Rye Harbour

A bitterly cold morning with a bracing icy wind, but this male Wigeon in fine breeding plumage, made the long drive and early start worth while.

The fine droplets of water on the plumage reflect back the morning sun. 

Roosting Redshank.

A Green Woodpecker, hidden in the grass,  with a muddy beak from feeding on invertebrates in the soil. 

Three Herring Gulls, with a Black-headed Gull (on the left).

Another Redshank.

A female Wigeon with a protective flotilla of males.

Male Teal with fantastic breeding plumage.

And then there were two. A pair of Little Grebes appearing to look at the splash left by a third Little Grebe that has just dived.  This species is in non-breeding or eclipse plumage.

Record shots: Not the best photographs, but some interesting birds.

A pair of Goldeneye. The male is on the left.

A Black-necked Grebe, also in eclipse.

Abbot's Wood

Late Autumn and the Oak leaves are a perfect orange. Abbot's Wood is a Forestry Commision plantation that is slowly being returned to natural woodland as part of PAWS - Planting Ancient Woodland Sites scheme. Areas of conifers are cleared and native trees are planted or allowed to return by themselves. As this happens the biodiversity increases, it is now an excellent place to see Nightingales and several species of butterfly.

On Saturday afternoon the low sun did a great job of picking out the Autumn colour through the trees.

Eastbourne Elms

At the end of November most of the trees have lost their leaves, with the exception of Oaks which are now a splendid orange. Elm trees, however, are only just starting to turn. Eastbourne has thousands of Elms, that somehow escaped the ravages of Dutch Elm disease in the 1970s. Elm lined avenues are still quite common.

The Elms are actively managed as Dutch Elm Disease is still with us. Each year many are felled at the first sign of any symptoms. 

Eventually the leaves become a marvellous yellow before falling thickly to the ground. This is described well in one of my favourite childhood books, Stig of the Dump.

Willingdon Hill

On my way up Willingdon Hill I came across several extensive patches of Berberis in striking Autumn colour. This invasive species can dominate grassland, but it does produce lots of berries that are popular with thrushes.

The leaves and the berries contribute to the strong colour. 

The spread of the Berberis reminded me of the Red Weed, brought to Earth by the Martians in H.G.Wells' war of the Worlds.

The sunset from Willingdon Hill was quite good. 

The new offshore Rampion wind farm near Newhaven, which is still under construction. When completed there will be 116 turbines.

Turnstones at Normans Bay

A midday walk at Normans Bay on Sunday revealed some Turnstone, in beautiful sunshine. The birds appeared to be sitting out the high tide and were quite approachable.

A Black-headed Gull.

Out on the sea were feeding Cormorants and a female Eider, my 207th UK species this year.

Pevensey Levels

Late in the day, I drove out onto the Pevensey Levels. I saw a flock of 20+ Redwings, two Marsh Harriers, several Kestrels and a Kingfisher. Both the harriers were being heavily mobbed by crows.

One of the Kestrels, mid-hover.

A Stock Dove.

Sovereign Harbour and Pevensey Levels

A sunny Saturday morning warranted an early visit to Sovereign Harbour, as rain was predicted to arrive later.

Looking out to sea from the outer harbour, with a fishing boat and the distant Sovereign Sandbank lighthouse.

A Great Crested Grebe feeding in the outer harbour, a first winter bird judging by the stripes on its head.

An absolutely splendid male Black Redstart, still showing some breeding plumage. This species often choses to overwinter along the south coast.

An early morning view over Eastbourne.

Old Lodge

A brisk northerly wind was blowing, so I was quite surprised that my family agreed to walk at Old Lodge as it is quite exposed. Sometimes it feels like it should be part of a moorland landscape from the west country or Wales, rather than a Sussex lowland heath.

There is a stand of three huge Beech trees which are quite out of character with the rest of the nature reserve. We always seem to spend quite a bit of time there.

Pines and dead grasses, more typical vegetation.

The Beeches looked magnificent in the sun, but it was a day where the flask of tea had to be enjoyed from the car.