Firecrest in the Cemy.

Saturday 12th March 2022.

A rather showy Jay this afternoon.

I was back over Highland Road Cemetery on a much sunnier, but breezy afternoon, hoping for a possible early migrant and although no Chiffchaffs or Black Redstarts were present, I did find a Firecrest skulking about by the Holm Oak clump. Firecrests are regular here in early Spring and Autumn, but still a nice surprise among the 18 species of birds recorded here this afternoon. I had heard the bird calling at first deep within one of the Holm Oaks and then it flew out of cover briefly and straight back out of sight within another Holm Oak. It was also heard twice more in the same area though never seen.

Above, buds are starting to come out on the Chestnut trees and below, the Jay showing well in the sunshine.

It was mostly the same birds as yesterday here at the Cemetery, with the addition of the Firecrest and Dunnock. The male Green Woodpecker showed well briefly, perched up in a tree before flying down and out of sight; though it was quite vocal throughout my walk this afternoon. There was just the one Jay saw today, but it did show very well. The following species were recorded this afternoon: 

• Herring Gull
• Feral Pigeon
• Wood Pigeon
• Collared Dove
• Carrion Crow
• Magpie
• Jay
• Greenfinch
• Goldfinch
• Blue Tit
• Great Tit
• Robin
• Dunnock
• Wren
• House Sparrow
• Blackbird
• Firecrest
• Green Woodpecker

Other notable sightings included my first Light Brown Apple Moth which fluttered over a few graves and then briefly settled on a gravestone for me to quickly grab a photo or two. White-tailed Bumble bees were noted around the grave that was covered in purple Heather, including a Queen that looked a bit dormant. Throughout the year, the Bee’s love this particular grave and a wide variety can be seen here.

Above, a White-tailed Bumble Bee on the heather and below, the Queen deep within the heather.

I found my first Light Brown Apple Moth of the year this afternoon.

In Hampshire today, migrants have been turning up in various locations including Sand Martins at various locations, a White Wagtail at Posbrook Floods and a pair of Little Ringed Plovers at Moorcroft Farm in Ringwood. The Ring-billed Gull was again on Ibsley Water, Blashford Lakes, with a fine photo of the bird on the Hants Whatsapp. Back in West Sussex, a pair of LRP’s were at Medmerry RSPB Reserve on the Stilt Pool today.

Above, one of several Robins seen today. Below, there were quite a few Greenfinches around here today.

Another Robin posing nicely in the sunshine.

On a lighter note, though I am being very careful with this Covid I have at present, I have been watching Series 1 of Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone fishing. If you have not seen it yet, it is a ‘must watch’. Not only are the two comedians superb in it, but they take fishing and the nature involved quite seriously (well mostly!), but I have not seen a rubbish episode yet. BBC iPlayer is showing both series 1 and 4 at the moment and my wife and I are really enjoying them. Hopefully, a series 5 is on the horizon?    

The male Green Woodpecker was vocal today.

A female Sparrowhawk was a garden surprise.

Friday 11th March 2022.

This female Sparrowhawk perched conveniently on a neighbouring rooftop.

I can confirm that both my wife and myself have definitely caught Covid, however, I am so pleased, I guess, that I had all my jabs as it has really taken hold of me at the moment. The coughing is simply ridiculous and the hot and cold sweats along with it is incredible. I have been lucky most of my life and rarely had the ‘Flu’, but I suppose this is what it must feel like. I am keeping a close eye on my wife who is on a fair bit of medication for other ailments, so I am busy looking after her as she is working from home despite feeling awful! My employer has been told of my situation and it looks as though I will not be going back to work till next Wednesday. We have plenty of Lateral Flow kits and I shall test myself later this weekend.

She showed well during the few minutes perched on a TV Aerial.

The new Covid rules says that one does not have to ‘Self-isolate’ and though the weather this morning was looking a little grim, overcast and breezy with a bit of rain thrown in, I decided to get some fresh air and take Scruff for a walk around the Cemetery for a bit of fresh air. As I grabbed my camera from upstairs, something caught my eye when I looked out into our garden from the back door. It was a female Sparrowhawk that had popped up into our neighbours tree, so I rushed back to the front room to grab my camera to take some photos of the bird.

I liked the way the wind caught the birds tail in this photo. 

The Green Woodpecker scattered all these Wood Pigeons within the Cemetery. 

Unfortunately, though I slowly got to the back door, the bird had flown off, but thankfully landed on a TV Aerial on the block of houses opposite. Though the trees were in the way, I managed to focus on the bird and took as many photos of this beautiful bird and to be honest, I was rather pleased with the outcome. She sat there for a good minute or two and then popped down on the other side of the building and out of view, scattering the local Wood Pigeons in doing so.

Above, there were plenty of the usual Carrion Crows in the Cemy this morning including this showy bird. Below, several Starlings were passing overhead and this bird was singing from a rooftop at the southern end of the Cemetery. 

