Summer sightings

It's been a fairly average summer, both weather wise and bird wise. There has been very little of note, but it does seem to have been a successful breeding season for many garden birds. Once again blue tits have been the most abundant, but we've been hearing reports of house sparrows, goldfinches and great spotted woodpeckers aplenty too.

Juv great spotted woodpecker 07/06/19

A pair of kestrels nesting in the church again this year, raising 3 or 4 young. Occasionally a hobby caused a stir, harassing the youngsters but soon seen off by the adults.

Hobby 04/07/19

The swifts, which also nest in the church, seemed to have another successful year, with a highest count of 16.

Swift 12/07/19

Green woodpeckers have been busy this summer, the farmhouse lawn the most common place to find them but one juvenile took a liking to sitting on the old wall.

Juv green woodpecker 13/07/19

Both male and female sparrowhawks have been swooping through, with an unfortunate sparrow falling victim to the male on one occasion.

Male sparrowhawk 19/07/19

Male sparrowhawk with sparrow prey 19/07/19

Buzzards had been oddly quiet early in the summer, but with the arrival of some finer weather later in August, sightings became more regular.

Buzzard 23/08/19

August was dominated by blue tits on the feeders, with species such as blackbird and great spotted woodpecker becoming notably absent as they found more natural food. By later in the month the long-tailed tits arrived back after a summer hiatus, and a few chiffchaffs starting appearing, feeding up before their long migration south.

Long-tailed tit 30/08/19

Chiffchaff 29/08/19

We are still waiting for our 100th species, having been on 99 now since spring last year. Bring it on!

Heatwave

After May's blog post of thunderstorms and heavy rain, we have since been graced with two months of extremely dry weather. In fact, the south east has not reached even 10% of the average rain seen in June and July. Temperatures have been lingering around 25-30°C for a couple of weeks, but it looks like that is set to change over the weekend with rain expected in the coming days and day time temperatures dropping in to the low 20s.

What this has all meant for July, particularly the latter half, is a lack of activity on the feeders, with most customers noticing a trend of 'disappearing' birds. Our feeders have almost come to a halt, and both the number of species and overall number of birds dropping significantly. Blue tits, great tits and sparrows are still regular, with the occasional visit from a coal tit, robin, dunnock, blackbird, goldfinch or chaffinch. Not forgetting of course the dozen or more white doves which have taken up residence all over the farm, while the tame, scruffy pheasant has taken to coming in to the shop to eat in peace. A few hirundines still grace the sky, but even they seem to be quieter in this particularly hot weather.

The biggest factor for this? Birds eat to sustain energy, a bit like us (although they have faster metabolisms), so when temperatures are like this, they lose less energy and therefore don't have to eat so much to survive. Also, unsurprisingly, there is more natural food around at this time of year. Although the rate at which the feeders have slowed this year is more dramatic than previous, it is an annual trend for July to tail off and activity to remain quiet for August and September.

We've had no notable sightings here recently, apart from irregular visits from a hobby.

While the birds quieten down, butterflies become more active. Our buddleias outside the shop are a big draw, attracting quite a few different species.

Painted lady

Meadow brown

Large white

,

April (snow) Showers

Whereas April is normally one of the quietest months of the year for garden birds, the cold weather meant activity remained seemingly almost as high as any of the winter months. Many parts of the country had decent amounts of snow late on in the month, with a few snow showers here in East Sussex. That's not to say we didn't have a few fine days, but with temperatures generally not reaching much above 10°, with even some frosty nights, the birds remained active throughout April.

Snow at Feathers, 26/04/16

Just over a week after the snow, temperatures soared to above 20°, as much as 26 at times, bringing the expected drop off in feeder activity. None-the-less, there's still much to see and watch with most of the summer migrants back now. Here's a short video of the Cuckoo down by the river on the 14th April:

The Swifts arrived back on the 28th April, 10 days earlier than 2015s first arrival, with around 8 now resident.

House Martin numbers have been very disappointing, with the first seen here on the 4th May but still no sign of them looking to nest on the farm house this year.

One female Lesser Redpoll was in the Nature Area late in April:

The resident Buzzards put on a good show on the 5th May and our first Hobby of the year came over on the 7th:

Binocular Sales have been very good for us since before Christmas, the addition of Swarovski and Vortex in the past 6 months certainly helping. I have recently improved the shopping cart system, allowing for the different postage options and voucher codes. This month we are offering £10 off orders over £200 with voucher code MAY10 and £20 off orders over £400 with MAY20.

Our prices are very competitive, and by shopping with us you are supporting a small business!

Signs of September

On the 6th September last year we photographed a pair of Grey Wagtails on the barn roof, so I mentioned it would be worth keeping an eye out. Yesterday I saw a Wagtail flying over and going by the call it was definitely not a Pied, so I presumed it was the Grey - and today we confirmed the sighting. Obviously it's the time of the year when the Grey Wagtail appears so we will hopefully have the opportunity to photograph one in the coming weeks.

Another visitor which is not common at other times of year but has been regular in the past week or two is the Coal Tit, both outside the shop and in the Nature Area.

We've seen a Raven on a few occasions recently, including today as one was being pestered by a pair of Buzzards. A Hobby graced the skies above work a couple of times this week too, again at a very similar time to when we saw one last year.

There's still dozens of House Martins here, it will be interesting to see how long they hold on for as the 'Salehurst' Swifts have been gone for over a month now.

My date with nature

The RSPB have started a project called 'A date with nature', the idea to encourage more people to get outdoors, specifically to their fantastic Nature Reserves. Many of these dates are free to attend and are a great way to encourage children to get outside and appreciate wildlife. For me, looking closer to home can be just as rewarding, if not even more so as you stumble across something that perhaps no one has found before...

On a brief dog walk in one of the many local woods a couple of days ago, I was delighted to hear my first Nightingale of the year. The next morning I went back with my camera, daughter and dog to discover it in exactly the same place, singing again at the top of his voice from deep within the coppice. Add in the sound of many Song Thrushes, Wrens and Nuthatches, a Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Goldcrest and a mewing Buzzard circling low overhead, I was in my element and pleased to be able to show my 3 year old such a selection, even if she didn't really feel the same elation I felt (and really just wanted to splash in the stream).

That evening I went back alone, my very own date with nature and a very memorable one it turned out to be. A Buzzard sitting on a fence post in the adjacent field was being harassed by Mistle Thrushes and Blackbirds which drew my attention towards it. Having never taken a decent picture of a perched Buzzard, I was off to a great start. Back on the path, a fox strolled across down at the bottom of the hill, either unaware or not bothered by my presence. Nuthatches, Goldcrests and a calling Great Spotted Woodpecker were around on the way to the coppice, where again I was graced by the birdsong of the Nightingale along with many others. A fly by Hobby, another first for the year, darted by overhead, disturbing the melodic evening chorus and causing a stir.

A few years ago I was shown a Tawny Owl nest box in use at the bottom of the woods, but having entered a different way I was unsure as to its whereabouts. My unsuccessful search for the box was not a waste of time, however, as I spotted a badger near its sett. Though it at first spotted me and went back down, I decided to wait as the light dimmed for it to emerge once more. The next half an hour was spent being entertained by 3 badgers snuffling around in the bluebells, one making its way up their track towards the very path I was squatted down on. It briefly stopped about 50 yards away, before spotting me and darting across to the other side. Though my photos are nothing to be proud of, my date with nature was completely enchanting and I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again!

Common Buzzard

Nightingale

Hobby