Trip Reports

Myself, Debbie, Jane and Brian crossed under the Thames at Dartford on a morning of lovely October weather without any hassle and were soon enjoying the first Rainham Marshes experience – coffee and cake. Having satisfied that craving we left the centre and 2 minutes later were surveying wet pools and starting to identify ducks which were more or less out of their eclipse plumage. Mallard, Teal, Wigeon and Shoveler shared the water with Coots, Canada & Grey Lag Geese and for the eagle eyed a couple of Snipe were amongst Lapwing on the bank. We were already hearing Cetti’s Warblers and clocked up around 20 different birds during the day. Rainham obviously agrees with Cetti’s Warblers. We found our first Marsh Harrier early on and this was a superbly marked male which was later joined by at least 2 females who graced us with their presence for a good deal of the trip.

Eventually we had to move on and follow the path between trees and bushes but the sounds of the marshes never left us (especially the geese!) and Debbie picked up the sound of Skylarks with one passing a mere 150 feet over our heads. Robins, Blue and Great Tits seemed to follow us everywhere and an obliging male Chaffinch showed off splendidly in a Willow. The layout of the paths has changed a bit which momentarily totally confused us but once the radar was back up and running we arrived at what Debbie and I always refer to as Stonechat corner. Not only did the Stonechats oblige but a warden let us all look through his scope at a roosting Barn Owl in a box in a far distant tree. Bonus or what!

Next stop was a hide where we started finding our own special birds First up was a Kingfisher which seemed to do a circuit of the wet scrape in front of us before zooming up a reed fringed channel. Some Wigeon and Teal were minding their own business when a large bird dropped down on to one of the muddy islands much to their annoyance. A few tried to discourage it but frankly who can really win an argument with a Raven? I found it quite amusing to see its beak get muddier and muddier as it probed for food. Since we couldn’t totally sustain ourselves on Brian’s Extra Strong Mints we decided to head off towards the next hide for lunch. In any case we were feeling a bit annoyed with ourselves for having mutually agreed we were listening to a Water Rail and then realised it was Teal (any easy mistake when you are a bit over excited!). On the way we searched diligently for diving ducks but the only bird doing any diving was Little Grebe, although of course we all loved them. Cetti’s continued to bombard our ears and the hearers were possibly picking up the ping of Bearded Tits.

The lunch hide was not quite as productive bird wise as usual but we all loved a splendid Black Tailed Godwit who descended onto the water showing brilliantly in the sunshine. Shelduck and Gadwall boosted the duck count and a Kestrel joined the Marsh Harriers over the reeds. We commented on how the Little Egrets we were watching are no longer a mega surprise and we also agreed that a Heron can be a very good looking bird when he tries. Jane told us about a trip she made to France where one evening hundreds of White Storks came into roost in the village she was staying in. They stayed the night on rooftops, church spire and trees but by the morning had gone. Apparently each year they make this stop off on their migration. Come on Knepp Storks you’ve got some catching up to do. We had a brief taste of summer when Brian spotted 2 Swallows skimming over the marsh.

No time for post lunch nap so we trotted along the boardwalk with Skylark, Meadow Pipits and of course Cetti’s for company. A Reed Bunting put in an appearance and then Jane and Debbie started hearing pings again. A bird flew out of the reeds which Brian and I confidently ID’d as a Cetti’s Warbler due to the russet in its tail. Debbie dared to disagree. It reappeared an sat out on a reed mace for us to get a fantastic view – Bearded Tit!

We stopped off a 2 more hides in 1 of which a Bearded Tit turned up after Brian and I had left but Debbie and I think Jane saw it. Our last extravaganza was in the last hide where a small raptor suddenly flashed across in front of us carrying a vole which it dived into the reeds with. We put Sparrowhawk on our list even though nobody in the hide saw it well enough to be sure and Merlin was getting a mention but I think the former for no better reason than it was more likely. The word went round the hide that the cafe was closing at 3.30 which left us about 30 seconds to get there. Luckily it was just the kitchen that closed and a tired looking but cheerful lady ensured us we were ok for more coffee and cake. I found a half broken pencil and cadged some paper off the reception desk and were able to record our days tally which came to 54 species. A fantastic trip all round.

