5th January 2022: Sue’s birthday birding

 After a few days in Oxfordshire, it was lovely to get out for our first day of proper birding, and even better to find a day of glorious sunshine. We left home around 8, driving to Arundel for our first stop at Swanbourne Lake. We quickly began to notch up new birds on and around this freshwater lake. Gadwall, Teal and Shoveler were present on the serene water, with the highlight being our target bird, the resplendent Mandarin Duck. There were at least eight of these stunning, colourful males chasing each other around some overhanging vegetation, whilst a single female watched their antics. Meanwhile a speckled Mistle Thrush in a tall tree was a promising start and a gorgeous Firecrest flitting around the ivy was an excellent find so early in the year.

Mistle Thrush

Mandarin Duck

Next we sauntered along the mill stream path opposite Swanbourne Park, picking up some regular passerines along the way plus a rufous Kestrel monitoring the fields for a prospective meal and a single Wigeon resting beside a ditch. We walked as far as the River Arun, where a Grey Heron landed with a plaintive call on the river bank in front of us, but there was nothing else to be found on the river, so we retraced our steps back to the car.

Our next stop was Burpham, where we scanned the Arun valley, picking up some distant Bewick Swans in the waterlogged fields. A short walk to the Water Treatment works produced around half a dozen Chiffchaffs hunting for insects, but sadly no Wagtails were found. An unusually obliging Grey Partridge posed well on the fence line before being disturbed by a walker approaching from the opposite direction.

Grey Partridge

On to the Burgh, where several Red Kites loafed overhead as we ate our lunch at Peppering Triangle, overlooking the fields. We then set off on a walk around the Angmering Estate. The hedgerows were alive with Chaffinches and Linnets, interspersed with smaller numbers of tits and finches. We were delighted to pick out a few Brambling amongst them, but they were quite flighty and it proved impossible to get a decent photo.

The star bird of the day, again avoiding photographic efforts, was a ringtail Hen Harrier quartering low over the fields, whilst Buzzard and Kestrel added to our raptor count. Several Raven cronked overhead as we continued along the footpaths.

As we walked up the hill we located a Red-legged Partridge, a species surprisingly thin on the ground today, and a glowing Yellowhammer sunbathing in the hedgerow. 

We wound up a little early, having walked around 6 miles and feeling too tired to search out a possible Short-eared Owl at another location. Plenty of time for that…! It was a thoroughly enjoyable day.

Brambling

Yellowhammer