This was in Pre-Blog times but you can read all about this epic tale of birding with this trip report I did on Birdforum at the link below. The links to the pictures still work!!
Was an epic trip many thanks to my good birding buddy Gary and his wife Sally for their excellent hospitality!! Some Pics below for those that can't be arsed to click on the link!
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| Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Barn Owl |
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| Goldeneye |
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| Goosander |
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| Goosander |
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| Long-tailed Duck |
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| Pink-footed Goose |
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| Short-eared Owl |
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| Smew |
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| Snow Bunting |
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| Water Rail |
Then of course came Covid, Lockdown!! this meant local birding which unfortunately being Hurstpierpoint is pretty dire!! Margie and I wandered the wastelands around here with little success although I did manage to identify at least 14 Yellowhammer territories which was good and we discovered a pretty good patch area which never really lived up to expectations but did produce a few decent birds, including Peregrine, Hobby, Red Kite , Bullfinch more Yellowhammers etc but in general was hard going!!We did have some good insects on the Patch with Brown and Purple Hairstreak and Beautiful Demoiselle the best of em! Worst thing about the Lockdown apart from all the death obviously was that it coincided with the start of the Seawatching season, no seawatching at all for me due to my strict obedience of the rules and also Margie not letting me go 😢😢 About this time we both caught the Covid ,I got it worse obviously!! Although of course Margie had to cope both with the illness and my somewhat over dramatic dealing with imminent death, imagine Errol Flyn in a duel with the Grim Reaper from Bill &Ted against a backdrop of an apocalyptic red sky and you get some idea of my struggles, however having recovered from this ,what in reality was a bit of a cough and feeling completely drained and knackered for 2 weeks was soon back at work although both of us didn't feel back to full health for at least 3 months, the bugger does drag on, no Furlough for me😢apparently delivering heating parts made me a key worker although not sure Margie was telling the truth when she said she was clapping for me every Thursday evening😁😁😁😁 Anyway a few pics of some of the locals below.
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Yellowhammer |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Roe Deer |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Peregrine |
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| Mistle Thrush |
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| Linnets |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Brown Hairstreak |
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| Purple Hairstreak |
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| Woodpigeon |
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| Marbled White |
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| GSW |
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| Common Buzzard |
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| Small Tortiseshell |
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| Common Whitethroat |
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| Beautiful Demoiselle |
It was about this time, in my weakened state from Covid and Seawatch withdrawal symptoms that Margie made her move and I was persuaded, even though we had a perfectly good shed 😲to buy a new one!!
The full story starts here
and concludes here
Of Birds & Cake the Blog of Paul: Shed (the final Chapter) (hopefully) (birdsandcake122.blogspot.com)With Lockdown easing we were able to get out a bit more in the summer, we had some nice trips out again staying pretty local, I reckon I've done about 10% of my usual mileage this year, so good for the environment at least!!
Trips to
Knepp (Garden Warbler, Turtle Dove and Cuckoo the highlight, no Storks for us!!
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| Cuckoo |
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| Garden Warbler |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Beast |
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| Turtle Dove |
Old Lodge Dartford Warbler, Crossbill, Tree Pipit, Woodlark and Redstart the highlights
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| Dartford Warbler |
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| Common Redstart |
Beeding Hill, Red-footed Falcon, Skylarks and Poppies
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| Poppy by Margie |
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| Red-footed Falcon |
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| Skylark |
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| Meadow Pipit |
Dungeness Gull-billed Tern, Common Tern, Swift and Black Redstart
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| Gull-billed Tern |
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| Common Tern |
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| Common Gull |
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| Common Swift |
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| Black Redstart |
Church Norton Common, Sandwich and Little Tern, Med Gull and Seaweed!!
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| Med Gull |
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| Seaweed by Margie |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Little Tern |
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| Common Tern |
Oare Marshes for Bearded Tits, Bonaparte's Gull, Sedge and Reed Warblers, Curlew Sandpiper and Marsh Harrier
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| Margie in Action |
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| Bonaparte's Gull |
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| Boats by Margie |
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| Sedge Warbler |
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| Bearded Tit |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Reed Warbler |
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| Bearded Tit |
Seaford Head (several visits) Pied Flycatcher, Redstart, Wheatear etc
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| Wheatear |
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| Willow Warbler |
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| Green Woodpecker |
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| Dunlin |
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| Black-tailed Godwit |
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| Linnet |
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| Redstart |
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| Pied Flycatcher |
The next trip out turned out to be the absolute highlight of the year, a trip to Thorney Island in search of Osprey, didn't find any, but did find Sussex's 4th Pallid Harrier whoop 😲😀although at the time not 100% sure of the ID my strong suspicions were soon confirmed by the experts on the Sussex Birders Facebook group.
Full story and lots of Pics on my Blog post from the day at the link
A few pics of the Pallid below
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| Pallid Harrier |
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| Pallid Harrier |
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| Pallid Harrier |
September lead me to Seaford Head and Thorney again and a trip to Richmond Park with 2/3 rds of my offspring some pretty good encounters with Kestrels, Wheatears, Redstarts and of course the Deer along the way.
