Week 45: Castle Hill Nature Reserve

Up on the clifftop above Newhaven is the Castle Hill (Local) Nature Reserve.  Not to be confused with the Castle Hill (National) Nature Reserve a few miles away, north of Woodingdean between Brighton and Lewes.  (Must have been a lot of Castle's in the area at one time.)

This was the first time I've worked up there with the South Downs volunteers and despite living only a little further along the coast hadn't been there before at all.  The sun was shining but a cold wind kept the temperatures down.

A variety of tasks - starting with cleaning and painting the sign posts along the track up to the coastguard lookout tower.  Replacing the 'green' flag with a newer, cleaner one. Checking out the reptiles on the reserve (nowhere to be seen) and then weeding and cleaning out one of the gun emplacements.

Week 40: Jellied eggs!

No, not a food substance but frogspawn.

I've had frogs in my small barrel pond for years but it was only two years ago when I got my first batch of frogspawn.  Nothing last year but this year I got two batches about a week apart.

I rescued the second batch and moved it in to the house to hatch out.  There's a childish delight in seeing them grow inside their little circles of jelly and then hatch out into small black embryos that slowly turn into tadpoles.

Some hatched faster than others, some didn't hatch at all but most did - at least a few hundred did.  Separated the larger tadpoles out from the smaller ones.  Lucky I have an old plastic fish tank and a large glass bowl to house them in.

Fascinating to watch - you can see more of the frogspawn 77 day journey from 'egg to legs' on my Sussex Nature Notes blog.

Week 33: RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

Freshly made cup of coffee, pain aux raisin, pen, paper and binoculars all set for the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch - an annual event held on the last weekend in January and started an incredible 36 years ago.

I always stock up the feeders in the weeks running up to BGBW with a variety of foods in the hope that I'll get a good turnout on the day.  Sadly, the birds seem to know and my regulars head off elsewhere as I try to notch up as many species as possible in one hour.

I usually watch for one or two hours throughout the day and then take the 'best' hour to record.  Most birds will make an appearance first thing in the morning to fuel up for the day and then again in the afternoon an hour or two before sunset.  There are always the usual suspects who are in and out all day - mainly the robin and blue-tits.

This year was a good results for my small garden with 10 different species and one squirrel (they also like to see who else, apart from birds, is visiting the garden).  All of my regulars except for the wren and goldfinch which didn't turn up until later in the day.

This year I also took a wander over to my local park towards the end of the day.  You can record species you see in a park if you don't happen to have a garden.  Fewer species but in greater numbers - like the woodpigeon (30+), house sparrows (18+) and greenfinch (20+)  as well as several robins and blackbirds.

Week 33: RSPB Brighton Group - Urban Birder Talk

House Sparrow, a bird of urban areas.

A great talk from David Lindo the @Urbanbirder at the Brighton RSPB local group meeting.

Birds are all around us and just because you live in a town or city doesn't mean you can't watch birds.  The popularity of the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch shows how many birds you can see in your own garden.

Birds see our green and brown spaces and abandoned buildings as habitat, where they can rest and refuel while on migration, feed and even nest and breed.

David has travelled around the world and in all the urban areas he's visited he manages to find surprising birds in the most unusual places.

The majority of people are totally oblivious to the wildlife right on their doorstep.

#Look Up

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Week 26: Kingfisher!

Yeah - got to see a kingfisher!

One of our more colourful birds and not one that many people get to see as they usually flash past like a turquoise streak before you realise it.

I was lucky enough to see one on Widewater Lagoon in Lancing - not just once but several times and not just a fleeting glimpse but sitting on a fence with a fish!

They use favourite perches along a stretch of water from where to fish or to eat their prey, so if you know of one you stand a good chance of seeing one - even at this time of year.

Sheer delight!

(no this isn't my photo!)
Common Kingfisher (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Week 23: Film Preview - Emptying The Skies

Not quite the red carpet but a red line to Screen 2 at the Rich Mix Cinema for a screening of the documentary film "Emptying the Skies" by Douglas Kass, inspired by the article from New Yorker journalist Jonathan Franzen.

Franzen set off around Europe, along with members of the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) to witness at first hand the large scale and illegal poaching and slaughter of millions of birds for the table, as they migrate from Africa up into and across Europe.

These tiny birds - many of which are familiar to our gardens are considered a delicacy ambelopoulia, and killed in their thousands. Those not suitable for eating are left for dead and discarded regardless of the fact they are protected and many are on the endangered list.  Robins, blackcaps, flycatchers, warblers, buntings, finches, thrushes, nightingales, cuckoos, turtledoves and even small owls and hawks.

It is seen and justified as a 'tradition' and a right.  What's the harm in taking only a few small birds, they say.  But for birds that already declining due to habitat loss and pressure from development, those 'few small birds' add up to thousands being slaughtered on a daily basis during their annual migration.

While I was aware of the hunters in Malta who shoot anything that flies over for sport, I had no idea of the scale of trapping that occurs in Cyprus, Italy and France.

Week 11: Yorkshire, hills, raptors and a goshawk

Pendle Hill from Sharp Haw

A lovely extended Bank Holiday weekend up in Yorkshire and my first proper hill walk.  Just a short distance out of Skipton and a walk from Bog Lane up and around Sharp Haw.  Ideal weather - not too hot or too cold and a clear, sunny day.  There was a purple haze of heather up on the hill tops, with views across to Pendle Hill in the distance and great across the Yorkshire Dales.

Walking down the other side of Sharp Haw and through the woods, as well as a peregrine and a distant buzzard, I spotted a goshawk!  At least that's the only hawk I can think it can have been.  Bigger than a sparrowhawk and without the sharp wings of a peregrine.  Also spotted a kestrel hovering up on the hill, so definitely not that.  Lovely to see as there are plenty of grouse moors around the area.

Harvest time and the combine was out in the fields as we walked back to the car.  A relay of trucks following the harvester and gathering the wheat.  A hare ran out in to the stubble

Related articles

• Illegal bird deaths continue to rise in UK, RSPB report shows
• 10 reasons Yorkshire is the best place to live in the UK

Week 10: Red Kite sightings

Driving up to Birdfair on Thursday afternoon, while going round the M25, I spotted a Red Kite just before the junction onto the M1.

I know you can easily see them on the M40, so this isn't too far away from there but still nice to see.

While I didn't get to see the Osprey at Rutland Water, I did get to see another Red Kite while having breakfast on Sunday morning.  It flew low over the field next to the B&B where we were staying and had us all dashing to the windows for a better look.

You can vote for the red kite and up to six as part of the Vote National Bird Campaign.

A Red Kite (Milvus milvus). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Related articles

• RSPB offers £5K reward to catch raptor poisoner
• Discovery of 13 dead birds of prey in small area of Highlands is 'unprecedented'
• Bird of prey poisoning death toll up to 16

April - Rainham Marshes, Flatford Mill, Beth Chatto

Took my first trip away since finishing treatment - up to Suffolk for the Easter weekend and a spot of family history mixed with walking and bird-watching.

Visited RSPB Rainham Marshes on the way up - first time there and a lovely, surprising space on the edge of the Thames and close to London.

RSPB Rainham Marshes

Flatford Mill, tucked away in the countryside.

Flatford Mill

Stopped off at Beth Chatto's garden on the way back down - primarily to see the lovely and inspirational gravel garden.

Beth Chatto's gravel garden