The First Adder of the Year

It was another blustery day at Pulborough Brooks. The thermals, fleecey socks and wooly hat were firmly on and doing their jobs as I strolled across the reserve this morning, squinting as the sun appeared intermittently from behind the heavy clouds. I stopped at Fattengates for a quick scan of the brambles and was rewarded with two fluorescent male bullfinches, always a welcome sight.

At West Mead, a large group of wigeon were grazing to the right of the water. As the sun came out once more, it highlighted two snipe as they dashed towards the edge of the pool. They spent some time here, preening themselves and generally being quite active which made a change, since snipe seem to favour tucking their heads away and not moving for long periods; at least, they do at Pulborough! I scanned the taller grass where that the wigeon had now vacated and managed to pick out four more snipe, one of which was demonstrating said "tuck-and-sleep" behaviour. Their camouflage is truly amazing when they are stood still, especially among short reed beds, but this was a great opportunity to see them out and on display. It was a treat to see a decent number of pintail, shoveler and shelduck too.

I was keeping a keen eye out for raptors, particularly peregrines after having had successful sightings of them over the past few weeks, but it was slim-pickings today, despite the occasional bursts of sun. Although it was breezy, conditions which might put some birds of prey off, it was ideal for falcons to be out hunting. However, I only had two buzzards, one of which was looking pretty weathered on his right wing and tail. Not that I don't love to see buzzards, particularly when the sun catches their markings. I met up with a fellow volunteer (off-duty) standing with a visitor on the pathway known as "Adder Alley", and for good reason; amazingly, the visitor had located an adult female adder to the left of the path! When I arrived it had disappeared but it soon came back in to view once the sun came out and bathed the grass in light and heat.

(Apologies for the photo quality! These were taken on my phone)

I've actually only seen one other adder before and it was a very young one, only just bigger than an earthworm. This adult was over 2ft in length and I was able to leisurely admire the beautiful diamond pattern on her scales and see her smelling the air with her thin, black tongue. It certainly made up for the lack of raptors!

The track down to Nettley's hide is usually a great place to spot goldcrests and even firecrests. My walk today yielded both species, with a particularly fantastic showing from a firecrest which was flitting around in the open only a foot in front of me. I got lovely clear views of the bold, orange crest, olive body and black eye-stripe. On the same trail, I also caught sight of a green woodpecker as it landed on the trunk of an oak. Once again, this made a nice change as I normally only see the yellow of their rumps as they fly away.

In other birding news, I made it our for my first patch session a couple of weeks ago, guided by my fellow Midhurstian (not sure that's the official title!) Sophie, of The Oak by the Rife blog. It was a beautiful day and Sophie took me on one of her most frequented walks, pointing out where she had seen various species over the years. At one point we were discussing ravens after she received a text from her mum saying she'd seen on fly over the house, and I commented that I had never seen one in the wild (naturally the Tower of London ones don't count). No more than 15 minutes later, we heard the unmistakable cronk-cronk call and were treated to a fantastic over-head sighting of a raven; it even demonstrated the call again as it was directly above us. I might try out this technique on other species I'd love to see: "I have never had a Long-Eared Owl in my garden..." 

Big Garden Birdwatch 2016: My First Brambling!

A new house in a new town means new birds. I've been particularly looking forward to doing the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch this year for this very reason. It's given me an opportunity to get a really good idea of what birds we have visiting our new garden as, up until now, I've only really managed fleeting glances through the windows, although this technique has yielded some great spots already! I've been adding to a new patch list as each species has revealed itself and recently bullfinch, goldcrest and nuthatch have all been included.

When I woke up yesterday, the muted grey light told me that it wasn't the sunniest of mornings. It was drizzly, cloudy and typically British. I was already lacking in hope for many feathered visitors as our feeders have hardly been descended upon since moving here and I've had to change the food on more than one occasion because untouched peanuts have gone mouldy in the persistent rain. I just think that the mild temperatures have meant that there are still plenty of natural food sources out there, so the birds haven't found the need to visit the feeders as often as I'm used to. With that in mind, I wasn't expecting to see much.

The first quarter of an hour lived up to my expectations. The only activity going on came from three feisty robins bullying a lone blue tit, while three woodpigeons watched from the branches of the oak tree. I found it fascinating to see the robins using the feeders with ease as this behaviour is relatively new for this usually ground-feeding species. 

Without a doubt, the highlight of the hour for me was a visit from a brambling! I watched Friday's episode of Winterwatch which mentioned the possibility of seeing bramblings hidden in flocks of chaffinches and I couldn't believe it when I spotted one during my watch. It was an extremely fleeting visit, but it perched on a bush long enough for me to get a positive I.D. before flitting off over the fence. Actually the same thing happened with a bullfinch later in the hour so I was able to add those both to my list.

