A bit of autumnal birding!
On Sunday I finally got out birding and went to RSPB Pulborough Brooks in West Sussex. The weather was very autumnal, the orange, yellow and red leaves were being blown of the trees by the strong wind, the lasting mark of storm Brian. The jackdaws and crows were making the most of these gusts, tumbling and diving in the air, almost playfully. Soaring past them I spotted a beautiful red kite, being mobbed by a crow. The bright light only enabled me to see its silhouette but it was a great view never the less.
Walking down the path, a kestrel was hunting in an adjacent field, hovering, then diving down into the grass with such speed and elegance. This time the kestrel was unsuccessful. Looking out of the first hide there was a relatively small group of wigeon and teal, bobbing along on the rather choppy water. A few lapwing were hunkered down from the wind around the edges of the lake and there were 100's of canada geese with a few greylag at the furthest point of the view. The red kite, presumably the same individual from earlier was perched in a tree right in the distance
A small flock of long-tailed tits were flying around the trees, among them were also a couple of goldcrest, a nuthatch and close-by there was a treecreeper. Moving on to little hanger hide there wasn't much around so we carried on to hanger view, a great place to get a wider view of that part of the reserve. From here, with my scope, I saw pintail, shoveler, black-tailed godwit, more teal and wigeon as well as a couple of hundred lapwing. Another birder helped me see 4 ruff, a bird that has surprisingly eluded me in West Sussex! Suddenly all of the waders took off, swirling and turning, their wings glinting with every sharp movement they made, something must of spooked them. We then headed back to the visitor centre, to warm up, get some lunch and a hot chocolate!
Walking down the path, a kestrel was hunting in an adjacent field, hovering, then diving down into the grass with such speed and elegance. This time the kestrel was unsuccessful. Looking out of the first hide there was a relatively small group of wigeon and teal, bobbing along on the rather choppy water. A few lapwing were hunkered down from the wind around the edges of the lake and there were 100's of canada geese with a few greylag at the furthest point of the view. The red kite, presumably the same individual from earlier was perched in a tree right in the distance
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| kestrel hovering |
Just a note to say that I am hoping to start blogging a bit more regularly again, although its hard to find time as I am getting more and more school work as GCSEs are getting closer. However I think that taking time out in nature is vital as it is my passion so I will try my hardest!
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