Raptor Weekend

Saturday 21^st & Sunday 22^nd January

Saturday we left home about 9 o’clock for a trip into West Sussex we had a Red Kite fly over the A3 Esher by pass then another Red Kite near Petworth we also had Kestrel and Sparrowhawk on route, Our first stop after breakfast was Selsey we spent a short time at the car park at the bill only birds of note seen Gannet, Cormorant, Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull, Then we drove round to Bill House but it was very quiet.

Next stop was Church Norton to have a look at Pagham Harbour here we had a good selection of waders Curlew, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Black Tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Sanderling, Knot, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Gulls seen Black Headed, Herring, Great Black Backed, Mediterranean, we also  had 2 Slavonian Grebes in the channel in the harbour entrance there where Red Breasted Merganser, We then walked along the beach to get a better Look at the Harbour as we had been told there were some Pintail there but no sign of them we had a quick look at the sea not a lot going on, We then had a look along the west side behind the Church still no sign of the Pintail so we drove back to the Ferry pool and had a walk along the west side alongside the long pool to have a look at the North West corner of the Harbour where we finally found the Pintail on our walk back to the car we had a Common Buzzard sitting on a fence post.

Our next site was The Burge at Burpham when we arrived the wind was very strong so it did not look very promising but we decided to have a short walk anyway we found 2 birds of prey flying down the valley one was the Light Common Buzzard that is present we did not get a very good view of the other bird but it gave the impression that it might be the Rough Legged Buzzard we then lost sight of the two birds so decided we would walk further up along the Burge as we walked along the road we had a flock of 60+ Corn Buntings in a bush After we had past the farm and took the path to the right so we could view the valley we had a Male Hen Harrier, Then we had the two buzzards up again this time much better views and now we could see that it was in fact the Rough Legged Buzzard as we here walking back we had a Raven fly along the valley and a flock of 14 Grey Partridge other birds seen included Yellowhammer, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Rook, Linnet, Kestrel.

Next we decided to have a look at Waltham Brooks here we here looking for Short Eared Owl but with no luck we did have a Ringtail Hen Harrier as the time was getting on it was time to start heading for home so ending a god days birding

Sunday

The Isle of Sheppey there should have been 3 of us going on this trip but as Corrina was not felling well it was just me and my mate Bob we had Kestrel and Sparrowhawk on route, We stopped for breakfast at what used to be a little chef it is now Nicky’s Rock Cafe and very pleasant it was after breakfast  our first stop was Kings hill farm at the RSPB reserve at Elmley we had a look here to see if we could see Little Owl but no luck we did have a mixed flock of Lapwing and Golden Plover, We then headed for the road to Harty ferry and the Raptor watch point on our way along the road we had the Rough Legged Buzzard over Mockett’s Hill not long after arriving at the watch point we had a female Peregrine sitting on the ground plenty of Marsh Harriers quite a strong wind here you had a job standing on top of the mound, We then drove to the end of the road we had Red Legged Partridge on the road and a Fieldfare sitting on the road at Harty ferry Inn where we had a look over the marsh but not a lot going on so we headed back along the road where we stopped to over look the marshes as it was nice and sheltered here we decided to have lunch (Bob’s homemade soup and sandwiches) from here we had ringtail Hen Harrier. And more Marsh Harriers

Our next stop was Muswell Manor where there had been a large flock of Lapland Buntings we did not have much information as to where we should be looking ( I have now discovered we here in the right place) but as there was a strong wind there was not that many small birds to be seen we sheltered behind a barn and had a female Merlin fly across in front of us it then landed on a mound out of the wind we had god scope views of tit so after braving the wind here we headed back to the Harty marshes when we got to the raptor watch point there were a lot of birders there  but nothing more than we had earlier we got talking to one of them and he said he had seen the Spoonbill near the hart inn so we drove to the end of the road again and found it feeding on the marshes then it was back to see if we could find any Owls but as there was a wildfowl shoot going on it turned out to be a bit of a waste of time so we packed up and headed for home so ending a good Raptor Weekend.

Raptors for the weekend total of 9

Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Merlin, Common Buzzard, Rough Legged Buzzard, Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine and Red Kite