Image: John Harding/BTO

I rode the brambling high for the rest of the hour and actually quite a few of my favourite species made appearances, including a nuthatch, long-tailed tit and a great-spotted woodpecker. Whether the latter was the same one I'd hear drumming earlier in the morning, I don't know. I was also serenaded by a particularly enthusiastic song thrush on the top of the fence. Both of these would suggest we have an early Spring heading our way!

There was quite a lot going on in the area of trees behind the garden (of course). There is one I call the "starling tree" because it's usually bustling with them. However, they were replaced yesterday by a flock of 30 or so bullfinches and goldfinches. I could just about make out the bold, black heads and flashed of red although I could really have done with a scope at that point! One day, one day... I saw the brambling again, this time hanging upside down at the top of bare tree, pecking at the tiny branches. There were also a number of carrion crows fighting above me and a mix of gulls lazily circling the trees.

My total tally for the hour was as follows:

3 Woodpigeon

1 Blackbird (m)

3 Robins

2 Blue tits

1 Magpie

1 Coal tit

1 Song thrush

1 Brambling

1 Bullfinch

1 Jay

1 Great-spotted woodpecker

1 Dunnock

1 Long-tailed tit

I've put together a little table comparing my results from the past three years. Obviously two of the three counts were in Southwater but it will be interesting to see how the results vary at this new house over the next few years.

A Triple Threat at Pulborough Brooks

A belated happy new year to you!

What a hectic few weeks I've had and sadly no time for any birding. I was on hides and trails at Pulborough the Sunday before last but this glorious weather we've been having meant that visibility was bad and very few birds were out other than the ducks and waders. It wasn't the best start to 2016. However, when I was last out on the reserve, three weeks ago, I had an absolute cracker of a day and nearly suffered whiplash trying to watch everything at once!

The first part of the day was relatively uneventful. There were a couple of perched buzzards at West Mead and Winpenny and the odd snipe hiding in the long grass. It all started to get much more interesting once myself and Graham made our way to Hanger View. One of the largest trees to the left of the view is known as the "peregrine tree", so-named because, in the past, a female peregrine was frequently spotted perched on the branches. This was the first I'd heard of it since starting at Pulborough a couple of years ago. It would seem that a new female-a ringed juvy born at Amberley-has taken up this tradition as she was there for several hours on this particular day, preening herself after a wash. This was enough to keep me entertained for some time. The position of the tree gave me relatively close views of her with just my bins.

Several visitors were with us at the view and naturally everyone had their attention fixed on the peregrine, with the occasional shout of "bullfinch in the sloe bushes!" (I counted three females and two males at one point) One lady I was speaking to said that she and her husband had seen a very distant short-eared owl when they were down in Little Hanger hide. She kindly pointed me in the direction they'd been looking, which fell just behind where our falcon was perched. Literally as I focused my bins past her and onto the river bank, I had a shortie in my sights immediately! I was tickled by the fact that we'd all been so distracted by the peregrine that we'd been missing out on other exciting sightings. It didn't stop there though.

www.moorlandassociation.org 

As the other visitors became aware of the shortie, all scopes and bins refocused and followed its progress. Not long after this, after the owl dropped out of sight then reappeared in two different places, we realised there were now two quartering the riverbank. One of them landed on a fence post and a visitor was kind enough to let me look through his scope, so I could have my first close-up view of this stunning bird. I could see the characteristic piercing yellow eyes and very round facial disc.

Everyone's attention was now divided, with some back to watching the peregrine, some looking in the berry bushes for bullfinches and some chatting with each other. Many of us had lost sight of the shorties and I was scanning the banks trying to relocate them. As I brought my bins upwards, I saw both of them circling higher up, along with another bird. It most definitely wasn't a third owl though, something I realised the second I caught sight of the forked tail-a red kite! The two shorties were circling above the kite and taking turns to dive on him. At this point, the peregrine took off from her perch and joined in with the assault on the poor kite. It was quite a sight to see! 

The kite didn't hang around for long, not that he was really given a choice. Being attacked by two owls and a falcon is enough to make anyone feel unwanted! After he cleared off, it seemed the owls weren't keen on hanging around either and we lost sight of both of them. The peregrine did come back to rest in the same tree again, apparently quite pleased with her contribution to the aerial display. 

I haven't been doing hides and trails for long so I don't have a huge pool of experiences to make comparisons with, however, I can confidently say that this particular day was the best I've had on the reserve so far. I couldn't have asked for more; three species of raptor all at once and showing in a spectacular fashion! Fantastic.

