The Darling Birds of May

 Summer migration continues into May, with a gradual change from the species arriving in April. We have continued with a variety of bird related activities over the last few weeks and added more new birds to our annual list as well as enjoying some lovely scenery and the full spectrum of Spring weather!

We have recently been undertaking a weekly survey at a prospective new nature site in Shoreham. This is currently not open to the public, but we have permission to enter and record the birds present, in order to create a baseline against which to measure the impact of any future enhancements to the habitat. As this site  is close to the sea, it has been a great area for newly arrived migrants. As the weeks have progressed we have noted regular migrants such as Chiffchaff and Blackcap passing through, and on 1st May were delighted to find a Garden Warbler. This unobtrusive bird is often quite elusive, so we were very pleased to identify it so early in the season. It was still present the following week, flitting in the brambles, so it will be interesting to see if this stays to breed on site. On the same day we spotted our first Swifts of the year passing overhead.

Part of the planned new reserve

On 6th May we had a meeting with a colleague from our birdwatching group. We met on the beach by Goring Gap but there was little activity at sea. However, in a scrubby area behind the beach, Clive located a newly arrived male Whinchat, looking extremely smart in its Spring plumage. A female Wheatear was also perched on the fence and a Whitethroat was singing atop a low bush.

Whinchat and Wheatear

Whinchat

On 7th May we were back at the future nature reserve for another survey, this time turning up a Spotted Flycatcher and some Willow Warblers.

On 9th we revisited one of our favourite lockdown walks from last year to Lancing clump, where we were amazed to stumble across a Hobby perched in a tree. What surprised us was that we had a very similar experience last year, with one found in a similar tree about 1/2 mile away. These are not places where you would normally expect to find a Hobby, suggesting both were newly arrived birds resting awhile after a long migratory journey. We also enjoyed our usual highlight on this trip of soaring Skylarks and jangly Corn Buntings, accompanied by many Whitethroats on scrubby bushes.

Hobby

 I was out again on 11th May, completing a fabulous 9 mile walk with Sue M while Tim was out with a friend. We set out early at 7am and were rewarded for our efforts by a Lesser Whitethroat, a fabulous Nightingale, singing form the bush but with a good view of its vibrating throat and wide open beak as it poured forth its incredible song. Finally, we were delighted to hear the distinctive purring of a Turtle Dove! This is a regular location for them over the years, but they had not been reported yet, so we think we were the first to find them this year. Unfortunately we only managed a fleeting silhouetted view of a bird as it dropped down behind the hedgerow, so I’m hoping for better sightings going forward - perhaps at Wrabness with Andy, where we had some great views last year. Also of note on this walk were hundreds of low flying Swifts over the Brooks at Beeding and some lovely Cowslips on the downs.

 

Downland walk

Finally, on 15th May, we joined the SDOS outing to Amberley and Waltham Brooks. Unfortunately this was a somewhat dreary day, keeping the birds low and we did not see any raptors, often a feature of this area. There were lots of Reed and Sedge Warblers and Reed Buntings singing in this ideal habitat, but the highlight of the trip was an unusual rufous morph female Cuckoo, it’s bubbling call heard in the distance before it flew into view, settling in a tree long enough for us all to get a brief view in the scope before it disappeared across the Brooks. Sadly, no photos of this interesting sighting, but we hope to return again very soon to see if we can locate it again in better weather conditions.