RXwildlife Sightings

A Swallowtail butterfly flew past the Bird Observatory this afternoon heading RSPB/Lydd Ranges way.
Owen Leyshon

An early morning visit turned up a f Whinchat on gorse alongside the stream and Tawny Owl, Coal Tit, Treecreeper and Sparrowhawk in Market Wood. The reedbed is now too overgrown with willow scrub to hold more than the odd Reed Bunting but a Lesser Whitethroat was singing there.

However the oddest thing was a bird singing on Chick Hill. Its song began with a typical Willow Warbler cadence but concluded, bafflingly, with “chiffchaff chiffchaff”. This was repeated consistently, with occasional independent Chiffchaff bits but never pure Willow Warbler. When I tracked the bird down, it looked like a Willow Warbler, though the light was quite poor.

(This attractive valley to the south-eastof Pett village is partly occupied by the National Trust’s Old Marsham Farm. A public footpath runs from east to west.)

A Spoonbill was on the Bittern Excavation at Castle Water, it stayed for several hours dispite our twice monthly work party planting reeds nearby.

The Temminck’s stint, which was found at the Hanson ARC site yesterday, is still with us.  Four male garganey were also seen from the Hanson ARC hide along with a pair of avocets and three black-tailed godwits.

Good selection of waders along the shore this morning, 12 Curlew, 14 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Whimbrel, 6 Sanderling, 36 Dunlin, 3 Grey Plover and 2 Avocet. The large flock of Common Scoter (500+) continue to feed offshore, sometimes getting close inshore depending on the tide. (below is a gratuitous picture of a Common Gull taken at Ternery Pool this morning)