just got to keep going in the patch game – any time, any place, it can happen.

A Marsh Harrier performed a close flyby not long before I left. I’ve aged it as a juvenile, mainly based on the fairly uniform plumage and dark brown tail, but also the relatively low-key pale carpal patch on the underwing and gold tips to the upperwing coverts, as well as a thin hand and bulkier arm. The yellow iris perhaps suggests it’s a male but I’ve no idea if that’s a thing in juvenile birds.

Marsh Harrier, Pulborough Brooks, 8/12/2018.

Marsh Harrier, Pulborough Brooks, 8/11/2018.

And that was pretty much it for the weekend. Abel brought up his century of Thorncombe Street birds by connecting with the Water Rails in Phillimore on Sunday, so congratulations to him. I hope some proper winter weather arrives soon as it might liven up The Ridge or Mill Pond, both usually key sites at this time of year. It’d be nice to think 2018 has one late trick up its sleeve. Matt certainly demonstrated that anything’s possible on Saturday, so here’s hoping.