During my walk this morning, I avoided any contact with any person and kept a very wide berth from them, however, I had a good chat with a dog-walker who told me about both the Green Woodpecker and Jays he had seen this morning. So, we got into a chat, all the while keeping a big distance from him. There was rain in the air and wind when I arrived at Highland Road Cemetery, the first time I have been here since Storm Eunice and I was wondering what devastation that particular nasty bit of weather had caused. In fact, it looked as though the Cemetery got away quite lightly, though there was evidence of some large branches down on the ground still and a lot of big bushes have been removed from the Council by the look of it, exposing graves that would have not normally been seen because of the bushes.

There was evidence of Storm damage from recent weeks in the Cemy and plenty of work done by the Council too.

During my walk, there was a count of at least 16 species of birds either seen or heard within the Cemy this morning, of which the Green Woodpecker made a couple of brief appearances; seen flying from tree to tree, but always distant. I was a bit surprised to see the Jays still here, with three birds following one another through the Cemetery; though they proved  difficult to photograph as they hardly kept still long enough. All the usual suspects were present but there were no early surprise migrants to shout about. Both Black Redstarts and Chiffchaffs could have been lurking about here today, but I was not lucky enough to see any this morning.

A flock of Goldfinch were always present around the trees.

Red-dead Nettle was abundant.

Common Groundsel, a familiar weed on the graves. Their seeds provide food for the Goldfinches.

Blossom is now sprouting from some of the Cherry Trees, which attracted one hardy Bumble Bee (Buff-tailed?) to make a foray through the Cemetery. Flowering plants on show included Common Groundsel and Red Dead-nettle, which were abundant by the footpaths, though apart from Daffodils and a few Bluebells, hardly any other flowers have appeared yet. A few warmer, dryer days will change all that. As I was leaving the Cemetery and Scruff had his good walk (he is 15 years old now, but still enjoys his walk) , the rain got a little harder and so we hot footed it back home for lunch. Yes, I still have my appetite, but there's no birding with Andy tomorrow, though I might put my moth box in the garden if it's dry overnight?   

How long will the Jays be present here?

Poorly again!

Wednesday 9th March 2022.

The Spotted Redshank within Sidlesham Channel last Saturday. It will not be long before it will be in Summer plumage.

On the back of a nasty toothache last week, both my wife and I have picked up some Flu bug and both of us are off work. I tested negative for the Coronavirus, thankfully, last night, but this morning, I felt I had been run over by a steamroller! The irritating cough does not help either and I think I am going to be running out of tissues very soon!  So, I have had a very lazy day, mostly sleeping, but now I am awake, I thought I would update the blog as it is now midweek.

An adult Med Gull within Pagham Harbour.

Though I was driving on Monday and a passenger yesterday, I did see a few birds that made my blog. The grassy area beside the DSTL building on Portsdown Hill, held at least a dozen Fieldfare that presumably had pit-stopped there, for they had gone later in the day. Anyway, nice to see these birds close up by the roadside as I was making my way along the top of the Hill. Yesterday, while my working colleague was driving along the M27 westbound, I spotted a pair of soaring Red Kites by the edge of the motorway and also a Common Buzzard perched on a small tree near the road. Early in the afternoon, as we drove past the QA Hospital and my work colleague, who was driving our vehicle, asked me what was flying in front of our vehicle. It was a superb male Sparrowhawk roughly doing the same speed limit we were traveling at until it banked off south and down the Hill. But what a view!

One of the buck Roe Deer's we saw in a field near the Church on Saturday.

The Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers are still entertaining the birders at Acres Down, with sightings and superb photos shared on Whatsapp for all to enjoy. We are now into the second week of March and therefore, it was no surprise that a few migrants have arrived into the UK. Today, a male Wheatear was found at Durlston Head, Dorset and sightings of both Sand Martin and Little Ringed Plover were had in various areas of the UK. Late winter birds are still present in Hampshire, including the Great Grey Shrike at Backley Bottom in the New Forest. Offering only very limited views, it can be a struggle to locate this bird it seems. Not far from there, Blashford Lakes offered both Caspian and Ringed-billed Gull earlier this week and the Bittern is still present in front of the Ivy North Hide (if you can stay awake within the Hide!).  

Another photo of the Stock Dove we saw near the Church near Marsh Farm on Saturday.

Surprisingly, The Isle of Portland has been rather sparse for migrants with no Wheatear sightings reported yet, but they did have a very good sea-watch from the Bill this morning. 1385 Kittiwakes went through in just two hours along with 8 Manx Shearwater (I did not see any in 2021!), 9 Red-throated Divers, 1 Black-throated Diver and both Arctic and Great Skua. Nearby, Lodmoor RSPB Reserve held a Bonaparte’s Gull today.

A trip into West Sussex.

Saturday 5th March 2022.

The Spotted Redshank by Sidlesham Ferry this morning.

It was back over to West Sussex this weekend as we picked up a trio of birds to add to our year list and it could easily have been at least four. My goal this morning was to hopefully see the Glossy Ibis around the Marsh Farm area of Sidlesham, but, yet again, they proved frustratingly elusive. At least it was a dry, but cold, day and thankfully, I was attired in warm clothing to keep that chilly wind out, plus a hot flask of coffee for refreshments.

