Darkest TQ81R
3rd November 2007, Saturday
The Marsham Valley, between the Pett ridge and Fairlight, is a mosaic of coppiced woodland, sheep grazing, a bit of arable and a lot of horsiculture. The fields and narrow lanes are defined with hedges, punctuated with oaks.
On my first Winter Atlas survey this morning, the woods were populated with roving tit bands, including a few Marsh Tits, and followed by Nuthatches (more than there used to be), Treecreepers and Goldcrests.
Blackbirds were feeding on berries in the tall Holly hedges (where there was also a Chiffchaff) and Song Thrushes confined to a couple of large Yews in Rosemary Lane.
Among sheep in a tucked-away pasture, I was surprised to see an egret, but a quick check confirmed it was Little.
The horse paddocks attracted Magpies, Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits, but were ignored by a couple of hundred migrant Starlings heading resolutely north-west overhead.
I could hear Skylarks and the odd Brambling overhead too, with Siskins and Lesser Redpolls, a few of which were lured down into Alders alongside the stream, where 2 Grey Wagtails were feeding.
I included a stretch of Pett Road in the survey, hoping to find it busy with garden birds, but there was almost nothing – not a Collared Dove in sight – whereas in the summer it’s buzzing. Just a few whistling Starlings had decided to take a break on the church spire and a noisy crowd of 150 Jackdaws fed in an adjoining field.