With Nigel C resting at home with his bad back, Angela T armed with a notepad and pen, Nigel P with a pocketful of sweets and Ian bringing his amazing knowledge of butterflies joined me to walk Area 2 this month.

I met the others by the oak trees in Furners Lane by which time they had already seen a robin, crow, wood pigeon and a pied wagtail. Whilst I was on my way to meet them, I saw 2 buzzards being mobbed by crows and a herring gull.

All quiet and still at the oak trees so we wandered along Furners Lane. In the field to the north we spotted 2 roe deer which soon ran off and joined another 3 in the adjoining field, where we saw a magpie and a blackbird.

It was a dull morning which made it hard to identify birds in flight but we did hear a greater spotted woodpecker and saw a small murmuration of starlings.

Further down the road just before the Bylsborough turning, several birds flew across the road and disappeared into the scrub, we saw them again a bit further on and because of the light we were initially unable to decide if they were redwings or fieldfare. Eventually after watching them for a while, looking online and a lot of discussion we decided they were redwings.

A chaffinch helpfully perched at the top of a tree and a couple of wrens chased each other across the road.

Not a lot to be seen up to Bylsborough, very quiet and still dull. We heard a green woodpecker and saw some goldfinches and bluetits.

Going towards Woodhouse Farm we heard a very vocal pheasant and saw a clattering of jackdaws.

Turning right by the farm the sun started to appear, as did the sound of skylarks. A heron flew over looking very majestic in the light, a kestrel was spotted and a cormorant hurriedly flew past.

The field had been ploughed which made it very difficult to spot the ‘little brown birds’ but we persevered, watching several swoop up and down, trying to locate them with our binoculars in the field and we decided they were linnets.

Nothing at the hay barn but one yellowhammer was spotted near the hedge, which had been cut back. We then spotted several house martins above the ploughed field.

When we reached the meadow area before Morley’s we started hearing bull finches. A great tit was spotted and a jay heard. The vegetation around Morley’s pond had been cut back so we thought we might see more but only heard a moorhen.

In the nearby woods we heard a high pitched sound which we couldn’t identify so out came Merlin which immediately registered goldcrest. We weren’t sure and walked a bit further pondering the sound. It kept going like a warning call so we checked the goldcrest’s call online and again after much deliberation decided that there must have been at least one in the massive oak trees.

Along the hedge we heard more bullfinches and managed to spot a couple.

The sky then clouded over and with the cool easterly breeze it turned very quiet again.

We spotted a sparrowhawk before entering the woods near to Wantley and I left the group by the Wantley path.

Just as I left I spotted a collared dove on an aerial and the others saw a red kite on their way back to the car park.

33 species of bird

Two butterflies were seen – red admirals.

Seven of us (Nige, Debbie, Sandra, Ian, Jill, Sue and Angela) ascended Newtimber after a 7.30 start from Henfield. As outgoing migrants was one reason for going I was mightily relieved when we clocked up 3 Spotted Flycatchers almost as soon as we started. One tried to kid us he was a Tree Pipit but the scope confirmed his real identity. Blackcaps showed when they felt like it and one tried a little singing, possibly to compete with a trilling Wren. We decided that us 7 birders were equivalent to 1 Mike Russell so we thought not much would escape us. On top of that we had Ian’s expertise on anything entomological  (he’s good on insects and butterflies as well!)  plus Debbie’s flower ID app which she diligently applied. She was determined to find the downland specialty of Round Headed Rampion and, lo and behold , perseverance paid off.

