A noticeable increase in winter thrushes over recent days in Firle – in addition to parties flying through, there are now several groups hanging around.

A mixed party of Fieldfares and Redwings has returned to their favourite spot, in paddocks just south of the allotments near The Ram. Yesterday a Sparrowhawk scattered about 30+ into nearby trees.

The hedge down Wick Street near Gibraltar Farm also had a small bunch of Fieldfares as I drove past yesterday – and then returning along the Old Coach Road near dusk last night, a tight pack of about 110 Fieldfares whipped along the hedge towards the Plantation, presumably on their way to roost.

“There’s no such thing as a seagull.”

Sad to say, but I remember telling people this all the time when I was about 10 or 11 – having learnt from my teacher that there were herring gulls, black-headed gulls, little gulls, common gulls – but no ’seagulls’. I thought I was pretty clever, putting people right at every opportunity. I suspect the lucky recipients of my knowledgeableness probably thought I was a precocious little brat.

So anyway, I’ve stopped telling people that now (I still get the urge, but have to bite my lip). And now I have children of my own, who I don’t want to turn into annoying bird nerds, I actually use the word ’seagull’ quite a lot, as we watch them flying over the garden or out in the fields.

Of course, the ’sea’ bit of their colloquial name does seem pretty redundant these days. In Beddingham, Glynde and Firle you can see gulls of several sorts in any season, and many live most (all?) of their lives quite happily inland.

Gulls in Firle, Beddingham and Glynde

There are some subtle changes to the ones we see though. In the summer, the big Herring Gulls predominate – with lots along the coast and breeding in our nearby towns, Herring Gulls are ubiquitous most of the year. But amongst them is the occasional smart black-winged version, the Lesser Black-backed gull, which has also colonised urban rooftops in recent years.

In later summer, when the first stubble fields appear, we get the first returning Common Gulls – which are actually not so common. They look a little like small Herring Gulls, with ‘cuter’ faces and noticeably pied tips to their wings when they fly. They tend to spread out across the fields, and often consort with Black-headed Gulls, the small sharp-winged gulls that we see so many of in the winter (incidentally, whoever named the black-headed gull was hardly fit to name anything: their summer head-colour – just a splodge of which remains in winter – is brown).

We also see a few Great Black-backed Gulls these days – the world’s biggest gull, which looks superficially like a Lesser Black-backed but has a Heron-sized wingspan. They can often be seen lumbering over Glynde in small groups during the winter.

And as if these five regular species weren’t enough, we see others occasionally too. A couple of springs ago a rare Glaucous Gull spent a while in Firle – and it’s always worth checking gatherings of Black-headed Gulls for the odd Mediterranean Gull (blood-red beak and all-white wings), which are particularly attractive.

Firle’s scraggy Herring Gull

When birds are common, and often seen in big gatherings, it’s easy to lose sight of them as individuals. But sometimes one stands out from the crowd and reminds you that each is unique.

Such is the case with a singular Herring Gull that resides in Firle. Most of its species spend their days out on the fields, and fly elsewhere to roost at night on water. But this one – identifiable by his scraggy rear-end (uneven tail feathers) – eschews the routine of his or her fellows.

I often come across it on its own on the cricket pitch early in the mornings, with no other gulls in sight. Twice I’ve seen it perched on a chimney stack near The Ram (it’s only when you see one doing so that you realise what an unusual sight it is in the village).

I’ve no idea where it spends the night, but I’m pretty sure it’s not huddled up with its fellow gulls at Arlington Reservoir. Yet it seems a perfectly capable flyer, and it’s obviously managing to feed itself – so why it’s decided to spend so much of its time in Firle, alone, is something of a puzzle.

Seems even seagulls can be mysterious after all.

(originally appeared in Firle, Glynde and Beddingham Parish Magazine)

A Short-eared Owl reported by Barrie Norman today, on the Downs near Bo Peep (Alciston) at 2.30pm

Meanwhile, here are a couple of photos of yesterday’s fine dawn in Firle.

Passing by the paddocks at Place Farm around 7 this morning, I was pleased to see (after a few weeks’ absence) our very own scraggy-tailed Herring Gull amongst around 30 Black-headed Gulls.

Coming back past a few minutes later, these had all moved on – but in flew three Common Gulls and a Lesser Black Backed Gull.

Still plenty of Fieldfares, Redwings and Mipits going over, plus Reed Bunting (a bit rare around the village). No sign of yesterday’s Brambling though.

A gentle walk around a wet field next to the Reach produced four Snipe (all feeding in the same spot) but not much else.

A Sparrowhawk cruising through caused a totally disproportionate reaction in the local Rook‘n’Jackdaw population, and a few Reed Buntings kept watch from scrub beside the Reach.

With heavy rain until about 10 yesterday, I was late walking the dog, but it seemed to coincide with all the birds starting to get busy after their own delayed start.

Walking up Bostal Road, a gaggle of about 30 noisy Canada Geese – that included one noisy Greylag – flew off the Downs and over my head. Away from the Decoy Pond in Firle Park, Greylags aren’t that common South of the A27.

Feeding groups of Chaffinches were noticeable in a couple of places, including where the bales stacked at Place Farm; and there, making nasal noises from atop a small tree, a Brambling - my first of the winter, and the first stationary one I’ve ever seen in Firle (I usually just catch them going overhead). A Grey Wagtail brightened the puddles on the road nearby

As well as the handful of Fieldfares that have taken up residence around the back of the allotments, quite a few have been moving through in recent days – including one flock of 85 West on Friday. Meanwhile a small party of Redwings, which had apparently been sheltering in a yew opposite the Post Office, decided to make their escape all of a sudden as I walked back into the village.

A balmy morning  (practically T-shirt weather) but the birds are decidedly autumnal.

At least one Redpoll flew through (following six yesterday), followed by a couple of Redwings. Three Yellowhammers over the centre of the village was a sign of the season too.

The sun seems to be encouraging Skylarks to sing, particularly in the fields by Bostal Road, just west of the school.

And around the Ram/cricket pitch, plenty of the regulars in evidence: Treecreeper, GS and Green Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Coal Tit, Mistle Thrush, Goldcrest and Grey Wagtail.

A couple of Swallows hawking around the escarpment at Alciston yesterday, alongside some other late-autumn migrants, was less surprising than the lone bird sitting on wires at Place Farm this morning. It was in exactly the spot where the summering birds like to sit, but presumably this was a late migrant, just stopping by.

Nearby a Fieldfare chuckled from atop the highest branch in the churchyard trees – winter and summer cheek by jowl.

and it’s purty. Go look!