Spring arrives very slowly (27 March-03 April)

Sunday 03 April. I'd signed up to do a square at Lancing Hill for the South Downs Farmland Bird Initiative/Monitoring (mouthful) and thought I'd make my first visit today, although all the area was familiar. We parked by Lancing Pad and set off towards the square where I recorded 2 Red-legged Partridges (are they following me around or have loads been released locally?), 4 Red Kites, 3 Kestrels, 19 Skylarks, 5 Linnets, 2 Corn Buntings and 2 Yellowhammers. We continued along the Downs to Coombes and back along the river seeing both Little Owls, 3 Little Egrets and 2 more Kestrels. Both the female Lord Derby's and male Ring-necked Parakeet were seen together on our early evening dog walk.

Yellowhammer on Lancing Hill

                             

tail-less Red Kite over Lancing Hill

Corn Bunting in Cowbottom

Little Owl near Coombes

                              

it or the other

Saturday 02 April. I took Cookie up to Mill Hill seeing 2 Red-legged Partridges, Stock Dove, Buzzard, Peregrine, Chiffchaff and Greenfinch and hearing Skylark, Cetti's Warbler and Blackcap. My best visit for a while. An early evening circuit around Park Avenue produced just the Lord Derby's Parakeet, very much on its own. Have they fallen out?

Red-legged Partridges below Mill Hill

Friday 01 April. Megan and Josh left early for a 5 day family break in Belgium. I stayed home looking after Cookie and when they'd departed we went to Cuckoos Corner. We walked up the river to Coombes and Dacre Gardens. We saw 2 Red-legged Partridges, 2 Common Sandpipers and 1 probably 2 Little Owls. We walked into town in the afternoon, seeing a Sparrowhawk over the churchyard. We didn't see the parakeets on our way down or back but were probably too early and I didn't feel like trying later.

Little Owl near Coombes

                             

Common Sandpipers near Dacre Gardens

Thursday 31 March. Megan and I took Cookie to Southwick Canal to escape the biting northerly wind. We saw the Long-tailed Duck at some distance and 2 Greenfinches. Later Cookie and I couldn't find the parakeets (not that Cookie was trying very hard).

Wednesday 30 March. I took Cookie to the Adur where 6 Great Black-backed Gulls were the best sighting, perhaps the worst visit I can remember although I'm sure there are others. Later we couldn't find the parakeets.

Tuesday 29 March. I took Cookie to Shoreham Fort (39 Turnstones) and Widewater (male Wheatear). Late afternoon we walked to Park Avenue and saw both the female Lord Derby's and male Ring-necked Parakeet in close attendance including what looked like prospecting a chimney by the allotments.

Oystercatcher at Harbour Way

Wheatear at Widewater

                          

Monday 28 March. David Buckingham was taking Louise to West Dean College where she was attending a day course and asked if I would like a day's birding in the Chichester area. With the parakeets antics in mind it was the shove I needed to leave the local area (twice in three days). We dropped Louise for her printing course and continued n to West Dean Woods where we walked up to Monkton Farm. We saw a Red-legged Partridge, fly-over Goshawk, 3 Buzzards, 2 Jays, 3 Ravens, 2 Woodlarks, 2 Mistle Thrushes and some distant flighty finches. Most were Goldfinches but at least two were Redpolls and David picked out a Brambling that I didn't quite get onto. No Hawfinches was disappointing but we were not here at the best time. We headed to Ivy Lake hoping the erratic Bonaparte's Gull might be present. It wasn't although it had been reported earlier. We gave it almost two hours but only saw Black-headed Gulls. The pair of Red-crested Pochard provided some compensation. I'd seen two Bonaparte's Gulls since my last RcP, also at Ivy Lake - a borderline acceptable place for such a species! We continued on to Church Norton where we saw the 2 wintering Long-tailed Duck and 5 Red-breasted Mergansers on the sea, 135 Mediterranean Gulls and 18 Sandwich Terns in and around Tern Island and a pair of Garganey and 7 Wigeon on the Severals. The Garganey flew out of one reedy bay and dropped into the next. Not very good views but far better than those seen off Widewater almost a week earlier. We returned to Ivy Lake where the Bonaparte's Gull hadn't been seen while we were away. We saw the Red-crested Pochard again and six Mediterranean Gulls while giving it another 90 minutes before leaving to pick up Louise. In hindsight we would probably have done better to visit Ivy Lake first and West Dean Woods last but it had been a nice day.

Great Crested Grebes on Ivy Lake

Red-crested Pochard on Ivy Lake

Mediterranean Gulls at Church Norton

Sunday 27 March. Megan and I took Cookie to the Beeding Hill car park and walked to Room Bottom. Nice views across the Weald but very few birds and more heard than seen, the best being Raven, Skylark, Chiffchaffs, Meadow Pipit and Goldfinch. Highlight of the day was walking Cookie in the late afternoon. As the local parakeets had been photographed flying over Selsey Bill the previous day I decided to take her up the road and then on the spur of the moment around Southlands Hospital and back down Park Avenue. Half way down Park AvenueI I heard the familiar call of the Lord Derby's Parakeet and there she was with her male Ring-necked Parakeet consort on a roof opposite. I was totally amazed. I'd seen them on 23rd March but not the 24th or 25th although my success rate was teetering on 50%. With them being seen over Selsey on 26th, that in itself pretty amazing, I assumed they'd gone and was rather sad about it. Selsey was clearly not to their liking but to come back, amazing. Rather put my feeling that Chichester was too far to go birding these days, but the parakeets didn't have to contend with Sussex traffic!