Disconnecting to Reconnect

I've been reveling in the glorious colours of autumn over the past week or so. It's really one of the best displays of turning leaves I've seen in a long while! Driving down the A24 is a real treat at the moment, with the bordering trees either side showing an array of golds, reds and russets that look stunning in the sunshine.

I spent the morning at Pulborough Brooks as a hides and trails volunteer again. This is the first time I've gone out on my own as I've had Graham, a much more experienced and knowledgeable volunteer, showing me the ropes these past few weeks. I was glad of the chance to see how I got on with identifying trickier species without a seasoned birder to help me. Of course, I had my Collins guide tucked in my backpack but I didn't need it today. So far I've been lucky with the weather on the days I've been on the reserve and today was particularly lovely; what I'd call a proper autumn day. There were a few raptors about, including a couple of sparrowhawks and male kestrels, and one female peregrine bathing in a small pool in front of Winpenny hide.

That is a peregrine-I promise! These terrible photos were snapped on my phone through the scope.

I had an especially close encounter with a pair of goldcrests which were busy picking insects of leaves only a couple of feet above me. I was close enough to see the reflection in their eyes and that fantastic streak of yellow on their heads. They weren't fazed at all by me stood so near which is pretty unusual for what is normally a very shy bird!

At Hanger View, I stood with a group of visitors and watched two healthy-looking male bullfinches flicking between the sloes. A buzzard circled over the pools for a while but was seen off by a rather brave and determined lapwing. From Nettley's hide, I managed to identify five black-tailed godwits which I was pleased with as I'd never seen them in the flesh before, although I knew they were about having checked the sightings book when I arrived. Myself and the visitors in the hide also picked out three snipe with some difficulty; boy, those birds blend in! It certainly helped to have the scope with me.

Fuzzy Snipe.

Wigeon

Black-tailed Godwits

When I got back to the visitor's centre, it occurred to me that, apart from taking a few photos, I had just spent four hours completely away from technology. I'll openly admit that I use my phone far too much normally and it's become one of those bad habits that I hate but find very hard to break. Part of the reason I use social media a lot is to do with my portrait business as I always have messages to reply to and I don't like to leave those too long. However, I know full well that I check Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/Insert preferred platform here too many times in a day and it's something I try hard to avoid. The fact that I didn't once feel the need to hop online while I was out and about on the reserve today proves that I am capable of cutting back. I actually felt really good about having been off grid for a short while and just spending time in the fresh air doing something I genuinely enjoyed, something that didn't involve a screen. 

Greeted by a Grey Wagtail

The weekend just gone was rather a busy one for me. As I discussed in my last post, I held another beach clean-up in Worthing for the MCS Great British Beach Clean on the Saturday which was a great success all round. On Sunday morning, my legs were aching from walking on the pebbles but despite this, I headed over to Pulborough Brooks to start another new volunteer role. I've been a volunteer in RSPB Pulborough's visitor centre since 2013 which has been instrumental in the building of my wildlife knowledge and communication with the public. The opportunity recently came up to join the hides and trails team and I thought it would be a great chance to branch out a bit and get myself more involved with a different aspect of the reserve.

I was taken round the reserve by Graham, another H&T volunteer who has many years of experience and knowledge, and was happy to share it with myself and Ben, another new volunteer. We were extremely lucky with the weather as Saturday's beautiful sunshine carried on which meant there were a few raptors about, using the thermals to their advantage. Our first spot was a sparrowhawk, though we were initially unsure as it was a fair distance away and its flying pattern was slightly out of character. It appeared to be catching insects in flight which is behaviour one would normally expect to see in a hobby, although the wings were the wrong shape for that. In the end, Graham managed to glimpse it in his scope and confirmed it as a sparrowhawk. Obviously one having a funny turn!

Image: www.splash.sussex.ac.uk

My birding knowledge has certainly expanded over the past couple of years but I am nowhere near competent in identification, so I'm always quite pleased when I spot a bird that is a bit trickier and correctly I.D. it straight away. This happened a few times on Sunday; one was a blackcap which generally isn't hard to identify but I don't see them very often; another was a female shoveler nestled among a group of mallards. We had some exciting sightings across the course of the day and the majority of these were at Hanger View where we spent quite a bit of time. Several kestrels were seen flying past and hovering over the North Brooks and one perched itself at the top of a berry-laden bush right in front of our position. It was a pleasure to observe this beautiful raptor bathed in sunlight, calmly preening itself and stretching its wings. I actually didn't realise kestrels had such vibrant orange legs until I saw this one through my binoculars. 