Three-cornered Leek growing abundantly along Chalder Lane.

Daffodils lining Chalder Road.

Our first Lesser Celandine of the year were abundant too. 

Having picked Andy up a little later than usual as I popped in to see my father first thing this morning, we eventually made our way along the A27 westbound, through Chichester and then down to Chalder Lane within Sidlesham and parked up in the small car park at St Mary Our Lady Church. The roadside was adorned with flowering Daffodils, Primula’s, Three-cornered Leeks and Lesser Celandine as we made our way along the farmland roads, keeping a sharp eye-out within the fields for the Ibis.

This male Greenfinch was in full song along the road. 

One of a pair of Stock Doves seen near the Church.

Sadly, we never found the birds, but at least we saw at least 30+ Cattle Egrets in the distant fields and a nearby flooded field contained at least 60+ Wigeon, about a dozen Curlew and a few Little Egrets among them. I was surprised at how the roadside hedges were near deserted for birds, with no Yellowhammers or hardly any passerines present. Overhead, we had a sighting of a female Sparrowhawk soaring in the grey sky and at least two Common Buzzards were being chased off by Corvids. Though to be honest, apart from a pair of Roe Deer and several Pheasants, all was very quiet here. It seems the best way to see the Ibis here are when they are leaving or arriving at their roost site by the North Wall.

One of the flooded fields held a variety of birds including Wigeon, Gulls, Egrets and Curlew. 

One of two Roe Deer out in the fields.

Our next stop was to be Sidlesham Ferry Pool and so parking up in the small car park opposite the Park Centre, we made our way slowly to the Hide overlooking the Ferry Pool. Again, not a great deal of activity on our walk there, bar a few Goldfinches flying over and when we arrived at the Ferry Pool, the high water level on the pool held hardly any waders. There was a big flock of roosting Black-headed Gulls and among them we found at least two Mediterranean Gulls, both adults in full summer plumage which looked quite smart. Shoveler, Teal and Mallard were in small numbers on the water here, but little else of note. 

A lone adult Mediterranean Gull among the Black-headed Gulls on the Ferry Pool.  

The Spotted Redshank among the Teal near the Ferry Pool.

I did know that the regular Spotted Redshank was present on the stretch of water east of the Sluice and it did not take long to find the bird that was accompanying a Redshank. This was our first 'Spotshank' of the year and it performed for us really well, wading in the shallow water among a small flock of Teal dabbling on the water. We had a quick check out in the fields for any Grey Partridge, but not a sausage! The footpath adjacent to the Ferry Lagoon had been decimated by its owners, much to the disgust of the local birders here; all the shrub and bushes have all been cut down and for what purpose I might add? Just reckless management from the Landowners. Just a shame that the RSPB, who run Pagham Harbour now, could not put a stop to it.

This Great Northern Diver flew in and then promptly landed on the water distantly in front of us. 

Our next destination was to be Selsey Bill. It was around 11am when we arrived and rather than get out into the cold, we had a good viewing spot from the comfort of my car, overlooking a flat calm grey sea. Our first Gannet of the year duly arrived, a fine adult and although we were not packing a Scope, the bright white of the bird was clearly distinctive against the dark sky. A second bird was seen a little later. A Great Northern Diver flew in and looked to be coming towards the beach but it soon settled on the water and was seen several times subsequently bobbing on the water. Both Sandwich Tern and Mediterranean Gull flew past and at least three Red-breasted Mergansers flew distantly past during our time there. Though there was no sign of an early Wheatear or Sand Martin on or over the beach, there was a small flock of Turnstone on the beach until they flew off.

A few Turnstone were on the beach.

The Whimbrel on the salt marsh in Pagham Harbour.

Our last stop was Church Norton to check the harbour at high tide. Within a few minutes, the fresh marsh in front of us held our first Whimbrel of the year, the regular wintering bird that was roosting with a Curlew; our third and final ‘year-tick’ of the day. A few waders were resting near the concrete spit that included a few Grey Plover, Dunlin and Turnstone plus a few more adult Med Gulls glowing in the grey conditions. There were no raptors on Tern Island or the neighbouring islands and with the rising tide, we soon made our way back to the car and home.

The Curlew (left) with the Whimbrel on the salt marsh within the harbour.

Grey Plover, Dunlin and Turnstone were among the Gulls on the spit within the harbour. 

Earlier today, both mine and Andy’s moth box drew a complete blank when it came to the moths, but my fathers garden pond held a good display of Frog Spawn (see photo). Apparently, the Glossy Ibis were seen flying into their roost site later that afternoon along with a Short-eared Owl nearby and at Selsey Bill, there were at least 6 Great Northern Divers and a Slavonian Grebe earlier this morning. The ‘Lazee Birders’ were enjoying the Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers at Acre’s Down and even up to 5 Goshawks were seen as well. Blashford Lakes held both the Ring-billed Gull and 1st winter Caspian Gull and Andy J had a Ring-necked Parakeet flying over Sandy Point, Hayling Island today. 

Frog Spawn in my fathers pond this morning.