Term 6 2016: Bird List

A great list of 91 species, which easily beats the previous record of 76 from last year.

Green Woodpecker at Pulborough Brooks

There were three lifetime firsts, Serin and Quail from the same morning at Shooters Bottom, and Yellow-legged Gull from Prince's Park.

A Buzzard being mobbed over Hill Road Eastbourne

There were noticeably few wildfowl and wader species, but good numbers of raptors with seven species; Hobbies are almost guaranteed on Pevensey Levels at the moment. Eight species of gull is pleasing, as are seven species of warbler and three of bunting.

Meadow Pipit at Wilmington

Other notable species include Turtle Dove, Lesser Whitethroat, Cuckoo, Marsh Harrier, Bullfinch and Spotted Flycatcher.

Wren at Alciston

The ones that got away, species I expected to see but did not, were Shelduck and Treecreeper.

Mating Large Red Damselflies, our back garden pond

Term 6 2016 complete list:

Mute Swan

Greylag Goose

Canada Goose

Mallard

Tufted Duck

Red-legged Partridge

Quail

Pheasant

Northern Fulmar Gannet

Great Crested Grebe

Grey Heron

Little Egret

Cormorant

Red Kite

Marsh Harrier

Sparrowhawk

Common Buzzard

Kestrel

Hobby

Peregrine Falcon

Moorhen

Coot

Oystercatcher

Little Ringed Plover

Northern Lapwing

Common Snipe

Green Sandpiper

Common Redshank

Kittiwake

Black-headed Gull

Common Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Herring Gull

Yellow-legged Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Common Tern

Stock Dove

Woodpigeon

Feral Pigeon

Collared Dove

European Turtle Dove

Common Cuckoo

Common Swift

Kingfisher

Green Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Magpie

Jay

Jackdaw

Rook

Carrion Crow

Raven

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Skylark

Sand Martin

Swallow

House Martin

Long-tailed Tit

Common Chiffchaff

Sedge Warbler

Reed Warbler

Blackcap

Garden Warbler

Lesser Whitethroat

Common Whitethroat

Goldcrest

Wren

Nuthatch

Starling

Blackbird

Song Thrush

Spotted Flycatcher

Robin

European Stonechat

Dunnock

House Sparrow

Grey Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Meadow Pipit

Rock Pipit

Chaffinch

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Serin

Linnet

Bullfinch

Yellowhammer

Reed Bunting

Corn Bunting

Term 6 2016: Highlights

Despite some lovely warm weather at the end, this term has been unseasonably cold, wet and gloomy. Nevertheless, I have been able to get out quite a bit and have experienced some fantastic wildlife.

The many highlights include a huge whirling group of House Martins at Uppark, a marvellous Broad Bodied Chaser at Lullington Heath, a huge drift of Poppies above Jevington and a pair of nesting Common Terns driving off a Grey Heron at Warnham LNR.

My top five Wildlife Wonders of Term 6 2016:

#5 Water Scorpion, Frog Firle 10th July

Nearly 4cm long. Sinister and dark,  with fantastic pincer front legs and a long spike of a tail.

#4 Spotted Flycatcher, Uppark 17th July

Lovely views of an elusive bird that I rarely see.

#3 Yellow-legged Gull, Prince's Park Eastbourne 9th July

A lifetime first. Thick-billed and larger than the juvenile Herring Gulls, with longer primaries. It drove off adult Herring Gulls from food.

#2 Turtle Dove, Alciston 7th June

Marvellous views of only my second ever Turtle Dove. It even began to purr.

#1 Pair of Kingfishers, Warnham LNR 2nd July

Every day with a Kingfisher is a day of joy. Unparalleled views of an adult hovering like a Pied Kingfisher, then two birds perching together. Amazing.

Uppark, National Trust

Amazing numbers of House Martins collected around the house, joined by a few Swallows and Swifts. A lovely Spotted Flycatcher in the garden.

               



Lullington Heath

I visited Lullington Heath on a lovely warm July afternoon.

Six Spot Burnet Moths

The meadows were full of flowers and butterflies. I saw Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Dark Green Fritillary, Small Copper. Green Forester Moth and Six Spot Burnet Moth.



Green Forester

Linnets and Yellowhammers were everywhere. I also flushed a Snipe from the crater, which was my 89th species for Term 6.

Male Linnet

On the pond in the crater was a marvellous Broad Bodied Chaser and two duelling Emperor Dragonflies, who splashed into the water together on several occasions.

Broad Bodied Chaser

Flowering meadow

Pyramidal Orchid

Marvellous July Weather

Penshurst Camp 2016: Highlights and Bird List

For the fourth consecutive year, I attended school camp on the Penshurst estate in Kent.

