On leucism and a murder mystery

The past couple of weeks have provided some interesting bits and pieces with the leucistic Hebrew Character pictured above probably the most noteworthy. The moth was trapped overnight on the 30th March and apparently completely lacked any black pigmentation. Hebrew Character is a moth which exhibits many variants however I was unable to find any reference to one quite like this in my limited literature. A Red Kite over the garden on the 1st was followed by another over the A27 near Firle on the 6th, and reminded me that I had forgotten to mention the garden highlight of the year in my last post which was a flock of Pink-feet calling over the garden on the night of the 25th while I was checking the moth trap!

On the bird front things have been ticking along quite nicely. The last wintering duck are still holding on with the best being 2 Pintail and 20 Shoveler on the 1st, and 13 Gadwall on the 10th's WEBS count. The Wheatear pictured above was in the field at the end of White Dyke, which is now my traditional first Wheatear of the year field, on the 2nd when there were also 2 Golden Plover on Down, and 4 Shelduck. Levels highlight though was the return of the Yellow Wags with 2 on Down Level on the 10th.

On a more disturbing note the picture above was taken on the early morning of the 10th. I would not usually publish an image like this but it is the fourth dead Mute Swan that I have encountered in the past three weeks. All the others had been fully predated with only feathers, head, and wings remaining however this bird was still predominantly whole. From what I have managed to glean these are most likely fox kills however four in such a relatively short time would appear unusual...

Spring sprung

Somehow you never feel like winter is over until you get your first migrants so it has been a trying time over the last few weeks with many signs of spring but no migrants! First report concerns the WEBS on the 13th which at last had some duck, with 30 Wigeon, 19 Teal, and a pair of Tufted Duck on Horse-eye, and a more impressive 21 Pintail, 20 Shoveler, and 2 Gadwall on Down. Other highlights included 3 Raven, single Redshank, Kingfisher, Water Rail, and the Sacred Ibis which was present at White Dyke farm first thing before flying off towards Magham Down. The Brown Hares pictured above were watched courting and mating on Down Level, a single Mink was also seen on White Dyke.

So to Cheltenham week and a few away days... I realised this winter that it has been a while since I have seen a Great Grey Shrike so I have put in a couple of fruitless visits to Ashdown Forest in fog and rain in an attempt to see the overwintering bird on the Isle of Thorns. I finally managed to connect on the morning of the 14th when I paid a visit with Sharon and Hazel, and the bird put on an exemplary show for us hunting in bright sunshine.
The annual pilgrimage to Cheltenham on the 18th provided a Red Kite drifting over the M4 near Hungerford. Biggest away day though was to Exeter Chiefs to watch my nephew, Noah, have a training session before the game against Northampton. The drive down on the 19th involved a 3 mile detour from the main road to visit Portesham, where the Pallas's Warbler was watched at close range near the tyre dump. Seven-striped sprites are always a pleasure and this one was particularly bright in the early spring sunshine - my first spring bird since the one at Bognor in the last century!!! Serious rugby piggery ensued.

So to this Easter weekend and a gloriously sunny, warm, spring like Good Friday encouraged me to stretch the legs in the hope of migrants. A stunning selection of duck, some of which pictured above, were on Down Level, with 31 Shoveler, 22 Gadwall, 8 Pintail, 5 Wigeon, and 15 Teal, but no migrants. Sparrowhawk, 10 Little Egret, and the Tufted Duck were also seen, but no Sacred Ibis. The other highlight were my first lepidoptera of the year in the form of 2 Small Tortoiseshell on White Dyke, one of which is pictured below.

All of which encouraged to run the moth trap overnight which produced a catch of Early Grey, 3 Common Quaker, and 4 Hebrew Character, the last two also pictured below.

So finally to today, Easter Sunday, cold,miserable,and wet. An early morning trek around Down Level with Hazel produced little of note apart from 25 Shoveler and 5 Pintail, until suddenly hawking across the flashes 2 Swallow made my Easter. Winter is finally over.

Sacre bleu!

For those of us of a certain age C5 is a dodgy electric vehicle invented by Sir Clive Sinclair. Nowadays it is a category for dodginess in other forms....

Birthday surprises

A gentle meander across the levels for my birthday first thing on Valentines' day was notable for a couple of oddities. The weather was (as has been typical this winter) dank and grey with conditions underfoot to use racing parlance, heavy, waterlogged in places. Nonetheless Spring is beginning to show signs of coming with the first pair of Shelduck on Horse-eye and noticably more bird song than of late with Skylarks especially vocal today. A party of 6 Little Egret in the fields by White Dyke Farm were not unexpected but the two Dabchick in the dyke near Mappins were! I have bumped into Dabchick on the odd occassion out here but they are few and far between so a good start. This was quickly followed by the wintering female Hen Harrier drifting over Mappins (atmospheric record shot above) and one of the resident Peregrine on Horse-eye.

Moving on towards Chilley farm numbers of Lapwing and Black-headed Gull were seen around the floods and scrapes with around 300 of the former, before the mornings second oddity turned up in the form of the Egyptian Goose pictured below. Probably a wandering bird from the Cuckmere this represents only my second on the patch.