Round Headed Rampion                                                              Meadow Pipit

This was found on a south facing slope which also had small trees and bushes dotted around with a thick hedge along the bottom. Elder, blackberries, sloes and hawthorn berries abounded and the birds were there feeding up but the little blighters certainly knew how to find cover quickly. Small flocks of Goldfinches and Meadow Pipits were a bit more obliging and at one point the Goldfinches numbered about 40. Whitethroats  flitted around but, unlike the recce visit Debbie and I made 2 days before there were none of the smartly plumaged Lesser Whitethroats (although I reckon the pale bird Sue saw could have been one). Good numbers of Swallows and House Martins passed overhead and we wished them well on their journey south which they will soon be starting.

As the sun came out so did some Butterflies. We summoned Ian and soon found Meadow Browns, Small Heaths and lovely Common Blues on the vetches and knapweeds. Luckily Ian is totally fearless so he was happy to catch a Common Blue so we could look at the underside of its wings at close quarters before it was released.

Common Blue                                    Underside of Common Blue

Whilst searching for Butterflies we came across two other interesting insects. Grasshoppers abounded and one posed beautifully for Sandra to photograph. The other was a bug which causes its host plant to produce a home for it inside a wonderful gall which has a name that I am afraid I have totally forgotten.

A Grasshopper                                                Gall

We decided to move further up the hill and immediately 2 Kestrels were spotted hunting over open ground and taking the odd rest in the trees. Almost simultaneously more small birds were moving around and Sue spotted the bright red tail we were hoping for. In a very small area we saw at least 10 Redstarts which was amazing. We got some of them in the scope which was great as they kept moving off as soon as Jill located them so she got good views eventually. Angela’s ears picked up their call which was quite similar to the Chiffchaffs and solitary Willow Warbler we had heard and seen. Yellowhammers became more prevalent and a bird on a distant dead tree was likely to be another but eventually I decided to “scope” it. Thanks goodness! It was the first of 2 Whinchats.  Another brace of birds showed well and hung around to enable us to take in how gorgeous Linnets are. Larger birds were taking advantage of the increasing thermals including Herring Gulls and Buzzards plus somewhere was a cronking Raven who preferred to stay invisible. We put up one Skylark who was happily doing his super little burbling call before an enraged Meadow Pipit chased it off which was something I have never seen before.

  One of the many Redstarts on a stump Us looking at him

Eventually we headed downhill for the grand finale which I always love on this walk – coffee and cakes from the caravan cafe! Sue did the bird list which came to 29 species. The only missing migrant from mine and Debbie’s recce walk was Wheatear. We all thoroughly enjoyed our morning.

Thanks to Sandra, Sue and Ian for the photos.

Henfield Birdwatch Butterfly Walk Mill Hill NNR Friday 4^th August 2023

A group of 8 of us (Ian, Nigel, Maggie, Hazel, Mary, Hilary, Val and Angela set off from Henfield in 2 cars for the Mill Hill Butterfly Walk. Ruth joined us a little later.

As Nigel’s car came to a stop at the Mill Hill main car park near the top of the reserve we recorded our first 2 butterfly species on the Buddleia Bush conveniently growing in front of our chosen parking spot. A rather weather-beaten Painted Lady and a Red Admiral. A good start. It was not long before we added a few more species, Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers, which were everywhere even when the sun went behind the clouds, Rather better sightings were a Dark Green Fritillary and a Wall Brown.

Some people were lucky enough to see a Hornet Mimic Hoverfly

As we waited for the sun to appear from behind some clouds we had a short walk along the access friendly woodland nature trail provided on the reserve. We spent the rest of our time enjoying the magnificent flower rich meadows which cover the hillside at this site. Altogether we managed to find 13 butterfly and 5 moth species as well as brushing up on our plant identification skills and of course birds were not neglected (see report below). We were lucky with the weather considering recent forecasts but were probably a week or two early for the hoped for Adonis Blue.

However there were plenty of fresh Common Blue and Brown Argus to keep us occupied looking and the views alone from this hilltop site made this an enjoyable outing.

Butterfly list

Large White, Small White, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Peacock, Dark Green Fritillary, Wall Brown, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown,, Small Heath

Moth list

Silver Y (2), Cinnabar (larva), Dusky Sallow (2), Common Carpet, Burnet Moth.

