Arlington Reservoir

Amongst plenty of Pied Wagtail at Arlington today, at least two White Wag's, an adult and a juvenile. The only other birds of note were 100+ House Martin, 20+ Great crested Grebes, 21 Cormorants, a few Wigeon (my first of the winter), a Wheatear* and a Muscovy! No Little Stint, nor a wader of any description!

Muscovy Duck















An adult White Wagtail





Pied or White?? I think Pied but not entirely sure.



The water level was incredibly low!!

At High and Over, just a few Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap, though a Reed Warbler and four Spotted Flycatchers were reported here on the SOS. The Crane my dad and a few others saw in the Cuckmere early morning was nowhere around.

On a sadder note, yesterdays White Stork was found moribund and taken into care by the RSPCA.Hopefully it will recover but its not looking too good for it.


* edit-The Wheatear I saw at Arlington looked kind of odd at the time. It was a female type bird, and had a very rich peachy breast, with the colour extending down more than usual. It also had an unusually brown back, and pretty obvious Supercilium. I didn't take in much detail of its posture, and there were no other Wheatears for size comparison, but I am now fairly confident it was a Leucorrhoa, or Greenland Wheatear. I've seen them in the spring, but this was my first autumn record. I'm not sure if it is good enough to record as such, but morally I feel happy enough about this birds identity.

Thank god for that!

at long, long last, I caught up with the Common Crane on the 14th Feb. It has showing half a mile below Southease, on the top of one of the hills to the West of the valley. About a mile away, but still saw plenty of detail through the scope. Having dipped it twice already, I thought this would be my last chance to see it, as I was going to the New Forest for several days to see family, and of course it would go before I returned!! Thankfully dad and I stopped for 10 minutes on the journey West to have a look, but at first I though it would be a third dip, as Sid-whose-surname-I-can't-remember informed us it was showing well on top of the hill, only to find out that in the thirty seconds or so since he had stopped looking at it it had dropped down out of view! After what felt like hours, It reappeared on the hill-top, giving great but distant views for a minute or so before dad and I had to leave. A Sussex Lifer, that takes my sussex year list up to 104!!