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| Kestrel |
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| Kestrel |
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| Red Deer Stag |
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| Redstart |
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| Kestrel |
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| Wheatear |
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| Deer Portrait |
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| Ahhh! |
October was excellent with Beachy Head, providing great views of Lapland Bunting, a Trip to Hampshire giving quality views of two species of Phalarope and a trip to Kent for the Masked Shrike if it hadn't been for dipping the Burton Pond Purple Heron would have just about been perfect!!
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| Peregrine |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Lapland Bunting |
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| Lapland Bunting |
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| Grey Wagtail at Burton Mill |
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| Fish |
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| Wilson's Phalarope |
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| Grey Phalarope |
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| Grey Phalarope |
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| Swallow (big numbers gathering to leave at Keyhaven) |
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| Wilson's Phalarope |
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| more Beasts |
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| Wheatear |
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| Wheatear with Brunch |
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| Yellow Wagtail |
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| Whinchat |
October also bought Vigo the Vulture to Sussex , up until this point I had largely been indifferent to it's presence my inherent laziness putting me of a lengthy drive to the peak district and even when it was reported at Beachy I couldn't be arsed to battle the crowds to go and see it, opting instead to go to Seaford Head assuming that if it wanted to see me it would nip across the Cuckmere😀I'd had a pretty good morning on the head with views of Ring Ouzel, A Kingfisher and a Male Hen Harrier the latter two in the Cuckmere Valley when walking back up to the head I saw a distant cloud of birds mobbing the Vulture, this galvanised me into action and I hot-footed it back to the carpark and arrived at Beachy to get pretty good views but crap photos as it prepared itself to leave, indeed I must have been one of the last people to see it as headed out to sea,think the only word for it was Awesome!!!
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| Masked shrike |
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| Masked shrike |
November brought pretty dire weather, another Lockdown, the only trip out of note was a visit to Beeding Brooks notable for excellent views of a Kingfisher and my outstanding bravery in actually being in the same field as an enormous bull, laying to rest once and for all the outrageous suggestion that I might have a slight wariness around large Bovines!!😱😱😱
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| Fearsome Ram |
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| Humongous Bull |
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| Swan Reflection by Margie |
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| Kingfisher
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December offered one last Hurrah in that I was able ,having obeyed the second Lockdown, which incidentally denied me a Crag Martin life tick 😡, to finally get up to Surrey to see the long staying Rustic and Little Buntings the former a Lifer, the latter, although on me list, had tormented me for years with, on previous trips, a brief 30 second view my only reward for about 12 hours in the field . It was an excellent trip with both Buntings performing admirably and some excellent views of Crossbills thrown in, can't be bad!
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| Little Bunting |
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| Rustic Bunting |
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| Rustic Bunting |
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| Little Bunting |
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| Little Bunting |
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| Crossbill |
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| Crossbill |
A final visit to the Cuckmere which may turn out to be my last significant trip out of the year, though may sneak another local one in unless the Christmas excess sees me unable to leave the sofa, produce yet another close encounter with a Kingfisher and a Peregrine as well as great views of Fulmars patrolling the Cliffs at Seaford Head
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| Teal |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Kingfisher |
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| Peregrine being awesome |
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| Reed Bunting |
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| Fulmar |
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| Fulmar |
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| Stonechat |
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| Stonechat |
Well a notable year in many ways, which will be unforgettable for all the wrong reasons, the pandemic has touched many lives, so far I feel I've got away with it in terms of negative effects, especially compared to people who have lost loved ones, or suffer badly from Covid themselves, lost their jobs etc etc. Despite our nasty encounter with the virus, a cancelled holiday to Wales, the kids not coming for xmas (when we had finally got all 3 of my kids of organised at the same time😕) and missing the seawatching season seems small beans in comparison!
Birding has definitely kept me close to my approximation of sane and I am lucky that I have Margie by my side to keep my spirits up with her good humour, useful observations and occasional Mermaid impressions, this blog has also been a lot less sweary and better Gramma and spelin than wot it curantly is without her proof reading!!
Big thanks as well to the Sparrows in the Garden for keeping us entertained with their antics and for finally using the nest box we put up. We have also had a few visits from a Sparrowhawk as well, one of which was also pretty memorable!
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| Garden Sprawk |
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| Garden Sprawk |
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| Jay |
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| House Sparrow Portrait |
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| Finally!! Hurrah!!!! |
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| Bubby House Sparrows several broods in the garden |
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| Collared Dove |
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| House Sparrow |
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| Feral Pigeon |
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| Starling |
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| House Sparrow |
So birding wise a pretty good year with quality rather than quantity the order of the day, my list this year is a paltry 186 when I would usually expect to be getting 220+ this reflects the lack of sea-watching and the absence of a trip to Scotland, too many species missed to name them all but Osprey probably the one that annoys me most, can't remember the last year I didn't see an Osprey!!
Think I will remember this year for great views of Kestrels, Kingfishers, Peregrines and Buntings everywhere ,probably been my best year for Yellowhammers for a long time. But the two I will remember the most are undoubtedly Vigo the Vulture and the Pallid Harrier
I will leave you with a picture of the thing that has dominated the year for me !! the poxy shed!!!!!!!!!
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