Lesser Spotted Failures

Sunday 16th.  Lesser Spotted Failure #4 (JK#8).  06:45-11:45 with John King at another LSW site produced 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a singing Mistle Thrush (lovely song that I enjoy more every time I hear it), 2 Marsh Tits, 3 Coal Tits, 2 Nuthatches, 2+ Treecreepers and 2 Siskins. A glorious afternoon walk around Cissbury with Megan was almost birdless as was an evening low-tide visit to the Adur.  Nice as Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers are, and they are very nice, I think over 15 hours is more than enough to spend looking for them, even though I've not now seen one for two years. Hopefully a decent forecast next weekend will make a seawatch a more attractive option, right now a strong NW would be!

Saturday 15th. Lesser Spotted Failure #3 (JK#7). A poor forecast for seawatching so John King and I decided to try again for LSW.  John had looked unsuccessfully on four mornings at a site near Burgess Hill.  We to the site of previous failures and stayed from 06:55-13:00 but not a sniff.  Two Firecrests were again present, 30 Redwings and 2 Coal Tits.  I even missed a Treecreeper that John saw.

Friday 14th.  A single Meadow Pipit on Southwick Beach.

Thursday 13th.  Front type puncture within a minute of leaving home so went to work on my spare bike - much harder work with all terrain tyres.  Peregine on the Power Station chimney.

Wednesday 12th.  My bike was making clicking noises on the way to work.  I stopped 2-3 times but couldn't see the cause.   When I got to work I noticed the front wheel's rim was cracked.  On the way home it disintegrated after a mile or so and I had to half carry the bike to Moulscoomb and take it home on the train.  Fortunately I had a spare front wheel at home.

split rim on my front wheel

even Mavics are not immune from such failures

Tuesday 11th.  Peregine on the Power Station chimney.

Sunday 9th.  Lesser Spotted Failure #2.  07:30-10:00 with John King.  We heard one distant drum soon after arriving but nothing further although 2 Firecrests were some compensation. Perhaps we should have started earlier but I'd been up at 04:00 the previous morning going to Hythe and couldn't face another early start.  Later we distantly saw the two Black-necked Grebes and female Scaup at Greatham.  An afternoon walk up Anchor Bottom with Megan produced a single Raven and at least 4 singing Sky Larks.

Philippine preview to cheer me up: