Knepp, Lavington & West Mill (27 May-3 June)

Wednesday 03 June. I took Cookie to Knepp where it took me three hours to see a Turtle Dove although I'd heard but failed to find two during that period. I then saw four, including one of those heard earlier, as I walked back to the car. Only one was likely to have been different from those seen on previous visits. I heard at least 2 Cuckoos but they weren't anything like as vocal as on previous visits. I saw several Stock Doves, Great Tit families everywhere (I estimated 30+ birds) and a Nightingale with two others heard. Everything else I saw two of -  Buzzards, Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, Garden Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats, Mistle Thrushes and Bullfinches.

Turtle Dove at Knepp

it didn't seem concerned by my viewing it through a window

Turtle Dove from a different angle where it was less obscured

purring Turtle Dove

coming to get me

very deep wing beats but it is a long distance migrant

another Turtle Dove at Knepp

free-flying White Stork and one of its three chicks

Tuesday 02 June. Megan and I took Cookie to Brooklands where we heard 2 Cetti's and a Reed Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap and saw the pair of Mute Swans with 7 cygnets. Mid afternoon I headed to Greatham where I spent an hour seeing little before continuing on to Lavington. Here before my second Woodcock Survey I saw Cuckoo, 3 Green Woodpeckers, Jay, 2 Wood Lark (with another heard), 4 Coal Tits, 5 Dartford Warblers, 3 Stonechats and a Yellowhammer. During the survey I had 2 sightings of probably the same Woodcock, saw 5-6 Nightjars and heard a distant Tawny Owl.

juvenile Stonechat at Lavington

Dartford Warbler at Lavington

Green Woodpecker at Lavington

Roe Deer at Lavington

Yellowhammer at Lavington

Wood Lark at Lavington

a lovely evening with a clear view of the moon

the noisiest jet during lockdown. A generator just north of the Common wasn't appreciated either, nor were the myriad of biting insects

Lavington after dark

Monday 01 June. Megan and I took Cookie to Widewater and walked along to Lancing Beach Green. We saw 3 Little Egrets and a Swallow. In the evening 9 Swifts were seen over our house.

Sunday 31 May. I did a circuit from Woods Mill to the Downslink seeing 3 Stock Dove, 20 adult and 2 baby Lapwings, 4 Grey Herons, 2 Little Egrets, Red Kite, Green Woodpecker, Jay, 3 Sky Larks, a Swallow, 10 Long-tailed Tits, 8 Chiffchaffs, Reed Warbler, 3 Blackcaps, 6 Whitethroats, 2 Nuthatches, 7 Mistle Thrushes, a Nightingale, Meadow Pipit, 4 Greenfinches, 3 Yellowhammers and a Reed Bunting. I also heard Cuckoo, Cetti's Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat and 2 more Nightingales. Another visit with no sight or sound of any Turtle Doves reducing my success rate this year to 25%, and that one distantly heard nearly three weeks earlier.

a rather showy Nightingale at West Mill

   

  

  

Broad-bodied Chaser near the Downslink

Chiffchaff near the Downslink

juvenile Grey Heron from the Downslink

Lapwing near the Downslink

love that crest

right by the path didn't seem the best place to hide one's chicks

Reed Warbler at West Mill

Reed Bunting at West Mill

Saturday 30 May. Megan and I took Cookie for a walk around the Adur seeing an Oystercatcher, a mating pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Little Egret and a Sky Lark. In the evening 5 Swifts were seen over our house.

Friday 29 May. Megan and I took Cookie to Mill Hill seeing Jay, Chiffchaff, a Lesser and 7 Common Whitethroats, Mistle Thrush and Yellowhammer. A Reed Warbler was singing from a hawthorn hedge, well away from any reeds so presumably a late migrant (so a pity it wasn't something more interesting). In the evening 5 Swifts were seen over our house.

Mistle Thrush at Mill Hill

Thursday 28 May. Megan and I took Cookie to Goring Gap for a walk along the beach. We saw 7 Oystercatcher, and 13 Turnstones. In the evening 5 Swifts were seen over our house.

Turnstone on the beach at Goring Gap

Wednesday 27 May. In the evening 4 Swifts were seen over our house.

'our' allotment looking North 

looking South. It is ours only in so far as we all eat produce from it, Megan does virtually all the work