A kingfisher made an appearance, the blue iridescence of its feathers contrasting against the red reeds it was hiding in. Another kestrel was dive-bombing a gliding buzzard in the distance. Two green sandpipers occupied the pond closest to us and we were able to watch them for at least an hour. At one point, they had a bit of a tiff and were chasing each other around in sweeping circles, half flying and half running. The shrubs closer to us were shaking with starlings and juvenile goldfinches, as well as a willow warbler. A couple of jays were picking acorns off the oaks and a green woodpecker flew from one side of the view and back. A cacophony of noise from the canada and greylag geese formed the afternoon's soundtrack. In the furthest pond, huddled between a group of lapwings were at least three dunlin, though the heat haze made it hard to focus on them, even through a scope. 

By far the spot that I was most thrilled about was a grey wagtail. A few visitors had reported seeing a yellow wagtail or two nearby, but the grey appeared in the same pond as the green sandpipers and was easily distinguishable from its yellow cousin. I observed the comical dipping and lifting of the rump that gave the wagtails their name and saw how bright the yellow of its lower belly was. Even though the bird itself wasn't visible without optical assistance from where we stood, the sun kept catching that yellow belly as it moved about, pecking at the sand. It was quite unusual to see the grey wag in a location with still water; they are more commonly found near moving water, such as rivers.

Image: www.rspb.org.uk

The oak trees directly above us were full up with song birds, including blue and great tits, a nuthatch that could be heard tapping energetically, several long-tailed tits and at least two goldcrests, who's calls were first recognised by Gordon, another volunteer at the reserve who is particularly good with his bird sounds. It seemed as if the nearby robins never stopped singing. 

I was pleasantly surprised with how much we saw and heard in that four-hour period. I'm very much aware that we are entering an exciting time of the year when it comes to birding, with many migrating waders and wildfowl returning from their summer holidays. In that respect, it is a brilliant time for me to be starting on hides and trails. In terms of the temperatures and the high chances of more rain, it isn't! I don't mind that though; if it means I have the chance to be out and about, learning more about wildlife and being able to share my passion with the public, then I'm definitely going to be happy. 

30 Days Wild Days 27-30: The Last Few Days

Well folks, we have officially entered July which means 30 Days Wild is at an end. I haven't had much time to dedicate to wild acts in the last few days of the challenge but I managed to sneak moments here and there. Here's a summary of what I got up to:



On Saturday, I allowed myself a lazy morning in bed. I took my cup of tea and breakfast upstairs, opened my window wide and listened to the screechy chirps of the goldfinches in the oak tree directly outside my bedroom. The sunlight was glinting and caught the yellow bars on their wings as they picked at the leaves in search of insects.

The whole of Sunday was spent working on portraits so I took a few minutes in the evening, just as the sun had dipped, to stand in the bridleway next to our house and listen to the birdsong. The songs of blackbirds, song thrushes and robins floated on the air, layered on top of each other and a few rabbits hopped along the bridleway, unaware of me stood very still at the end.








Monday heralded the start of our "heatwave" and at eight in the morning, the temperature was already high. With another long day of work planned, I took the opportunity to sit out in the garden while I had my breakfast, wriggling my toes in the grass and listening to the dunnock calling from the hedge, one long, high-pitched squeak.

Enter the 30th of June, the final day of 30 Days Wild and I was to be found volunteering at Pulborough Brooks. Boy, was it a hot one! One of the members of the volunteer work party asked me if I wished I was working out on the reserve on a day like yesterday and I in all honesty was quite glad to be inside. Partly because I burn so easily, so extended time in strong sun is never a brilliant idea for me. During my lunch break, I sat outside by the pond next to the visitor centre and listened to the sparrows, blue tits and the clucking of a moorhen. A male blackbird landed in front of me with his beak stuffed full of small morsels. I think there were some fledglings sparrows still in the nest boxes, poking their heads out and squawking to their parents.

Although I had quite a lot of work and volunteering keeping me occupied during June, I still just about managed to have my moments with nature each day and even learned a few new things. The campaign was a very effective way of encouraging us to engage with the natural world more often and I intend to keep it up wherever possible, by visiting new places and continuing to educate myself, particularly on bird songs and calls which remains my weakest area. 

Stay wild everybody!

30 Days Wild Day 23: Lunch With a Kestrel

Pulborough was busy on Tuesday. My four hours of volunteering flew by in a flash and I had plenty keeping me occupied. I did manage to grab a 20 minute break when I went for a quick walk on the heathlands again. It was an extremely close day which is why I think I had a headache for most of the day, despite drinking plenty of water. The fresh air did help to an extent but I soon forgot about my head as I watched a beautiful kestrel glide above me, low enough for me to see the sandy feathers underneath. It landed on the outside of a tree at the bottom of the valley where I followed it to try and snap a couple of photos. It's times like that when I wish I had one of these amazing telephoto lenses!

