Channel 2023

A mild, windy end to the year has seen the last week go by quietly – at least locally, that is, with most of my recent birding time in fact taking place either side of the English Channel, in East Sussex and the Near Continent. The super Waxwing influx aside, it looks like another uninspiring winter for British and local birding – of course not helped by the unwintry weather. But 2023 started off similarly, and it turned out pretty good …

Waxwings.

Monday 25th

No birding.

Tuesday 26th

A short early morning walk from my parents' house to the beach at Felpham produced several Mediterranean Gulls and a few alcids offshore, plus a surprise Pintail west – a first for me here.

Felpham beach.

Wednesday 27th

It was a miserable, wet and windy day as I returned home from Sussex. On my lunch break I went to see if the Busbridge Waxwings were still there – and they were, with up to 20 still feasting on their favoured rowan …

Waxwings.

Thursday 28th

When it comes to Sussex birding, I'm familiar with West Sussex – but not so much East. So, today, Sam and I planned to visit David in his new place in Hastings and be given a whistle-stop tour of the area, in the company of local birder Tom. Despite the extremely windy conditions we had a fun day, noting 81 species.

Things began somewhat inauspiciously at Castle Water, Rye Harbour, where the fresh breeze ruled out any hoped-for Bittern or Bearded Tit. However, the next site, Pett Level, was far more productive. Here, we managed 50 species, including some quality bits.

Pett Level.

The highlight was a surprise Red-necked Grebe on the easternmost roadside pool – a county rarity and very satisfying find. Thousands of waders including a handful of Ruff, while persistent scanning eventually revealed the flock of White-fronted Geese that winter here – around 20 in total, with a bonus Pink-footed Goose in among them.

Red-necked Grebe.

Other species noted included Raven and Marsh Harrier and, on the sea, good numbers of alcids and Common Scoter, plus singles of Fulmar and Kittiwake.

Mallard.

Next up was a rather unassuming hedgerow a little inland near East Guldeford. Here, Sussex's very last Tree Sparrows hang on in the form of a tiny relic population. After some patience, we eventually all secured views of at least one bird visiting a garden with plenty of House Sparrows.

Tree Sparrow hedge ...

We then headed back towards Hastings, to Combe Valley CP, where a flock of Waxwings had been found yesterday. This easy-to-see group of eight captivated us for a good 45 minutes, trilling away and often flying within feet of us to feed on blackthorn (somewhat unusually). What an influx this is shaping up to be!

Waxwings.

It was then west, to the spectacular Cuckmere Haven, a site where I saw my first Baird's Sandpiper in 2017. The wind had really got up now and at times it was fairly grim, but we still had an enjoyable session along the west side of the site.

Cuckmere Haven.

The highlight was two Caspian Gulls – an adult and first-winter, both of which were found among the huge numbers of Great Black-backed Gulls. A first-winter Yellow-legged Gull was a nice pick out, too.

Caspian Gulls.

We also saw singles of Barnacle Goose, Spotted Redshank and Green Sandpiper, plus a few winter thrushes. The long-staying Long-billed Dowitcher, last seen on 18th, didn't show for us, but of course it was seen the next day!

Spotted Redshank.

We ended at Tide Mills, a rather abrasive site that I've visited a couple of times before. We wanted to try and get thermal imager views of Jack Snipe but ultimately failed, despite putting at least one bird up. A Water Rail was also found with the thermal.

By now the weather had closed in and we abandoned any dusk owl plans, but had enjoyed a fun day.

Tide Mills.

Friday 29th

No birding.

Saturday 30th

A couple of nights in France for New Year's Eve meant an early start to catch the Eurotunnel this morning – and enough time for a morning raid to Belgium for a Western Palearctic tick. I've only really noted birds while passing through Belgium before, but a few hours birding the polders around Vlissegem and De Haan was fun.

Polders north of Vlissegem.

Thousands of geese included stacks of White-fronted and Pink-footed, but the target was two Ross's Geese which have been here since October. Extraordinarily, one of the birds has been confirmed as having been ringed in Nunavut in Arctic Canada. After a bit of cat and mouse, I eventually had to settled for prolonged – but very distant – views of the birds in fields east of Klemskerke. Excuse the awful record shot!

Ross's Geese (honest!).

Despite the less-than-ideal views, there was plenty of other bits to keep the Surrey birder entertained. Not least of course all the geese, which also included a handful of Barnacles, but also thousands of Lapwings, plus Marsh Harriers, Cattle and Great Egrets, Curlews and Golden Plovers. 

White-fronted and Pink-footed Geese and Cattle and Great Egrets.

A Stoat in 'ermine' winter coat was a first for me too – and very memorable.

On the way back to France, a roadside stop at Spuikom harbour in the coastal town of Ostend was productive, with singles of Shag and Great Northern Diver (both uncommon in Belgium) seen, as well as three Black-necked Grebes, four Red-breasted Merganser and a drake Goldeneye.

Shag and Black-necked Grebes.

Sunday 31st

An incredibly windy day, with a severe gale hitting north-west France, saw me venture into the field mid-morning. En route to the coast, a couple of inland stops yielded a covey of Grey Partridges and, at Crécy Forest, a male Hen Harrier and a few Marsh Tits.

Crécy Forest.

My last birding of 2023 took place at the new Parc du Marquenterre reserve on the north side of the Baie de Somme. The site seemed impressive, despite truly uncomfortable conditions that kept the species list down to 49 and contributed to a somewhat quiet feeling.

That said, there were some decent bits to be seen, including a flock of six White-fronted Geese (rare in France) and 42 Spoonbills, including some Dutch-ringed birds.

White-fronted Geese and Spoonbills.

Other species of note good numbers of dabbling duck (upwards of 400 Pintail), six Goldeneye, 40 Black-tailed Godwits, moderate numbers of common waders and two White Storks.