Cygnets on the Reach

Spot Fly + Sedge Warbler

The Spotted Flyctahcer still singing this morning around Firle churchyard.

In the village over the past few days, young Nuthatches have made their usual mid-summer appearance, and the number of hirundines appears to be building around Place Farm already.

And yesterday, a local scarcity: a Sedge Warbler singing near the A27, heard from Mill Lane close to the paragliding centre.

Honey Buzzard

Belated report – an adult Honey Buzzard over the allotments on Sunday 14 June, seen by Paul S. It circled for a while before heading SE.

Great record. We should get more ‘Honeys’ as the summering population continues to establish itself in well-forested parts in Sussex.

Firle Bird Walk, 13 June

Five of us met at Place Farm on a lovely midsummer Saturday morning, for a walk up to Firle Plantation and back. Often on these occasions the really special birds decline to appear on cue – but this time we were in luck.

As we gathered, a subtle but distinctive squeaking song drifted over from the trees around the Shire House. And there it was – a Spotted Flycatcher singing from the highest perch it could find. My first of the spring was up here in May, before birds started to be seen and heard regularly a little way down towards The Ram – is this a different bird, or one with a big territory? Either way there aren’t many around these days, so it was a great bird to start off the walk.

The buildings around Place Farm are usually busy with birdlife, and today was no exception. Pied Wagtails, Swallows, House Sparrows and Collared Doves gunned around the rooftops as we moved towards the Old Coach Road.

And almost immediately on striking it, there was a commotion in the skies. A small falcon cruised overhead towards the village, and there was out second star bird of the morning – a Hobby, showing its streaky underparts and red undertail patch. Although they breed locally, it’s not usually until later in the summer that they spend much time over the village, hunting down dragonflies and inexperienced House Martins, so this was a rare slice of luck.

Continuing up the coach road, several birds were in voice. First Chaffinches and a Goldcrest – at the crossroads adjacent to the pleasure gardens, a Robin sang sweetly and a Chiffchaff or two continued their two-tone routine. Surely they get bored of that by June – yet many sing on into October. Meanwhile, a Kestrel zipped through, doing a good job of impersonating the earlier Hobby until it gave itself away by hovering distinctively above the escarpment.

Climbing up beside the plantation, the birds and plants began to change. A lovely fresh example of Hedge Woundwort beside the path was worth admiring, as were the Common Spotted Orchids that appear in numbers as soon as you break free of the tree line.

Up there, where the hayfever really started to kick in, a Whitethroat, a Blackcap and one of more Skylarks sang, with brief excerpts of Green Woodpecker and Meadow Pipit. All too quickly, a Fox slunk across the path below us, disappearing into the long grass before everyone could get a look.

With all the stops along the way, more than hour had already passed, so we began to retrace our steps. Back along the track, one of the season’s first dragonflies nipped about and settled for a time – a female Broad-bodied Chaser, seen close enough to watch the sides of its abdomen inflating and deflating.

Back down towards Place Farm, young, short-tailed Swallows were being fed by their parents in one of the trees, and House Martins fed over the barley. And when we arrived back at the Shire House, the Spotted Flycatcher was still singing – this time amongst the trees in the wooded area of the churchyard, where the newly-thinned canopy makes a fine hunting ground.

Bugs

A weekend of bug life. The number of these, which is (I think) the Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum), was impressive. They particularly like this purple geranium, of which there are three largish clumps around the garden suddenly in flower.

This moth, unfortunately, was freshly dead when I found it on the kitchen floor. Looking through Waring, it looks most likely to be some kind of Sallow, or perhaps a Delicate, but nothing looks exactly right (perhaps because this specimen is bit sorry). *UPDATE* Jacob Everitt kindly informs me this is a female Ghost Moth.

This long skinny wasp got trapped in the kitchen for a while on Saturday afternoon.

And this False Widow Spider appeared from the back of a fridge we’d been keeping in the outhouse. Nice shiny abdomen, missus.

Teal on the Reach

What was almost certainly a single male Teal on Glynde Reach, seen this evening for a split second from the train between the A27 and Glynde village, where the train track crosses the water.

Though fairly common in the winter across the Ouse and Glynde Levels, summering Teal are a local rarity. But in recent years, other scarce breeding duck have been seen in the summer months along the Reach – including Gadwall and Wigeon.

Lesser Whitethroat

They’re not rare, but they are rather local – so a Lesser Whitethroat heard briefly near the school on Friday night was a welcome sound, and the closest one to the middle of the village I’d yet recorded.

That was, until Saturday morning, when one sang from trees adjacent to the cricket pitch – a garden tick for me and, perhaps, the same bird as Friday evening. Maybe an unmated male having a final attempt at finding a territory? Whatever, I haven’t heard it since.

Good also to hear, and then finally see, a Spotted Flycatcher in the garden, plus three Buzzards high together.

The torrent of Painted Ladies slowed as the weekend progressed – and the first Silver Y moth of the year was disturbed from the grass.

Silver Y moth by Flickr user Stange Ones

Safari Britain Nightingale Evening

After some unpromising evenings earlier in the week, Thursday evening was clear for the 20 or so guests of the Safari Britain camp.

As we arrived, the ongoing influx of Painted Ladies was still in evidence, and a few of the regular warblers (Whitethroat, Chiffchaff), Blackbirds and Robins sang around the campsite.

Then we enjoyed a fine meal cooked by Dan and Kim, a spontaneous rendition of ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ and three wonderful songs from folk singer Sam Lee (who included a rarely-heard Copper Family song, ‘Lemony’).

We were all having too good a time, and left the campsite later than planned for our rendervous with the nightingales. Eventually regrouping at Arlington village at 10.10, we headed from the Yew Tree to the church and into the fields behind, where an obliging Nightingale was in full song on the other side of the meadow.

It performed well as we approached, with at least two other birds singing a little further to the south east. At least one, and often two birds, were heard continuously for the next 45 minutes.

Given that Cuckoo was among the birds added to the Red List of threatened species announced earlier in the day, it was a nice surprise to hear one in the dark – a loud one-off call from a bird that I don’t recall hearing at night before.

A frog chorus, a far-off Tawny Owl or two and an unidentified wader overhead (probably a plover) all added to the atmosphere, as did one participant’s knowledge of the night sky.

A wonderful evening – thanks to all who made it happen.

*UPDATE* Here’s a recording of one of the Arlington nightingales, recorded the following Monday night.

Red Kite over Firle

Paul had a Red Kite circling over Firle village at 12.25 on Thursday, before moving off west.

Another moving through, or do we have a bird hanging around at the moment?

Flowers to come…

Saw my first Common Spotted Orchids of the year over the weekend, which reminded me to dig out photos of flowers seen last year.

Here’s a Pyramidal Orchid which was on the A27 roadside last June.

And here’s a Grass Vetchling.