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!

Where are all the hirundines?

This year there seems to be a real shortage of swallows, house martins and swifts across the county (and maybe Country?). Here at Feathers we used to have dozens of pairs of house martins nesting between the old vicarage and the farm house, whereas now we are lucky if we see any at all. Swallows have bred on the farm in years gone by, but again we now only see them occasionally. Fortunately, the swifts that call the church home still seem to be stable, with about 8 birds back again this year. Other birders in the area and plenty of customers have noted the lack of hirundines this year and it would be interesting to know whether this has been a trend for the whole of the UK.

Swift at Feathers, 25/05/19

On a more positive note, we have had a firecrest present for at least a month now. Throughout the day I can hear it singing somewhere just over the road. For the most part, owing to their protected status (Schedule 1 species), we haven't been even trying to look for it, but just knowing it is here and potentially breeding is great news for us. However, we were afforded wonderful, albeit very brief, views of it earlier in the month.

Firecrest at Feathers, 02/05/19

It seems to have been favourable weather for the breeding season, if anything perhaps a bit too dry! Hopefully it will mean great success for many species. So far we have seen young starlings (although the boxes weren't used this year), sparrows, great tits and blue tits. No doubt the blackbirds, robins and dunnocks have fledged but we haven't been introduced by the parents yet. The great spotted woodpecker parents have almost been a fixture for the last couple of weeks, taking food away but back within minutes. Perhaps there is more than one pair. No sign of the juveniles yet but I hope it won't be long.

Male great spotted woodpecker

Juvenile and adult starling

Adult and juvenile blue tit

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!

Late July and August Birding

 Our Owl Display, Beer and BBQ event on the 18th July was a huge success once more - with plenty to do and fine weather, the day was enjoyed by all who attended. Owls About Town had a smaller Parliament of Owls this year, owing to a busy schedule and a longer journey since their recent relocation to Selsey, but as always they spent the entire day ensuring no-one was left out, even forgoing lunch! In the garden, the barbecue was more popular than ever and our optics tent looked great and allowed us to demonstrate and advertise just some of the binoculars we sell.

The main event in the farm house garden

'Boris' the Tawny Frogmouth (not an Owl!)

The past month or so has been relatively quiet on the bird front at Feathers, as is typically the case at this time of year. Feeders at Allan's house and even at home seem to be busier than they are at work, with Allan's Siskins in particular feeding regularly.

Juvenile Siskin

On the 30th July we were entertained by a family of Goldcrests, as always, unperturbed by our presence, at one point coming too close to focus with my camera! None-the-less, they're not easy to photograph and despite there being numerous birds and the two of us taking hundreds of photos, we couldn't come up with anything fantastic, though a Wren did sit up nicely while we were there.

Juvenile Goldcrest

Jenny Wren

 Sometime around the end of July/ early August saw the departure of the Salehurst Swifts, though the House Martins are still around.

On the 6th August , a Hummingbird hawk-moth visited the buddleia which is growing out of the wall outside the shop.

On the 4th August and again on the 21st, at least one Raven was calling on its way overhead. When we first added a Raven to our list, we expected it to be a very rare occurrence, but it seems nowadays they are becoming more widespread and though it's not fair to say they are regular, it's certainly no longer a big surprise to see one.

Last but not least, a Treecreeper made a brief appearance this morning to the post outside the shop. It was in and out too quick for photos, but needless to say we'll be keeping a keen eye out today as we haven't photographed one in a few months!

Breeding Season Progress

This time last year we had young Starlings, young Siskins and young Pied Wagtails out of the nest, even the Blue Tits weren't far behind, as a mild winter led to an early breeding season.

This year, the Siskins never showed up, the Pied Wagtails have chosen to breed elsewhere as have the Starlings, though the latter are very active on the feeders now, so I'd expect they are breeding nearby and will bring their youngsters in soon. The Blue Tits recently fledged in the nest box as the adults are now making regular visits with food, putting their fledging date somewhere around the end of the month. The pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, which rarely used the feeders over winter, are back to nibbling peanuts in to small pieces to take away. One pair of the ever promiscuous Dunnocks are now parents, with at least a couple of babies lingering in the relative safety of the shrubs outside the shop.

Last weekend a pair of House Martins returned to one of the nests on the farm house. Compared to the numbers from 5 years ago, it seems there are very few now. The nests are still there, so what the reason is for their local decline I'm not sure. Fortunately the Swifts are back in relatively good numbers, the first of them arriving on the 8th May, a week or so later than 2014.

Swift

House Martin

Fledgling Dunnock

Busy Blue Tit

Male Great Spotted Woodpecker