American Robin!

February is not normally the best month for rarities so I thought there was a good chance that I wouldn't miss anything in the 2-3 weeks recovery time following a minor op I was scheduled to have early in the month. Needless to say things didn't quite pan out like that with a phone call from Gareth at 4 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon (my first day post op) to say that there was an American Robin (a first for Sussex) in gardens at Hill Road in Eastbourne, not really the news I wanted to hear. With not enough daylight remaining to get over there before dusk, Bridget was up at the crack of dawn the following morning ready to go but, having been told by the surgeon to rest and feeling as if I'd just been kicked by a horse, I couldn't summon up the energy to go with her. Just after first light the inevitable tweet came through to say that the bird was still there followed by updates and photos on Twitter throughout the day confirming its continued presence. 

I had previously seen an American Robin in the UK (Grimsby, 2004) but being in Sussex this was a bird I was very keen to catch up with. I felt a little better having had a good night's sleep and with news that it was still there early morning today, I made the decision not to delay further. Fortunately Bridget who had seen it yesterday morning was happy to go back for a second look and drive me over there for a 'care in the community' outing! The pesky roadworks on the A27 at Falmer only delayed us by about 10 minutes and by about 9:30 we were parked up in Hill Road just a mercifully short walk from where the bird had been showing since being found on Tuesday. I don't normally like birding in suburbia but this didn't seem too bad with about 40 other birders present and no unpleasant scenes involving irate homeowners. The bird was out of view when we got there but after about 10 minutes it popped up and then fed on the ground in the horse field behind the houses. Over the next half hour we saw it several more times, never particularly close and not on the berries that it comes to on and off throughout the day, but I was just relieved to have finally seen it. Also in the area were Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush and Stock Dove.


Afterwards we went to Sovereign Harbour but by now it was raining and I was starting to feel rough again so, after a quick scan which revealed 6 Common Seals hauled up on the mud but no Great Northern Diver, we called it a day and headed home.



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