Not great, but you get the idea!

30 Days Wild Day 22: Chichester Fledge Watch

The big moment is finally here! Well in actual fact, it's already passed as I type this but when I was with the peregrines on Monday, the juveniles hadn't officially fledged yet. We were on "Fledge Watch" all day and those birds certainly kept us on the edge all day. All three of the juvys spent the majority of the day perched on the turret crenelations, flapping their wings repeatedly and a few times looked like they might just make the leap. I got a crick in my neck from looking up all day. 

The adults stayed tucked inside alcoves on the spire during the morning as we had some torrential rain and peregrines really don't enjoy flying in the wet. As much as I would have liked the young to fledge while I was there, I knew the weather would have a big effect on whether they went or not and I wasn't holding out much hope. Still, it was lovely to see them on such great display all day and it meant we had something to show the visitors most of the time. Of course, the most frustrating part for me was knowing that once I went home, I wouldn't be able to carry on following their progress on the webcam. At least during "Hatch Watch", there was always something to be monitored on the camera but with the chicks outside of the frame, I would have to miss the moment they branched out.

I was pleased to be able to get decent views of them before they left though. They are brown and cream versions of their parents with beaks that look almost blue but they certainly have the peregrine call down to a fine art! 

The first two juveniles fledged yesterday and the third went today. I'm hoping someone might have been around to capture some photographic evidence as I feel like I've missed out on one of their biggest moments! Sadly, I don't think the cathedral staff would take too kindly to me camping out on their lawn. I have two shifts at the project next week which is actually the final week of monitoring. I don't want it to end!

30 Days Wild Day 19: Birding at Pagham Harbour

OK so I might have accidentally missed a day of this little challenge. Thursday completely got away from me and before I knew it, it was bed time and I had done nothing remotely wild. I plan to make up for this by tagging an extra day on at the start of July and hopefully day 19's blog will more than make amends for the lack of day 18! 

So. Day 19. What a corker it was! It definitely comes under the heading "visit somewhere new" as I took my very first trip to Pagham Harbour nature reserve, managed by the RSPB. Whenever I'm volunteering at Pulborough and talking about Pagham Harbour to the public, I always feel slightly shameful as I'm encouraging people to go but had never been myself! So I decided it was time to rectify that. Funnily enough, a very rare bird called a Hudsonian Whimbrel, normally found across the pond in America, showed up at Church Norton (just down from Pagham) around this time last week. It was purely by chance that myself and my colleague and friend Lauren had decided to visit several weeks ago, nothing to do with the Whimbrel and, incidentally, we didn't see it. 

Lauren was acting as my tour guide since I had no idea where to start and the reserve area is enormous. We began in search of a family of nightingales we had been told were nearby, down the cycle path to the left of the reserve. We tried several spots along the trail and waited but didn't see the adults or juveniles, although we did hear several bursts of the nightingale alarm call, so we knew they were there, just very well hidden in the dense vegetation. What made up for the lack of nightingales spots was the sight of an adult whitethroat (the first time I'd seen one) feeding a juvenile. There was a lot of birdsong going on around us within the vegetation, including chiffchaffs and skylarks and Lauren pointed out to me the call of a blackcap, which sounds exactly the same as two marbles banging together. Very recognisable.

Along the track were the remains of two sparrowhawk kills; one was just a puff of feathers but it must have been disturbed while eating the other, as the body was left behind, minus the head which was on the other side of the trail. Lauren told me they eat the brains first as that is the most nutritious part. Sadly, we didn't spot the culprit.

In this area, we stood for some time listening to at least two, possibly three, reed warblers in the bed to the right of the photo. At times they sounded extremely close to us and we desperately tried to search them out but as it was quite breezy, they chose to remain lower down the reeds where the movement was minimal. A couple of lapwings flew overhead, their white bellies and underwings glinting in the sunlight. 

I was pleased to see a few butterflies about but not as many as I expected on such a warm day; a meadow brown, large white and several red admirals. Looking out across the wetland area, we spotted three little egrets, a grey heron, a lone oystercatcher, sleeping shelducks and a cormorant flying across the air. Cormorants really do look unusual in flight; almost pterodactyl-like. 

Little Egret

The ferry pools were absolutely teeming with black-tailed godwits, both adults and juveniles, the former with beautiful, rufous heads and necks, and the latter looking much more dull and grey in comparison. There was one lone redshank who's much smaller size set it apart from the crowd of godwits, several shelducks including some older juveniles and a pair of little-ringed plovers were scuttling back and forth across one of the sandy banks. They certainly are speedy little birds and blend in with sand so effectively!