Some heavy rain on Tuesday was hard work, but the weather improved, attaining true July status by the end of the week.

Grey Wagtail

The estate lies above Penshurst Place, on the gently sloping valley side north of the Medway river. It rises to a ridge that forms the northern edge of the High Weald, with views of the North Downs.

Common Whitethroat

The farmland has good areas of woodland, including patches of ancient trees, most notably a amazing group of enormous Chestnuts which are close to a thousand years old. There are also some truly massive Oaks, though the famous Sydney Oak appears to be dead.

 Collared Dove

 Pied Wagtail

Common Lizard

My standout highlight has to be the Little Owl, a lifetime first. I also saw a Barn Owl flying on two nights, a fantastic Hornet, wonderful close views of Yellowhammers and a Redpoll.

Yellowhammer

Little Owl

Hornet

I saw 54 species of bird on the camp, which beat my previous total of 44. Other notable species included Spotted Flycatcher and Garden Warbler. Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Collard Dove and Redpoll were all new species for me at this site. The ones that got away were Sparrowhawk, Grey Heron and Black-headed Gull.

Full list:

Greylag Goose

Canada Goose

Egyptian Goose

Mallard

Red-legged Partridge

Pheasant

Common Buzzard

Kestrel

Moorhen

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Herring Gull

Stock Dove

Woodpigeon

Collared Dove

Little Owl

Barn Owl

Common Swift

Green Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Magpie

Jay

Jackdaw

Rook

Carrion Crow

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Coal Tit

Willow Tit

Skylark

Swallow

House Martin

Long-tailed Tit

Common Chiffchaff

Blackcap

Garden Warbler

Common Whitethroat

Goldcrest

Wren

Nuthatch

Treecreeper

Starling

Blackbird

Song Thrush

Spotted Flycatcher

Robin

Dunnock

House Sparrow

Grey Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

Linnet

Lesser Redpoll

Yellowhammer

Little Owl

I went looking for Little Owls on the Penshurst estate in Kent and got lucky.

Pond Dip at Frog Firle

The aquatic life in the drainage ditches at Frog Firle is amazing and pond dipping there is always exciting.

Another disappointing July day, that was more like October. The sky was full of Swallows, Swifts and House Martins. A Grey Wagtail was my 88th Term 6 species.

No Water Stick Insect this time, but plenty of really interesting organisms. The highlight was my first ever Water Scorpion.

The Water Scorpion

An Elver

An Eft and a Darter larva

Yellow-legged Gull at Prince's Park Eastbourne

Juvenile Gulls have always been a mystery to me, but today I made progress with my first ever sighting of a Yellow-legged Gull.

Thanks, again, to Beachy Birder who tweeted his sighting and was kind enough to point it out to me.

I managed to 'get my eye in' and could discriminate quite quickly between it and the juvenile Herring Gulls, also present on the boating lake at Prince's Park.

The juvenile Yellow-legged Gull.

               

Thick, heavy bill and long dark primaries.

A comparison with a Herring Gull juvenile in the foreground. 

A closer comparison of the bills, with the Yellow-legged Gull in front of a Herring Gull.

Badgers

Five Badgers visited the garden this evening. Four of them came up to the patio.

 We think the one on the left is a female, as she has a slender snout. She is called Blossom and was the first individual to visit when we stated putting out peanuts. On the right is a male (broad snout) called White Tail (also known as Professor Boosums), who is the largest Badger to visit. He has a paler rump and tail.

In this photo you can see the two smaller Badgers coming to join in. One on the steps and one more distant on the lawn. Despite being smaller they are very assertive. We often witness quite physical 'tussles' accompanied with lots of grunting.

A blurry photo, as the light rapidly failed, shows four Badgers up near the backdoor. The one on the top step, 'Mr Pushy', has just physically dislodged the other larger Badgers. A fith Badger seems more timid and so far has remained by the pond at the bottom of the garden during visits.

Poppies at Jevington

This morning from Willingdon Hill I saw the red blur of Poppies growing in the rough field above Jevington. This prompted a visit this evening.

The Poppies were lovely. There were numerous Corn Buntings calling and I flushed a lovely Roe Deer.

Beachy Head Lighthouse Walk

Some real July weather turned up for Sunday afternoon's round the lighthouse walk.

There were about 800 people on this well marshalled charity event. I am a frequent visitor to the beach at Cow Gap, but I have never walked so far West. The cliffs are stunning.

From the beach I saw Herring Gull, Common Gull, Greater Black-backed Gull, Kittiwake, Fulmar and Oystercatcher. The last one took my Term 6 list to 86 species.