And so to Chilley farm where my lift home awaited - but not before one of the best breakfasts in Sussex!

Tuesday (16th) saw me out for a late afternoon walk with the hound around Lookers. I failed to see either SEO or Hen Harrier but one of the Little Owls was in visible residence and a Kingfisher scooted by on New bridge road. Elsewhere another Little Owl seen near Battle on the evening of the 17th. Keep safe.

White WEBS and heavy going

The WEBS count on the 17th commenced with a proper feeling of winter in the form of some early morning snow. Unfortunately this was the exception rather than the norm since, following the warmest December on record, we have now had the wettest January with just two frosts locally and persistent rain being the order of the day.

Highlight of the WEBS was the number of birds, especially Lapwing with 430 on Down Level and a further 200 on Horse-eye. Unsurprisingly given the mild weather, there were no Goldies about and only a few Snipe on the wader front. The duck were few in number with just a single drake Shoveler, 17 Teal, and 10 Mallard scattered about, but the geese included singles of White-front and Barnacle albeit of suspect origin...
As ever raptors keep the spirits high with the ringtail Heh Harrier still present on Horse-eye together with at least 2 Marsh Harrier, the resident Peregrines, and at least one Shortie as ever near Lookers.

The levels are extremely heavy going at the moment with very deep muddy paths and off piste even worse! Needless to say there are opportunities to explore further afield and a trip to Dunge on the 10th was particularly rewarding with Penduline Tit, Long-eared Owl (above), 2 GWE, Slavonian Grebe, and Smew the highlights with the Glossy Ibis at Pett providing a late afternoon padder on the way home.

Elsewhere bits and bobs included a cracking Firecrest in the bushes to the east of Horseshoe plantation on the 23rd. Stay safe.

Out with the old



A morning walk across White Dyke to Rickney and then Lookers in bright sunshine and a brisk breeze for my last outing of the year. A pair of Pintail were a welcome surprise by the caravan park at the end of White Dyke given the paucity of duck around at the moment. A couple of Little Egret were on Down Level and a singleton on Horse-eye and one of the Peregrines was also seen on Horse-eye. The Brown Hare pictured above was in the field to the east of New Bridge road and was a very welcome winter surprise.
Although not seen today the ringtail Hen Harrier was seen on the 20th and 27th along with various of the winter residents, perhaps surprising given the ridiculously mild conditions. Indeed it has been so mild that I put the moth trap on for a couple of nights - no macros but 2 Light brown Apple moths on the 18th and singles of Light brown Apple moth, Common Plume, and Rush Veneer on the 27th were the first moths I have trapped in December! Stay safe.

Great White Egret and the levels perfect ten

Today saw me leaving the house pre-dawn for the monthly WEBS with Hazel, my labrador, for company. The levels rarely disappoint and as soon as we hit White Dyke with the first fingers of sunlight breaking through the heavy cloud a Water Rail was heard squealing while a female Marsh Harrier was watched quartering Down level. Whilst following the harrier a Peregrine burst through my field of view and took out a slow moving Lapwing, a good start for me, alas not for the struck wader.
Unfortunately Henry is unwell at the moment so for todays WEBS I had to take in Horse-eye as well. Two more squealers were in the reed bed and as we headed over to the orchid fields a ringtail Hen Harrier was watched quartering Mappins, more quality! The levels are a tad soft underfoot at the moment so as we headed back towards Down I fully expected Hazel to flush a few Snipe, unfortunately none obliged, along with a distinct lack of duck the only downer of the morning. Walking across Down yielded 2 Buzzard, the resident pair of Peregrine pictured below perched side by side on gateposts mid-levels, and a Kestrel hovering in the distance.

On reaching the small rise mid level I always stop and scan in an attempt to gain maximum advantage from my elevated position. First up, large White Heron on Mappins with carrot for a bill, neither stop press nor frontiers of bird identification I know, but GWE are still thin enough on the ground to make them a good find on the patch. This bird is the fourth GWE I have seen on Horse-eye and Down over the years and my third self found there so all in all the morning was going along swimmingly. Whilst watching the egret a Merlin was picked up flying along White Dyke, another top winter raptor not seen every visit.
Moving back to White Dyke a single adult White-fronted Goose was seen and the GWE was watched feeding on Mappins with a Little Egret for company. Our walk continued along New Bridge road picking up Chiff-chaff and a slightly showy Cettis (our 5th in total including the calling ones) before we ultimately reached Chilley farm for one of the countys' best breakfasts and a mug of black coffee.

Following on from the mornings good birding I headed over to Lookers late afternoon. The Little Owl was on show and a couple of Shorties were intermittently hunting between bouts of sitting in the fields, another squealer was in the reeds here as well. As I headed home via Horse-eye farm one of the Shorties perched up on a fencepost right by the car giving me a proper stare with its glaring yellow eyes. What better to round off a perfect day of winter patch birding than a Barn Owl, and sure enough there was one hunting at the back of Down near Downash in the gloaming. While watching the owl the days final raptor appearred in the form of a female Sparrowhawk scooting low over the fields towards Rickney so completing my levels perfect winter ten birds of prey - seven raptors and three owls, plus the Great White, and not another birder in sight!