As we walked back towards the car park, swifts soaring above our heads, we briefly stopped to look at the dipping ponds. Apparently, not long ago, they had some heavy flooding that filled the ponds with saltwater so it has taken some time for them to recover. Several damselflies flitted around and a beautiful broad-bodied chaser circled the area.

We drove down to Church Norton as Lauren told me this is the best area to see birds, particularly in the winter when all of the waders arrive in vast numbers. One of the most exciting spots of the day for both of us happened in the car park of Church Norton, before we had even reached the trail. A song thrush jumped down in front of us with a snail in its beak, completely unfazed by our presence. Usually, these birds are much more shy and illusive so it made a nice change, especially as, only a few feet from where we stood, the thrush began to bang the snail on the ground repeatedly until it broke apart. It then had a brief peck at the insides before a car came along and spooked it. Obviously we know this behaviour goes on (the broken shells by my pond are evidence enough) but neither of us had ever seen it happening before!

With the hot, sunny weather we had on the day, it felt as if we were on a beach in the Mediterranean when we tore ourselves away from the thrush. The water was extremely clear and, apart from the odd individual, there was no one but us around. We spent some time watching the Tern Island where breeding common and little terns are nesting. We did spot one individual with an all-black beak which we suspected could have been an Arctic tern but it stayed stubbornly hunkered down so we didn't have much to go on. Lauren manged to spot a Med gull among the more chocolatey black-headed gulls which unfortunately flew off before I could peek through the scope.

The oystercatchers were making quite a racket most of the time we were there and there was one which might have been sitting on a nest, as she didn't move off her spot at all, despite being extremely vocal. I'm quite taken by how white they look in flight, in comparison to their more black appearance on the ground. 

L-R: Black-headed gull, tern, shelduck

Tern Island, 30-40 adult and juvy cormorants to the left.

Oystercatchers and lone shelduck

Possible nesting oystercatcher

We headed over to the right next, where the beach is. There were shoals of fish swimming very close to the shore line and the tide line was littered with hundreds of shed crab skins in various sizes. We set up camp in an area of vegetation that is apparently very good for short-eared owl sightings in the winter. The call of a chaffinch was the overriding sound that punctuated the raspy cries of the gulls. Several small, brown birds kept darting over the hedges then disappearing into the foliage, too fast for us to I.D. them. Lauren suspected they might have been bunting of some sort.

We did spot a bird which looked to be a juvenile goldfinch, with a bright yellow bar on its wing, a couple of greenfinch, and possibly a yellowhammer though it didn't stick around for long! A pair of buzzards hovered above the tree line in quite an impressive way considering the strength of the wind at the time.

As we made our way back along the beach, we stopped to have a look at the oystercatchers again, since they were still making a lot of noise. Lauren put the scope on another little-ringed plover but when I looked at it, I noticed the beak and legs were orange rather than yellow and there was no yellow ring around the eye. We decided based on this that it had to be the little-ring's larger cousin, a ringed plover. I was very excited having only seen the little-ringed before. 

I'm definitely going to make plans to visit again in the autumn/winter time when hundreds of dunlin and knot will be arriving. I'm also hoping to get down to Medmerry soon too, which is the RSPB's newest reserve and is only just down the road from Pagham.

Full bird list from the day:

Oystercatchers

Common Terns

Little Terns

Artic Terns

Black-headed Gulls

Shelducks (juv + adult)

Kestrels

Buzzards

Redshank

Ringed Plover 

Little-ringed Plover

Lapwing

Grey Heron

Little Egret

Cormorants (juv + adult)

Song thrush

Woodpigeon

Blackbird

Whitethroat (juv + adult)

Greenfinch

Robin (juv + adult)

Greenfinch

Juv. Goldfinch

Yellowhammer

Skylarks

Coots

Swifts

Wren

Rooks

30 Days Wild Day 17: How Volunteering Has Helped Me

I've decided to something a little different for my random act of wildness today. I'm currently in the process of looking for my next volunteering role since the end of the Chi peregrine project is approaching and I want to make sure I have something lined up to fill the space. My search has left me thinking a lot about the volunteer work I have done so far and how it has affected my life.