Bird list

Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blue Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Linnet, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Swallow, Magpie, Crow, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Buzzard.

Ian Woiwod

Having initially thought there would only be half a dozen of us on the walk, the final number turned out to be 17!  16 of us met at the Downslink car park and we met up with Roger F by Lashmars.  Thought it would take too long to get 17 of us over the stile on the intended route, so we trotted along the fishermen’s path to the river.  We had seen a roe deer dashing along by a hedge along Stonepit Lane, and saw another by the river.  Hazel gave us some background information on the monastery we could see from Stonepit Lane, and then some legends about Chanctonbury Ring.

Not too much to be seen along the river, though we heard a couple of Tawny Owls calling, but for the 2^nd year in a row (and only the 3^rd time ever since we started doing these walks) no Barn Owl appeared, even though we know there was a brood at Great Betley.  A new (temporary?) stile had appeared near the weir , presumably to stop the cattle getting out of the field, but it was a bit wobbly.  It hadn’t been there on Thursday.  Also a surprise were two substantial metal kissing gates installed along the riverbank – permanent or temporary because of the cattle?

At Betley Bridge we stopped for a while and Roger’s bat detector picked up Common Pipistrelles, and Hazel told the group more about glowworms and the Perseid meteor shower.  The sky was much cloudier than the forecast had suggested which looked like bad news for Perseids, but fingers crossed for glowworms.  Heading south, we picked up the first one, shining brightly by the side of the track, then another 4, all on the west side, and all pretty impressive, shining bright green in the darkness.

The sky had cleared slightly when we arrived by the seat where there is a more open view, with some stars visible.  A couple of smaller meteors were seen by some, then an extremely bright one shot across to the south, bringing gasps of astonishment from all except Frankie – she was slightly further ahead and her view was obscured by a large bush. There’s always next year, Frankie!

Frankie made it at last!  On the 4^th attempt to come on the Nightjar visit, she joined me, Ian, Mary, Sharon & Brody for the annual trip to Heyshott Common on the 21st.  Really difficult driving into the low sun, but we made it and had a wander around for about ¾ hour, seeing Stonechats and hearing a Tree Pipit’s lovely descending call and a frustratingly close Yellowhammer which was singing but refusing to show itself.  Brody noticed a large caterpillar on the path – Ian identified it as of an Emperor moth.

Looked as though there was some problem with one end of it, but it was moved to safety.  We noticed someone had set up some recording equipment near where we planned to stand.

About 9.20 we stationed ourselves where I had heard a Nightjar churring on a branch very close by a couple of weeks ago, and after a hesitant start we started to hear some flight calls, then  3 or 4 were churring, and we got some pretty good views of some in flight.  Two were quite close to us, and I think it was Sharon, Frankie and Brody who managed to see one sitting on top of a nearby bush.  Of course, I just saw it fly off!

As we left soon after 10, we realised that the sound equipment was with David L, and hoped that our chatter didn’t spoil the recordings!

We took the route back to the A272 via the very narrow road, ignoring lots of road closed signs – it wasn’t – and winced on Ian’s behalf every time a moth splattered itself against the car!

A quick look at the table set out below shows that this year provided our lowest total of birds seen since we started the Big Bird Bash in 2019.

However this is only part of the story. A total of 33 different people took part in the walks and Hazel Haylock made a mammoth effort and completed all five. Wow that took some doing! Our youngest bird spotter was 10 years old and we won’t go into who was the oldest other than to say they would have been a lot older than 10. One of our HBW targets is to attract local people to get out and enjoy nature so I think we achieved that.

Another objective of the Big Bird Bash is to raise money for a local worthy cause. This has also been achieved as we  have raised a good amount for The Haven so thanks to everyone who sponsored the event. Your generosity will help The Haven continue its wonderful work in our community. There will be a presentation of a cheque at the end of July when the final amount is known.

