More about Owls

Last year there was a great influx of short-eared Owls and they overwintered in many parts of Britain including the Adur Valley where we seemed to have anything up to half a dozen through most of the winter months.  I saw three in the air at once on one occasion and it seemed to be impossible not to see one during a stroll up the riverbank.  This invasion was not repeated this year and I have seen few owls of any sort until today.  Almost the first bird I saw as a glanced out over the meadows was a Barn owl.  It had just taken off from a tree and it methodically quartered the fields below Bramber Castle before heading over the river and away.  I saw it, or another individual twice more during my walk and then I thought, a fourth time as I entered the meadow by Upper Beeding church.  I quickly realised that it was not another Barn Owl, but a Short-eared Owl and I spent some time watching it working its way back and forth across the field.  Eventually it dropped down and remained hidden from view in the long grass for several minutes, emerging to rest on a tall tussock, presumably to digest its catch a little before taking to the air again.  

The muddy conditions must be deterring dog walkers at present as there have been fewer than normal about recently.  This must make it easier for the owls to hunt these usually busy areas.

Pulborough Brooks RSPB Reserve

The main attraction of a visit to the RSPB reserve at Pulborough Brooks at this time of year is usually to see the flocks of wildfowl, but the outstanding feature today was a very good view of five bullfinches feeding on the buds of hawthorn and blackthorn.  There were three males with their stunning pink breasts and black and white head markings and two somewhat less glamorous females.  The usual view of a bullfinch is a white rump disappearing over a hedge or skulking in the top of a tree, so this was a rare treat.  Another bird that gave a long, uninterrupted audience at close range was a goldcrest, almost within the close-focus distance of my binoculars, moving around in the hedge and also posing between the spars of a five-bar gate.  

Barn Owl

I first saw the Barn Owl sitting on a fence post by a frequently used footpath and spent some time watching it.  A lady came by with a dog and it took off and circled around the field flying low and periodically alighting on fence posts as it went.  It would spend a few minutes on each one and once or twice dropped to the ground but without seeming to catch anything.  Then it disappeared into some long grass for a couple of minutes, eventually flying up onto another post, carrying something in its beak.  Unfortunately, it sat with its back to me, but turned around to reveal a large black object, presumably a vole in its beak.  It threw its head back a few times and when it turned round again the prey item had gone.  Swallowed whole.  It rested for a while and then flew away over the tree tops.

I have watched Barn Owls in these fields on a number of occasions and I was struck this time by how frequently that it landed on fence posts and how long it remained on each one.  Clearly this is an energy efficient method of hunting and very appropriate for this cold weather.

Herons

How often do you see a Heron and how often do you see one catch a fish?  Herons are common enough around here; there is a heronry a mile or two up the river so we see them pretty frequently.  One even flew over our house today.  Usually you see them standing at the edge of a stream or pond wary and watchful, or hunched up and grumpy.  But it is not often you see one actually catch something and so we were thrilled to see a Heron fly up from the river with a large fish in its beak.  The fish was silvery and had bright pink fins, so a Rudd, I guess and about 20 cm long.  It flew across the fields and over the treetops to the east and I did not see where it settled to enjoy its lunch.

This came a short while after our first good views of a Barn Owl for some time.  We did get a brief glimpse of one a few days ago, but this time it was flying low in and out of the hedges north of the river bend.  

Snipe have moved in to the Bramber Castle meadows in large numbers and we counted 29 today.  Fieldfares are here in large flocks too and we have seen lots of Lapwing.  They now have to contend with sleet and it is good to see that some are finding food in the meadows around here.  A Fieldfare has taken to eating the apples in that we have put out into the garden and he defends them against all-comers, but has to take his turn when a Green Woodpecker tucking in to them.

Bramber Brooks

Bramber across the River Adur

Bramber Brooks

On Friday night there was about 8 cm of snow and our first bout of real winter weather so far.  In the early afternoon we set off to walk up the riverbank to see what this change in the weather might have brought in.  The first thing we saw was a solitary Snipe land in the Bramber Castle meadows.  I scanned the fields to see if there were any more, but it did seem to be on its own.  Overhead there were small flocks of Lapwing on the move and a Heron flew over.  Then about 8 Teal flew upriver and when we got to the riverbank we spotted a pair of ducks which were hard to identify in the poor light, but turned out to be Gadwall.  As we struggled through the mud and slush up the riverbank they took off and retreated further upstream.  In the distance we could hear the sound of shooting and realised that there was a wildfowling party ahead and we became concerned that we were driving these ducks towards the guns so we turned round and headed for home.  

There were about 30 Fieldfares and a couple of Redwings on the meadows: the largest numbers I have seen so far this winter.

Today we set off in light snow in the morning to cross the river and walk around the eastern meadows, meeting up with some old friends with the same idea.  We put up a Snipe in Bramber Castle brook and watched it zig-zag away. Perhaps it was the same one we saw yesterday. There were no ducks, but half a dozen Greylag geese were feeding in the fields in an area I had not seen them in before.  

Meadow pipits are a common bird here, but they are usually hidden in the long grass and you do not normally see them until they fly off.  Today, a flock of eight were clearly visible against the snow.  

Pagham Harbour

We could hear the Brent Geese as we approached the hedge that screens off the northern corner of the harbour long before we could see them.  They maintained an excitable chatter as groups of them started to take off and rise above our heads in angled lines and fly low towards the golf course, presumably planning to graze on the fairways.  More and more rose up and passed over until, when we arrived at a point where we could get a clear view of the mud flats, only a few remained.  The tide was low and a few remained on the edge of the channel where water was still flowing down.  

Over on the great expanse of mud that constitutes the northern end of the harbour area there were great flocks of Lapwings and Golden Plover.  There were perhaps several hundred Shelduck scattered about, some Teal and Wigeon, mostly at the edge of the channel and a couple of Pintail.    A few were actively feeding, most just hanging out.  About 130 Black-tailed Godwits were lined up with their backs to us most with heads tucked under their wings and standing on one leg.  

For more photos of Pagham Harbour see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/112963374@N07/11689415403

Redd Count

It is a few days since we had any significant amount of rain and this has enabled me to carry out a Redd survey of one of our local streams.  (Redds are places where female trout scrape a hollow in a patch of gravel to lay their eggs).  The Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust have carried out a lot of work in this stream in the last few years and this is starting to pay off.  We have removed obstacles to fish passage and we have introduced gravel to create areas where trout might spawn.  We have not done this for the benefit of anglers, but to improve the river habitat.  It is perhaps a simplistic view, but if the water conditions are good for trout, they will probably be good for many other species.  I did not see any fish this time but there were several new redds to record since my last visit and some changes to existing ones. It looks as if our hard work has paid off.