As some of you may know and most probably don't, I've been self-employed since 2012, working from home as a pet portrait artist. This wasn't what I had originally planned to do, it was purely by chance that I fell into it, but in two and a half years I have had a steady stream of clients, both new and returning, and it has provided a way for me to earn some money while figuring out what direction I want to head in. In Autumn 2013, I applied for the role of volunteer retail assistant at the RSPB Pulborough Brooks nature reserve, partly because working from home can be very isolating and I felt I needed to have some form of interaction with the outside world, but mainly because I had developed a keen interest in wildlife while dabbling in bird illustrations and I wanted to explore that interest further.

I've always been a relatively shy person, particularly when I'm meeting people for the first time, as I'm sure many others are. When I started at Pulborough, I had this shyness and coupled with this, I struggled with anxiety that I had developed when I was at university, something that I still have although I'm learning to control it, and that anxiety used to make it very hard for me to venture outside of my "comfort zone" and try new things. So as you can imagine, despite the fact that I had worked in retail before, applying to Pulborough took quite a bit of courage.

Since the charity relies on the generosity of busy people giving up their time for free, volunteers are valued extremely highly by the RSPB, as I'm sure they are by other organisations too. From day one at Pulborough, I was made to feel very welcome by all staff and fellow volunteers. My role is a varied one, involving general retail work, membership recruitment, giving advice and information about wildlife and talking about the RSPB's work. It's been over a year and a half since I started there and in that time, I have noticed myself becoming more confident in many respects, particularly when it comes to talking to the public.

Up until the beginning of this year, my role at Pulborough was the only extra work I was doing alongside my commissions. I have spent a long time trying to figure out what I really want to do with myself and ultimately what kind of impact I want to make. At the end of 2014, I realised that I want to be doing something that can truly make a difference, no matter how small, and have a positive impact on the natural world. I had picked up a lot of new knowledge about nature while at Pulborough and it had only peaked my interest in working within the field even more.

2015 has been all about me setting the wheels in motion to make this change. My entire academic foundation is in the arts as that was the field I had originally intended to work in, so I was starting with basically nothing to go on. I knew I needed to get experience by doing further volunteer work as well as venture back into the land of studying. Of course, as I've mentioned already, having anxiety makes it all kinds of difficult for me to reach out to people and start new ventures. I decided I was not going to let that hold me back this time and I gave myself the motto of "Be Brave" to be repeated in my head whenever I was too afraid to do something.

My volunteer work for the Marine Conservation Society as a Beachwatch organiser has been particularly helpful in my quest to banish my anxiety. For someone who has always hated public speaking of any kind and still struggles with shyness from time to time when faced with strangers, organising events and being in charge of people I've never met before seemed like an absolutely mental thing to voluntarily do! However, I knew for a fact that if I pushed myself to do it, not only would I gain a little more confidence, I would also develop important skills such as organisation, delegation and surveying. "Be Brave" was used in this instance and I have since successfully carried out two beach clean-ups with two brilliant and friendly teams of volunteers.

When I did my first Beachwatch briefing to the group in March, I was incredibly nervous and had been for the couple of days running up to the event. A couple of family members and friends were there and I think that helped but at my second one, earlier this month, I had no one I knew there and I still managed to make it through. What I've really learnt is that the further I push myself out of that pesky "comfort zone", the bigger the rewards are.

Now we come to the peregrine project. I very nearly didn't apply for this when I first came across it on the RSPB website. Don't ask me why; I have no clear answer! I kept thinking "I can always do it next year", "it's a long way to travel and you don't know the area" and various thoughts along those lines. In the end, though, I gave myself a mental shake and talking to, applied my motto and sent the email. I had actually worked with Lauren, the person running the project, at Pulborough in the past so I was pleased I would at least know one face, even if it meant I'd be working with a brand new team of people.

I can't even tell you how relieved I am that I took the plunge. I was initially apprehensive because it was my first year on the project, my peregrine knowledge was sparse and I knew most of the volunteers had been doing it for years. I didn't want to make a fool of myself. Writing this now, it seems laughable that I these thoughts went through my head. Everyone has to start somewhere, right? We aren't born with a wealth of knowledge; we have to pursue it over time. The further we get through the project, the more I enjoy it and most especially, the more I enjoy talking to the public and teaching them. It really is a fantastic feeling to talk about a subject I am so passionate about and see the enthralled faces of visitors young and old as they absorb the facts.

To you, it might seem utterly ridiculous that I get so worked up over a small thing like volunteering or trying something new, but that's anxiety for you. If you're unfortunate enough to have it too, then maybe you can relate. It's pretty hard to explain the feelings I get to those lucky ones who don't have them. I'm so glad that I have pushed myself this year. My knowledge and skills base is expanding with everything I do and I honestly feel like volunteering has had a huge impact on me personally. This time two years ago, I never thought I'd be saying that I enjoy talking to the public!