Of the 61 bird species seen 23 were, like Hazel, seen on all 5 walks. Our summer migrant songsters Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Whitethroat were among those with Nightingale making an appearance on 3 which is superb after they have travelled so far up from Africa to be with us. The same can be said of the other long distance migrants who put on a show such as Cuckoo, Reed Warbler, Swallow, Swift and House Martin. Other notable birds were Red Kite, Lapwing, Barn Owl, Peregrine, Raven, Grey Wagtail, Bullfinch, Skylark and Yellowhammer. However we shouldn’t forget all the lovely more common birds that are such an indicator of the health of the environment.  How dull our gardens would be without Robin, Blue Tit, House Sparrow, Wren, Great Tit, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and for some lucky people in Lower Station Road Reed Buntings. All these showed well on the Bird Bash. I would also like to praise two other sometimes less loved birds who made all 5 walks – Wood Pigeon & Herring Gull.

Nigel Colgate

Debbie, Frankie and I arrived at a bright but chilly and windy Ashdown Forest just after 8.30 and set off without partaking of second breakfast much to the dismay of one member of the group.

The wind didn’t do us any favours but Debbie and Frankie soon started to pick up bird song of which I was oblivious to quite a lot. The early Goldcrest singing at some dizzy height in a fir tree was well beyond my scope of hearing as was the far away Willow Warbler Debbie tuned into. I did hear the Dartford Warbler singing which surprised me until we all agreed that actually it was a rather garbled Whitethroat, one of many we heard. Chaffinches were also quite numerous as was the amiable Chiffchaff which we were able to spy in the canopy on a couple of occasions.

As it warmed up a Blackcap got into its rhythm as did the odd Blackbird and the usual array of Wrens which exploded into song. We decided to break the morning into two parts so that we could return to the car for coffee instead of lugging flasks around. A good move as it turned out because we had the opportunity to doggedly wait under a tree trying to ID a perishing little brown bird adept at hiding behind branches. Eventually it flew onto the ground very obligingly to reveal itself as a female Redstart.

After our coffee and the un-named persons second breakfast we set out for an area I predicted would have some Redstarts. Frankie once said to me that she liked my walks because I always said what we might see but we never did. Another form of subliminal birding!!  Thankfully this didn’t prove the case today as we saw a good number of Redstarts including some stunning males.

Wildlife Trusts photo

I started to scout the sky for raptors as it was warming up and hopefully producing some good thermals. First to take advantage were two Mallards which gave a surprise flypast! Eventually we found some Crow harassed Buzzards and a rather long distance hovering Kestrel.

At last, shortly after hearing both Song and Mistle Thrush, we began to tune in to the smashing little song of the Tree Pipit. We got sight of one or two and on our way back later we were nearly decapitated by a couple chasing each other round at top speed. They had total disregard for us in their nuptial bliss.

Wood Pigeons glided around showing off their display skills and were maybe a little put out by an invasion of five or six Stock Doves in one area. Swifts also zoomed overhead and when we stopped for a break near a horse paddock Frankie saw a House Martin flitting around. The horses in their paddock had attracted some Konic ponies the other side of the fence which was rather nice. Another non-birding highlight was a male Sand Lizard scuttling off in a vivid green flash.

We didn’t find a Dartford Warbler and indeed a regular visitor we met said he had not seen one all year and wondered if the cold winter snap had been a disaster for them. We hope not. However let’s be pleased with what we did eventually find – a Woodlark so loud and clear even I heard it perfectly.

Lunch was very welcome and we decided to extend the trip with a walk on Malling Down a Sussex Wildlife Trust site just outside Lewes. It was a steep climb up on an increasingly warm afternoon. We enjoyed trying to identify some of the wild flowers included Pyramidal Orchids. There were more Whitethroats, Blackcaps and Wrens plus two more species for the day in Herring Gull and a majestic Red Kite. Being on the Downs is always a special experience especially with such breath-taking views.

Eventually the legs had had enough and we headed for home after a great day out.