Short-eared Owl and lots of birdsong

I had another tantalisingly brief glimpse of an owl at a distance over the Steyning Levels this afternoon, but at least this time I got a good enough view to identify it as a Short-eared Owl.  I was actually looking at something else (which turned out to be a Herring Gull) when I caught sight of the owl hunting along the riverbank.   I followed it quite a long way, until I was momentarily distracted by a Green Woodpecker landing on a telegraph pole and it passed behind some trees.  But I got a good enough view to be sure it was a Short-eared.  The Green Woodpecker flew down onto the tussocky grass, and seemed to be finding something to eat on the waterlogged meadow.  I had been watching a flock of Linnets in the top of one the tallest Ash trees and listening to Songthrushes, Dunnocks, Great Tits, Bluetits, and Long-tailed tits.  As I returned along the outer bank of Bramber Castle in the dusk the sound of birdsong rose to a crescendo.  Quite an unusual occurrence at the end of January.

Swifts, Slow-worms and Nightingales

I had to take sharp evasive action this morning to avoid running over a slow-worm which was sunning itself in the track and almost fell off my bike. It had the rather stumpy appearance of one that has lost its tail earlier in its life, so perhaps it makes a habit of sunning itself in the path of oncoming cyclists. It slithered off before I could get my camera out, so here is a picture of one I encountered last year.

Apart from close encounters with slow-worms on the track,one of the great advantages of cycling, especially at this time of the year is that you hear the birdsong, which you miss out on entirely when driving. It has been a good year for nightingales so far, at least it has been for me. I heard two more today bringing my total to eight. They were calling in some scrub by the roadside near Wineham and I was lucky enough to hear them as I cycled past. I caught a very brief glimpse of one of them, which is all you usually get and it took me quite a while to work out how many there were. It can be difficult to tell where the sound is coming from and there were blackbirds, chaffinches, blackcap warblers, a wren and a willow warbler all calling at the same time; very confusing, but in the end I was sure there were two of them, presumably competing for ownership of a fairly small area of scrub.

I saw my first swifts today; about half a dozen of them swooping over the Adur levels. They are the last of the common summer visitors, so their arrival is by way of a minor turning point in the year.