If you're considering becoming a volunteer, just do it! I cannot recommend it highly enough. There are so many benefits for both parties and it doesn't have to be time-consuming; you give only the time you can afford to give. I've put a few links at the end of this post that will send you in the right direction.

If you've made it through this entire, rambling post-I salute you.


Helpful Links:

www.rspb.org.uk/joinandhelp/volunteering

www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch/

www.wildlifetrusts.org/how-you-can-help/volunteer-with-us

www.tcv.org.uk/

30 Days Wild Day 16: Lunch With the Bees

I'm feeling pretty wiped out at the moment, after a full-on weekend and volunteering both yesterday and today. Monday I was mentally tired after talking to the public all day and today I'm physically tired after moving heavy bags of bird seed around; I'm not complaining though because it means I don't have to exercise this week! During my lunch break at Pulborough Brooks today, I went for a quick walk down the first part of the trail, where there are thick hedgerows usually filled with wildlife. The sun was shining so it seemed a shame to waste it by staying inside.

Here are a few of the photos I snapped on my walk. The bees were all very obliging and didn't mind being papped as they carried on with their business. The same goes for the young rabbit who didn't bat an eyelid or stop chewing grass as I walked past only a foot away. A chiffchaff sang from his perch in plain sight at the top of a tree which made me happy as he is only the third one I have ever seen in the flesh.

Last night, I dreamed that I laid a bug 'trap' in the woods behind our garden. When I say trap, I don't mean a deadly one. I've been meaning to try out the one I saw Martin Hughes-Games demonstrate on Springwatch, where you dig a plastic cup into the ground and see what falls in there. I think perhaps my brain was just reminding me while I slept, so I might try and do that tomorrow for day 17.

30 Days Wild Day 15: The Pigeon and the Peregrine

Are you fed up with peregrines yet? If you are, I'm afraid we can't be friends. I will never tire of them!

We are exactly half way through the "30 Days Wild" challenge already! The past fortnight really has flown by. Today was another volunteering day with the Chi peregrines and even though it has only been five days since I was last there, the chicks have changed so much yet again. They only have small tufts of white down left now and I've been desperate to go up the turret and give them all a good brush; they just look so scruffy! 

They are five weeks old now so only have one week left before they will be fledging. One of the female chicks, number 63, has been particularly adventurous and restless today. Several times she hopped up on to one of the castellations and had a good look around. Through the scopes, I managed to see her poking her head out through the gap which was the first time I've seen her in the flesh, so to speak, rather than just on a screen. My money's on her being the first one to take the plunge!

Feeding time this evening. I think the one standing on the box is 63, judging by her head tufts.

Both adults spent a good portion of the morning perched on the cathedral but as the day brightened a bit, they took advantage of the warm air and breeze to do some flying. We didn't see them for some time apart from occasional glimpses of them very high up. I was watching them above us for a while and counted at least three falcons, possibly four in total, and there was definitely some kind of fight going on between two of these, so I took it to mean there were one or two intruding peregrines, possibly the females from a few weeks back. Unfortunately, they were far too high for me to do anything other than speculate.

The parents didn't bring any food in for a good few hours after a brief 11am feed and, after some time, the chicks were showing signs of being hungry; having been asleep for most of that period, they were suddenly wide awake and perched in row, cocking their heads up in search of their parents. Eventually, about 20 minutes before we were due to pack up for the day, the female flew in, squawking loudly and carrying a big prey item. She did several loops of the cathedral before dropping out of sight and then reappeared but flying very low. Once she had landed on her favourite prey-plucking spot, we focused the scopes on her and saw that she had brought in a very large pigeon, probably feral. She was gaping a great deal and made no attempt to start plucking the catch. Instead, she left it where she'd landed and re-positioned herself on one of the pinnacles above the nest turret, near where the tercel had landed in the meantime. Our explanation for this behaviour was that she had really struggled to bring such a large prey item in and consequently had to take some time to catch her breath before delivering the food to her chicks.

Falcon with her prey

The tercel

I was pleased to see a bit of activity from the adult birds just before leaving, since we'd gone most of the day without seeing them! They always make up for their absence in some way or another and this was a prime example of that. The Cloister's garden, where we are based, is always buzzing with wildlife as I mentioned back in May and today was no exception. I was particularly taken by a goldfinch picking at insects hidden beneath the leaves of an overhanging tree only a few feet away from me. They are one of the prettiest birds to be seen in a garden but it isn't often I get to see them at close range. I just love that yellow stripe!

 By the time I'm next on shift at the project, the chicks may well have started fledging already. I really can't wait to see them in action, learning how to be the fastest creatures on the planet!