Window to Wildlife

 We were taken out to the Crawley area today by an SDOS member who has relocated to Shoreham. We begun in some rather attractive woodland searching for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Drumming was heard several times, but the length was indicative of Great rather than Lesser Spotted. Even more frustrating was a report later on that birds had been seen in the same location the previous day. Undeterred we set off to search for Goshawks, and this time we came up trumps. Birds were seen at every location we stopped at, with some stunning overhead views. A Sparrowhawk sharing the skies with a Goshawk at one site allowed for a useful comparison of the size and flight of these two species. A Woodlark posing obligingly on the fence was another highlight of the day… and a new tick for Sue M. A few record shots are shown below. Woodlark Goshawk Goshawk

 We had spent the morning at Pulborough, enjoying the warmer weather and were about to settle down at home for a nice cup of tea when news came through of a Desert Wheatear at Goring Gap. Despite feeling a little tired, this was an opportunity not to be missed. Wheatears don’t tend to hang around for long on their Spring migration and it was unlikely to linger till the next day, so we dragged ourselves and headed over to the beach. The bird was easy to find due to the small band of photographers, and although a little mobile, it stayed at a relatively close range and we had some incredible views. This was a lifer for me. We had hoped to be on a birdwatching tour in Morocco in late March, so it was rather lovely to have this beautiful bird come to us as we were unable to go to him! Desert Wheatear

 We have never stayed on the New Forest before but regularly drive through on our way to Dorset. Having read the excellent book ‘Rebirding’, this wood pasture area is praised for its mosaic of habitats creating ideal conditions for a variety of bird species. So we decided to book a two night stay and see what we might find. Day 1: We began at Piper’s Wait, a viewpoint overlooking some forest where historically there had been Goshawks. It was cold and windy, so we didn’t linger too long,  but managed to spot a pair of likely looking suspects flying around near a row of distant pylons. We went back to the car and studied the map, identifying a road which appeared to pass near these electricity wires so set off in that direction. We pulled in to a layby where an RSPB van was parked, thinking they may be watching our target birds. But as it happened, we had stumbled across an RSPB reserve, Franchise’s Lodge, which had been acquired in 2018, but was not yet widely publicised as a lot of wor